Projects 1947 Ford Tudor build thread (A.K.A. seemed like a good idea at the time....)

Good stuff Jeff! I need some of your ambition.

 

I'm a big fan of the Ford in a Ford. Nicely done!

 

Nice build!!

 

The title of this post came from Comedian Alonzo Bodden, who said the reason a man does anything is "it seemed like a good idea at the time", but I am thinking of changing the title to
"fun with bolt-on parts"

OK

I installed the new Vintique electric wiper motor. It came with two pages of instructions, but if you follow them to the letter, you will end up with wipers that park in the vertical position, rather than the horizontal position.

pitch the instructions, and do some garage engineering, and figure them out for yourself.

I had a dual master cylinder in the car now, and they work just fine, but with the upgrade to almost 2 1/5 times the horsepower, I figured I should install some power brakes.


The first thing I noticed with my MBM brakes was that the pedal does not come close to matching the shape of the original pedal, and it will not come thru the floor in the same location

more on this later....

I took out the pattern that came with the brake kit, and held it to the frame to see where I needed to cut out the hole, only to find the hole in the frame was larger than the one in the pattern.


I was glad I did not trust the pattern they supplied, and just start drilling holes based on it. Look how far off the pattern is to their own bracket !!!!


I put the bracket into position, and was able to get one bolt hole to line up, this showed me where I needed to redrill the bracket.


everything is hunkeydory now


The brake pedal took some cutting, heating and removing of pieces to get it into the same shape as the original Ford pedal.


The garage was cold tonight, and I did not get to finish up the pedal tonight, but there is always tomorrow...

 

Ah yes .Love my 47 ford .sold the stock flathead and put a small block chevy in .redid the brakes with a 1970 mustang master cylinder .new exhaust with 2 inch dump tubes , new tires with crome smoothies .and im out of cash for this winter .
http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz200/tromollo/Image0045.jpg

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz200/tromollo/Picture1284.jpg?t=1266022504

 

Awesome write-up for this project!

I'm going to be doing the same thing in the next couple months!

 

Making progress

 

In that first picture, there is the garage and a long stretch of grass leading up to it ?? I think you need to invest in some concrete and get a real driveway leading to the garage.

The grass just doesn't cut it LOL . Actually you have to cut it and the concrete would be much better.

 

Cars coming along nicely Jeff. Did you find the radio you were looking for?

 

yup, got a stereo with a great face, so I am gutting the backside, so the dash looks original-ish

and my toybox is in the the backyard, and concrete is expensive. I'd rather blow my cash on the cars

 

picked up a few pieces from "the dip" today.



some pinholes in the toeboard I did not expect, but all else is good.

 

Those headers turned out great, are you useing high temp grease on the steering u-joint cap bearings. might get a bit warm there. this build is looking great. good job!

 

You still have dippers in Lansing..... EPA put a stop them over here. Looks a lot better then blasting.

and concrete is expensive. I'd rather blow my cash on the cars
You aren't shitten there. Did a 48 x 48 last year so I can move my work area into our pole barn.

 

Wow, great build thread!

This might be the inspiration my son needs to get HIS '47 Fordor out of MY polebarn this summer. And you're close enough to us (Howell) for him to maybe have some "face time" with you on pointers on the build. He's never done one before (me either) so it'll all be a voyage into the unknown. He wants to keep the flattie but if it's toast he has a fresh 351W in his garage looking for a home.

Ron

 

all right!

Rails are done with the Por-15 application, then topcoated everything with their blackcote.


even used the por blackcote on the engine mounts and brake bracket, and left them to dry in the sun.


I forgot about the trans mount, oops, so I'll paint that when I do some bolt touchup after I install the engine and brake mounts.

 

whoooohooooo!, it's firewall painting day!!

here we are, all prepped up and ready to go


Mixology 101.....


OK, so there are a few runs, but they can be sanded out later. Pretty happy with the results, considering my "spray booth"


It is such a nice warm spring day, I pushed it outside to sit in the sun for the "bake cycle"


Well it is not going to be a Ridler contender, but not too bad considering what it looked like to start with, and it is just the firewall afterall.....

 

Looking good Jeff. I was so proud of myself when I painted my firewall and it came nice(no runs) then my body guy sprayed overspay on 75% of it. It was one of the few things he did manage to get paint on.

 

Build my 47 cope out of 72 big block chev truck and 73 chev dont use no after market kits they dont fit ps car runs 13teens in 1/4 have

 

very nice build!

 

So this one won't be on the cover of any mags?

 

hehehe, you never know!
I doubt the patina paint it is sporting will get me any covers, but sometime in the future, an exterior redo is planned. I wanna get the engine swap done, then fix up the interior first.

 

I know I said "it is just the firewall", BUT sometimes when you get the polishing wheel in your hands, you just get carried away

 

allright! the engine and trans are now back into the car. Hopefully for the last time.


I am really looking forward to installing the good valve covers again. The chains of the engine hoist were against the valve covers, and I was afraid that they would get damaged, so I put the stock old Ford ones on for all the hoisting.

 

It's been over a week...... should be on the road now right?

 

Well, not a lot of work done this week, but here is a quick taste for you.



This "working for a living" thing is getting in the way of my hobbies lately

 

Finally, getting back on the '47.
the joys of having multiple hot rods....

The dashboard of this thing has soo many do dads and chrome, that my workbench is covered with stuff, so I thought I'd paint the dash, so I could reassemble it and clear off my bench.

Sprayed it in my favorite spraybooth--my back yard



you can hardly tell where I pulled the bugs out of it



just paint updates for now, reassembly to come

 

Dash is looking good, the new gauges are really going to set it off.
Is that body color?

 

NO, not the color I am thinking for the exterior, just a good graphite gray for the interior. Have to do the column, steering wheel, and all the window frames too.

ugh, this all started as an engine swap.......

 

quicky update, but no photos....

The dash is reassembled, the headers are blasted, painted, baked and installed, and the steering column and wheel are painted the same as the dash. Pinholes filled in the floor panel, and a coat of POR-15 on it.

Progress is good

 

I went to put in my driveshaft, and found that the new engine and trans mounts positioned the trans about 1.5 inches forward of where it used to be.

So I had the boys at DTS in Ionia whip me up a new one

They did it so quickly that I think I will even leave their sticker on it. (not like you can see the driveshaft on this car anyways....)

Nothing says "Hot Rod" like a speaker with flames stamped into it


The dash is now assembled. I left the speedo and clock out, as the holes make nice handles to pick it up with


As I mentioned earlier, I blasted the headers, painted and cooked them. Installed on the car they look good to me