Projects Rusty 47 Ford Reserection

Well I promised everyone some pics before I went back to work, and since thats tomorrow here ya go lol! I didnt get a whole lot done on the car...spent the better part of a week getting a winter beater put together for the wife, got real live electricity in the shop, (no more extension cords from the house!)
got to spend some time with my brother and his family who were here from Ottawa for the holidays, dealt with my wife and daughter both being sick and have been sick myself for the last few days as well...all in all a great little holiday

So I decided on a set up for the gas tank filler, there just wasnt enough room to run it to the original gas door without using up some of the little trunk space I have left, so I used a filler neck I robbed from a friends old S10 cleaned it up (had to fix a rust hole in it ,surprise !) and fitted her up to the 55 chevy tank I am using



I cut out the gas door from the S10 as well but I didnt have enough room to run it after I sectioned it so I just used the opening...



Then I was able to finally finish off the back of the trunk floor and get it all welded up solid, and finished up the weatherstrip lip as well...

I am not quite sure what I will do for a door yet, I was thinking of taking a plaque from my club in my hometown and maybe hinging it ...or cutting a chunk of 1/8 stainless I have and making a door from that ...



I got another couple of hours of welding on the trunk area then it should all be done, I will probably bolt up then weld on the rear fenders after that, that would give me an excuse to assemble the english wheel so I can shape some nice strips of metal to mold in the rear fenders

Hope everyone had a good Christmas, and I promise more frequent updates !!

 

Managed to loose a pic from the above post, I will blame Photobucket !

 

Love the plaque idea!! Good show, impressed that you got anything done over the holidays. I didn't.

 

I had great plans to get a lot more done....got lots done just not on this car lol ! Hopefully its full steam ahead !

 

Oh no pressure is on me now for a update!! Great job. interesting use of that S10 opening.

 

Ya.. the plaque idea is great. Go for it.
I imagine you are happy to see the trunk area coming together after all this.

Sorry to read that you and the crew were ill. Tis the season to be sneezin.
Oh.. how's your back doing?

Great about the power in the garage now. Your welder should be happy about that.

What did you put together as a beater for the missus?

What do you have for heat in the the garage?

I managed to get rotors temporarily setup on the front of the T so I can have it sitting at ride-height. Next week I should be able to keep it in a garage for a few months!!!
Maybe I'll see progress on it but I'll leave the honour of making progess to you, Rick and Fitzee.
Never know. Under a roof I might actually get something done.

 

Great to see you back at it Steve!
Amazing what you were able to do on an extension cord.
Sorry to hear everyone was a bit under the weather during the holidays...but glad its all passed now!
Sure hope you built her a good car...you know how it goes down:

Happy wife = happy life.

 

Progress is progress. Got me beat. Keep it rollin while you got it goin.

 

Ya.. the plaque idea is great. Go for it.
I imagine you are happy to see the trunk area coming together after all this.

Sorry to read that you and the crew were ill. Tis the season to be sneezin.
Oh.. how's your back doing?

The backs not too much better gonna try and find a competent chiropractor and see if that makes any diff...

Great about the power in the garage now. Your welder should be happy about that.

Lol the welder is still cranky too still making the noises that sounds like something shorting out I was actually in Dartmouth on Fri with Flatheadfever, looking at some new machines (dreaming more like it) at least they are alot cheaper than when I bought this one 15yrs ago!


What do you have for heat in the the garage?

With the electricity I have 2 radiant heater on the ceiling and the salamander, but my flakey neibour who is a furnace tech says he has a furnace for me but I am still waiting....

I managed to get rotors temporarily setup on the front of the T so I can have it sitting at ride-height. Next week I should be able to keep it in a garage for a few months!!!
Maybe I'll see progress on it but I'll leave the honour of making progess to you, Rick and Fitzee.
Never know. Under a roof I might actually get something done.

Thats cool Joe dont ya think its about time for a build thread ! It can keep ya motivated ,trust me on that one ! I wanna see some pics!

What did you put together as a beater for the missus?

Well since you asked..... it started with the O/T 85 Parisienne I had stashed at my moms for 2 yrs...I really should have started working on it a few months back...its super clean underneath but needs some mech work and new exhaust etc along with a bit of body work in the doglegs, I got started on the worst of the bodywork, when Lindsay (Flatheadfever) suggested I fix the wounded 80 Lemans he gave me ( I wanted the motor & trans for the 47) cause it still had almost a yr on the MVI ...so it took me a few weeks to find a usable lower 4 link arm to replace the rusty one Lindsay twisted to ratshit trying to do a burnout I ended up having to cut open the frame to get the nut off the control arm what a rusty mess ! When all was said and done I got the arm replaced and a bunch of patches on the driverside of the frame and the wifes got a mint 1980 Lemans lol!It will be off the road in the spring as soon as the 85 is roadworthy , so with out further ado here is proof that I can do quickie patch it jobs too lol!



Heres the new minivan for this summer



And heres the future motor trans donor for the coupe...too bad its so rusty it drives pretty nice! I even scored 4 nearly new snows from kijiji for $80.

 

Good luck with that back and finding someone who can help. Scary stuff man.

I'm amazed your welder is still working, considering the snapping inside.
Yes, the prices have sure dropped compared to way back when.
I really like the 110V Lincoln I have for light stuff but I miss the oomph of the 220V that I had borrowed before. But I have a stick welder I'll use for frame stuff.

Hopefully you get the furnace. Do the radiant heaters work decent?
I was going to build something for heating the place where I'll be playing but I just got a furnace donated this evening. It needs some firebox work but it will be less work than building from scratch.

Not sure if I'll do a build thread here. I'm so slow with it that it would get lost and take years. I have pics on photobucket. That works for me.

Love that 85... The 80.. well.... it will be a good donor

So Lindsay "wounded" it.. funny.

By the way... what's that white stuff you have on the ground?

 

...so it took me a few weeks to find a usable lower 4 link arm to replace the rusty one Lindsay twisted to ratshit trying to do a burnout

Way to go, Lindsay. Pretty funny stuff.

Damn Steve, is that your Merc?

When ya'll say "a furnace", what the hell do you mean? A wood burner? Coal? Gas? Forced air? Brrrr . . .

And Steve, please convince GizmoJoe that he needs to start a build thread. So what if it drags out for 5 more years. None of us are going anywhere, we can tough it out.

 

Hopefully you get the furnace. Do the radiant heaters work decent?
I was going to build something for heating the place where I'll be playing but I just got a furnace donated this evening. It needs some firebox work but it will be less work than building from scratch.

Not sure if I'll do a build thread here. I'm so slow with it that it would get lost and take years. I have pics on photobucket. That works for me.

Love that 85... The 80.. well.... it will be a good donor

So Lindsay "wounded" it.. funny.

By the way... what's that white stuff you have on the ground?



I have several names for it but it was like shoveling wet cement yesterday!
The radiant heaters arent too bad will be more noticable when I get some insulation in the attic, better than freezing, I am alot warmer than the 1st winter here thats for sure ! If I can scrape up the cash I may pick up one of those Lincoln knock offs, when I can afford a good one I will get a 220V machine...thats the dream anyways !

 

Ya hear that Joe !! There are build threads on here going on 5yrs...you wont be any different !

That was my Merc ...I will have to post some pics of it...wind storm picked up the temp garage beside it and dropped it on the back of the roof...crushed it pretty bad it was the best part of the car...not sure what I am gonna do with it yet, the whole episode kind of deflated my interest in it for now, there are some before pics I think in my albums, as far as a furnace it would be forced air oil...no natural gas around here, prolly the only place in North America without it !

I should take a pic of the lower 4 link arm , ya can see what good ol Canadian salt and snow does to steel

 

I just wanted to personally thank you. This thread alone can probably get me through my floor pans and rockers. Its almost a step by step. Thanks

 

"Ya hear that Joe !! There are build threads on here going on 5yrs...you wont be any different ! "
We'll see. I'm quite shy (really!). I'm amazed I even put it up on photobucket.

".....prolly the only place in North America without it !" (natural gas)
Many of us are quite happy to not have that explosive gas running around us. It's bad enough when we make our own "natural gas" with foods we eat!

I see you tacked the filler spout on the tank without any "boom-booms". How did you purge it? Or did I miss that part?

 

I just wanted to personally thank you. This thread alone can probably get me through my floor pans and rockers. Its almost a step by step. Thanks

Glad you got something usefull out of my rusty adventures!



I see you tacked the filler spout on the tank without any "boom-booms". How did you purge it? Or did I miss that part?

It had been dry for a lonnng time ! Picked it up for a 55 about 10 or so years ago (ya I dragged across the country with me!) it sat so long I have to weld a patch in the bottom now.....when I am finally driving this thing I think the only parts I wont have welded new metal onto might be the engine/trans

 

I see...
Well, you HOPE you won't have welded on the engine/transmission!
But you know how that goes.

Have you had much experience mig welding tanks? Do you plan on doing a pressure test and then use a sealer or just lay down some welds and make it work?

 

Have you had much experience mig welding tanks? Do you plan on doing a pressure test and then use a sealer or just lay down some welds and make it work?[/QUOTE]

I have welded up a few of them (you should have seen how bad the 55 chevy tank I used in my old 48 Chevy was) I will cut out the rusty section on the bottom so I will have three openings to sandblast through to clean up the inside good, then weld up the unwanted holes, sandblast the outside, use a sealer on the inside, then prep and paint the outside. I do try to find any pinholes and fill them with the mig...I stick a light inside (in the dark of coarse!) you will find the tiniest pinholes this way...but I try to take my time and get good even full penetration . It works for me, never had one leak on me...did a Corvette tank for a friend years ago it musta had 50 small holes in it lol !

 

Cool...
Sounds like you've been there and done that.
I've never "mig"ed a tank. Everyone talks about the start of the weld being porous and you need to do a back-pass over the start to make sure it's sealed.
I just wondered what your take was on it.
What do you use for sealer?

 

Hey Steve,i see you and i have the same type of tool box!

 

I'v heard POR15 tank sealer is the best.
Anyone confirm this before I go spending money?

 

Haha thats only a couple of hours of working...you should see the mess after a week Hows yer coupe coming along...it was looking damn fine in the last pic I saw of the ass end in primer!

 

I used the POR 15 stuff before, but I picked up a kit of the eastwood stuff at the swap meet in Moncton last fall...mostly cause it was sitting there in front of me, seems to be the same set up as the por15 kit.


I'v heard POR15 tank sealer is the best.
Anyone confirm this before I go spending money?

I liked it, never had any problems with my 48 chevy, even ran ethanol in it...I have used the POR15 "por-patch" to do really small pinholes (which appeared after blasting the outside of the tank)its like a concentrated form of the paint, kinda like black toothpaste. I haven bought any for years but if they still sell it it was really great for the small pinholes, you could go over your welds too but the in tank sealer would seal up any of those anyways...

 

I've used it. Make sure you follow the instructions to the letter. Its REALLY good stuff - I'd recommend it

 

A few pics of this weekends progress....not too exciting to look at but I did finally get the welding around the trunk opening and the driver side end of the upper quarter panel done...also welded up the factory holes that were used to secure the orig filler neck, and attach the trunk supports to the wheel tubs.





Inner fender work , its nice to get this boring shit done and outta the way



Forgot to take a before pic of the drivers side...

 

Hay this is great to see. I been chasing a clearance problem with my project.4 different manifolds and two set of heads later and I have it figure out. That is it!! your back at it now it is my turn.

 

After I got that out of the way I decided to prep and bolt up the rear fenders (they will be welded and molded on) so that I could decide on a plan of attack for a rear splash pan that will also be welded on ...





First time with the blasted and primed rear fenders bolted on...actually is starting to look like a car !



Heres the first test fit of the pan...I am hoping to be able to re-use enough of whats left of the Ford end pieces for the ends...I forgot to take a pic of the pan by itself, but basically I made a cardboard template, transfered to som 20 gauge (didnt have a piece of 18 large enough) , I then folded down an edge on the sides by hand , and she fit pretty good!

 

Lookin good.
Boring?!?!
I wish I was at the "boring" point!
But I have it in a garage now.

 

And today I got the ends fitted up and the pan fully welded in ...I have to remove the bumper to finish up the ends, i have to widen them a bit to fit under the edge of the bumper, and may extend the sides down a bit and kinda roll them under some, if the bumper hides the bottom of the sides I wont get to fancy in finishing them off. All in all between my stupid back and having to shovel snow today I got more done than I expected

 

Wow what was giving you so much grief ?