COE 1941 Ford COE build

my mistake on the wheels, Eli... Torque Thrust D, not II...

 

I really like that shot of your engine behind the plexigl***, thats really cool! I'm sure a few people were surprised to see that.

 

No probs, looked it up and will definately put something together.

 

Got a little time in on Boris... Finally trimmed and tack welded the right door panel... It was a good weld day. It ain't always.... Started on the right front fender leg that needed to be shortened to line up with the Corvette rocker panel.

 

Antique Truck Show, Hillsboro, NH. That's a VERY nice all stock 1940.

 

and Cars and Coffee in the morning... a really great day...

 

checked the fuel mileage just for S&Gs the other day... 16.6MPG in mixed driving... I think that's pretty respectable for a nearly 5000 lb truck that's not exactly aerodynamic.

I mentioned in Homer's thread that the 1940 above doesn't get driven cuz of the low gears... I'm happy to report that we've just p***ed 16,000 miles that we've driven Buford...

 

That’s awesome. Got to drive them. It would be a shame to go through all that trouble to just let it sit in the garage.

 

A little progress on the left fender and door. Alignment getting better. Fender trimmed at the bottom and mocked up. Filler piece like the other side next. 2 minor surprises today. The flange on bottom of left door was too low. Pretty easy fix, knock it back straight and rebend it in the brake. I had to crimp it onto the Corvette door structure to know where the fender should bolt on. Then I notice that while the bottom of the door (the newly bent seam) is straight, the corvette rocker is not.. It's curved inward front to back. I'll noodle this a bit, but current thought is cut the FG rocker and make it straight to match the door. Door matches quite well lower front corner and lower rear corner.

 

I think you have "noodled" my mind!

 

Picture from cars and coffee taken with a real camera...

 

More work on the freak show... Doors open and close nicely now. New brackets welded to the frame to accept the lower fenders. Hood *ALMOST* fits...

 

Drove Boris outside for some shameless, poser pics... Then began pulling the sheet metal off so he can go to the welding shop and have the frame extension and shortening burned in by a real welder..

 

Yup, that's a Boris for sure!

 

Ok, got to spend a little time on both the COE and the Freak Show... COE got some cast-ish Coke bottles that were bottle openers for his steering wheel... Alright, i gotta get a pic... pretty happy with them, now I need to disguise the stock C5 aluminum steering wheel arms.. Maybe just paint them black?

Boris got his frame pieces in place ready for welding and all his Mopar sheet metal removed in preparation for a trip to the welding shop. His rear inner fenders contact the tires a bit. I thought I'd just remove the small amount of the inner fender that remains, but I'm not sure it will get the job done. Here's where it's rubbing..

 

Coke Bottle steering wheel.... Maybe that black crinkle paint on the old C5 arms??

 

Hey Eli, Would you be able to paint Boris Ford Dark teal and Bamboo Cream?

Here's the teal on a 2001 F250. I think the paint code is R1.

 

Tried to weld up pin holes in the trunk floor panel... well, I was about as successful as any other time I've tried this.... major FAIL! I can't seem to get them clean enough to not booger weld and I just blow more holes in the panel... Any tricks to this other than just admitting that I need to replace the panel?

 

Are you using a copper backer? Or even aluminum.

 

Yes, alum clamped to the other side...

 

Alright, I've admitted defeat and started to build a new trunk floor. I had to build a portion of it anyway so no big deal, right?
In other news, I finally tried to change a rear tire.... FAIL! There is no freakin way that's happening even with the suspension at full droop... Only initial thought is making fender skirts... Any other ideas, guys?

 

Oh my, maybe this green instead of that Ford truck... BTW: I ran onto this on youtube, it's Dennis Gage getting a tour of GM's concept and cl***ic car collection. It's pretty freakin outstanding..

 

Went to a Cars and Coffee yesterday in NH's capital... Probably will be Buford's last outing for the year. I haven't swaddled him in car covers yet in the garage, but probably soon... His left door latch has become a little dodgy, I'll need to investigate as sometimes it won't latch without coercion.

On Boris... I'm sure no one here has done this... I stare at the stock Corvette mufflers and think "if I cut right there, I can swap this to the other side and have those two outlets from each muffler exit under the rear quarter on both sides".... Cut, flip "damn, orientation wrong"... Plan B, install a pair of brand X turbo mufflers and route out the back... I'll decide today if I want to make them exit thru the bumper...

 

Is Buford only a fair weather truck?

 

Mostly, yes... Although, we are certainly more inclined to take him out with a small chance of rain now that he's painted. In primer I just didn't dare for fear of instant rust.

 

Gotcha. Just a shame to not be driving the truck after all that work.

 

I keep telling my wife we need to move to the south where we can ski year round and never put the toy vehicles away... She isn't buying..... yet....

However, we drive Buford a pretty decent amount IMHO. We've put nearly 20,000 miles on him since 2016.

 

Boris gets new mufflers to replace his stocker Corvette units that were exiting UNDER the car. They are just Walker brandX turbo units. I was hoping they'd be a little louder than stock but they are pretty much the same. A little growl but not much...

I did this now so I could also know where to trim the frame. Some unused sections would have made the new trunk floor more complicated. All trimmed now.

Long term plan is build a fake FG bumper from the stock 1959 unit and have the exhaust exit thru the bumper.

 

Rot always seems to be worse than I think... Original plan was simply to add to the stock 1959 trunk floor and connect to the Corvette floor... It's become replacing the entire trunk floor, fixing the trunk extensions and the supporting frame...

Its a little strange how this Virginia car's outer panels are so nicely preserved but the underside isn't in some areas. Other underside areas look nearly new like above the gas tank, for instance...

 

A couple test fits....