COE 1941 Ford COE build

Sure, do a painted version.

 

Yes! 'Course I may be a little biased..

 

Done... Thanks again Eli!!

restarted the work on some body patches on the 1959 Coronet sheet metal... Slow progress...

Also compiling a list that is getting long fast for Buford to go to Missouri in August. He was parked on the lift with the Corvette underneath during our winter vacation. I came home to find a pretty good drip had made a nice wet spot on the Vette's backgl***... The 2002 Dodge Ram steering rack is leaking. Replaceable seals or replacement unit? Anyone know?

 

IIRC those racks are pretty cheap in the aftermarket.

 

Looks like about 240 bucks and learning how to bleed the thing....

 

Noticed that I screwed up the lines on the lower fin area with the new patch... What's the big deal? Cut welds on one side and knock it back were it belongs and reweld.,,, Yup, any job worth doing is certainly worth doing twice.

Also hard to believe that I still struggle with sheet metal welds... some are respectable and some ****. I just can't seem to get consistent.

 

Frame straightened now. Patches on either side of rear window opening done. Trunk lid on mostly for fun... Next up some more little patches inside front of the wheelwell... You know those pinholes I figured I could just weld up... Yeah, not so much... BTW: If any of you guys happen to run onto any of the cast pieces (tail light bezels, fin trim, EEEEEs) in nice shape, please let me know.

 

59 Coronet Driver's door sheet metal mocked up onto 1998 door skeleton. Opens and closes.. Alignment could still be better. I'll pull the *** end to see if I can lower it just a hair.... Trying to mix fun stuff with tedious welding and grinding chores...

 

slowly making a 4 door into a 2 door...

 

Used a buddy's plasma cutter the remove unneeded brackets from a C5 donor frame section. What a SWEET tool!

 

So, when you shove yourself into the rear compartment of a Corvette which is covered by Coronet sheet metal looking for the reason the trunk latch won't unlatch... what do you do when you find nothing conclusive? Yup... take a nap!

 

Contemplating the solution I call it

 

You may like this wagon i saw at hershey this fall i will try to post a pic

 

Oh my!!! I would have to own that if it was for sale! Thanks for the pics... very cool..

 

I took the makeshift garage car covers off Buford yesterday to reveal the attention *****... Battery stone dead despite moving him around occasionally during the winter. I may have to invest in a Battery Tender that somehow I have managed to live 65 years without.... This also is an issue with my fancy, dancy NOCO "jump pack". It doesn't seem to work on a battery that's stone dead like my old, traditional jump pack would. I had to drag out my big charger and find a way to get the cables to the side of the COE cab that's up against a wall.... Thru the fold out gl*** engine cover panels they went...

Ironically, the Mustang car cover that I had covering the truck's bed is a California Car Cover... Yes, the same people that can't seem to give me a quote for a cover that fits the truck even though I've filled out all their paperwork and followed up several times.

 

WOW! I just reread my last reply and it sounds like all whining... Most ***uredly, it's not because it's great to see the truck again, can hardly wait to get it out on the road. There is a car show Saturday. Not sure if the early New England weather will cooperate or not....

I got the donor rear Corvette frame section tacked in place and supporting the Coronet body. The more I work on it, the more I think it will need wheelie bars. Not that its got a stupid amount of HP, but that rear overhang is HUGE.

 

Of course, my wife keeps asking when she can take Boris for a spin.... She's a keeper! (The wife, maybe the car too)

 

Went to the car show last weekend.. It was a nice clear day, but pretty cold.. We only made it about half way thru. Buford got blue and white privilege parking again. He's such a *****. There were some very nice cars there including a two tone blue/silver 37 Ford that parked beside us and a very nicely done shoebox Ford.

I bought a remanned steering rack but have not installed it yet. I noticed some weird front tire wear and talked to a local shop about an alignment which it seems I neglected to do originally. Of course, light finally dawned on "marblehead" that I want to install the rack before the alignment. Maybe this weekend...

It's great to have the truck out on the road again...

 

Finally took the plunge and tacked the two door halfs together then marked the bottom for fitting onto the Corvette door structure. Put it in the brake to bend it up then trim and by some miracle it still fits.

 

Great to see it coming along. Why the big door gap at the rear of the door though?

 

The rear section had slid back a little. It's not bolted down yet...

 

Cool, that makes sense.

 

Good news: Alignment went great.
Bad News: Pretty sure I grenaded the transmission on the way home.

 

4L60-E is out... rebuild costs are insane... Got estimates from 2000-2800. I really gotta learn to rebuild automatics. I'm told I need to flush the cooling system before a reinstall. Not sure how I'll do that yet.

 

You know you're a motorhead when you get sympathy emails cuz the transmission in your COE dies.

 

Flush each coolant line with a degreaser product, preferably under pressure then the radiator coolant loop, all done separately.
I would then flush them with a pressure cleaner water and blow clear with shop air.
Then I would let it sit for a week or so then blow through them again with shop air and finally flush with trans fluid.
Reconnect the lines to the radiator and the trans and you should be good to go.
Auto Trans don't like moisture so getting it dry is essential. My wife's Mercedes needed a $20,000 transmission replacement when it ingested coolant out of the radiator. Thankfully under warranty.

 

Trans cooling cleaned out using a product called Kooler Kleener. Seems to have worked pretty well. I will let it dry out a day or two then flush with fresh Dextron before installing the trans.

 

Rebuilding an automatic transmission is not difficult. From what I've seen over the last few years of following this build you got the skills to do it.
You'd need to invest in a few tools, including one to compress the spring in the clutch packs, but they can be bought fairly easily. A factory service manual will tell you what you need. Dial indicators, vernier calipers, snap gauges and micrometers are tools you will find to be good investments in the long run. Like I tell my wife, a guy can never have too many tools. (Btw she used to street race the Navy sailors in my big block 4 speed avatar in San Diego, she gets it. )
Late '70s I worked in a heavy truck shop. A customer brought in a Chevy step van that needed both engine and trans rebuilt. Engine? no prob, Trans? Hmmm. I told the Service Manager I'd never rebuilt an automatic and he handed me a factory service manual and told me to follow the steps and make a parts list. I overhauled my first Turbo 350 and no one was more surprised than I when it actually worked! After investing in a few tools I did quite a few more including Turbo 350s and 400s, C4, C6 and FMX Fords (a freaking beast!), coupla 727 and 904 Mopars and made a nickle or two.
Transmission overhaul kits can be bought from Summit, Jegs et al that have the clutches, steels, paper and rubber gaskets, seals for pistons and shafts for a great deal less than a transmission shop will charge you. Check it out, you'll probably be surprised at how much you can save. Not only that, once successful you have a new revenue stream for your projects.
As for flushing the cooling system, your trans cooler in the radiator has a gozinta and a gozouta. buy a cheap impeller pump, rig the lines to pump trans fluid through and out into a catch can. Fluid is cheap, way cheaper than rebuilding your trans again.

 

When you don't have a log skidder but you do have a Jeep...

 

A man gotta do what a man gotta do! I used a Hyundai Santa Fe for that purpose after a bad wind storm.