Got the new radiator mounted. I had to slot the holes in the crossmember to get the hood close, m***aging a bit more with it, including added 1/4” spacer under the rear hood mount! Yikes. I guess these cars aren’t perfect, but I’ll get the hood as close as I can. Also installed the fuel sediment bowl, and voltage regulator for the final time, then pulled the manifolds and cleaned them up by sandblasting then painted them with the Eastwood paint.
Been working on the car the last couple days. Although the hood isn’t where I want it- I think the fix is to pull the car back apart to fully check it out to make sure it’s flat and not sagging, I’m going to live with it for now. I got the front fenders fully bolted in, and tight. Car is looking good. I installed the spacers I designed to clean up the holes in the fenders and raise the hood latches slightly. I have the new cross bar bolted in for the muffler hangers too, and made some new flanges for the manifolds. Will be making a new generator bracket since the hood clears that too.
Going to spend all kinds of time on the final steps most likely. Everything is taking a long time, but have to just keep ticking things off. Checked my floor to make sure it still fits. Bottom went in nice. Need to remove the rust, prime, paint. Got the welting installed in the rear of running boards. That was a pain. Also started hooking up radiator hoses with these cool military surplus clamps I scored at the deer park early ford swap over the weekend.
Decided I wanted to weld in my exhaust now that the body is homed where I want it. Whipped up some tabs to use for my muffler hangers. Thought they would look a little more cool than standard squares or bolts welded directly to the cross bar. Plus I can change the hardware if the bolt gets galled.
Time for finishing my steering shaft so I can install the steering box, pitman arm, and drag link. I turned off the splines a couple weeks ago to see how the steering wheel sat on the taper that’s already on the end of the F1 shaft. I liked it and decided I would tig weld to the void since the taper only ended up halfway on the steering wheel taper, then I bought a woodruff key cutter. There’s a bit more shaft hanging out so I will add a washer under the nut to fill the gap. On the lathe I go. Time to cut the weld, to finish shaping this shaft.
Muffler cross bar pulled out, welded, end caps welded on then blended cuz I hate spider hangouts and uncoated inside tube surfaces that rust. Painting now then reinstalling after welding head pipes, flanges, and mufflers on exhaust system. Big plans for productivity this weekend.
Ran back down to the shop to hop back on the lathe and then the mill. Turned down the weld on the steering shaft, then was able to use my woodruff key cutter. Worked out well for my first time! Time to build the steering box tomorrow (it’s 2:30 am now) and install pitman arm/ drag link to finally have steering in my car!
Whipped up this battery tie down and going to install my cole hersee battery switch on the seat riser so I can shut it off from inside the car. I have an idea of how I want my battery cables ran to starter and frame ground now. The grade 8 bolts in center are for the seatbelts. I ran a heavy wall 1.5” square tube in the body channel to beef it up. I cut these 1/4” tabs to tie into the body mount and will run the outer seat belt off that bolt which clears the seat slider if angled tab towards door. We need belts for the race.
Taking some measurements now that the steering wheel is homed in it’s final location on the shaft. I want to weld in this bell and convert the bushing inside the tube to the rubber bushing instead of the bearing. I scored this bell on a partswapper live auction back in December! Getting close to finally have a steering car.
Welded the bell on the steering tube. Blended the weld as good as I could, then painted it with 2 coats of high build primer so far. After the first one and sanding, came out really nice. Interested in seeing what the next round of sanding will look like. Goal is to get the box rebuilt and installed tomorrow so I can hang both sides of the exhaust. Will ****on up the seat mods to route the belts and bolt all that down too. Most likely going to machine some adapters on the lathe to reduce the 1/2” hole in the belt to the 3/8 body bolt, and make those bolts grade 8.
Got the F1 steering all painted and rebuilt with the column flare. Got the floor back in but had to split the toe kick since it pulled so bad when I welded it. I’ll do better at cooling it off to try and save it after I cut a new piece for the center.
Installed the seat for mock up on final stretch for seatbelts. I have to cut a bit of the wooden seat frame. With the floor in and steering wheel it’s getting exciting. I have a plan for the RPM and temp/oil pressure gauges as well as the start ****on and headlight switch. I also welded up the tabs for the seatbelt reinforcement bar that I buried in the channel. It’s painted, awaiting drying. Will install exhaust after that is in there. Started planning Speedo cable routing and wiring.
Was staring at the manifold last night and started designing a generator bracket until I lost my steam at 2am. This is what I came up with. Got it tacked. Going to run and grab a belt to figure out my adjuster range. The hood clears!
Got the generator bracket painted and installed with a new gates 52” long belt. Also turned down these stepped washers for converting my outside seat belts to the 3/8 frame body bolts. Putting grade 8 on those and the 1/2” in the center of the bar. Also painted the exhaust flanges after welding the mufflers and flanges, installing new gaskets. Exhaust all mounted up to tails. I’ll remake that long adjuster stock bracket on the generator too after the race or if I’m bored before the race.
The Jalopy Journal
