Projects My one eyed Roadster

I got one eye on my Roadster tonight.. I kind of felt bad for my one eyed Ford after admiring it for a while , so I figured I better balance things out and put the other eye on...
If Speedway had sent some more parts I would have got more done today..
Maybe when the Hot Rod company box show up, I 'll get somemore done...

 

The body is on the frame... Now I can see where to put the motor..

 

lookin good man , i was almost afraid to look at this post!

 

Stay tuned as I progress along. The Continentals invited me to Austin TX in 09. I think the the best way to go is in a Roadster. Plus Alex and John invited me to go with them, so I am on a Mission....

 

I got the windshield on today to see how it fits... Put the Radiator support rods on.The rear ****** mount is done.
The front shocks came in from " The Hot Rod Shop" mounted them also.. Need to order top mounts.. Everything needs to be fine fitted , lots of gaps and misalignments.. I found the drop axle that I drilled out for the Roadster 5 years ago when I dug out the windshield. It an old Mor drop..
The wind shield has a large gap at the sides, think I need to pull the top of the cowl closer together about a 1/2 inch.. That's it for this week
Will try to post some more next week...
Stay tuned "Same Calaveras time, same Calaveras one eyed Ford"....

 

##### Dude I thought that was the ***le of a **X ****O !! >>>>.

 

Here is the latest on the Roadster..
Got the radius rods mounted, Found a middle seat off a Masda minivan that fits good. Only 37.00
Hedders came in from speedway and they fit with no modifications...
Ordered a floor from Howell sheet metal , it also fits real nice.

Buick drums are next , then rear shock mounts, then to the drive shaft, This should be real fun. I have a 56 pontiac rear axle with a weird looking U-juoint mount.. Stay tuned Donn

 

You mean the yolk?

Looking good - Hope to see you in Austin in April!

What steering gear are you using?


Malcolm

 

(a 56 pontiac rear axle with a weird looking U-juoint mount)

There's a place here in Bakersfield, called proshaft the number is 661-322-5570. My buddy Lee had his yolk changed and if you call the guy from my understanding he knows the part number off the top of his head.

 

Thanks for the info Shop Rag. I had found a place on-line that has the Yoke I'm looking for, but wasn't sure if that was the right part. I will call them today... Malcom: I have a box out a cosworth Vega. It suppose to have a higher steering ratio the stock. It will be hooked to a 37 ford locking collum, topped off with a banjo wheel.. I'm mounting the rear shocks now, using a pair on mono shocks off a Ninja. I had them on the back of my Tee but they were too stiff , I hope with the extra weight of the Roadster they will work out ...Will post picts in the next day or two...Donn

 

Looks like you're making decent progress, keep it up.

 

My drill press is two small to drill the bolt pattern on the Buick drums. So I made the rear shock mounts instead. Made aluminum spacers for the top, and steel for the bottom. Used 5/8 grade 8 bolts. Made it simple, so it wouldn't be to hard to change later in case I have to. In case your woundering what they are off of , late 80s Ninja motocycle..There ajustable gas shocks...They will make it to Texas and back..
I ordered the yoke today for the rear axle , will tack in the top bars for the 4 bar set-up , move the lower bar mounts down to level the bars with the ground. Need to find a bigger drill press so I can finish the buick drum conversion... Thats it for now stay tuned


One last thing...
"One eyed Ford" is the name of a Native American 49 song. It's about a Ford with one headlight that is burned out....

 

Here some pictures....D

 

Look Ma , no jack stands....
Finally got it on all four wheels... Rear shock mounts came out good. Going to remake the wishbone mounts. Must of had brain fart when making the mounts... Planed to tuck them under and flush with the surface of the frame instead they ended up sticking out more than I want... Good thing I have been tacking everything in place..
Moved the Roadster over to the other side of the garage. Needed the room so I can work on it..
I'm going to start the motor this afternoon, the guy I bought it from said it would run. I belive it will too. I'll find out how good it will run today. My two duce intake isn't ready so I will use the stock intake with a 94 that should work. A few friends are comming by this afternoon for the motor starting party. I think I will cook up some bullets (AKA Chile) and burn some Countrystyle ribs, I think it should be a good way to start the New Year....

 

looking good, can't wait to see photos of it finished

 

It Runs!! Got it running new years eve. The day started out real good I started collecting stuff for the starting party. I had all the mechanical stuff to get her running. Bean in the crock pot
I swung by my buddy ED shop to let him know I was getting ready to start the flathead. He has offered to help me get the Roadster running. Just as we were about to leave for my house, Jessie the owner of Jessies upolstery shows up and invites us to his shop for a New Years drink. So there we were three against one bottle of Tequela, you know who won that stand off...
I finaly made it to the house two hours later. Tommy V showed up , so did Low49. With out the three guys I may not have gotten her started that night.
Fernando mounted the new starter, Ed set the timing and wired up the distribtor. And Tom manned the grill.
Just like the man said it runs. I first ones were kept short the keep the heat build up down. Also had a va*** port that needed to be pluged. I would post some pictures but my batterys were dead. Maybe Ferny can post the one he took? ....Donn

 

hey brother, me and my buddies met you yesterday in manteca. checked out the one eye'd ford.....pretty kick ***!!!!!! look'n forward to seeing more pics..

 

Thanks Mid-Cal, Just mounted the gauges last night.. Have been busy getting ready for Turlock, now I got to get ready for the Autorama. Should get some new pitcures up this weekend...

 

I got the gauges in the dash still need the gas gauge... Mounting the doors now, they were too wide to fit the body , so I cut the body in two.
Looks like some one welded the cowl to the rear half of the body. I cut it at the weld. Only had to move it about a 1/4 inch apart.Now I need to get the doors bolted to the body. If you look close you will see that my doors have wood frames. I was told that they could have been made outside the US, south america, austraila ? Anyway that is what I have , so that is what I am going to use....

 

I found a box out of a Cosworth Vega, at pic n pull of all places.. It is supposed to be a quick ratio , compaired to the stock Vega box. I bought a pitman arm from Speedway, but it didn't fit. I think they sent me a Corvair by mistake.. I have a 1937 ford arm that looks like it will work fine.

 

Well I finaly got the Gauges in.. Thank you Speedway...
Now for the steering wheel and colum. The colum is a 37 I think? It has a keyed locking steering and a ignition switch built in to it. As you can see the wheel is a banjo. Need to make upper and lower brackets, then get some steering knuckles. I should have the steering wheel bolted in by Monday. I mounted the club plaque, I just had to see what it would look like..

 

Here is a drawing of the gas tank I drew. My Buddy Max is going to build it for me.I tried to convert it to a PDF, but I don't have the program to do so.As you can see it is a DWG drawing..

 

Well I got the colum mounted, I need to shorten it a little more. A 1 1/2 or so should do it. The steering joint comes real close to the head. Moving it back should give me the clearance I need. All I need now is to get some 3/4 bar to to finish up the steering. The last major thing I have to do is adapt the 55 Buick rear brakes to the Ponitac rearend. Apirl is almost here

 

I finally got the pinion shaft of the pontiac rear end today. It's a 10 spline. I need to convert it over to one that will take a standard style U-joint? The one I have is flat with a key way cut into it. see the picture.
I call the number given , but it is no longer in service. Does anyone know where I can find a replacement? I know they make them...Donn

 

Is it just my eyes, or is that rearend about a yard too wide for the body?

 

The rear end is kind on the wide side. Partly due to the full reverse wheels. When I got it for free I was told it was a 56 olds rear. I was in the proccess of setting up a drive shaft when I found out that is really a 54/55 pontiac. I decided it is time to find something better, maybe something more parts store frendly..
So I loaded up the trucka and went to Pick and Pull. Mr Ed and Tommy V came a long to lend some support. As luck would have it we found a 1972 , V8 more door Comet , it had been put out there the day before. The car was real clean, I would have thought the would have tried to sell it as a runner..
While Tommy napped under the car next door It took Ed and I about 20 minutes to get it out and I now have a good rear end for the Roadster thats 4 inches narrower. Here a couple of pics and one of the heads that I am putting on...
I'll post some more pics next week end with the new rear axle mounted..

 

nice. ol one eye is coming along nicely.

 

Well I got the new rear end in, It's about four inches narrower that before. It's looks much better.. Plus parts will be eazier to find when and if I need them.
I plan to add some 12" brakes to the rear axle, but that will done later. The ones on it will work for now. The drive shaft will go to the shop to be shortend Monday now that I know how long it needs to be. Next will be getting back to the steering and finish that up.

I read about HambAndy today, It made me think back to what the Elders told me when my younger brother Rowland was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 23.

"He is now in a better place, no more suffering, no more pain"
"We will pray for you and your family, for you are here still suffering and feeling the pain of your loss"

I offer my prayers to the Dunn Family.. Donn

 

I was offered some help on building One Eye, by my buddie Ed's at his shop in Modesto Ca. So I hooked her up and dragged her down to his shop last weekend. I used the same tow bar that I fixed up for the Tee. He is only a couple miles from the house.
He took the Roadster apart last week and did all the finish welding on the frame, this Saturday I cleaned it all up and painted the frame OHS Satin black. This comming Friday and Saturday we will paint the rear end and radius rods black with a little blue pearl in it. Will post more pics next week...Donn

 

i'll stop by the shop friday -- tom