COE 1941 Ford COE build

Trunk extensions replaced... rotten subframe xmember is next then fit the whole mess together and weld it all in...

 

... and welded in... Tip of the day: After you open the valve on the weldgas, also open the regulator DUMMY!

 

Trunk floor getting there slowly... Happy Thanksgiving guys!!

 

The F-350 crew cab cover fits pretty well... A little longer in the midsection and it would be perfect... It was 89 bucks or so... Cali Covers never got back to me after I sent them their completed full page of dimensions and one subsequent followup. Must be too busy...

 

Did a little work on the Freak Show... Found out my HF spot welder doesn't seem to work anymore.. Used the MIG to install the hat channels for the new trunk floor. Drilled holes for the plug welds and installed the floor into the '59 *** end. Placed it onto the ch***is. Tested rear wheel removal with the new "hippier" sheet metal and early signs are positive. I may be able to change a tire without any fender skirts or other silliness...

 

Finished up a few welds from the underside of the Freak Show. Most of them were pretty bad and made me think I should not be allowed to touch a welder. I think I have a plan to move the Corvette fuel filler/cap to the 1959 Coronet fuel door... (with the *** end sheet metal on, I can't put fuel in it. Figured I better address that fairly early

 

Haven't been able to figure out why the trunk latch hangs up... I'm afraid I might have to climb in the trunk and have my wife shut if to figure that out. Better not be on a day that I might have irked her.

 

Trunk latch was an alignment issue. Latch mechanism wasn't perpendicular to the bar it latches onto. Trunk sheet metal alignment still stinks but that's an issue for later. No husbands were injured (or locked in the trunk) during this process.

Moved the Corvette fuel filler aft about 3 feet to the 1959 fuel door. Will work on the 1959 fuel door today after plowing snow...

 

Fuel Door modified to handle 1998 cap access... Figured out how I'll bolt the upper section near the rear gl*** to the Corvette body structure...

 

Swapped in red LED bulbs into what used to be backup light lenses and wired them as tail/stop lamps... And wired 1959 tail/stop lenses as such also. Got fast blinkers...

So, I also ran a little test... I always thought the fast blink caused by LEDs was load/resistance related but read a couple things that might suggest otherwise. Curiously, while the turn signals blinked fast with only the rears hooked up (nothing in the front), the 4 way hazards would blink at a normal rate... I know its the same flasher for haz/turn in a 1998 Corvette. Hmmm... so I hooked up 1 bulb on the front, left turn signal and got the same results, fast blinker, normal hazard. So I hooked up a second incandescent bulb on that same left turn signal and voila! Normal blinker and normal hazard... so it's definitely load/resistance related. And instead of dis***embling half the C5 dash to get at the flasher at this point, I'll just add a second bulb to each front turn signal.

Yes I know the cart is WAY BEFORE the horse here, but I wanted to do something simple before returning to body panel work....

 

She's stacked or space management?

 

I went out to pickup some junk pistons and rods from a generous local guy that I intend to use as trophies for the COE COeNVOY. I was really tempted to take Buford, but our street is still covered in sand/salt despite the heavy rains lately. Yes, I'm really itching to go for a drive!

 

..and even more so, now that the driver's door is back together... The latching issue late last year was simply the door jamb piece that "catches" the door needed to be adjusted and tightened. Closes as smooth as a baby's bottom now!

And then this happened.....



Luckily, it wasn't some late night gnome messing around in the garage, just my printer acting up....

 

Made a bracket to hold the 1959 sheet metal and the 1998 FG to the C5 frame in front of the rear tire. The sheet metal will be attached by a clamp that I can release if I need to change a rear tire.

 

Using the Corvette hood hinges on the 1961 hood... Might work, jury is still out,

 

I couldn't get the hinges close enough to the hood's leading edge to work without interference from the grill nuts. I decided to get a donor hood and make a permanently mounted (bolted) front section then slice the hood to meet that new piece... Even though I used a tipping die for the new front sectio, it still removed some of the contour. I shrank it to get it back...

Next I need to flange the original hood and prolly shrink too.

 

No work on the Freak Show lately.. A small surprise on Buford... Battery was down and wouldn't start the engine yesterday, jumped it to go to a cruise night but had to jump it to leave. I don't think I left anything on. Back to basics to investigate...

 

Running I got 14.6 at the battery. Took the 2 year old, 30 month warranty battery back to Interstate, expected an argument since the last time there they did nothing for our boat battery that was acting essentially the same way. Even considered NOT bothering to go.. The story started out the same "this battery just needs to be charged". I said "it gets run several times a week and it was just driven about 20 miles getting 14.6 at the battery, but still would not start the truck". "I'm not putting that back in the truck". He grudgingly replaced it whereas a different guy the last time refused...

I started buying Interstates on friend's recommendations and the fact that Walmart battery prices were getting near other brands. However, I put a Walmart in the boat to replace that ailing Interstate because they don't give me grief about troublesome batteries. In warranty? Replace it. No questions or BS. I know some folks are not fond of Walmart and what they can do to local shops but damn it, local shops, try to give better customer service. "We can charge that for you and give it back in 36 hours" isn't an acceptable answer.

 

Ok, so it's good that I get under the COE once in a while.. I had to be under it to remove the battery tie downs and I notice one of the hard fuel lines has been rubbing on the exhaust manifold... Yeah, just what a guy needs, right? A 45 psi fuel line potentially spraying on a hot manifold... It had not worn anywhere near thru yet. A dab of JB Weld and secure it better and all is well. Oh and one other thing... Don't tell my wife...

 

Finally got enough hands together to bead roll the new leading edge of the hood using a tipping die. Then I put the structure back in to the area and hammered over the new hem. It came out pretty good. Still some fine tuning to do but pretty excited that the hood will work with the Corvette hinges and not need any goofy holes.

 

Pretty cool video heading into a local Salute the Troops car show... Buford is at 32:00

 

Just bought these for the Freak Show after realizing the headlights will pretty much be pointing at the ground and I'll need as much light as i can get... They look kinda traditional but also have LED turn signals.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/1223798980...POJAREtvDVkeuEmrKcMqUpnTz8ylJwHUaAknNEALw_wcB

 

The Freak Show has been driven on the road!!!

 

Mocked up the 59 roof section with tinfoil and blue tape...

 

slow time for my semi-retirement gig means more garage time... Buford is at the body shop right now. The white on the sleeper had developed yellow splotches. (Where have you heard this before? Yup, on the interior).. Good news is that they ***ure me they'll take care of it. Bad news? They didn't bother to cover up the rest of the truck as I asked them to. It's gonna be filthy..

We've put over 1000 miles on Boris now. He has a temporary Lexan back window. A local guy had a piece big enough to make the full back window as well as a smaller piece that I could make 2 halves. The smaller piece allowed me some practice and filled the hole for now. I'll cut the other full size piece later with the knowledge I got from the practice piece.

 

Boris is one I want to see in person some day!

 

Buford came home from the body shop. Sleeper yellowing looks like it's been taken care of... Time will tell... Ask me if I want to use white on an interior or exterior again.... :-(

Now he's put to bed... so sad...

 

Moved both of them to the lift for access to the boat.... Boris fits under there easily.... til you get to the fins...

 

A few changes since I last posted... Lexan back and rear/side windows. Some stick on chrome, rattle canned the front fenders and played with something called PicsArt...

This one is the closest I could get to copper... yeah, not so great...


Paint to match Buford?? lol...


A guy actually come into the restaurant (who wasn't eating there) to find us and ask about the car... Geez...


And here's the color we'd like but I'm not that good at this artsy thing.... Eli, where are you?!?!?