Projects 1948 F1 rattle can rebuild

Man, you're an inspiration. I just spent several minutes reading this whole post. You got it going on. Life's thrown you some curves but you keep on keeping' on. Awesome, and cool truck and lot's of cool rides along the way. Keep going, we all want to see this truck going.

 

Very cool sir. Those 31 look huge. I love four tens, the problem is at my work when I have something going on they generally turn in to six tens.

 

Kudo's on the job...I have bought a lot of parts from them over the years. Karma is real....

 

Lurker Bob here. I just had to say congratulations on the new job! That is so great. Many good days ahead.

 

I just read this whole thread. Wow. Talk about the twists and turns of life which you prevailed. Super work on the F-1 and the HAMB can. Congrats on your new job.

 

Good thing's happen to good people - Proud for you and yours!

 

Mark, Congrats on the new job. It is for sure goin' to the right person. Hope it is an enjoyable job for you and keeps you and family in a good lifestyle. Please let me know when ever you want to talk. Need to do some on the Beer Truck. Wish you all the best for your family.

Dave

 

HOOT ! HOOT ! Looks like that job found you man. Nice work too.

 

Congrats on the job! Looks like a great place to work!

 

great job score , go to work and get to work on beautiful cars to boot , good luck

 

Congrats, LowKat!

 

Congrats on the new gig man! Nice to hear that things are turning around for you!

 

would love to buy one of them.

 

Wow - at times I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, punch or hug someone while reading this thread! I learned a bunch - about spray cans, good sons, bad sons, good mojo and keeping everything straight as you go though life - thanks!

You're the kind of guy that rubs good stuff off as they go though life. Thanks for rubbing some off on us!

 

Thats a good response Ed.

 

all good brother? Hang'n by my finger tips for your next post !

 

Lowkat,

How was the first week?

 

The work is very enjoyable but gets stalled often due to lack of parts and that frustrates me. I like starting something then finishing it as more gets completed that way. Everything does take a little longer than on a 'regular' car because of the protection needed for the finished surfaces.

There's not much in the way of reference material for this job since these are kinda' rare machines. I do have a tattered original owner's manual that has cutaway drawings of the powertrain components. Also have a '33 service manual but many things are different for '31.

I started to install the oil pan, distributor drive, intermediate shaft and distributor in the tub but no way was the drive gear going in. (goes in from the bottom) Finally the owner said to pull the oil pan, oil pump and distributor drive out of the limo so we could compare. The limo engine had only been run for cam break-in. We found out the distributor drive supplied with the engine for the tub was wrong. It was a llittle too long and the drive gear was the wrong rotation.

The limo was nearly finished mechanically. The tub wasn't as far along so many of the missing pieces hadn't been discovered yet. The tough part is the cars need to match identically since they'll be shown side by side. Both of them are to be entered in the Forest Grove Concours d'Elegance on July 15th.

Looks like one of my next jobs will be installing factory A/C on a 1960 Chrysler 300F convertible that didn't have A/C originally. It does have a shop manual and some good pictures from other cars though.

 

Oh yea, didn't get much done at my place this weekend unless yard work counts. I did clean on the garage some and the furniture pile is getting smaller. Gotta run some more CraigsList ads........

 

Spotted this on ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Transmiss...mperial&hash=item1e6b30a69b&vxp=mtr:confused:
Wow those '31's go for 100K-500K+
Zot.

 

Just got caught up on your thread.....congrats on the job!

 

Killer news lowkat. I hadn't been on here checking in awhile and darn if you didn't find a job. A killer one at that. Congrats man. So now do I get a discount? Just kidding. Take care.

 

Did you have to go with high temp paint for the engine bay?

 

Congrats on being hired at Chev's of the 40's. I have dropped a lot of coin on my '48 Fleetline with them and I will continue to do so. They are great to work with. And yes, good Karma is returned in spades!

 

I used hi-temp for the engine itself but the rest of it is regular enamel.

I don't work at the store with customers but work on the owner's private cars. Glad to hear you'll keep buying parts from Chevs of the 40's, that'll keep me working. They have some good people and service from what I see. It's a very organized operation with a huge inventory on the shelf.

http://www.chevsofthe40s.com/



Today I took more pictures for CraigsList stuff in my garage. I'm down to a huge hassock, a dining room set and a large dresser w/mirror. I'm almost back in business as far as my own garage goes.

 

Glad your back to work! Another month or 2 will determine how big the"frustration factor" is from working on so many different projects with little or no information to go bye. Good example is the gear that would not fit, if they hadn't had a similar engine that you could tear down and compare THAT'S when the "frustration factor" really kicks in.
Here in Indiana we've had a really goofy weather turn. It has been 70's and 80's for the month of March!! Absolutely Great weather! Except for all the outside work is 4 to 5 weeks early-----And my truck is still in winter storage!!!! I put the truck in storage this year to clear my garage to work on my 32 project. For the amount of time I actually worked on the 32, I'd have been WAY better off to just roll the truck out side to work. Gonna go retrieve the truck NOW!!
Hope things are going well, curious to here more of the travel trailer project. BILL RINALDI

 

just found this thread today while looking at the old trailers. LowKat you sound like a real cool guy, the kind of guy I would like for people to see in me. Great story, im subscribed.

 

incredible.. Glad i read this. I wish you and the Mrs. all the best. When i got to the end and you got the job, i very nearly cried..

 

Makes me want to buy something from Chevs of the 40's and I don't even have a Chevy!

 

Thanks for all the good words guys!
It's great to be back working, especially on very cool cars.

Last week I installed the newly arched then dearched springs back in the '31 tub. They were in for 30 minutes before I pulled 'em out. The fronts are going back to the spring guy to add an inch. I tore the rears apart for paint and liners before the spring covers go on.

Installed new brake lines in the tub that were supposed to match the Limo but discoverd it had a 90 degree pipe fitting adapter screwed into the main junction block flare fitting and they used teflon tape to boot. Had to take that apart for correction and the junction block wasn't in the proper location either.

Got the wiring harness roughed in the tub and discovered mistakes on the Limo wiring. Had to pull the finished harness out the Limo cabin and reinstall for correct routing through the frame.

Installed the tub's plug wires that are routed through a tight chrome cover on the head. The owner then wanted the Limo redone to match the tub since he had a much nicer cover to use. The Limo's wires kinda looked like a behive anyways.

A funny side note or I learned something new:
The ignition coil has the keyed switch attached to the bottom of it and it mounts behind the dash with the key protruding thru.

Got the throwout bearing modified, installed and got the trans back in the tub. Worked on installing the parking brake but parts are holding that up. Looks like fab'd linkage to match the original is the answer.

Still held up on a distributor drive to get the engines buttoned up.

Started installing the reproduction stainless exhaust but only got as far as the headpipe before discovering modifications needed to clear the splash panel. Local exhaust guy came to look yesterday and took the pipe to his shop. Should get that back Monday. Then after fitting the headpipe on the car, the collar goes back to the porcelainizer since it was somehow done the wrong color.

Had to build a modified heat riser since the owner didn't want the butterfly valve inside. He had a cast brass lever made to replicate the original and had stainless brackets reproduced for the heat riser pull cables.

All of the modern bolts used anywhere on the car have to be unmarked heads, so there's some bolt head sanding in my future, then send for paint.

Yesterday I got some tear-down pictures of the Limo the owner found from 15 years ago. Also found a few restored engine pictures on the web but comparison needed to determine authenticity.

MORE GREAT NEWS......

You may recall from earlier that my wife has a brain tumor which originally showed itself as Grand Mal seizures. Since the operation several years ago she's been nearly seizure free with only some infrequent and very small focal seizures. At her neurologist appointment last week they slightly increased her medication. If she's seizure free for 6 months, she'll get her driver's license back and will be driving Mama LowKat's little AMG Mercedes which suits her just fine.

I've kinda' been kicking around selling my F1 this fall to find a 47-54 Chevy PU. Can you say employee discount and company advertising. I had one of those trucks as a DD about 35 yeas ago. They have a slightly bigger cab than the F1 and I'm really a Chevy guy.

I have a 60's Corvette L79 327 with a matching Muncie M21 in a 2WD S10 Blazer I built about 8-9 years ago. Lost interest and haven't driven it much in 2 years. That motor/trans has been in 1/2 dozen of my cars over the years and would be transplanted to the AD truck.



Mid-50's and sunny tomorrow, I'm gonna try and be HAMBy.