Projects Thompson Shoebox Ford Build

wow, i'm impressed!

 

Small update on the Shoebox. The motor has been rebuilt and dropped in and the front end has had a little por15 brushed on. The front brakes have been redone with all new parts as well. A little more plumbing for fuel and brakes plus a few more parts and were gonna have a running POS... HAHA. Cant wait till this thing runs and moves under its own power. Not too much metal work left but yeah its still not ready for bodywork. Ill post up in the coming weeks with progress as it comes. Still shooting for next spring to have it on the road....should be posting like a mad man soon... I'm running out of work and winter is coming so I wont have work

Thanks guys.

-Dane

 

Some progress! I know life gets in the way sometimes but im glad to see its moving forward

 

Dane.... Love the shoebox and now in the process of doing some much needed engine work on my shoebox...... My car is currently using the Old HURST Cradle Mount and I want to get rid of that and go to a better method that will allow PS Pump and a mechanical fuel pump... Is there any chance you can expand on this and maybe shoot a couple of pictures of your mounts.... Also WHAT exhaust Headers and steering are using on your car.....

Thanks....
Rich King

 

Thanks. I'm working on getting it to run and move under its own power at the moment so I don't have to push it in and out of the garage when I want to work on it. You talking about the motor mounts? If so it's just a jamco bolt in kit. The fuel pump outlet line is damn neer on the crossmember but it fits.

 

Just read the rest of your post.... I can snap a few pics for you soon. I'm running Chevy truck cast manifolds and the fit perfect. I figure it's not much of a race car so I didn't want to spend the time fabricating or customizing a drivers side header to clear the stock steering box. I also built a spacer for the tail shaft of the trans to lift the oil pan up just enough to clear the steering arm. I fabricated a new tunnel for the driveshaft because of the suspension so I just made it so it clears with the tranny up a little.

 

I also planned on using the current design Jamco engine mounts.. and make the old Yoke hurst mount into a wall hanger... I have been reading some of the posts reguarding JAMCO and their lack of service (Late Deliveries or no deliveries) just a little gun shy as to placing an order... Im using a tail mount that was made from a late model Elcamino rear cross member obviously cut and flattened the ends to fit my chassis. Im using a TH400 trans and I see that the tail shaft needs to be elevated a little bit but Im I need the engine mounts to see how much that I need to space it upwards. Right now my drive shaft seems to have pleanty of clearance and I do have some space in the trans tunnel to go up a little bit more.... The picture of your engine setting in the chassis seem to be a lot higher than mine (Relationship from the top of the valve cover to the firewall)..... Maybe you could get a shot of the Drivers side exhaust header. The header (Driver Side) is an above the plugs and comes straight down between cylinder 5 & 7..... One of the manifold studs is hitting the top of the steering box.... Maybe you can remeber what year chevy truck you got the manifold off of..........

Great talking to you and any information that you can supply is greatly appreciated...

Rich King
AKA Rags to Richs

 

If you need motor mounts Shoebox Central in Oklahoma City has them on the shelf and excellent customer service. Chris has been at it 26 years and knows his stuff.

 

Im looking at Conversion Mounts SBC to Shoebox..... Dont think that Shoebox Central has them........

Rich
Aka Rags to Richs...

 

I'll bet he does! http://shoebox-central.com/Search.aspx?q=sbc

 

Hey Rags, We do have the engine mounts in stock. Our Inventory of parts has never been as big ass it is right now.

 

Hottweelz

I will be placing an order next week for EC4951C
49-51 FORD ENGINE CONVERSION - SMALL BLOCK CHEVY V-8

Rich
aka Rags.....


Still looking for a Shoebox Dropped Center Link......

 

I have a Jamco engine mount setup in my Shoebox (although a SBF) , and I'm very happy with quality , fit , etc .

 

I live by Jamco so I went down and picked up the parts so shipping was a non issue. I have the trans crossmember as well.

 

El Diablo.... Could you shoot me a photo of the drivers side of your engine with the chevy truck header... I'm concerned about the clearance on my header to the steering box...... If you like you can send it directly to me otrr@yahoo.com

Thanks
Rags

 

My car is at a friends house at the moment so I can't walk outside and take a pic. If I swing by his place today I'll take a few pics. They are truck manifolds not headers and I would imagine the performance is not grate.

 

Rags
I have the Jamco sbf motor mounts, rear leafs springs drop spindles front sway bar and the pieces that move the upper control arm to make it adjustable in my ride. Everything but sway bar and relocators came with the car not installed. Great products horrible service. Maybe the rep can provide the answer to why some many people have black listed them and what they are doing to change the problems reported in a million threads on here. You could get them from butch's cool stuff now he has awesome customer service. I have bought a few things from him and when a order was messed up he sent a bunch of free bees to make up for it and overnighted the stuff at no extra cost. Good luck!

Sorry for high jacking your thread the build looks great take more pictures!!!!


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Thanks Mr Dickies, The build is kicking my ass at the moment. I have learned that the mid 80's small block chevy 350's differ form the earlier 350's. I thought a sbc was an sbc…. no its not. So after installing the motor, exhaust, trans…. everything to fire it up… no oil pressure…. turns out the oil pump rod was too short…. no oil pressure when tired to prime motor.. oooops. Anyway motor is back together and in the car and am hoping to fire it this week…. needless to say car is a mess with every fluid the car has in it on most of the front end parts witch is gonna be sweet when body and paint work time comes…. oh well I just want to hear the damn thing run!!!!

Rags: Here are pics of the drivers side manifold with the front off and the sun shining in the camera but you get the idea I hope.

-Dane

 

El Diablo..... Thanks for the picture.... This clears up a few questions. My car currently has a Hurst YOKE mount in the front of my engine... The yoke sets the engine ver low in the front.. I can see that your engine sets much higher than mine. I have the same manifolds that you have but my right side manifold was hitting the upper control arm on the right side of the engine... The use of the JAMCO has your engine a good inch higher than mine. The Motor Mounts will get ordered today.

Looking at your picture I thought that your motor was a GM Crate Engine... If so why did you run into a problem with the oil pump? Did you change your Oil Pan for the Nova pan?

Thanks
Rags.....

 

Score!!! Just picked up a new toy a 37" Pexto Sheer! I would have liked to get a 42" but hell I can't complain for $200.It cuts like butter!!!

Hey Rags: No the motor I have is a bastard motor that I pieced together on my shoestring budget. Its an 80 block and I had an early model pump rod installed. Wish it was a crate motor….. then it would be running by now… HAHA

 

Life just go a lot easier for you my friend. I am very jealous right now. Soon I'll have one.




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Everything I have done up till this point has been with hand tools as far a cutting metal goes. It will save time for sure and all the cut off pieces will have straight edges…. makes life a lot better.

The guy still has an 8 foot brake for a good price but its overkill for my garage. I can give anyone contact info if they would like to pick it up.Your gonna have to be creative lifting it tho…

 

I made some progress this weekend. I figured I could go and look at all the cool cars at the GNR show or I could spend my time getting closer to having my own car that I can drive. I finished all the hard lines for the gas and brakes. My car still looks like hell but it starts up and I have brakes!! Next weekend I plan on converting the column shifter to the TH350. Then I should be able to pull it in and out of the garage so that I can work on it weekends and evenings. I still have a bit of metal work to do and lots of body work till she is paint ready. Ill post more pics of her when I start the rest of the mods I have planned.

 

Great news! What are the planned mods? Look forward to seein more pictures.


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I still have to peak the hood, Im going to shrink the size of the original trunk handle/ license plate cover thing. I have a two tone style steering wheel ring to graft onto the original center…. and I thats all I can think of a the moment. Im gonna pick up some materials to make the shift linkage this weekend then its back to sheet metal work so I can get into the body in time to have it for summer….. we will see!! I sat in it and started it again tonight… yeah a V8 sound helps for motivation every time!!! Tire smoke will help even more. HAHA!

 

Almost forgot. Motor Pic and free plasma cutter pick!!! Stacking up the tools and the year just started…… Im working on getting a bailey industrial magnetic brake this year as well….

 

Way to rub in your tools are better than mine! Motor looks great!


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Haha sorry mr dickies..... Don't mean to be rude. Just excited. I'm doing some rear quarter panels rite now on a 65 chevelle and the customer happened to have this sitting on a shelf and showed up with it and said it was my new toy. Ill post some pics this weekend of progress on the shoebox.

 

I'm just busting your balls. I almost bought that model a few years ago. Have you used it yet?


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Yeah yesterday. I had a chines eBay one and it had a lot more amps than this one but this one cuts nice and is good for what I do. Its also self starting which seems to keep the tip nice and clean and will cut through paint and crud better than the other one I used. It not a tool I'm gonna use all the time but like every other tool in my garage when you need it you got it. If I were going to buy one I would get one with a bit more amps so I could cut 1/4 plate. I don't work with anything heavier than that and if I do I have friends with equipment that will handle it if need be.