Technical What did you do with your car today? * NEW*

Shortened a Brad New set of headers 3" and welded the collector back on.



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I got the last round of poly primer on my roadster frame (gee, can't wait to get back to sanding). Removed the hokey aftermarket wind wings from my Model A coupe (now there's 6 holes in each door, oh well). All while watching NHRA qualifying. Then I drove the Morris Minor woody over to Mom's house to check on her. Pretty good day.

 

I went for a ride, the first time since early November.

 

Looked at my ride in the garage and wonder if I will ever get it out.
We got another 15" of snow 2 days ago. This sucks. This picture was taken on the same date last year.

 

Installed a new battery in the 37 and took it for the first drive of the year,the old battery was almost 8 years old and was a cheap one.

 

Doing a little rust repair on the Studebaker. Before and after.

 

Drove to church and went to see my mom. Nice day to drive the car around today in the upper 60’s even though it needs a good bath. Also, nice to show off my “new to me” shoes. Amazing how much difference some whitewalls and more correct height tires made to the old beater.

 

Refurbished the rightside lower and upper a-arm for the Ranchero.

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Skinned 5 lbs off a Flathead flywheel.

 

Finally removed the old [Short] dowel pins on my (1964) FE and installed new [Long] dowel pins to suit the RC Ind bellhousing. What a PITA, I had to use a propane torch in conjunction with a dowel pin removal tool as it couldn't be done in-car. Starter requires slight clearancing. Transmission tunnel was massaged for OEM FE bellhousing however it requires more to suit [Thicker] bellhousing. There's just no room to access both top bellhousing bolts
I also opened up both rear aprons behind the towers using windlace on edges to finish things. Another PITA job that's now done.




OEM Thunderbolt

 

Drove my '53 Ford to my friends place to check his progress on his '57 Ford FE swap project.

When I got home I replaced the transmission mount. I replaced the motor mounts about a month ago. Should have done them all at the same time. Clutch started to chatter after the new motor mounts. Guess it made the worn out tranny mount the weak link.

 

From the BillyBob Shop log

March 15th 2021 Finished the first pass with SCT and angle grinder tools. Went on to deal with the pesky oil galley plugs that are giving me conniption fits. Concentrated on the one threaded pipe plug first. I got a 5/16" pipe plug socket last week and was able to break the plug loose with a 24" breaker bar after heating up the plug with the MAP torch and quenching with penetrating oil.

Several of the press in plugs were drilled with a small hole and pulled out with a self-tapping bolt and claw hammer. The press in plugs at the opposite ends of the galleys were tapped out from behind by placing two steel rods in the galleys and tapping from the opposite end. These rods were from my teenage days for locating the '59 Ford transmission I was changing so often.

The last press in plug was a 1" dia plug at the back of the block. Its purpose was to give access to the smaller press in plug at the end of the lifter galley. I pulled and pulled without luck until I realized that I could drive it in and it would fall to the floor. I'm a little slow sometimes.

Professional mechanics deal with these plugs on a daily basis and think little of it, but for me, this was an epic struggle. I had to go into Deep Ponder Mode after each failure and there was a lot of that but, it's behind me now. Onward. Background music was Steve Miller Band's Brave New World.

 

Those Sunex sockets are the cats ass. Too bad I broke a 3/8 to 1/4 adapter and a 1/4" ratchet before I bought them.

 

Put all these things


Back in here.

Replaced bearings, syncros, counter shaft, 1st gear, 4th gear.



Had 3 apart to use the best pieces from each.

 

I got up this morning and looked out the window. DOUBLE SHIT!!! GOT ANOTHER COUPLE OF INCHES AND ITS STILL SNOWING. JUST GREAT.

 

It is 10 below zero here right now..... I just keep throwing wood in the boiler. Nice balmy 70 in the garage right now!

 

From the BillyBob Shop log

March 17th 2021 Last summer when the wheels fell off and the pilot light of my ambition went out, I was half way done with painting ops on the back bottom of the cab. I had finished filler and primer, mineral spirits wipedown and tack rag and rolled on the first two coats of International Red, followed by sanding with 240 grit. That's where it stands at this point. Needs a few more coats before I can move on to the cowl area. Beer of the day while I contemplated the painting startup was Wooden Cask Brewing Company's Reformation Scottish Stout.

 

Went to the junkyard last weekend and the guy told me for the steering wheel he'd charge me for the full column ($300-$400) unless I could find a loose one. I really want to look for a center console and shifter, but now I'm afraid of what he'll charge me.

 

The console matches the front seats and they match the rear seats , don,t forget the carpet and dash . As for the shifter, thats part of the transmission . Whats that song, the kneebone is connected to the thigh bone, etc, etc

 

Took my 56 Victoria to a guy’s garage for lunch and 2 of the others brought out theirs too: Gene’s 32 roadster and George’s 56 Corvette he just got back on the road with a cam change.

 

Loading up for the tire store. New tires for the 32 Roadster project (replacing 30 year old rubber) and new tires for the F-1. I'm going to narrower Torque Thrusts on the F-1 to help out with a tire rub. The 2" drop spindles didn't help either.

 

Well after getting is fired again late yesterday just going back over everything making sure nuts were tight, all wiring was hooked back up to start with. Found loose rocker cover nuts on the left bank where we pulled to get #1 TDC for dizzy install. I put a new gasket on that rocker cover so I pulled the right side and put a new one there also. Of course with a HEMI that means pulling the plugs/tubes also then retorquing the plugs. I also bought a new set of horns while it was down so I put them on also. Cleaned up the water thermostat housing, scraped the old gasket off, chased the threads and installed the thermostat & housing and rad hose and mounted the rad.
Tomorrow will be installing the lower rad hose putting in coolant, mounting the overflow, . It has 4 qts of ATF in it from yesterday so it should be ready to fire and run through the gears. If all goes well it will be put back on the floor, off the jack stands its lived on since August 12 last year and putting in 5 more qts of ATF.
It was a great sunny warm day today but tomorrow is going to be the standard for Washington this time of the year, low 40's, and rain. No fenders means no riding in the rain here so there is still work in the cab, carpet, adjustments and stuff so that will keep me busy. And with all the chrome it wares there is always polish work that can be done.
The next enormous hurdle to mount and defeat is of course knowing that they fixed the tranny right this time and it will not break down on me again. If that happens there's going to be a 1934 Ford for sale with a broken trans FOR SALE in the Seattle/Tacoma area of Washington ....................seriously.

 

Sorry, missed this one! Because the either bolts or nuts are tucked tightly up against the side of the frame making it to close to uses a socket or box end wrench. Lots of fun!


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Fingers crossed.

 

Installed a rear bumper. A bigger pain in the ass than it should have been but I now know what to do with the front one tomorrow.

 

Love


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Looks like someone got their stimulus checks

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I used my newly installed lift (finished yesterday afternoon). It’s been sitting here too long...


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Put my trans back in yesterday. Will put in the oil, cover, and shifter, today....then test drive. FINALLY!!! It's been 3 weeks....

 

Just had the box, rear fenders, tailgate and some brackets sandblasted. Found a bunch of "swiss cheese". So now I am working on repairing it, actually a pain in the ass, but I'm getting better....