1952-59 Ford Its more than just a car (a 54 mainline story)

Little victories, They're wonderful to motivate you! Just a quick hit here. I finally connected the fuel tank to the hardlines I ran on the frame. It's funny sometimes I dread doing a project but I realized it's mostly because I don't fully know how are am not sure the outcome. I'll take a catch line from Nike....just do it! (Side note Nike means victory, which applies too lol)
I used 6an fittings and ⅜ hose to match up to the ⅜ hardline. If you scroll back a bit you'll see how I had to straighten the roll. It was terrible. It took a lot of sweat, probably some tears too, and the likes aren't that straight, but it's in!
I used the an fittings because I tried to flare the ⅜ steel lines so the fuel line hose clamps can have something to hold on to, but they just don't want to flare up.
I like how it looks!

This shot is in the trunk, ignore all the other ****, it's kinda turned into storage from sitting so long. I still have to run the vent hose. Where do you guys run it?


You've heard...."if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Well...
I figured since I don't think the rear end has ever had clean fluid in it, I should drain and refill. Bad Idea! Now it's a siv. Never leaked ever now its a steady drip.
Any ideas? Diff gasket maybe? Looks like it's leaking from the bottom and from where the driveshaft connects

 

So this is how the install went, after putting on the front sump pan, she slid right in!

I feel like it sits really high. Tried flipping the mounts, but that didn't work either. This motor is out of a 93 Thunderbird and they have a different pulley and time chain set up, so I couldn't easily put in a dip stick. Last I checked that's kind of important lol. I found this cool dip stick bung, I just needed to drill a hole in the pan, but I didn't want to pull the motor again. So thankfully the large gap in clearance came in handy!
I put in a flexible dipstick and I think it came out really good!

 

Not too much to report but tiny little update, I had the upper panel that holds the hood latch but it was from the double car.

The bolts broke off when removing a long time ago, so I drilled out the bolts.


Then I had to stress that if was possibly blue and my dad's car is black so...


Little victories!
I sprayed it with a satin black

It didn't come out too bad it's almost the right sheen.

 

So this is me over 25 years ago.

I used to try to help my dad tinker with things I wasn't so good at it but I always wanted to help. That driver side window broke when I was helping my pops move so material. We used to have a little trailer that we would haul ****. And a steel pipe fell right into it. So my dad cut a piece of tinted plexigl*** and it's been there ever since lol.
Fast forward and I have 2 kids. One is 5 and the other 14, both boys love helping out as you can see from previous posts. But this was awesome for me!

Having my 14 year old help me attach things. He's trying to get the 3 screws that hold the mid grill to the fender. He needed a better angle though, so....

After a good long laugh we through the headlights on and called it a day.

 

Weirdest thing... There was a lot sounds from the garage one evening. I thought it was the dogs but then I see them bullying threats the garage. So I go out there to check it out. There's a jug of water that is knocked over and the water was spilling out. I thought maybe a critter, but then I heard a creaking sound... My suspension settling. So apparently I had a blow out, the tire with less than 20psi that hasn't been on the road since 2003 decided it had had enough. I should have taken a picture then but another time started showing it's unhappiness

So we had an opportunity, with my 5 year olds help, we cleaned the old rims

I forgot to take pictures of the process but I sanded down the rims years of caked on grime and 2 rims had many layers of paint. I used 80, 150, then 400 grit. .I have a dump trailer and when it's empty it becomes my mini paint booth lol. I like how it came out but what I really like are the tires!


I think it came out pretty good, kind of like a 5 footer, as long as your not closer than 5 foot looks great

 

Still chipping away! I decided I wanted to mount my seats. My dad and mom reupholstered the seats back in the 80s but I felt like they needed new life.

When I was cutting some square tubing with my chop saw I may have been a little too close to the seats
I didn't really think the Mexican blankets would do in this case. A local shop said they would do the whole interior of the car, front buckets, rear bench seat, not sun visors, under matting, carpet, door panels, kick panels, rear panels, rear deck lid, and the entire trunk for $3,800. It actually sounded like a pretty good deal to me but I'm really not there yet. The shop owner was pretty confident that my buckets were out of an 60s Impala.
I'm really happy with how they turned out!


When I went to mount the rear seats, I discovered I have no mounting tabs for the back or for the bottom. All those years of riding in the back of my dad's car and the seats weren't even attached to the vehicle! And can you believe it I survived hahaha.
Do you guys know if there is a different back seat for business coupes? I'll post a picture a little bit later, but the back support is much further forward than on the four-door donor car I have. It kind of pushes the seat forward a little bit.

 

$3800 is a really good deal for interior work. You should jump on it! I found a local guy that'll do front/rear seats, door panels, kick panels, carpet, headliner, windlace, package tray and visors for under $5k. Everyone else starts at 10k! I'm gonna start bringing pieces in next week. Your car is coming along and looking really good!

 

Thank you! It's all baby steps lol. Since I only did the seats he charged me $2000 but I felt it was pretty fair considering the condition of the seats I gave him. He painted the frames and springs and even polished the chrome

 

So got the engine all wired up and the radiator mounted as well as the electric fan.

Took a bit of cutting and grinding and spacers but I set the radiator forward and down about as far as I can go without rebuilding the core support

Also bled the brakes, had a drip coming from the master cylinder, but I think it's better now. I cranked it down, but I might retighten when the car gets up and running. Hoping if things heat up under there I might get another ⅛ of s turn

Clearance was a little close but I think it'll do





Also got the ****** lines to the radiator zapped in. I really like the AN fittings. I think it looks really clean. I used it for all my fuel lines and return and also for the ****** cooler. Next up exhaust and start up!

 

I was talking to my 14 year old yesterday about safety and seatbelts in my pops 54. I told him the most important thing is everyone inside the car is safe, and he said ya dad but "it's more than just a car" he's never read this little blog. Made me smile. So my son helped me load up our mainline onto a borrowed trailer.

I think it was happy to go for a ride lol
We went to a local muffler shop. The guy had it about 6 hours. I was do excited about how great it looked I forgot to take pics while it was up on the rack.
I had him slightly conceal the exhaust. I built that battery tray in the trunk for my battery and didn't take into account running exhaust out the back. There was no room to go straight back, but I really liked where it comes out.




Dual magnaflow 2½" exhaust

 

Where did you get the power brake booster set up from? Generic hot rod type or a specific unit made for a 54 Ford? Just wondering. Thanks

 

I'm ***uming it's a generic 7" booster. At the time it was on eBay, it came with the whole disc brake set up and the booster, m/c and the proportion valve. I was happy with how it came out but I've seen someone on here that did not use the extender off the firewall. I like that look a lot better, makes the booster sit right up to the firewall.

 

So I borrowed a buddy's trailer and took the car to a local muffler shop. If you guys are ever in need and happen to be in Simi Valley, Jeff at championship muffler is awesome! 40+ years in the business and a hot rodder himself. Took him half the day. 2.5" collector back dual exhaust, Magnaflow exhaust and it comes out just behind the rear tires.



I was so excited when I saw it I forgot to take pics when it was up on the rack, so this is all I got lol.

 

Looking good. I also like the Cooper Cobra tires. I have them on my 58.

 

Thanks fairlane! So big update....yesterday would have been my parents 42 anniversary and.... It's alive! After 20 years not running it's alive!




It was a little rough to start, couldn't get the car to catch. Then flipped the distributor 180° and she sparked to life! I have a video but can't upload it. There was a ton of smoke lol burning off the header enamel and oils and dust. I realized my starter cable is too close to the header. I'll get some thermo sleeve for it


Wish my pops was here to see it but I have the next generation here watching and loving it!


My oldest was 4 when I started rebuilding, he's 14 now, just around when my dad stopped daily driving the 54. and the little guy you see in the driver's seat, he is 5. That's about the age of my first memory in this car

 

The smiles say it all. Good job getting it back going again. My oldest son is 50 and the youngest is 33 and we still work on projects and go to races together when we can. Build those memories.

 

Looking really good, AJ. That family stuff is great. Coming home from an Oklahoma Car show, I swallowed a valve in my '57's 4.6 DOHC about 5 or 6 weeks ago. For the first time on this car, my 53 year old son was helping me install it's replacement. I really enjoyed that, although we didn't always see eye-to-eye on how to get something done, it worked out. Haha, I think I liked in more when he was younger and actually occasionally listened to me.

 

Rich, my boys have begun listening a bit more in later years. Its like I got smarter as they got older.

 

It's so much more than just a car, it's a common ground, a p***ion. I remember my dad telling me about impactful moments in his life and many were based around cars. Whether something he saw or just what it meant to him. Tomorrow makes 8 years since I lost my pops. I wish he was here to see it now!
So I ordered a driveshaft from southwestspees.com. I called them up with my measurement. 61" from differential flange to tail housing. They did the quick math and sent me a new driveshaft in less than a week. The faq sticky is spot on with the neapco u joint and I picked up a 28 spline slip yoke. After renting a press from O'Reilly's I punched in the new u joint and slip yoke .
I forgot to take pics prior to install but it went in great!

 

Not supper thrilled how the shifter came out. I'm telling myself it will be temporary. Hahaha
I do want to build a console around it but truly I want to put in a manual transmission. So I'm not in a bog hurry.
.


Put her into drive and cruised around the block! Its the first time it's driven on it's own power in 20 years! Rides really nice. The aod, I feel, shifts really too soon though. The tv cable is doing it's job too, I step a little pressure and it downshifts. Not terrible for a first run. However...............not sure what happen probably user error or maybe a part malfunction but even with my booster it feels like I have manual brakes. The pedal is sooooo stiff. I have plenty of vacuum, it ****s well lol. I put a vacuum pump on the booster and it hold pressure until I step on the pedal. I'm going to try to bleed the brakes again and see what happens. Any ideas? Can my new booster be bad? It did sit for several years.

 

I use a hydroboost, so can't give a personal usage opinion, but to me your booster size looks small. I remember reading posts in past years about the smaller boosters just not adding enough "umf " to be of much ***istance. Most everyone uses va***n boosters, so you shouldn't have much trouble getting their viewpoints.

 

Ya my booster is only a 7". Not sure if it's a dual diaphram or not. It came with the whole disc brake conversion

 

just read your story start to this point and give you a big thumbs up....super effort i'm sure your pop would have a smile from ear to ear well done especially getting the kids involved

 

Thank you joe! It's been a. Labor of love for sure. It's been great working with my boys along the way too

 

It's officially registered and driving legally for the first time in more than 20 years!

Hooked up the tach

I've been cruising around trying to dial things in. I mentioned before about my booster not having pressure but it does, I just need to be above 2000 rpm. slow speed and low rpms are rock hard. I bought a vacuum reservoir because I've heard some people have some success with them. I on the other hand didn't notice a thing.
I kind of like how it looks though.

I'm thinking of trying to use a 12v vacuum pump, any one ever use one?
My brakes squeak a bit while rolling, not too sure why yet.
my fuel level gauge bounces around like crazy. I filled up the tank and it read ¾ until I hit the brakes then it went to full until I let go again. Maybe bad ground?
I still have to make some serrated hood washers but for now I have the hood on.

I used the Terminator x for the ECU, had a couple of parameters to set, nothing too crazy or difficult to figure out though. Pretty happy with it so far!