Projects 1954 Ford Customline Resurrection/Build

the plug will not let it vent.the tube serves a dual purpose.also how do you plan on running the horn wire?

 

I like the paint on the car. If it was mine, I'd use rubbing compound to bring back the shine and run it like that.

 

I started on buffing at some point and need to finish up. The red paint turned out pretty good, but I’m replacing the drivers side fender which won’t match at first but I might be able to mimic the red until I can get the car repainted



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Any tips on fuel mix on a Holley 4160 with an e303 cam? I’m at 3 turns out and still seems like it’s pinging some. Seems like 3 turns out is a lot though and don’t want to get it too rich. Thoughts?


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Wow, it’s been a minute since I’ve updated this thread..

I ended up completely re-wiring the car with the Painless kit, which I would highly recommend in combination with some good looking loom. I drove around town all summer last year and had a ton of fun. Took it to a Cars amd Coffee event and then put her up for a while.

I’m currently working on a disc brake conversion, and plan to show the car at the local Good Guys show later this spring. There was a massive lack of representation by Fords last year at the show! (Other than ‘32 coupes and a few mustangs)

 

Oh yeah, my original headlight switch played out last year, causing me to lose interior lights and tail lights. I’m thinking maybe the pot for the interior light dimmer went bad.

Anyway, the replacement I got is garbage and the terminals just fell off of the tiny rivets.

where I should get a quality replacement??

 

Power disc Brake conversion is done!

i can tell the booster is working somewhat but the pedal is still awfully stiff and takes a lot of pressure at stop lights to keep the car still.

Any thoughts on why that might be??

 

I see you on FB. Didn't realize you were on the HAMB too. Nice job on the '54! I like your wiring. Most just crimp with the cheap yellow/blue plastic insulators and call it good. You do like I do. Remove the insulators, crimp and cover with heat shink tubing. Looks way more professional! Might I suggest one more step. After crimping, wrap a short piece of electrical tape around covering the bottom of the terminal and part of the wire, then shrink wrap.



As far as the headlight switch, I was able to refurbish my original and it works. The aftermarket has 'em but most vendors get them from the same source.....China. Looks like your failed one is from that source. All I can offer is, buy another one and hope for the best!
https://www.dennis-carpenter.com/tr...ht/faa-11654-a-headlight-switch-assembly-6-vo

For your brake situation 16 Hg of vacuum is the bare minimum required for proper brake booster operation. 18-20 Hg would be better. Invest in a vacuum gauge and see what you've got. You may have to resort to an external vacuum reservoir.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...4FfYsZoubhd1qbdWYPXyI7Ff84QC1D1RoCReQQAvD_BwE

 

Hey yeah, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t take the time to make the wiring a little cleaner than the blue and yellow plastic. I just wish I had had more black shrink tube when I did it! I suck at soldering or I would have tried that.

I never thought about the level of vacuum. I have an e303 cam which is pretty mild, but probably steals a little bit of vacuum. I will look into the vacuum reservoir! I didn’t even know that was a thing…

 

This is why I skipped power brakes on my '59. I wasn't sure how much vacuum I would have with the cam I'm running.

 

I have the reservoir evintho recommended on the way. I’ll give that a try and let y’all know how it works out!

 

I'm a little late to the party here (just found your thread). I was having the pinging issue with my e303 as well. Turns out I had to take some initial timing out of it. You've most likely resolved the issue by now though.

 

I took a shot at mocking up the missing front trim.

I replaced a dinged up original front fender with a less-dinged-up mainline fender which is missing all the trim holes. Any tips for measuring and drilling these holes?

I tried measuring the other side and replicating that, but was way off when I mocked it up. (I was measuring only point to point on the fenders to avoid taking into account differences in fender position relative to body/ground)


Also, I can’t seem to find the main H.A.M.B. feed through the app??

 

My thought is that you can only see one side of the car at a time so proceed down the path you are on. Make sure the fender to hood gap and fender to door gap is good and then tape the piece in the position you want it. Mark the center line of the trim, at the front of the spear and also where it matches the door spear, onto the fender with a pencil. Remove the spear and connect the dots. You can then count the number of holes from the other side and then just evenly space them on this side. The clips should slide in the trim so it doesn't have to be exact. There may be other ways to handle this but that is how I would do it.

 

Vacuum reservoir installed. Seems to help some but not as much as I’d hoped.

I’ve got to change the pedal linkage to get the pedal position corrected and the leverage may make things feel better. I used the long linkage that came with the booster kit and it has the pedal way high off the floor/firewall

 

I went down to the scrap yard and weighed the old gal on the scales.

3,170lbs after deducting my weight.

 

Great project!

 

I cannot get this $%&* brake switch to stop leaking brake fluid...

Exactly how tight can i get it???? i know you arent supposed to use thread tape on this stuff but is there brake fluid safe liquid gasket maker??

 

Spent some time trying to get the front fender to match better…

I failed every time lol

 

The third pic looks the closest. Red is hard to match

 

An 'ol school' trick that works for brakelines. Tighten the fitting down tight then loosen it back up, then tighten it down again. Repeat 2-3 times. It's worked for me in the past.

For a brake light switch, I bought one of those cheap, generic ones, welded on a couple of brackets, mounted it and wired directly to it.

 

Alright getting closer to the final form on the drivers front fender

fake patina woo!

i will note that upon sanding, some of the original ford sky haze blue came through

 

What is the master cylinder bore diameter?

I’ve got the stock pedal and pivot.
I used a 1-1/8” master from a 70’s ford pickup and a booster from a ‘93 SVT Mustang. Initially I had an 80’s mustang booster but it didn’t give enough boost, the bigger’93 booster made it perfect.

Also recommend ditching the pressure switch and adding a mechanical switch under the dash.

 

Smart to never get out of an old car while its on the scale at the scrap yard...

 

Ha good point but they are closed on weekends and keep the scales turned on

 

Getting the hang of polishing…

 

Tried my hand at sheet metal repair for the first time today.

I think there was an antenna in the passenger fender at some point, because there was a big jagged hole in the fender.

i decided to cut a patch out of an old fender I have and welded it up. I’m pretty pleased with it, but despite my best efforts to make it flush, it ended up a bit dimpled. Not sure if I should have left the patch proud before I welded??

Any way, for the first try, I am pleased with myself.

 

I converted to disc brakes on my 66 Chrysler and my 1960 F100. Both times I found out that the brake pedal ratio wouldnt work. I used factory disc pedal for the Chrysler and drilled another hole in the brake arm of the F100 for the pushrod. About 3/4 " down

 

@Ryan killed the app a couple years back over privacy issues. Just use your browser on your phone.

 

Nice work on the fender patch, it probably shrunk or sank from the heat, I used to do lots of those when I worked in a shop converting police cars to taxis and welding up a round hole on a curved panel is harder than most people think.