this is going to be one awesome car when its done, great job. What hinges are you using for your trunk lid?
Been a while since I posted any updates on this build. The next 3 posts should bring things up to date. Well progress continues to inch along. The parking/emergency brakes have been in a nearly finished state for quite a spell. Decided to finish them off. Just required installing the cables on the rear backing plate so decided I might as well finish the rebuild of the rear brakes, had all the parts on the shelf. Well someone in the past decided the emergency brake link bar was not needed, so had to do a junk yard run to find replacements. With that done cables were all routed and cable from under dash lever was shortened and re-terminated. Another job off the to do list. Wagner Rear brake drums were painted with header paint, wouldn't you know it, during the last bake step the phone rang. When the call ended the paint was blistered. Oh well need the practice at sandblasting and re-painting. Needed a fuel filter. Checked the micron ratings of the fancy race ones being sold and looked at the various OEM replacement ones and ended up looking at this one. Readily available elements and good capacity with a 10 micron rating. Have a tenancy to jump around to alleviate becoming bored with any one job, especially body work. Next job, brakes. Ran the lines from the master cylinder to the front through a switch and residual valve (wrapped in masking tape in picture) and rear to a residual valve and an adjustable proportioning valve, just out of the picture. A ratio adjusting lever and linkage is set up for emergency brakes, cable going to under-dash lever still has to be terminated in picture. For the front shock mounts was thinking of using 50 Ford F1 front mounts, but could not get them to line up to mount on the frame, clear the fender braces (did I say I am running full fenders), be at the correct height and angle for the shocks and still look good. Swap meet parts now. The solution, build my own brackets, maybe not as good looking but all the measurements and angles are good for the So-Cal shocks. Did reinforcement to the frame for the bolt on shock mounts and incorporated a panhard mount into the area. Panhard bar is from "Welder Series Inc." but the frame mount is boxed on the inside and the other end has a custom made bracket to mount on the radius rod. The radius rod mount also incorporates a mount for one end of a steering damper. Made a mount for the Saginaw 525 steering box on the frame. Using a mid 60,s Chevelle pitman arm. Tore the box down and replaced anything the even thought about looking like it had any wear. Only hard part was finding a torque wrench to measure the load on the bearings. Pretty light readings required. Went a little nuts and polished the aluminum lid for a bit of flash. Also got some other small jobs done Master cylinder painted and boxed up with all the small parts needed to install, short lines, residual valves, pins and bolts etc. along with a sketch of where each piece goes. Went through that before with the door latch mechanism trying to figure out where all the pieces went. Needed turn signals for the front. The new thing during inspections here is DOT approved lighting, thanks to all the ricers bringing cars in from Japan without DOT approval. So I am using Harley Davidson turn signals with a mount under the headlight mounting nut. The mount hides the headlight mounting nut and tucks the turn signal up nice and snug under the headlight. Chrome will be painted to match car. Require a front license plate so I decided to mount it to the front spreader bar. Took the mounting assembly off an old 1947 Chevy trunk handle assembly and made a mount that will bolt on the back of the spreader bar. Should do the job. I hate body work so have a tenancy to jump around. The next target Alternator mount. The original mount hangs the alternator off the side and weights as much as my whole frame. The aftermarket has a couple available, a beautiful looking billet aluminum one and a very well made steel one. Didn't like either one so out with the welder again and my own version, mounts the alternator on the top of the engine. Lots of adjustment and quite sturdy. Since the idea of this build was early 60,s I felt I had to do something about the PCV system. To keep a good working system and retain all the components this was the plan, relocate the PCV valve and keep the breathers, easy. Located another valley pan and made up a filtered baffle to allow vapor and not oil through and PCV valve mount in the rear of the pan and mounted an oil fill on the front of the pan. 1953/54 Buick valve covers were source without any oil fill and a pair vintage Offenhauser breather located to install on the valve covers. This will be complemented with a pair of 1953/54 Buick spark plug wire covers that I made mounts to use with the later engine. I finally got back to doing some work on the air cleaner. The lid has been cut down to allow air entrance to the filter element. The bottom has been replaced with the bottom off the 1966 Buick Riviera that sits very low over the carburetor yet still allows clearance for all the linkage and fuel lines. When install the carburetor is virtually invisible. The paper element in this picture is a little too tall and holding the lid up too high. Just have to pick up a different element that will lower it to within ¼" of the main body. Shoot it with a coat of satin black and get some repro decals. This set up actually exposes more surface area of the element than the original Buick air cleaned snorkel. Made up a fuse panel that will mount on the step in the firewall above the steering wheel, easy access and in the finished plan, very little wiring will show. Two 8 fuse grouping were picked up at Back to the 50s. Should look good with plastic covers to go over the fuses installed. Picked up a horn at a local swap meet for $ .050. A bit of cleaning and some new gaskets and works like a charm. No idea what it is off, anyone have any idea? All I know is it is loud and very obnoxious. Took the rear panel and did the cut outs for a pair of 1947 Chevrolet tail lights, a 1948 Lucas tag light (thanks Pete K) and mounted the license plate on four raised mounting points pressed into the panel. Started work on fabricating the2 ½" exhaust system kit I got from Jegs. Watched it done on TV, should be no problem, looks easy , a little cut here and a weld there and your done. HA -- they lied. After about 4 hours cutting and re-cutting . Fabricating new flanges to fit the headers. Dimpling the adapter to clear the steering shaft and trying to get the pipes as high up into the frame while clearing the steering, master cylinder/brake lines and transmission and speedometer drive and then curling up over the center cross member. Hope it gets easier. The passenger side was easier. The main concern on that side was keeping as much distance as possible from the gas line. Looks like it should be good. Lots of clearance except where the gas line and exhaust line out of the header cross. Bent up a custom stainless steel shield to protect the line there.
Well had to check the front fenders for fit, so decided to see how all fits. I think it looks pretty good at this point. The rear fenders had all rust out holes repaired, new ends put on there they bolt on to the running boards and a large area replaced where someone had used about 6 sticks of brazing rod to fill a dent. The tails were damaged, probably from running loose chains, so they were trimmed about 4 ½" and a new wire edge added My original plan was for old style nerf bars front and back and I don't like the look of them when they go from the outside of the tire on one side to the outside on the other. I wanted them just wider than the main body. Talked to some friends who are involved with the province on safety issues and was told, no way. So one step back, to original 1930 Ford bumpers. Had to re-shape the rear mounting brackets due to changes to the rear of the frame as it now goes to within a few inches of the rear of the body. I made up a new rear spreader bar to match the front. Started on the floor re-construction. Had to make a rear support bracket for the rear corner of the body. They are available as repro but only in pairs and I only needed one. Made the floor in sections that will be rosette welded to the original bracing. Rolled some beads into the panels to eliminate any drumming and give it some additional rigidity. The small rectangle in the trunk panel is an emergency access panel accessible from under the car in case the trunk latch doesn't work. The trunk will have a cable release from beside the driver's seat Got a 15 gal (US) RCI gas tank to mount in the trunk. After lots of measuring I determined that there was room for the gas tank and two type 51R (Honda) batteries. Made up a sub frame from rectangular tubing as a mount for them. The gas tank is held on with two straps going over the tank and bolted to the sub frame. Needed a couple of boxes for the batteries. Looking around for an easy solution, kept looking at an old 50 cal. Ammunition box, it was so close in size it almost hurt. Then the idea, make a couple that would be the right size, poor welds and all. Good for a laugh, but they work. Cover comes off and sides and battery lift out together leaving the base mounted to the sub frame. Hold down bar is hidden inside the box. Fits in the trunk quite nicely with gas tank vent line exiting to the right and a fuel shut off above the tank. Don't know if I will require two batteries to spin that old Buick, but I am ready. Can always use one as a tool box. I had picked up the middle seat out of a Mazda MPV van as it fit quite nice. Features adjustable back angle and flip forward. The upholstery style should make a good pattern for the new upholstery. Took a track I had laying around, think it is late 70s Ford and re-drilled it to fit the seat and welded some feet on it to bolt to the floor. The seat came with a track, but the adjustments were in four increments and a shorter travel as well as sitting higher. Due to the reversed firewall the stock radiator support rods are no longer an option, so some steel rod and a couple of carriage bolts and a bit of welding and new rods to fit. Looked at the exposed nuts and was not crazy about that look. I machined up some custom nuts that cover all exposed thread for a cleaner look. After being in some Model As and being warned about the doors popping open I was leary about the original latches. Decided to replace the original door latches with bear claw style latches. Figured I could keep the original outside handles and door locks, add new 1947 Chevrolet interior door handle remotes and 47 Chevy window cranks and door handles. A few bits of rod and a custom made bell-crank. Works great and even looks factory. Did some measuring and decided that when the suspension is at full up travel and just clearing the mufflers they would be quite close to the body floor. Figured if I put a heat shield on the top of the frame it would clear the floor by a 3/8" air space and the mufflers by 1 ¼". Hopefully will be enough. Will add some heat shielding on the inside of the floor later. Not made easier by trying to meet our local laws that call for a reverse flow chambered muffler, no straight through or Hollywood allowed. Thinking about using Magna Flow XL Chambered mufflers as they are one of the smallest at 4" x 9" x 14. Also started on the rear shock mounts for the So-Cal Shocks. Another of those small jobs that have been outstanding. Made up a dummy shock out of a piece of square tubing with holes drilled through at ride height. Upper shock mounts made to weld to the inside of the frame. Shocks will be installed nearly straight up and down. Lower mounts will be made out of the front ends of the original rear radius rods, trimmed and welded to the rear axle. Once all parts are tacked into place the dummy shock will be removed. Next step was the removal of the two spring leaves that have been temporarily installed. Drill the sub-frame for rear body mount then drop the frame down on the bump stops or their temporary replacements. The body will be left like that to facilitate the installation of mufflers and the rest of the exhaust pipes. That way I will know that the exhaust clears the suspension. At this point, pulled the body off and put it on a dolly and moved the frame out of the shop for the winter. Will concentrate on the body, hopefully have it all in primer by spring. Wheeled the body outside, bought some beer and got some friends over. Lifted the body off and put it on it's side. Sandblasted the bottom and primed it with PPG -48 epoxy then sprayed U-POL Raptor Bed Liner on it PPP Sandblasted,
Found out that the primo windshield frame that I got was actually a 1928-29 windshield with a 1930-31 hinge. Spend some time to find out what the difference was. Turns out the slide arm mounts are to short and space the slide arms too far out for the body. Solution order new mounts that are suppose to be quite tricky to rivet onto the hollow frame --- or --- Got a piece of 5/8 rod and drilled and tapped it through the center and turned the outside down on my handy dandy lathe er drill press and file. Will tack these onto the existing arm mounts and should be good to go. Will have to trim the deflector on the bottom of the windshield and weld up some wiper holes. The wiper holes will depend on what is chosen for wipers. Hopefully all will work out OK. The upper corner trunk lid stops were missing when I got the body. Could have ordered them from the repro parts guys. But my plan was to use small adjustable stops off a Mercedes all four corners so they would have had to been modified anyhow. Drew up my vision on CAD and printed out the pattern. Laid it out on a piece of metal and cut out, bent and welded a nut on the underside. Just have to weld or rivet into place, but that has to wait for the rear part of the body to be removed to clean up rust in the seam and do some repairs. And I hate body work, but I think I have said that before. The rain gutters looked like they had been installed by a drunk, rust had built up between them and the roof pushing them out between each spot weld. Drilled out the spot welds from the inside and removed them. Repaired one rusted out area along the back of one gutter and built a repair panel for a section of the roof on one side. Re-installed both gutters and they look great now. Area, Removed the rear window section of the body to repair damage on both sides. Sandblasted all rusted areas. Both quarters had significant damage to the flanges and top area where the roof and tulip panel meet. More cutting and welding. Replaced the beaded area on both sides where the sail area meets the body and the hinge mount area. Primed, seam sealed and re-installed the window section. , , PPG The roof sides where they meet the sun visor had been trimmed too far back by someone in the past so re-built these areas and the missing section on both ends of the visor as well. These will be nailed together when the visor is installed and covered with an aluminum molding once the fabric roof cover is installed. Originally was going to weld the ends of the roof to the visor. Directly under where the weld would be was the spot where the welting between the visor and the header lower panel sealed moisture out. The welding would have destroyed the welting. Decided to use modern seam sealers for the whole area instead. This would have left a gap between the lower header panel and the visor. To fill the gap we rolled a bead in a panel to make a strip duplicating the appearance of the original welting. This will be painted and installed under the lower panel with seam sealers keeping the moisture out. I think it will do a better job than the original welting did. Know the header wood sure was rotted out. After all that changed my mind and decided to install the roof panel and visor the same way as it was originally installed Got a Vintique Stainless Steel wiper motor with a 5 shaft and installed a wood mounting block in the header and drilled it. Filled the notch in the lower sheet metal header cover where the original wiper went through it. Made up a polished aluminum bezel from an old spacer in the junk drawer, I think it was off a SBF, for the wiper shaft. I know it isnt the greatest unit in the world, but when I considered how much I have used the wipers in the Malibu over the last 58000 miles I think it should be adequate. , Continued and finished installing the Classic Wood of Greensboro NC roof wood kit, Got it from George Moir from Stony Plain, Alberta, one of the better Canadian suppliers , lots of adjusting and trimming to get it to fit. Installed the quarter window and rear window wood, most of it original Ford. WOW trying to drive a nail into that wood is like driving the nail into concrete, even with predrilling it is like a rock Wood Pics Made a paper pattern to cut out the steel insert for the roof and then weld it in, then padding and vinyl covering and aluminum molding around the edge. The pattern will also be used to make a bending jig for the aluminum molding that goes around the top insert. Some parts of this task will have to wait for warmer weather. Took the original rear shelf that I had dragged to half a dozen swap meets trying to sell and trimmed 3 ½ off it to allow the seat to be moved back and re-installed it. Made up a piece of trim to install along the edge to cover the joint in the upholstery and look vintage like it could have been there from the factory. Will make installing the interior in this area a lot easier. Still have to design some filler panels for the end of the bulkhead to serve as a fire-wall between the trunk and passenger area. Got lucky at a local swap meet and picked up this NOS 1963 Stewart Warner 765 Tachometer, did a little research and found out what sender was required and located a NOS one as well. Wanted a mounting bracket that would match the style I am shooting for so -- out with the welder again. Laid out a pattern and rolled a bead in some scrap metal, welded an edge all around the edge and drilled out a hole for the tach and a starter button that I will be using for the horn. Have spent a few months looking for indicator lights for turn signal and high beam. Had a picture in my mind of what I wanted, just not able to find it. Lots of neat options though. Finally found some NOS 60s Jewelled Lucas lights for a Norton, just what I wanted. Probably were in my mind from all the hours riding Nortons in the 60s. Will be installed in the center area of the dash. Need rear view mirrors. Fell in love with a mirror that Chevs of the 40s sell. It is a Day-Night mirror with a fluted stainless steel back. For now I am using an old original 40s Chevrolet mirror. The mount is a piece of scrap steel that I cut up. Will end up mounting it to the bottom of the windshield header frame work, so I can easily change it out for my dream mirror later. Started laying out a panel for the drivers kick panel for the wiring termination. Fuse panel is mounted on the top of the step in the firewall. Still have to find a place for the sender for the tach, maybe with the fuse panel. A custom bracket was made that mounts under the emergency brake lever to mount the flashers, ballast resistor and relays, tucking them in but still leaving room for air circulation and access for service. A small panel and terminal strip was mounted in the passenger side kick for the wires that will be going forward for headlights and horn. Two smaller terminal strips were set aside for mounting on each side of the radiator frame for light wiring. Laying out these panels necessitates finalizing a wiring diagram showing the routing and connection of all wires first. Have the basic layout in my mind, just missing the details Made up a conduit loom, painted engine color, to go from the alternator to back of the engine to hide that wiring. All engine wiring will be routed through the body, entering behind the distributor through a vintage Ford wiring grommet and frame. The aim is to minimize all exposed wiring. Rear quarters, trunk lid and windshield frame still to go --- and a million other small details. The saga continues. Thats all for now folks. Canuck
love the details, did you end up mounting that accell pedal etc, and connections to SP400? Cheers, Drewfus
Yes. The accelerator pedal's funny end mounts the micro switch and the and the kick-down/pitch change box is still mounted on the manifold. All transmission controls should work as per original. The kick down originally did not work properly. Opened the kick-down switch by gently bending the tabs and found the problem was the accumulation of grease and dirt. When cleaned the contacts were almost new. A bit of a polish, some di-electric grease and back together and good as new. Canuck
Hey Canuck, can I trouble you for more pics of the door latch stuff, maybe a peek inside where the outer latch attaches? Im doing something similar on my Dodge, routing the linkage around the window tracks has me a bit baffled
I love the attention to detail on this car. That column drop you made is awesome, and so is everything else! Keep up the good work.
Thanks guys for all the kind words, really makes a fella feel good. Have got quite a few PMs about my take on door latches and window regulators, so I thought I would post the links for their write ups as a easy reference: Bear Claw Latch install detailed in : http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=777088 Window regulators : http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=247513 The build still continues. I think that I am making good progress but there isnt a lot to show in pictures. The roof has had a steel inset welded in. The original sheet metal was finished the same way as original, nailed down every couple of inches around the perimeter of the opening. A roof was obtained off a late 60s Chevrolet and the sheet metal cut out. This was placed over the roof and rotated and slid around for the best fit. A location was found where the fit was almost perfect. This was marked and trimmed to fit . It laid on almost perfect, the two front corners were high by less than ¼ and only required a gentle push down. This insert was spot welded every couple of inches. The plan once warm weather returns and the body is painted is to cover the roof with closed cell foam and vinyl with the aluminum trim installed the same as original. The rear of this body was pushed around sometime in the past. There was a very large blister over the rear wheel and a smaller one in front of the wheel . Tried working them out with little success and finally got the torch out and did a bunch of shrinks in the areas. A daunting task for a amateur body guy like me. The end result while not perfect was close, max depth of any filler in these areas is about 1/16 and only in a few small areas. Im happy. Doesnt look like much but a lot of time smoothing the various areas and finally a coat of DP40LF followed a couple of coats of Uro-fill high build. First coat has been blocked and will let the second coat sit until December to minimize the affect of any shrinkage then block it down with 400. Black lines showing between panels are seam sealer to keep the water out. All seams between body panels, seams on the underside of the floor and sub-rails and all seams on the top side of the floor to sub-rails is sealed to keep moisture out of the car and the seam itself. The underside is also coated with Raptor Bed-liner as a further sealant and sound deadner. Doors are ready for blocking as well. Doors were done with Uro-fil last year and have sat since then waiting for blocking on the advice of a neighbour, I think he was having a bit of a joke on me advising it be left that long. That stuff is like a rock now. Otherwise getting close to real paint. The hardest part was picking a color and we have finalized that as well, should look good. Paint work is pretty well finished until next spring. Cant keep temperature in the shop up and maintain air flow with outside temperatures below freezing. Oh Well. Did test out my home made fresh air system with very good results. Constant flow of fresh air with some leakage out around the mask, thus insuring flow. Only problem was with the supply hose with the cold fresh air, got a little stiff, have to find a better choice there. Spent a bit of time making templates for all the windows to take to the glass man for windows. Fiddly little job, but one more checked off. About the only thing left on the body to do this year is finish off on extensions to the top and ends of the bulkhead behind the seats to make it a flameproof. Will be a nice little fabrication job. Once that and the blocking of the high build is done the body will be moved into storage till spring and the frame moved back in. Some welding to finish on the main frame and front suspension and pull the rear suspension and replace it with a 4 bar. Finish off the exhaust and some detailing then paint. Most of the detail work is done already. The saga continues ---- Canuck
What's this "pull the rear suspension and replace it with a four bar" stuff? Can't you just add a torque arm to strengthen what you have? Or is it a clearance issue - too much stuff and nowhere to put it? Is your current suspension in the way? Ralph
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