Projects 54 Ford Customline daily driver

Started by tearing out the seat today. Does anyone know how the rear seat comes out ?



Tore the seatbelts and carpet out. Rear pans are better than i thought despite the surface rust in the pics. Front pans are toast as i expected. I could see carpet from under the car hahah




Yanked the 3 speed out. Here it is next to the t-5



I know some of you were asking about the starter previously. Heres some pics of that after i pulled it to get the bellhousing off




Heres a few shots of the modern driveline t-5 adapter going in. Top two holes use the stock bellhousing holes. Bottom two are drilled and then bolted from the inside of the bellhousing






We tried to get the trans bolted up but floor clearance was a pain trying to get the tail end over the stock k member. I think im going to cut a large chunk out of the floor and make a removable trans cover like most trucks have. That way takin the trans in and out will be a breeze

 

to remove the back seat...put a flat bar at floor level under the seat lip and gently pry up at about midway point from centre to outside edge....once you have the seat base removed the seat back I think should have 2 screws where the seat meats the floor....one each side then lift vertically as the top of the seat sits down on a couple of locating hooks...pretty sure my memory is correct

 

Awesome thanks man. Anyone have any experience on where to buy floor pans? I see pans on ebay that are cheaper. Carpenter pans are about $80 a side for the fronts. I need the toe board too. Any recomendations ?


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To remove the back seat, get in the back as if you are going to sit but hold yourself up from the seat, pull up on the seat from the bottom and tap the base with your heel, you have to do it for each side.

 

I picked up a driver's side floor board and toe board from ems. They're not cheap for both it was close to 300 but the quality is top notch! All the grooves were exact. Pretty much cut out what you need to and plug it in.

 

Those do look like a super nice fit but thats a little steeper price than id like to pay if i dont have to. Ill keep those in mind for sure though


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I know what you mean man! It was a tough pill to swallow but my metal work is not that good so I wanted the easiest available. Let us know which direction you go

 

Ordered up the patches from ebay. It looked like neither these or the dennis carpenter patches matched the floor ribs so i just went with these. Cheaper and still made in USA. If your looking for factory resto stuff these probably arent for you since they dont match the original ribs but there good thickness and rock solid. Got the pass floor tacked in and toeboard trimmed up but not tacked yet. You can really see how bad the original floor was here



Bad news as well, i need new door sill plates because all 8 screws were seized on both sides. They mustve been stainless or something because none of them would drill so the plates got cracked as i removed them

 

Got a brand new set at the shop pm me

 

I modified the K member to except the 5 speed transmission and made a drop out mount for the transmission,a also made a C notch to tie the K member back together. HRP

 

A bit unsure of my interior direction. The original plan was all good and white tuck and roll similar to these colors here




Or im thinking i could go along the lines of one of my favorite cars, brian bass "Texas********". Black pleats with gold piping and stitching and keep the gold carpet



This would also help keep it clean since it is my daily driver. The rear shelf will be white pleats and the firewall above the toeboard white pleats as well. Im kinda liking the black contrast better personally

 

More progress. Front pans are finish welded and seam sealed. Bolted the t-5 up. Need to modify the k member some and get the mount finished up




Also thinking im gonna go with a darker brown to match the car for the interior. Itll be gold carpet, and then white and brown tuck n roll for the door panels and seats with gold piping. Found a shot of this car and really liked the brown, gonna go a tad darker shade than this though

 

Did a quick coat of black on the wheels before the tires get mounted. Gonna paint them gold eventually



My dad has had a spare shifter sitting around for years. Its from a big 2 ton or so 55-56 chevy pickup that he found in a junkyard. The stick is tapered and just has a really cool look. I made a tab, drilled it and welded it to the original stick






The stick is obviously a bit long so ive bent up a smaller piece of rod to show where the shifter will be bent and cut



The shifter is super comfortable in this position in every gear. Should look nice with the smooth bends

 

Anyone know where to get a pressure plate. Ive found a few stock 54 replacements but the price seems high. Anyone have a part number for another 10" pressure plate. Clutch disc as well ? Ive found discs but curious if someone found a whole kit for cheaper to save some dough


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I don't know about aftermarket borg and beck pressure plates, but you should be able to chase down a used OE Ford one and have it rebuilt. You might be able to cheat and use a diaphragm pressure plate. I just had the local clutch shop rebuild a stock unit.

On the disc, I was stupid and had a custom disc made when I still lived in Indianapolis, but I'm pretty sure that a first gen mustang disc would have been an off-the-shelf solution. You'll need a 10-inch disc with a 1-1/16" 10 spline center, which I think is fairly common in 60s Fords.

It's been so long since I've done the swap I don't remember a whole heck of a lot. I know that you saved yourself a lot of swearing by just cutting the tunnel!

 

The disc is readily available in many fords. Seems most guys use the mustang disc. Was just curious if the pressure plate would fit as well. Or if there was another part number that would work. If not ill just buy everything seperate.



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Sent ya a pm and pics of sill plates

 

Got the tires mounted up, new 2.5" drop spindles on and mocked up and a quick look at one of the sombreros taped on. We had a bunch of holiday stuff to do this weekend so i didnt get too much done

 

Oh men,I lovely with the caps!!!!!!!!

 

Stance looks really nice!

 

Thanks guys.

Heres my interior colors. Still undecided. Brown pleats with gold piping and a white outter. Or gold pleats with brown piping and a white outter. Carpet will be gold

 

So after getting the rear tires on ( which are taller than my mockup tires) i decided the back had to come down more. I ordered up 4" blocks to replace the 2" ones

Heres a pic of all the tires on and a bunch of weight in the trunk to simulate 4" blocks. Also snapped a pic with the sombreros mocked up

 

Beautiful car. I can't wait for the interior it's going to look killer.


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So.....I don't know about 4" blocks. That's gonna be at the max drop without floor mods. You already know you won't easily change a tire...but it will look great. Everything looks awesome so far. When's the gold pearl going on the roof to really take it to the next level

 

I think with the gold carpet I would choose this interior option you listed: Brown pleats with gold piping and a white outter

 

Agreed!

 

Thanks karl

Tiki i was already planning on modifying the floor above the pumpkin and driveshaft tunnel mods. As it sits in that picture its posies 3" rear drop springs with 4" blocks ( i dont think the posies springs are a full 3") front is 2.5" spindles and aerostars. My buddy russ is supposed to come take a look at the roof tomorrow and we will hopefully get a general idea on paint

Hunter and peanut i think you guys are right. That is the option im leaning towards. Gold pleats would be too much gold, i think the brown with gold carpet will work really well


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So i decided to go the route of flipping the stock crossmember upside down. It had to be narrowed slightly to slide further back into the k member. I removed that spot welded plate and filled the stock holes



Then it had to be notched to clear the stock t-5 trans mount



I carried the flared lip down around the notch for a factory look and added strength




All bolted up.....



Since its flipped, the "upper" tab on the crossmember now hangs low and isnt used. Ill cut these off soon

 

As you can see above i cut the middle of the k member out to be able to drop the trans easier. This part also contains the stock park brake bracket



I looked through some scrap i had laying around to make a bolt in cross piece to tie the k member together. The c channel is 3.5", i only had 2x4 box tubing so i had to section it down to fit inside the channel




I had a spare 7" air bag cup laying around so i chopped a piece off to use as a notch to clear the trans and welded it up




Heres how it sits in the channel. The plan is to drill holes in the k member from the front side, and ill weld some nuts or threaded bungs in flush on this piece. Also gonna cap the ends and plan on modifying and welding the stock e brake bracket on so its all still functional

 

Nice work!!


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