1952-59 Ford Evintho's '54 Customline build

Well, the time has come. Time for a build thread on the '54. The car has been waiting in the wings for 5 years while I finished the roadster project. The roadster is done. Here's the build thread for that...…
Projects - Evintho's '27 roadster build thread | The H.A.M.B.

Now on to the '54!

I'll keep it here in the social forums 'cause I'm confident the HAMB traditionalists won't be too happy with computer controlled fuel injection!

$1800 bought it. Complete and original....



Searching around for a drivetrain I located this '93 Mustang with a good running 5.0/AOD combo for $1500. I actually bought this 2 years ago and the wife and I have been enjoying road trips with the top down during the summers.



First thing I did was pull the front sheet metal to see what I had to work with....



65 years of grease, dirt and ****. The stuff was literally an inch thick! I s****ed as much off as I could but I really needed to give it a good sandblasting just so I could see some of the suspension bolts! I built some blast barriers out of s**** lumber and clear plastic sheeting...…





I gave it a cursory blast, yanked the motor and ****** then rolled it into the garage...…



I decided the first problem that needed addressing were the rotted toeboards, floorboards and rocker panels...….



I priced out some EMS repros for all the pieces I needed and it came out around $1500! Not gonna happen! I can build my own. Picked up some 18ga remnants at the local steel supply house for $80 which was more than enough to handle my needs! Opened up the drivers side first and found the body brace rotted through....



Remedied that...…

 

The front cowl mount was also toast.....





Fixed that...…



In addition, the inner rocker panel where the body brace attached was a mess.....




Done.....



On to the rocker panel. Opened it up and coated the inside with POR15. Cut a length of 18ga to shape and welded it in. I even cut the factory wire clip off the old rotted panel and attached that....





Had to fab a new piece at the bottom of the door jamb also. That side done.



Next up, toeboard. I got a little over zealous with a ball peen hammer trying to form the stiffening rib. That didn't work out so I resorted to my cheap Harbor Freight bead roller. The 1/2" die worked perfectly to form stiffening ribs!



Then I cut the floorboard...…



I formed the roll that transitioned into the trans tunnel with my high tech rolling tool.....



Many beads to roll on my cheap HF bead roller and couldn't have done it without my ***istant (and wife of 34 years). This ain't her first rodeo either! She's helped me pull many a motor and trans over the years!





All ****oned up....

 

On to the p*** side.
This side was more extensive so I decided to pull the door for easier access. Built a door dolly out of 2x4s and some cheap casters I had laying around. Made it real easy to pull the door myself (didn't even need the wife to help) and it's mobile so very easy to roll around.



Cut out the offending cancer.....



Same rot issues with the right side body brace and inner rocker.....





Done....





Right side toeboard….

 

Had to replace the right rear floorpan also.......



Had to make the small 'under the seat' section outta 5-6 pieces because of the elevations....



I think it came out pretty good considering it was all done on the cheap!







While I was at it I noticed rust starting to come through the previous owners bodywork on the p*** side rocker panel. I ground the old bondo out and found this mess....







Cleaned, derusted, POR15'd and welded in a new panel. A fresh coat of mud should get it looking just fine.



Next up is lay down some seam sealer and primer then I'll probably jump on the front suspension. More to come!

 

Great work on the panels and rust repair,how is the front cross member ? There is blueprint for that in the "Sticky Faq"

 

Good Wife ,Good life! We have been married 50 years! Good luck!

 

Good work, looking forward to more.

 

Awesome work!

 

I clicked on that link and got 'HAMB Error'. In fact I clicked on a bunch of those links and got the same message. Unfortunate because I was kinda relying on a lot of the info in the stickys. Examples: Adaption of a dual master cyl and power brake booster utilizing 4-wheel drum brakes (I'm not converting to discs) and conversion to self adjusting drum brakes. I got 'HAMB Errors' on both. Is there any remedy or info on those subjects?

 

Here is for the cross member.

 

This link may help some: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tonight-i-am-not-happy.1103171/#post-12515347 see the video. This video shows the installation of the self adjusters On a 52-54 you may have to re-position the adjuster slot guys have done that with a Dremel cut off disc,here are the part numbers from Autozone for the self adjuster kits. Front kits you need 2,#2514, rear kits #2515 also need 2, you will need 2 All in one kits part # H7045

 

Check your "Conversations" in box for a message.

 

Right on! Congrats on the buy! I'm in the middle of doing floor work on my 54, so I'm in awe of your pics haha. Looking forward to the progress of your car!

 

I had to reposition adjuster slot on one side of my 55.

 

Got a couple more things done. Prepped and primed the floorpan and layed down some seam sealer.



Didn't want to pay $30 a tube for the high end automotive stuff so I picked this up at Home Depot for $7 a tube. I used a case of this when I painted my house last year and it's quality sealer. Good enough for my house, good enough for the car!



Done with the floors!



Moved onto the next task, pulling the front suspension which will be rebuilt.



With no front end I needed a way to roll it out of the garage when I pull it out for sandblasting so I built a car dolly using 1" square tubing and some casters I had. Rolls quite nicely!

 

Floors look good. Hopefully my $700 invested in EMS turn out as nice. Probably more patches needed as well but that’s what I can tell before I start cutting them out. I might have to get one of those HF bead rollers for my trunk pans.

Are you going back to stock suspension or bags?

 

Nice work!

 

Rebuilt stock suspension w/Aerostar coils. About done with the electric power steering install. I'll post some pics soon.

 

Looks fantastic! I can’t wait to have this kind of skill

 

Very nice! Floors look great, as does the dolly.

 

Floors look great! I debated the same thing on some floors (and rocker panels) I am currently working on for a OT project at least for this group. However, all said and done, I ended up only having to spend about $250 on all the patch panels we needed so went that route. A few of the parts were fairly complicated, so I didn't figure I was anywhere skilled enough to make them myself. I will have to make a few small patches out of a piece of sheetmetal I have, but nothing like you have done.

 

Really nice so far.

 

jobs that cost a fortune don't look any better than that......well done

 

Just updating this build thread and keeping it current with the electric power steering install post.
Here's the link...….
Saturn Vue electric power steering conversion





Before I threw the dash back in I mounted up my Newport 12v electric wiper motor. New wiper bushings too.



I also blasted and got some paint on the front suspension pieces. I purchased new Aerostar coils from RockAuto and a new front end rebuild kit from these guys...…
Front suspension rebuild kit

Got all the bushings installed, now I'm just waiting for the weather to clear so I can roll the car outside and blast/paint the undercarriage.

 

How do you like their front rebuild kit? Shopping around myself, seen they have a listing on ebay as well but debating on pulling the trigger with these guys

 

Three guesses on where they are made, but they seem to strive to make good stuff.

 

this is a great thread - subscribed, "watched" or what have you. Keep it coming!

 

Well, it's the cheapest one I've found, fast shipping and great communication. I went over each piece pretty carefully when it arrived. Seems to be fairly decent quality! Rubber dust boots seem thick, castle nuts are large (I've seen Speedway nuts that were half the size), each piece is individually bagged and all threads are the proper ones and good. As far as I can tell the rubber bushings look good. Maybe the steel isn't of the highest quality but, they don't make steel today like they did in '54! Here's a pic comparing the bushing shell collars. They're the same thickness.



All in all, I'm quite pleased....and I luv the price!

 

Awesome to hear, definitely helped with my decision thanks! Great thread!

 

Glad it helped you!
Continuing on......today was a dirty day! Started out by removing all the factory seam sealer that Ford installed in the rear trunk area behind the bumper. It trapped a ton of moisture and the panels just rotted through. The PO decided to bondo over the rust! Out of sight, out of mind!









After recovering from my bout of depression, I turned my attention to s****ping out the seam sealer in the drip rails.





This just keeps getting better and better!

Also, stripped off the door weatherstripping. Looks like the metal work isn't going to end anytime soon!





Finally finished off the day with a bit of satisfaction. Was able to clean up the nasty factory gas/temp gauge cluster. Came out pretty good.





That's all for today.