Projects A tale of two cities 1948 Ford build

About 2 years ago I bought this thing from a guy in Northern Maine. He said he had found it in Arkansas or some place like that. His pictures looked like it was in decent shape, so I drove the 5-1/2 hours North of Boston to buy it. Of course, it wasn't quite as advertised when I got there. All the windows, except the rear one were cracked and the "rust free car" had rust under the front seat and in one body mount under the trunk. Once I got it home I started to have a serious case of buyers remorse. The first thing I bought was a nice cover from California Car Cover. Did I mention I don't have a garage to store it in at my house? I covered it up and started to collect parts.

 

Figured I'd convert it to 12 volts to start, so I bought a bracket, an alternator, a coil and voltage reducer for the gauges.

 

To make it easier to get under the hood I installed one of Technostalgia's hood lifters. Good option.

 

Keep going.

 

The guy I bought it from said he had it running at one point, so it should be fairly easy to start, right? Did I mention the wiring was shot, so I re-wired all the start/run-related circuits. Obviously new radiator hoses, battery, spark plugs, wires, starter switch, etc., etc., etc.

Well, it was time to turn the key . . . it turned over(!) . . . better than seized, right?

 

Since I was now getting more suspect about the fact that the engine had run "recently", I figured I'd check the compression. Yeah, right! Four cylinders had 0 compression and the rest weren't anywhere near where they should have been. Here's that sinking feeling again. So much for getting this running on the cheap!

Pulled the passenger side head because it was the easiest and it sure looked to be rusted. Not a good sign. Turned it over a few more times and it looked like one of the valves was a bit stuck. Not what I was hoping for.

I figured it was time to pull the motor and go all in. So much for that budget build.

 

Got the engine out and the pan off and here's what I found . . . just a little sludge. Did I mention there was no oil filter in the filter housing when I took it apart? Yup, it was recently running, yeah right.

 

Hey! Know what ya mean...
But that's a great car. Looks the part. Build up that sweet flat motor.
Looks to be in good shape for the age. A little rust? We can fix that easy.
What are the plans??

 

Getting the valve train out was my next fear after all I had read about it. Soaked it all in Kano Kroil because I had read somewhere that it was one of the best methods to get parts un-stuck. Bought the valve train persuasion tool from Van Pelt and had at it. I was shocked when the first retainer I pulled launched the first assembly across the garage! Luck? About half of them came out the same way. A few were a bit more reluctant but I only had a serious argument with one! OK, something to be thankful for?

 

Found an original 4" stroke Merc crank and loaded it up with the block and the rest of the rotating assembly and headed for J&M Machine (http://jandm-machine.com/index.html) for inspection. They were close and looked to have experience with these things.

 

Spent the $$$$ to have them do their full bake/bead blast/magnuflux treatment. As can be expected, they found a couple of minor cracks and a bad spot on one deck where a head stud must have pulled out. I had them fix those flaws to ensure I was starting with a solid base.

 

After a discussion about recommended next steps, and due to a limited budget, I decided to grab the motor back from the machine shop and work on the chassis. I was advised by J&M that if I went ahead with the complete motor build-up and let it sit while building the chassis, it might just rust up again. Too much money would be at risk there!

OK, keep compiling chassis parts . . . '89 Explorer rear end with disk brakes, front disk brake kit, Speedway Deluxe king pin set (yes, will be keeping solid front axle), Speedway T-5 to flathead adapter. Then source S-10 T-5 from salvage yard and take it to tranny shop for rebuild. Of course, shop says it's in such bad shape that I should take it back. Went ahead and had him rebuild it anyway. Not someone I'd recommend.

 

Went to the Boston World of Wheels car show and got a 10% off coupon from Summit. Excuse to compile more parts: T-5 shift adapter, stick, knob, boot, intake, carbs, linkage, etc., etc., etc. You know the drill . . . it never ends!

 

Next step was to pull the original tranny and crossmember. Drilling out those rivets proved a bit challenging. Didn't get every hole exactly in the center.
Found that the number on the tranny matched the VIN on the title.

 

You are doing all this outside, with no garage? That's dedication!

 

Grind the heads off the rivets and then use a hammer and a punch to drive out the rest of the rivet.

 

Ah, well that's the tale of two cities. I don't have a garage at my house outside of Boston, but my brother has a big metal building and a three car attached garage with a lift at his house outside of Albany, NY. That's where I've got the car stored, and where I've been doing most of the work. Not as convenient as being outside my door, but at less than 3 hours away, it's the best I've got for now.

 

Considered that option, but opted for the drill.

 

Plan is hopped up rebuilt flathead backed by T-5 for cruising. 4 wheel disk brakes for safety. Dropped Posies front and rear suspension for ride and looks. Big-n-littles with steel wheels and caps for period looks. Current patina for looks and budget.

 

J&M Machine can't be beat. They get rave reviews on the Model T Forum.

 

Installed the Posies #8048B rear spring kit and 8.8" out of '94 Mustang GT. Instructions left much to be desired. They had given away the only template that they had. Decided best I could do was level the frame and measure from a plumb line hung from the bump stop to the front bracket. Only measurement they had that would help. Think I'm going to need to C notch the frame if this will be the spring location I stick with. This kit is not what I would call a parallel leaf spring kit. The rear hanger doesn't quite line up with the spring and I'm a bit nervous about the bind that may cause. Update: Posies sent me a new rear spring hanger with the correct angle that should resolve the binding concern.

Picked up some new tires for the next step, 195/65R-15 front, 235/65R-16 rear. Figuring out wheel backspacing is next gamble.
View attachment 3297816

 

After test fitting 16x7 Gennie wheels with the standard 4" offset, had to order custom versions with a 5" backspace. Custom wheels took about 8 weeks from Wheel Vintiques, but worth it. Summit Racing was great to work with on these. It's a tight fit but they fit perfectly with the current ride height. Tire size is 235/65R16.

 

Finally got a chance to put all the front axle parts together and get it test fit in the car so I could do a template for the trans/split wishbone mount. Super Bell axle and dropped steering arms, Speedway disk brake kit, spindles and deluxe kingpins, Weedetr shock kit, Posies tie rod, drag link and Super Slide spring.

 

Made a little more progress this week. Mocked up the trans./wishbone mount that Weedetr fabbed up for me. Couldn't quite get the spring shackles to slip in to mount the front axle, so Posies is sending me some slightly longer shackles.

Happened to be in Iowa recently, so went by Chassis Engineering and picked up a power brake adapter, dual diaphragm booster and Corvette master cylinder. Mocked those up as well. Didn't require taking off and spacing the pedal assembly, which was a nice relief.

 

Looks good. My CE parallel leaf kit mounts different but looks like yours gets it alot lower. I wish mine tucked as hard as yours does. I can still block it. Your front spring mount tucks up high inside the frame.

Good looking build so far. Race to see who is on the road first? Meet you in the middle of the country,.... maybe Kansas?

 

Finally had a chance to get back to it last weekend. Got the tranny mount squared away, hooked up the drag link and freed up the twisted rear spring. Got it off the jack stands and rolled it out for a look. There's still a lot of weight (engine internals, radiator, battery, etc., etc. etc.) to go back on the front end yet, so it will end up sitting even lower. I'm pretty satisfied with the height. I think it's about as low as I feel comfortable having it and still being streetable.



Here's a shot of the WEEDETER split wishbone/T-5 transmission mount:



And the front axle/spring:



Still may need to do some sorting on the drag link as it hits the wishbone when wheel is turned far left. Wondering if I can mount it upside down by reaming the bottom of the steering arm or find a dropped arm? Also still need to work through the shock, sway and track bar mounting.

 

Took Thanksgiving week off to try to make some progress on the brake lines, installing the Painless wiring harness, etc. Got the MC adapter and MC painted and re-installed, along with the proportioning valve and residual pressure valves. Did a little line bending, but more to do. Put about 40 hours into the harness and I'm probably about 75-80% done. My goal is to have the harness wrapped in Painless' ClassicBraid wiring loom so no wires will be visible, so a lot of time was spent getting loops of the various wires to match so they could be tied tightly together. Also finally got the United Pacific LED tail lights mounted . . . certainly NOT bolt-on pieces.

 

Were you able to get the weedetr kit fit your 47 with out to many mods, and does anyone know the T-5 mounting dimensions

 

I made up a template for Weedetr and he custom-made the split wishbone/T-5 mount for me. Good guy to work with.

 

do you know if they kept it on file? How much did it differ form the original 35-40 part?