Projects Im getting Married! Project 46 ford begins!

Got a bunch done last night, finished headlining the vacuum to the trans, started filling fluids.

this morning got my overflow finished. @Hitchhiker equipped with the Seattle speed sticker

I wanted to use a stainless coffee thermos I have had holding zip ties but had a hard time finding a lid for it. I had found some options in the $7 range when I found this very thick “reusable” fancy pants water at the grocery store for $3

now I would t normally buy $3 water but a thick plastic lid and a bottle for $3 when I was looking at $7 for a lid seemed fair.

I knew I wanted a rubber lined adel clamp to hold it to the radiator home but could T ever find one so I rummaged around and found a really flimsy over the top of a door wreath holder and cut/ drilled/ bent it into a clamp and then put heat shrink around it for grip. I wish I could have done it in one long length but all I had was three shorter ones.

I drilled the lid to pass the hose threw leaving enough gap for it to spray out if needed. The blue seal in the lid came out but the Gatorade bottle I’ve used for a decade never had one and it’s fine lol.

stuck the hose in til
It hit the bottom and pulled it back a hair. Should work just as well as the other one did but look better. I’ll grabs a photo of the old one before I trash it

 

Here's how I kept track of stuff to do........taped on the hood top

 

Upgrade? I think so lol

@Rocky I like that! I’m always trying different list methods to see what works the best to keep me on track

 

Mine is taped to the cowl of the GMC

 

I got some bucks into my puke can.. nice to see some ingenuity and re-purposing things that most would chuck out.

 

Drop drop distributor is oiled! This suckers so much easier in every way to mess with then. The previous hei hinges zip tied out of the way for Sunday funday! @Austin kays is making his way down and we’re gonna fire it up! my garage mate is foreign to the idea of personal space. Gonna adjust the shifter and put the floor in tonight sooooo close from a hood free shock free cruise around the neighborhood!

 

My dog likes to sit in my pants when I sit on my "throne"....talk about personal space concepts..

 

@Hitchhiker I had a cat that would do that. This pup is just shy of 100 lbs and wants to be this close to me at all times. If I climb in the car and lay down to reach down to the floor he will get in and lay right on top of me. Lol not very productive

 

When my feral was a kitten, he'd curl up in my pants while I was downloading a file...

 

I had an older cat we put down almost 1 year ago, she was like that. I was never more than 3 feet from her at any time. She would follow me up to bed every night.

 

Trying to remember if I greased those u joints when I put the driveshaft back in. I’ll have to consult the lists lol. I think a little time tonight and @Austin kays and I should be ready to fire it up and cruise around the neighborhood tomorrow!

 

Go man go!

 

The mornings list! looking forward to throwing away this old checked off list and making a new clean one for the next stage of projects. Man I’m excited to get this thing making noise again!

 

It’s alive! Full update tonight after the kids are in bed.

 

Alive? Looks like it escaped too...

 

Yup!

 

It needs a shakedown run to the SWMO Hot Rod Hundred.

 

Didn’t really stop to take many photos this morning I ran for antifreeze and when I got back @Austin kays showed up shortly after.

I dumped a gallon of anti freeze and a gallon of water into the radiator while we bullshit and went over the mornings check list.

Put the cap on, pulled the coil wire, grounded the battery and gathered the family.

primed the fuel and oil then popped the wire back on. Took a few turns and it stumbled to life!

80 pounds of oil pressure! Didn’t know the gauge went that high haha.

ran it threw the gears and added another gallon of trans fluid. Repeat and another gallon.

seems to start easy but I needed to stay in the gas a little to keep it going. It was clearly blowing shit out of the fuel system.

with 12 quarts of trans fluid it was ready to move under its own power so I backed it into the drive and let it idle.

I’m not entirely positive how many laps we took around the block and neighborhood but we started with a lot of spark knock/ pinging and eventually got it all gone in two re adjustments.

Bumped idle speed up a little as well curb side.

I have to laugh every time Austin helps
Me with the car, @porknbeaner clearly taught us both how to do this. Car moved threw the gears fine, doesn’t leak anything but a tiny bit of engine oil which I suspect is from warped valve cover adapter.

I filled the tank with corn free premium in the first week of May and the stuff has got to be about as skunky as can be. But each drive went better, clearing more and more shit out. Idles fine, and in the drive I can rev on it and it’s fine. But idling around it’s clearly having a fuel issue.

three or four laps in and it feels almost gone. I’m planing on checking the coolant levels tonight, looking for the oil leak and digging out my carb cleaner. I think a can of fuel cleaner/ octane boost and a spray on the carb and I should be well on my way. I good lol.

once I’ve gotten rid of half a tank I’ll go top it with fresh fuel.


Over all feeling pretty good about it. It’s not 1000% but it’s not far off.

Now to make the new list

 

Dump a couple gallons of race fuel in it to help clear up the fuel issues. Sounds dumb but we do it a lot on cars that have been sitting a long time with pretty decent results.

 

Makes enough since to me. I’ll give it a shot

 

A major milestone!!

 

It would feel like more of one if it wasnt gagging on pukey fuel but yeah it is lol. Taking the afternoon to make the new list then it’s back to work

 

Another round of trouble shooting and letting it run tonight. Found a few leaks and I think I’ve got them mostly tracked down. It’s really feeling like crap in the fuel filter to me after tonight’s. driveway diagnostics

gonna see if I have room to clamp the rubber line shut and pull the filter with out making to much of a mess. Probably full of gummed up old fuel

 

I started off with a new tank, carb, fuel pump, etc. On old trucks we towed with, we ran 2 fuel filters, one right after the gas tank. One of the "perks" of picking up junk cars was that we got to take gas from old tanks that the 'yard had removed.

 

Went out and cleaned this morning and made a new list those door jam stickers are gonna come in handy! I think one of my favorite things about finishing a project is cleaning the shop. It’s not all the way clean but the projects not all the way done. Seems a good compromise.

 

@bobss396 yeah it’s all new everything with two inline filters. Never had an issue but it’s never sat for more than ten days with out being fired up either.

going to measure my filters tonight and order new ones, can’t remember if I’ve ever changed them in the last 11 years. I’m sure they are due for more than just taking it off and blowing it out.

updates as they happen but it’s nice to take the “does it run, will it move “ off my shoulders.

really pleased with the engine I got from @raven stuck an intake, carb and cam on it and it’s barking pretty good. Can’t wait to take a full throttle test drive

 

Gotta love it when the to-do list gets that short. Glad you got it back together and driving under it's own power again. You could always come drive with us down in Springfield, MO Easter weekend...

 

That’s just the list to get back to where I thought I was last May lmao. It is nice though.

Not a lot of trips this year but I’ll see you in Oklahoma at the roc

 

My garage is pure chaos compared to yours, I need to go through it again. I really need a bigger garage, even after tossing out a lot of accumulated junk. I have a habit of collecting blown-up old transmission parts and other things that have broken over the years... my wall of shame.

 

Alright tightened all the valve cover bolts, got a budge of a turn out of the thermostat housing and a good full turn + out of the hose clamp. I’ve got a little antifreeze leaking but I can see it on top of the housing so I have to assume it’s the hose clamp. No trail on the bottom side of the hose but checked the upper clamp as well.

All the bolts I checked from the top are tight so far. Got the car settling on ramps so I can tighten the passenger side exhaust collector and try to figure out where this oil is coming from on the floor.

I can see it catching in the front cross member so I thought timing cover but when investigating with a light and mirror it kinda looks like the bolt blocking the threw hole in front of the fuel pump possibly blew the rtv out with the 80lbs of start up oil pressure and it’s dribbling?
-mirror handle point at bolt head in question. It’s tight tight


I also see a leak on the back drivers side. Could be the loose valve covers. I could have - gulp- over tightened the oil pan and warped the flange. But when I say that out loud it seems beings tear sump pan that it would have to be totally full to be pushing out there?

dunno I’ll clean it off and come back to look at it later and we’ll find out. It’s leaking enough that I’m not super comfortable with just throwing a pan under it. Especially since it’s brand new.

took a look at the fuel filters and could only get a partial part number with out raising the car. Pretty sure that’s my big running issue after additional run time and reflection on the last times I drove it.

also I think your supposed to change them more often than every 11 years so probably not a terrible idea in general to swap them.