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Projects The '40 MorDor project

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by bchrismer, May 18, 2016.

  1. 40Standard
    Joined: Jul 30, 2005
    Posts: 5,971

    40Standard
    Member
    from Indy

    I'm enjoying your build. Keep it coming. thanks
     
    bchrismer likes this.
  2. LOL. Thanks.

    20160711_195605.jpg
    Parked outside the restaurant where we had dinner, on the other side of town.

    After picking up the sedan from the muffler shop, I was pretty excited to drive it. I had the exhaust guy use the old glasspacks and the old tail pipes, so I was happy with the sound, well, except for the squealing belt that I could now hear. Every time I'd step on the loud pedal, you'd have thought I kicked a pig!

    A new belt, some additional tension, and a little bit of bar soap seem to have that under control now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2016
    Tim and warbird1 like this.
  3. 20160712_080348-1.jpg
    Yesterday, the forecast was fairly decent, so I hopped in the sedan and drove it to my scheduled "office" day, in Branson. It's about 45 miles away, so it always serves as a great opportunity to put some miles on a car while getting them tested out. I'd driven it a few places, with the pipes snipped at the firewall, but now that I had full length exhaust, I could finally drive it without having ringing ears for hours afterwards, too.

    The trip to the office was pretty uneventful, other than the recurring belt squeal, once I got up to about 2500 RPM. The trip home, however, was where my trip became more of an adventure.

    I tend to run on faith (some would call it foolishness), with very few tools, and no extra parts. I did throw in a socket set and some wrenches, but didn't think to stop and grab an extra fuel filter. About halfway home, the fuel filter clogged. It's hanging just off of the fuel tank, between the tank and the electric fuel pump, so at least it was fairly easy access. I pulled the filter, knocked out some chunks of rust, blew through it, and put it back on. Back in bid'ness! Made it back to Springfield, but I had to run east of town, to pick up some club t-shirts. While on that run, I had to stop another time and blow out the filter.

    Apparently, the second time I blew out the filter, I caused the cap, on the paper filter, to pop off, so I started sucking crap into the filter that is on the fuel pump. Had to stop about 5 more times, before I could hike over to a store and grab another one.

    The foolish part of that whole thing was that I passed 2 O'Reilly stores, an Autozone, and a WalMart, where I could have picked up another filter, just after the initial clogging. Yeah, I probably should have dropped and flushed the tank, prior to ever driving it, but where's the fun in that?

    Once I installed the new filter, it was back in bid'ness, and the car ran great again.
     
  4. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 19,549

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    You should wrangle some drivers and get s fun video of all three 40's cruising together
     
  5. guthriesmith
    Joined: Aug 17, 2006
    Posts: 11,406

    guthriesmith
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. H.A.M.B. Chapel

    I know of one spare that will be in town tonight. ;)
     
  6. You volunteering?
     
    Tim likes this.
  7. 40LUV
    Joined: Dec 30, 2003
    Posts: 1,887

    40LUV
    Member
    from Mid Jersey

    Is that speedo accurate?
     
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  8. The 39 guy
    Joined: Nov 5, 2010
    Posts: 3,718

    The 39 guy
    Member

    Your thread is certainly interesting! Just one adventure after another. It's always fun to check in and see whats happening on the More door project. The fuel problem reminded me of my first Forty (many years ago)( a 4 door). I had an old dirt floored single stall garage at the time and had to crawl around in the dirt to get that old gas tank out to clean it. The wife took a picture of covered with dirt from head to toe. Since no one as making replacements and I could not afford one anyway I coated the inside with rubber stuff they used in aircraft tanks. It was the first thing I did to the car as it was obvious from the smell of the old fuel that I had a potential problem. Although I enjoy hearing stories of fixing things along the road I try to avoid being the story as much as possible. But then I don't have as many interesting stories to tell.

    I hope you keep posting your progress and mis- adventures, it is all good reading.
     
    36 ROKIT and bchrismer like this.
  9. LOL. No...I need to take some time and pull the speedometer driven gear out of the transmission, count teeth, and do some calculating. I was running along at about 63MPH when I took that photo.
     
  10. Thanks! I'm having fun. Yesterday's adventure was actually something that I did expect, however, in my "fun first" mode, I failed to grab a few spare filters.

    True confession time: This is NOT the first time that I have done stupid stuff like this.

    1. The '40 coupe - Back in 1995, I got the thing on the road, but DID have the tank boiled out, but ran into similar issues. It wasn't until my first long road trip where I did the pull the filter, blow it out, and reinstall, that I pulled the tank again, for another flush. What I found made me laugh, and took me back to around age 5. My buddy and I had gone to the store and bought pea shooters. When I drained the tank and flushed it out, a couple of peas rolled out of the filler neck. That's when I remembered finding my buddy laughing because he put some down the filler neck, back around 1971.
    2. The '40 stake truck - My aunt and uncle had bought it back in the mid 70's, and quit driving it in the early 80's. It sat in storage until 2012, when I got it on the road. After several stops on the side of the road, blowing out fuel lines, I finally pulled the tank out and emptied about a half of a 5lb coffee can full of rusty chunks out of the bottom of the tank. Installed a new Tanks, Inc, tank and haven't had an issue since. (lemme just tell ya...replacing a tank on a stake truck is a bear! They don't just slide out like on a sedan or coupe. You have to lift the bed to get them out)
    3. The '54 F100 - Sat for 30 years, and fortunately, I remembered to carry a spare filter.
    4. The MorDor - And I already told that story.

    So...yeah, I should DEFINITELY know better, but again...where's the fun in that?

    After coming home, having had both arms covered with gasoline, I don't know why my wife refused to give me a hug.
     
  11. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 19,549

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    Yup! Maybe I'll drive the 46 down and try on some fat tires from the stake bed haha
     
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  12. The 39 guy
    Joined: Nov 5, 2010
    Posts: 3,718

    The 39 guy
    Member

    Great stories! I didn't think that getting a tank out of a coupe or sedan was easy so that truck must be one tough booger to get out! Coming home with gas smell over you is like your dog coming in the the house with that really swell smelling dead animal perfume they just rolled in and expecting you to give a good atta boy.......
     
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  13. Clay @cvstl got after me this morning, because he wanted to hear how the car sounds now that I have the pipes reconnected. I had to step away from the work computer and run out to the garage. Forgive the mess that has accumulated around the side of the garage. He also is encouraging me to yank that 327 out and throw in a cheap SBC before I sell the sedan. I'm tempted, but not motivated to do that, yet. If I am sitting on it for a while, that could happen later this fall, but I am hoping that I'll be remembering "the '40 MorDor sedan I used to have" by then.

     
    UNCLECHET and Tim like this.
  14. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 19,549

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    Sounds good!
     
  15. Spent a little time under the car, modernizing the oil filter, with a spin on adapter. Changed the oil, and took it out for a spin. Before I left the house, I popped some caps onto the driver's side, just to get an idea of whether I liked that look or not. I don't know if the caps are too "finished" looking, or if I have just gotten used to seeing it without.

    So...public opinion poll time. Caps or no caps?
    20160716_103338.jpg 20160716_103324.jpg
     
  16. okiedokie
    Joined: Jul 5, 2005
    Posts: 4,905

    okiedokie
    Member
    from Ok

    I vote caps. Good job on the MorDor by the way.
     
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  17. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,099

    50Fraud
    Member Emeritus

    Caps. And hood, before you're all done.

    I don't know if there's a smoothie cap, something like a '40 hubcap in appearance, available for use with rally wheels. I'd try that if it's possible.
     
  18. Thanks, Joe. I get by with a little help from my friends!

    Today is cutting grass day, and I have been procrastinating as much as possible. I declared that I needed to run to the store for some trimmer line, and used it as an excuse to get out and drive the MorDor some more. I first stopped at the bank, where the kids working there were asking about the car, and if I hauled shine in it. When I got to the WalMark, as grandma used to call it, I had a guy hollar at me that he really liked my car. When I got into the lawn and garbage department, he was standing there looking at lawn mower stuff, and I told him thanks for the compliment, but this is the roughest of the 3 that I have. He was a bit shocked when I told him that it wasn't a running and driving car 2 months ago, and said that he REALLY liked the sound of the engine.

    As I was walking out, there was a fella out looking at the car. I gave him the old "I hope you didn't walk all the way out here just to look at that old beater" line. He was telling me how cool he thought it was. I should have told him it could be his, for the right amount.

    Just for funzies, after I got home, I ran out to the garage, grabbed a couple of moon discs off the wall, and stuck them on with some duct tape. Just an FYI...Duct tape is not good when stored in a garage. Man, does that sticky stuff get messy when it's out in the heat!
    13690769_10208955386869644_5332912466416443271_n.jpg I'd be real tempted to screw these on, if I had two more 15" ones.
     
  19. Yeah, the hood is a definite "gotta do" that I haven't gotten around to yet. When looking for caps for the wheels, I had the options of the stock bullet style or the "highway patrol" caps (at least through Speedway). Rally wheels were definitely NOT my first choice, but since I had two that we had taken off of Dad's T, it was the cheapest option, and since this project is all about getting it on the road for "the next guy", cheapest was the option that I chose.
     
  20. hoop
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 660

    hoop
    Member

    Looking Good!
     
    bchrismer likes this.
  21. Thanks, Steve! It's a hood fitting and gas tank flush away from going on Craigslist.

    I've been out driving it quite a bit this weekend. The more I drive it, the more crud I seem to be knocking loose inside the tank. I will say, it has quite a kick between first and second. When I am on the loud pedal, it never fails to bark the back tires hitting second.

    It seems that the passenger side exhaust has worked it's way loose, just a bit, and was having some exhaust leak at the flange. I tightened the two bolts that I could reach, from up top, and will get the back one tomorrow, some time.
     
  22. geoford41
    Joined: Jul 26, 2011
    Posts: 766

    geoford41
    Member
    from Delaware

    You really do not need 2 more of either caps in MHO, no one can see both sides of the car at once! I am going to do that with my '40 Coupe once I get the same size tire on the front TTD's that I have on the red steelies with 50 Ford caps & Stainless Steel ribbed beauty rings! Love your Mor Dor. I missed one way back when in NJ a '39 Deluxe with a SBC 283 stock '39 3speed
     
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  23. I think if you add a bit of color on the caps, maybe in between lines, it will break up all the chrome. Still works out good though.
     
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  24. Drove the sedan down to Branson and back, on Tuesday. Ran GREAT, however, the plywood passenger side toe board was pretty rotten, and wound up blowing the whole right side of it apart! Talk about a mess, with wood fibers flying all over inside the car.

    Took the sedan back down to the shop and swapped it back out for the '40 stake truck. I think that the truck must be jealous, as it gave me some fits today. It appears that I have a failing mechanical fuel pump on the flatty. Fortunately, I live in the hometown of O'Reilly Auto, where if I order early enough in the day, I can have my parts on the "next truck". Unfortunately, I didn't get my order in until after the last truck ran, so I will be picking it up in the morning. (sorry to go off topic of the '40 MorDor)

    Hoping to get the new toe boards made this weekend, extend the gas pedal and add a spoon to it, and start fitting the hood. Maybe mount the horn and wire it and the lighter, too.
     
  25. Man, oh, man. I feel like it's been forever since I did anything with the sedan. I got distracted by the truck's fuel pump issue, which the new pump didn't help. Replaced rubber lines, blew everything out with air, and now I'm going to add an electric fuel pump into the line back by the tank. In addition to that, I had to clear out the garage, on the hottest week of the year, to have the house treated for termites.

    Tomorrow night, American National Insurance has asked me to have the truck and the coupe over at an event that they are hosting, so after that, I should be able to drop the truck back off at the shop and get back on track with the sedan.

    Plans for this weekend:
    • Fit hood
    • Replace wood toe boards
    • Modify the gas pedal as planned
    • Swap steering wheels with the one that I got from @BenD
    • Install and wire a horn
    • Wire the lighter (so I can charge my phone)
    • Pull the speedo gear so I can calculate the changes I need to make to get the speedometer closer to "actual"
    • Get some decent photos and list it on Craiglist
     
  26. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 19,549

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    You should have someone chase you with the mordor when you drop the truck and coupe off to run you back to the shop. Anyone watching will be sure to wonder how many of those dang things you have lol
     
  27. 20160730_134550.jpg
    Finally got the hood back on the car. Was kinda strange driving it with the hood on, but I like the way it looks MUCH better.
    20160730_182946.jpg
    20160730_183016.jpg
    20160730_183155.jpg
    20160730_183206.jpg
    20160730_183229.jpg
    20160730_183244.jpg
    Took it up by the neighborhood pool for a quick photo shoot, after giving the hood a good scrubbing.

    Got the passenger side toe board replaced today, too. Didn't get to the horn, lighter, or replacing the faulty 6v regulators on the gas and oil pressure gauges, though. Wound up mowing grass, instead.

    It'll be for sale up at the Springfield, MO Swap Meet, in the car corral, and I am planning on driving it over to the HAMB Drags, if it doesn't have a buyer on Friday. If it doesn't sell that weekend, it'll probably be over at Frog Follies with a For Sale sign in the windows, too.
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2016
    LongT, guthriesmith and Tim like this.
  28. 20160805_130354.jpg
    Part of the fun is putting the miles on them, and working out the bugs. Since the last fuel filter swap, things have been great.

    Ran to the grocery store to mail out some club member tshirts and put a few more miles on the odometer.
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2016
    Tim, guthriesmith and LongT like this.
  29. guthriesmith
    Joined: Aug 17, 2006
    Posts: 11,406

    guthriesmith
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    1. H.A.M.B. Chapel

    Clunky members? :rolleyes:
     
  30. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,099

    50Fraud
    Member Emeritus

    Or clunky T-shirts?
     
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