1952-59 Ford 1952 Victoria Build-Up Part 1

I just about got out the door to start work on the Vicky when I had this brilliant idea to take photos and share the process as I went along. Nothing new on the HAMB, I know, but perhaps I can be of some help by making as many mistakes as possible and writing about them...

Thanks to HAMBer, James D, I've got a photoshopped version of the way the car will look when it's done: It's exactly the way I'd have built the car when I was in High School, 1961 - 1965.

The styling is a carryover from what I consider to be the golden age of semi-customs, 1958 - 1959, when the semi-custom was king.




Contrary to many on the HAMB, I was much more into customs than hot rods in those years. Not slow customs, but show-and-go customs that were driven daily and raced on the weekend.

So... Here's how the story goes...

I was posting a "for sale" ad for my '51 sedan avitar several weeks ago and noticed that an ad for a '52 Victoria had been placed just moments before. The condition was stated as very good and the price seemed unbelievably low. I had been looking for a Merc hardtop of the same vintage and was interested, even though this was a Ford.

So I called...I was able to talk to the seller immediately...and bought it before it could get away. Even if it isn't as good as the seller claimed, I thought, the low price would make it possible for me to put more into the rebuild process and I'd come out pretty much even.




My buddy Chuck and I headed for Missouri the following weekend to pick the car up. It's a long drive from Texas, but we did it in a two-day turn-around with two trucks...my doolie with a trailer and his longbed to haul all the extra parts that came with it.

Getting the car onto the trailer proved to be more like three monkeys with a football than an organized process. Rusty's gravel driveway slopes dramatically...and it had rained a couple days before. Thankfully, we'd just added a good electric winch to the trailer a couple weeks before. If we hadn't we'd still be there trying to get the car up onto the trailer.

I posted photos on the HAMB as soon as I got back from Missouri with the car still on the trailer, purchased from Trailer-Ed (Rusty) who is well known here on the HAMB. He'd gotten it from the widow of a friend who p***ed, with the idea of finding it a good home where the work that had already been started would be finished.



It's a very nice car. Much better than I expected when I purchased it from Rusty sight-unseen. He turned out to be a perfect seller: honest in all respects! The car was even better than he claimed...by a bunch! And he held the price even though he was offered more by other potential buyers after he'd agreed to sell it to me. That's the kind of guy you want to deal with again.

It had been in the friend's family for quite some time, I understand, but got lightly wrecked and sat for a while before the rebuilding got underway in earnest. The friend p***ed away before he'd gotten very far, and the car sat again until the widow sold it to Rusty.








It's got a tiny bit of rust in all the usual places, but far less than most. The floors are pristine except for a spot or two, and the main problems are in the rockers and rear quarters behind the rear wheels. The rest of the car has been partially dis***embled, as the photos show, but all the parts and fasteners came with it. Lots of extra parts too, including some Olds side trim and a neat-but-as-yet-unidentified grille with which the former owner was going to customize it.




Though it came with a proper flathead, the Vicky had been modified to accept a Y-block, judging by the bite taken out of the front crossmember. This is what I'm working on today, cutting out the crude old reinforcements and welding in new material to make the crossmember both stronger and better looking. I thought about restoring the crossmember to original, but I just might want to put a Y-block back in it one day...but not today.

So... Daylight's wasting! I'm off to the shop. Will post photos later in the day to show my progress.

Wish me luck!

 

Okay, well, I've about had it for today. The heat here in Texas is still pretty high even though it's less than it's been in recent days.

Not exactly rocket science today. I finished cleaning up the butchered front crossmember where somebody had cut a big bite out for oil pan clearance...then changed their mind and scabbed the cut-out piece back in! Then they covered it with lots of bondo and primered it.

So I cut the scabbed-in piece back out with my plasma cutter and discovered that the hole had been reinforced pretty well underneath. So I cleaned it up as best as I could, cut out most of the old bubblegum weldement and rewelded it. Now it's strong and at least somewhat neat looking even though I didn't spend a lot of time dressing the new welds. There's a big strap of steel across the front that I suppose was put on there for reinforcement. It's not in the way so I'm going to leave that where it is.




Also, while I was at it I replaced the damaged original front radiator support crossmember with a straight one I got from Flat Top Bob at Owens Auto Wrecking (a HAMB-O-Dex supplier who does mail-order and has great parts!). The original was bent from a light wreck in the car's past and, while it could have been "heat-n-beat" straight, I decided to replace it instead. (I still have the old one if anybody needs it)

Replacing the crossmember was simply a matter of drilling out the old rivits and replacing them with 3/8 Grade 5 bolts. Saying it is sure a lot easier than doing it! Those rivits are tough to get out, even after they've been drilled!




The next step will be to mount the new Chevy L48 Corvette engine and Muncie 4-speed transmission. (Please...save the Ford-in-Ford **** for somebody who cares!)

I got the motor and transmission from a hard-wrecked '65 El Camino I bought on Craig's List. The car had sat for many years and seller had no idea what the motor was.

When I got it home I found the motor was full of water! Man, was I heartbroken! But, I figured I might as well see how it ran. (They did that in Hot Rod Magazine one time with a Firebird engine that was full to the top with "chocolate milk". After draining it out and refilling with fresh oil the motor ran great!) So I did the same thing and it runs absolutely perfect! Sometimes you just get lucky!

I'll be using Jamco motor mounts for the engine swap. They're simple and they're cheap. My kind of stuff.

Well, that's it for today. More later!

PS: I'll post photos when I figure out how to do it. Anybody know?

 

You gotta great start, keep us posted!

 

(I'm gonna merge my two threads into one... It'll only hurt for a little while. Have patience...)

Yesterday and today I spent fabricating and fitting the hydraulic clutch system to my '52 Vicky. It's part of the overall installation of a Corvette small block / Muncie 4-speed setup. That was the fun part. I also got to clean the engine. That was the not-so-fun part.






It's coming along slowly but well. Note my high-tech shop and state of the art air conditioning...




All in all, a pretty neat day. Should get the motor and trans trial-fitted in the car tomorrow...with any luck!

 

Well, it's in...sorta.

Today I pulled the pan off the used Corvette engine I'm putting into my Vicky...urggg! Not a pretty sight at the bottom, but what can ya expect for a motor that was full of water! Chocolate sunday...with lumps.

The good news is that the rest of the engine is clean, clean, clean and appears freshly rebuilt. I've already had it running so I know it's a good motor and it sounds really strong!

To put the motor in my Vicky I elected to install a forward sump pan, oil pump and pickup from an early V8 Chevy II. Not a big deal other than drilling and tapping one web of the block to accept the pickup support bolt.




Got the bottom end all ****oned up, bolted on the bell housing and ******, and lowered the whole thing into the engine bay. I'd already modified the transmission crossmember so the rear ****** mount bolted right up.



Looks pretty good. Best of all, everything fits!




The front crossmember had already been cut when I got the car, and I had previously cleaned that area up (see my previous post on this subject).




Little did I know at the time that the front sump oil pan would require the front crossmember to be trimmed just like it had already been! Sometimes ya' just get lucky!



Anyhoo, tomorrow I'm going to play hookey and work on it some more. I hope to get the front motor mounts in and begin to work out the details like fuel line routing, exhaust manifolds, hydraulic clutch hose length, etc., etc.

I'm starting to get excited now!

 

Well... I played hookey today and worked on the Vicky. Got the motor settled in and the motor mounts tacked into place. Nice parts. Got 'em from Jamco.

Installed the juice clutch master and slave and ordered the flex line to connect them. Couldn't do this until I'd measured the space between them with the motor in place.




Installed the "direct replacement" dual master cylinder. Will need to lengthen the push rod by a half-inch or so. It's a little short as it is. Not a big deal.




Installed the "down and back" rams horn manifolds I'd gotten for another project. Fit perfectly and direct the pipes in exactly the right direction for a clean installation. Plenty of clearance, even on the driver's side. I was afraid it would be tight around the juice clutch slave, but it's not.




Had to ditch the HEI distributor in favor of a points-type to get enough firewall clearance. I'll still have to make a tiny dimple to get the rearmost spark plug wire on and off, but it won't be noticeable once it's done. Gotta get a regular coil, too.




Had to ditch the original throttle linkage, too. Too close for comfort and hits the juice clutch slave bracket at full extension. No big loss.

Welded up the modified clutch master rod and reshaped throwout lever arm. Gotta go to work tomorrow. Too bad. There's still lots more to do.


Eric

 

If ya' can't raise the bridge, lower the river! Took about 3/8" off the two rear cap towers and bought myself just enough room. Wires just barely touch and cap rotates freely to set timing. Cost: Zero!

 

Hi Eric...I used a MSD 8360 electronic distributor that fits perfect in that space. It did cost $300 but I thought it was well worth it. Check out my album pics. Hey! Thanks for sharing your build... I'm looking forward to seeing it as it comes together... another reason to get on this site every night!!!!!

 

Yes, I looked at the MSD 8360 that you suggested and the Mallory YL suggested by Jeff. Both are physically compatible, but neither offers the vacuum advance feature. I know that many performance enthusiasts prefer the centrifical advance, I prefer the enhanced driveability of the vacuum advance units. Opinions vary as do preferences. If this solution hadn't presented itself, I'd have looked into the suggested distributors more seriously. Thanks to both of you for your suggestions.

 

the 8360 that I have does have a vacuum advance, a must have for a street engine. It had a mallory without an advance and it ran like ****... I got my 8360 from Summit. If you like I can give you my tune up specs that were given to me from a corvette restorer. It runs great!

 

Geno: You are absolutely right! I don't know where my brain was when I was looking through the Summit catalog, but perhaps you can guess! Sorry for doubting your information. Thanks for your help.

Eric / missysdad1

 

Today I began to work on my master cylinder situation.

The master shown in the previous pictures came in a box with a lot of other odds and ends for the car. It turned out to be a '67-'72 Mustang non-power drum/drum master...a perfect upgrade for the original brakes, but not up to the job for my upgraded brakes.



So I set about to upgrade to a master cylinder that would be compatible with my new brakes...not just something that could be made to work, but a master that would be ideal for my application.

I don't want a big, ugly booster in the engine compartment, so power brakes were out. I want the installation to look as factory as possible, and as neat as is humanly possible while being fully serviceable in the event of a failure on the road.

After hours of internet research, I settled on what turned out to be a rather rare duck: the non-power disc/drum version of the same master I had before, the '67-'72 Mustang.




With a lot of help from Chockostang Cl***ic Mustang (an eBay store) by phone, I found the '67-'72 Mustang non-power disc/drum master will work perfectly with my '70 V8 Maverick rear brakes and my Jamco Granada front disc brakes.

Being a non-power application the bore was correct for my application AND it has a built-in 10 lb. residual pressure valve to the rear brakes so no in-line RPV is necessary. The car may or may not need an in-line adjustable proportioning valve. I'll probably put one in just in case.

It is a bolt-in replacement for the original '52-'53 Ford master cylinder as well. The Mustang push rod has the same loop as the stock Ford and works perfectly with the eccentric free-travel adjustment bolt at the pedal. The only change is that I'll have to extend the Mustang push rod by about 1/2" to allow the pedal to position itself properly. I'll show more on this when I actually get the part.

I'm stoked! I had expected a much more complicated solution to this situation. I know that a lot of what I'm doing is pretty simple stuff for experienced rod builders, but I am showing it only because I think it might be of value to people who, like me, are building a '52-'56 Ford for the first time.

More on this installation later...

 

This is great! You give information that is valuable to everyone... keep it coming!

 

In a sense, being self-employed is a blessing. But, at the same time, it can be a curse.

Why? Because it's altogether too easy to skip school and play with my car.

The UPS guy arrived this afternoon with a small but highly anticipated package from Ray Godman Hi-Performance - the "go to" place for race car lines and fittings. Woohoo! It's Christmas!




In the little package were two critical parts of my juice clutch setup: A #3235-03 12mm 1.0 x 3an steel adapter and a #3154 -03 St. x 90 degree 14-inch hose. The hose is pretty standard but the adapter fitting is 'way on the far side of weird.

These are the pieces I needed to attach my '86 Chevy truck clutch master cylinder with female flare and ultra-fine metric threads to the Toyota Land Cruiser slave cylinder/kit I got from Advance Adapters. I had tried every parts house in the area, but nobody even had a clue how to go about connecting these two parts with the weird metric flared ports.

Luckily, Advance Adapters had been able to provide the fitting to go from the Toyota Land Cruiser slave to 3AN, but they couldn't help when it came to the weird fitting to convert the Chevy master to 3AN.




Godman Hi-Performance was a last-ditch shot in the dark...but it shouldn't have been. When I called Godman for help with my dilemma, they were cool, calm and very helpful...and today, two days later, I'm hooked up and in business. Not only did they know what I needed, but they actually had it in stock!

Nice folks...and they got the stuff you need, no matter how far-out it may be!

More later...

 

wow I can't belive the difference in crossmembers between your 52 and a 54!!!

 

Clean install!!

 

Another busy day today. I plugged up the old dipstick hole and mounted the new dipstick, necessary to read the front sump pan properly. The dipstick is also from an early Chevy II V8, so it fit the pan, but wasn't having anything to do with anything else. Of course, it was a used dipstick and I highly suspect that the previous owner had modified the mounting tab. It sure didn't come close to any holes on my motor.

I solved the problem by drilling and tapping the left front boss of the left exhaust manifold. I had to rescue the brutalized mounting tab, but once I got it straight it bolted up just fine.







Today was also the day to clean out the under dash area. Out came the old wiring, the heater and all the really cool smelling old sound deadener. Yuck! Nice and clean under there now, though. Had to get rid of all that stuff to fill the holes in the firewall...without setting the car on fire.

Also built the throttle linkage. I'm a back-to-basics kind of guy, in case you hadn't noticed, and wanted a simple, basic throttle linkage and pedal. I'm also "thrifty" and tend to scrounge as much stuff as I can for little to no outlay of cash.




The throttle linkage I used came from one of the "retired" '64-'65 El Caminos I have stashed around my property...parts cars for my daily driver. The photos tell the story - it's not rocket surgery. The carb linkage came from the same place, cut, reshaped and welded to length.









The throttle linkage is only tacked into place and, like the linkage, and will be finalized when the motor comes back out and the firewall gets smoothed off. I didn't have the little nylon dohicky that goes into the carburetor arm, so the link is actually in the wrong hole. The link is pretty much parallel to the motor when it's in the right hole. I may section the vertical linkage arm a bit...it's a little taller than I like. There's plenty of throw adjustment so shortening it won't be a problem. We'll see how it goes.




Long day... More tomorrow.

 

I can't believe it took me all afternoon to install the Hurst shifter in my Victoria...but it did. I took my time and did it right. The only thing I need now is a longer shift lever, one that slants forward, then back, to clear the seat properly.










Done for the day...and so is Memphis. Long day for us both.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'm going to take hot water and soap to the interior and clean up some of the grunge. Take a break from mechanical work, I think.

 

This may work? ebay item # 220473981115

 

Thanks, Jeff. I've decided to reshape the stick I've got. After sitting in the seat in the correct position and going, "brooom, broooom, brooooooom!" for a while, I think the stick I've got is long enough, it just needs to be tipped forward a little to clear the seat. It's at a very comfortable height as it is.

The photoshop image of my completed car is already obsolete, though. Got up early this morning and scored the absolute perfect grille - a '54 Chevy with extra teeth - on the HAMB Cl***ifieds. It had only been offered a few hours and I snagged it right away.




It fits my design concept perfectly (mild street custom '61 - '65) and is in pretty good shape for its age. Needs chrome, of course, but don't they all...

More later...

 

Awesome score!!!

 

It's been raining here in Texas for a week or so...no kidding!...so the Vicky has sat unmolested and untouched under several layers of blue tarp.

But I've been busy nonetheless. I had the Maverick 8" gone through, bearings, seals and brakes, by a local shop, Automotive Alignment in Kennedale, TX, that does great work and is very reasonable. I was able to use the original '52 emergency brake cable as well. It actually bolts up! So other than making new brake lines it's ready to roll underneath and bolt up.

I cleaned up the Hurst shifter rods and replaced the nylong bushings and special clips so that it will work like a new one. The shifter came with the motor and transmission in the El Camino and, though it was rusty and grody-looking, it was essentially sound and will work just great.

I ordered all the new clutch parts - McLeod 11" - and had the flywheel turned. Also got all the nit-picky stuff like ARP flywheel and pressure plate bolts, a roller-style center bearing and a new throwout bearing.

The next trick is to get all the rear end stuff put in - the Jamco 3" springs, anti-sway bar, gas-filled shocks and rear axle - and measure for the new driveshaft.

All pretty much basic stuff... Now, if only the rain would stop!

Later...

Eric

 

Sounds great Eric...all that nitpicky stuff adds up on itself and really moves a project forward.

I hear you about the rain. I drove from Austin to Houston last Friday in driving, almost blinding rain, the whole way.

 

Another nit-picky day...but I'm not complaining, at least it wasn't raining and I got to work on the car for a little while at least.

Spent most of it on my back, pulling the gas tank, brake lines, muffler hangers, rear springs, shocks, rear axle housing and everything else that would unbolt from underneath. I had decided to start from scratch, and everything that was in the way had to go.

Of course, none of it gave up easily. I used lot of Blaster and cuss words to get the job done, but get it done I did.

Getting the springs out proved to be tricky. The front spring bolts are special bolts and there's no way to keep 'em from turning while you take off the nuts...which were rusty, can you imagine?



I ended up welding the bolt head to the perch, removing the nut and then cutting the weld to get the bolt out. Worked great.

I took a few minutes to solve the problem next time by welding nuts to the bolt heads to have something to grip when I put the new springs in. (Don't laugh at the welds, okay?) Not pretty, but it'll work just fine.



I also reshaped the Hurst shifter handle to clear the seat in second and high gears. I looked at lots of replacement handles, trying to find one that I liked as much as the one I have but which would also clear the seat. But I didn't find one I liked better than the one I already have, so I decided to modify it for seat clearance.


BEFORE


AFTER

A simple pie cut allowed it to be bent just above the mechanism. I got the shape right after a couple of tries and welded it back together. I used a wet cloth on the chrome handle to prevent discoloring the chrome. Worked great!

One kinda bummer, though. I discovered that the '70 Maverick 8-inch axle I have is not a bolt-in, as I'd been told. The Maverick spring perches are 1 1/2" wider apart than the '52 Ford perches. So...I will have to cut off the spring perches and weld on new ones the proper distance apart. Not a big deal, but something I wasn't planning on doing. Oh, well...

S'posta start raining again tomorrow, so I guess I have to suspend operations for a while. But that's okay, I have to earn a living sometime...

More later...

 

I'm enjoying your posts....keep 'em coming.

Also...I'm glad I'm not the only one who sits in his unfinished car going "brrooommmm, brrroooooom, bbrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooommmm"

 

Did you ever finish the brake master cylinder install? I was thinking about using this master cylinder on my 53 but I was curious to see how you had to modify the rod and what did you do about the brake light switch?

 

No, it's been raining pretty much daily except for Sunday when I stripped the bottom side. I did that because I didn't have to uncover the car and because I could quit at any time should the rain come back.

I have a low-pressure brake light switch that I will be using. I will probably spring for the new all-in-one brake system junction block which hooks up the lines, allows for installation of the brake light switch and has an intergral rear wheel proportioning valve. Summit has 'em. Spendy but neat.



It's always a difficult call for me to decide between today's technology and yesterday's "scrounge and adapt" philosophy. Plumbing a dual reservoir master cylinder disc/drum brake system can be done with traditional flared lines and br*** fittings...but it gets a little messy, even when it's done well.

As you may have noticed from the rest of my build...as far as it has progressed, at least...that I prefer "clean-and-neat" over "busy-and-cheap" as a general overall theme. If I can do it in the traditional way and have it come out clean and neat, that's the way I will go.

But if the appliction of a little bit of modern technology will improve the neatness, function or safety of the overall vehicle, I'm all for it. Thus the decision to use the Summit brake system block.

The low pressure brake light switch activates at about 30-40 lbs. of line pressure rather than the 80-100 lbs. of the traditional switches. It gets the lights on sooner than with the old type, and in today's world of cell phones and text messaging I want all the attention I can get...and the sooner I get it the better!

I'll update the master cylinder install as soon as I can get to it.

BTW: It's raining again today...

 

Not a huge lot of progress on the car today, but at least I got to work on it for a while. Weather is nice again, but the ****** mosquitos are terrible! I finally got a big fan hooked up on my work area and that helped, but they are tenacious little critters!

Big score for the day is pretty exciting! A New Old Stock '52 Ford Customline steering wheel ***embly from the Cl***ifieds here on the HAMB. No way could I afford it, but if I didn't buy it I'd kick myself in the *** forever...and that's a fact! So I did.



I've got a couple of steering wheels that came with the Vicky, but neither of them is worth a darn except as a mini restoration project...usable, with a whole lot of work. This one is, well, perfect. I plan to spend many, many hours behind it.

I decided to tackle one big thing and one little thing today: changing the spring perches on my Maverick rear axle, and finding a speedometer cable which would mate the '52 Ford speedo with the Muncie 4-speed transmission.

The speedo cable was no big thing: One of my parts cars, a '64 El Camino, still had the speedo cable in it, so I pulled it just on the off chance it might work. Bingo! It even looks to be the right length. Screwed right onto the Ford speedo and activates it just fine. And of course it'll fit the Muncie. Sometimes ya' just get lucky!

The spring perches were a bit more of a challenge, but not much. More when I get back from walking my dogs...

Okay. I ordered a set of spring perches from Summit Racing. They are the right size for this application, are of very heavy construction and are made in America.




I set the Maverick rear end up on a stand I made from cement blocks and torched the original spring perches off, taking great care not to nick the axle tube. Then ground everything smooth.

The object of the excersize is to make the new axle look like the old axle. Not exactly rocket surgery.

First thing I did was to determine the angle of the axle on the springs. I set the original axle (which had been removed from the car) up so that the spring perches were level (0 degrees using an angle finder). I then measured the angle of the yoke, again using the angle finder. The angle of the original yoke turned out to be 5 degrees upward.

My next step was to mock the Maverick rear end up on the stand so that the angle of the Maverick yoke was the same, 5 degrees upward. (See photo below) (Yes, the angle finder is indicating 5 degrees down, but remember, the axle is upside down at this point!)




Then I measured the distance between the original spring perches and transferred this measurement to the spring perches mocked onto the Maverick rear axle. I used bricks so that I could measure in a straight line. Once I got the distance between the perches established, I centered them on the housing the correct distance apart, and marked the housing.



Then I took the bricks off and set the spring perches at 0 degrees (level) using the angle finder. Mission accomplished!



Tommorrow I'll weld 'em up...but not before I re-measure and re-check all my calculations and marks. I'm a firm believer in the old adage: measure twice, cut once.

I can't wait to get started in the morning!

 

Glad you got the wheel. I kept going back and looking at it, calculating. In the end insulation for the shop won out! lol

 

That is one gorgeous score! This build is really educational and fun to watch. Can't wait to see more.