Projects 1956 Ford "Canned Monster" Gasser

The pictre makes it look like the end of the tie rod on the pitman arm would hit the frame rail. Optical delusion I guess.

 

Ohhhhh, okay. Sorry I had clicked on the wrong image. Yes, the steering arm was sitting on top of the pitman arm, that was just to keep it from hitting the spring and messing up the powder coat. Thats not how it actually goes together. It bolts on the bottom.

 

Monster Hauler Part 2 is up on the Tube. Covers a lot of the work done the last few years and brings it up to its current state, which is mainly just finishing the paint up.

 

The truck looks nice Lance.

 

Its getting there, the old adage is true about working on something thats running. Once you can use it, its a lot harder to focus on getting it finished. I've used it a lot, over 1000 miles on it now.

 

New tools are great. Grabbed this little sander to help me undo a bad decision I made a few years ago on the truck by welding up some of the stake holes. All is well now and the sander is rad.

For those who may be confused about me posting this here. There is a large part of this thread dedicated to the Monster Hauler 1962 F250 Unibody that I built as a tow rig for the gasser. More to come soon as I’m back on the body and paint again.


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Great little update. Looking around to see if I could find some glass parts for the car, a guy reached out to me and made me a super sweet deal on not only a glass hood, but also a deck lid and both bumpers. I'll need to sort out the hole thats there from his blower setup but I'm really happy to have these now. He also supplied me with the hardware to mount them up. The car is getting some of the metal work done on it right now. Wheel wells both outer and inner are done.

 

Good score Lance.

 

Thanks man. It's great when the older generation is willing to pass on deals to us youngins. Thats pretty much what he told me, he's 75, haha. It was cool talking to him. He's a Vietnam Vet and so is my dad so we had that connection as well, that and his wicked cool '56 Ford Fairlane.

 

So, back in August I had to go grab the Canned Monster from the shop it was getting the metal work done. The Caldor fire was causing people to evacuate and my car was in the evacuation zone. So, after a few months in my driveway, and me getting a little bit of work done on it, its back at the shop now. Super stoked, and I think there is light at the end of the tunnel finally. With picking up the fiberglass parts and some other things its back on track.

Things left to be done by the shop are, radiator support needs to be built, and front fenders hung. Dzus fasteners installed on front fenders. Bucket seats mounted. Roll cage installed. Firewall finished. Rear wheel wells finished inside and out. Rocker panel rust repair finished. Wilwood clutch and brake pedals mounted under dash. Mounts for the fiberglass hood and deck lid. And other stuff I’m forgetting. Thanks to my brother for always having my back and a car trailer.

 

Keep pressing on Lance. You’ll get there.

 

Thanks man, doing my best.

 

Firewall getting smoothed out. Holes filled and the recessed area for the distributor is getting finished. The engine was set back so needed to notch the firewall. The area around the steering is also getting some love. The hole where the brake MC was is also filled.

 

Photo is a little fuzzy but this is the recess for the dizzy fully welded up.

 

Lookin good Lance!

 

Radiator support is now built which means the fenders can also be mounted up. Its shaping up nice. Skot is going a great job on the metal work.

 

Radiator mounted up.

 

Glass parts done always fit like they should. The gap to the body would have been filled with a rubber strip originally stapled to the sheet metal. Well, when you move it in to the body it looks 1000% better. The bottom pin mount was also missing when I picked up the glass deck lid so he knocked out a new mount. With Skot Randall
Now I just need to get some proper bumper bolts.

 

Getting seats has proven a challenge in this day of shipping delays. My first choice wasn't available until April so want with my second choice, which is probably a safer seat for racing. Photos to come soon of the seats. They are set to arrive tomorrow.

 

Roll bar is going in.

 

Finalized seat position so the pedals and the roll bar can be welded in place. Well, the pedals will be bolted, you know what I mean. I wasn't able to get the seats I wanted, low back buckets, everything is back ordered for months but these tall back buckets are made by the same company and use the same brackets so I could swap them out later and not have to unbolt them from the floor. The seats are pretty comfortable which helps and if I was ever to put it on its lid, it would probably be better for me anyway. These are the last things Skot is going and then it comes back home to me for body work, wiring, glass, engine, etc, etc.

 

Awesome progress, glad to see a build thread going on here!

 

Thanks Dan, it's sure been a journey.

 

After just under two years, the major fabrication work is done and the car is back home with me. Now to get busy. As always, my brother helped me bring it back home.

 

Updated video on the build. Its back home with me now.

 

Progress on the gasser hood. I needed to fill in the big hole from where the previous owner had a blower setup. A local friend, Neil who knows way more about glass than myself was able to get this scoop installed and I think it came out really great. Just the look I wanted. He started by putting in some quarter inch rods to add strength.

 

That scoop is perfect! Nailed the look.

 

Thanks man, I think so too. Can't wait to get it on the car.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks!