Projects 40 Ford Sedan "The Varmit" IS DONE! Successfully completed a Reliability Run

I know it will dude. You just wait. You can take the most ugly car in the world and make it look right with the right stance. Stance is everything. All or none.

 

Dan, I am gonna be in Plano, on 2/10. Find ya a 300lb buddy and he and I can stand in the front end and see how far down she drops. LOL

 

Nice parts collection and I like the direction you're going with it!

 

Quick update: getting the motor ready. I still need to drill the back of the intake for the PCV. I drilled the front for the oil fill tube already.

The valve covers were a little on the rough side, but I spent several hours on them and look pretty good. Junior Stock was able to dig out an exhaust manifold for me, this one is a right side rear dump, used on the driver's side to clear the steering box. I also got a speedway hurst style mount and have everything to bolt up the trans. I need to replace the clutch throwout bearing and inspect the trans/change the oil before that's ready to bolt up.. Little by little!

I was in AutoZone and VHT Gold Flake "kissed me back" as my grandpa would say, so that's what the motor got for color.

 

Doesn't even look like the same motor.

 

Looks good Dan, I like the Gold!

 

Very nice, I as well like your color choice.

 

Looking good!

 

How sweet it is!!

 

I like your color choice also.

 

Excellent!!! I agree with Roothawg...it doesn't look like the same motor!! Love the gold and all you're doing with this car. Keep the updates coming!!!

 

Over the last month I tackled the steering box/column drop. I got the box all back together, properly adjusted and shimmed with a coat of rustoleum epoxy appliance paint. This piece was by far the most caked with grease part I've ever had to deal with. A lot of wire brush work because I don't have a parts washer or a sandblast cabinet. So far I've got by doing things by hand and letting small parts soak in vinegar overnight, wire brush and repeat.


In a previous post I said I was going to buy a Limeworks column drop. Well, after removing the stock drop from the column, I realized it wasn't as cherry as I thought, and with the urging of other 40 owners I decided to make the original drop, lock and switch work.

This is what I started with: along with some rounded out holes I drilled.

If you know anything about these, you know I was missing a few pieces. So, the research began, and with the help of the Early Ford Store and Ray Naceiwicz(Sp?) from fordbolts.com, I obtained everything to make the old drop new again. What I didn't know is that I was missing the housing for the back of the switch, but a fellow 40 lover had an extra one of those and passed it on to me in kindness. Even though I made a mess of drilling out the bolt for the column clamp, I was able to run a tap through and salvage some threads. But some over-eager tightening junked those threads. I then tapped it with a larger size. Then the larger size bolt interfered with the column! DOH! So I bought a machine screw and nut and bolt/nutted it tight. Hey, it's functional.

In the end, restoring the original drop was way more expensive than the Limeworks drop, but I'm glad I did it. The cool factor is definitely there, and I can retain the push button start and the column locks properly.

I also lightly scuffed the 40 standard wheel I got from ebay, and applied several coats of white appliance epoxy. I also painted the column and cleaned up the shift linkage.



I pushed it outside to sweep up the acre of South Dakota and metal bits that fall off of this car when I work on it...

Thanks for following along.

 

Nice work! The car is coming along nicely.

 

It's good to follow a true garage build.

 

Very nice car. I love your attention to detail. It's the little stuff that makes all the difference....

 

Those hub caps sure look good! ;-)

 

Thanks guys!

 

Looking great!!! The drop, column and wheel look AWESOME!!! I love this build!!!!!

 

That small block looks badass.

 

Love this so far. Now I want one...

 

So I've had a few setbacks in the build, and I thought I'd share them here in case someone is doing a similar setup, hopefully I can save you some headaches.

I had to remove the old pilot bushing, and I used bread....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkRmKWktW70

I got a free flywheel from a friend, and I was excited because it had the 11 5/8 bolt circle needed for the borg and beck Mercury pressure plate. Well, unbeknownst to me at the time, the flywheel came of a 400 which is externally balanced. 350's and the like are internally balanced and need a neutral flywheel. So, instead of getting a machine shop to balance my flywheel, I opted for one at JEGS, that also has the correct 11 5/8 bolt circle. Here is the part #555-601205 if anyone runs into the same problem.
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performance+Products/555/601205/10002/-1
Here is the Jegs flywheel with the merc pp bolted up.
<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/user/danhay/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-17.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a>

Then I tried a test fit of the components without the bell housing, and ran into some trouble...
<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/user/danhay/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-21.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a>

It looks like the fingers on the PP are TOO LONG!!
<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/user/danhay/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-22.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a>

I finally relented and called WILCAP.. great tech and very friendly. It turns out that yes, my PP is from a 49-53 Merc, but this particular PP was used with the 3 speed overdrive transmission, which has a smaller input shaft and throwout bearing which requires the longer PP fingers.... SO, I went ahead and ordered the right PP from WILCAP over the phone. $135, I didn't think that was too bad.

In other news, I wire-wheeled my firewall and laid down some epoxy appliance paint...
<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/user/danhay/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-18.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a>
<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/user/danhay/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-19.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a>

I have a SW Vacuum gauge to fill the hole in the firewall from the old hot air heater.
<a href="http://s4.photobucket.com/user/danhay/media/Mobile%20Uploads/photo-20.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a>

Thanks for following along!

 

Looking really good! The firewall looks nice.

 

Thank you sir! The firewall looks better in pics than it does in person, but it matches the quality of the rest of the car...

 

Get that motor installed.....

 

I assume you found a cam?
r

 

Well, my plans change as the wind changes direction. I decided to keep this motor stock and go with the cam that was already in it. My rationale is why am I tuning up a motor that will be hooked to a somewhat fragile trans and rearend... Seems like a waste of money.


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I have always loved the white firewalls,,looking great! HRP

 

Firewall is looking good!

 

creative way to fill an existing hole...


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Hey, Dan, You made the right decision about that cam. With the 327 loping down the street, I know I would be too tempted to punch it "just once in a while", which could become disastrous in a hurry. I have the same setup you are building, but my banjo is 4-11 with 29" bias plies, and I only get 9 mpg at 70 mph and turning 3300+rpm's. Bad setup. I am the one who has been talking to you about the Reliability Run. My address is 1810 Summerwood Dr., San Antonio @78232. Thanks a lot and good luck with your sedan.