Projects Bought another Ford today

Started cutting and welding tail pipes today.This is liable to take some time! Fortunately I have a lot of pieces of assorted exhaust pipe to cut up.

 

At long last the exhaust system is done! At least the under car part of it.I was able to cut and weld tailpipes so that they could come through the pan.I did that for two reasons,I like the way it looks and it helps with ground clearance.The mufflers are 2 18" glasspacks,the rest is welded up from whatever I had. I will have to make some surrounds for the pipes where they come through the pan.I have some 2 1\2" aluminum round stock,I may stick a piece of that in the lathe tomorrow and see what I get.I think it sounds great! Of course I am very fond of the sound any inline 6 or 8 makes through headers.

 

Set the hood on and stood back and looked at the thing.It is starting to resemble a car some.

 

You'll be driving it soon!
I think those exhaust holes needs something,like 60's Corvette exhaust bezels?

 

Hi Antti,I think that was what I meant by "surrounds".I am either going to make them out of aluminum or I will make them from 1\4" round stock welded to a short sleeve that fits through the exh pipe hole in the pan.If I can get headlights in it I can finish wiring it and at that point I can register and drive it. Are you about to where you need that sway bar? I took it off and cleaned it and the brackets up,so they can be packaged and sent to the shipper anytime.

 

I'll send a PM for you

 

I made a try at some bezels today.Not right,but the idea is sound.I just need to change materials.I tried a short piece of tubing that fit over the exh pipes with a piece of 1\4" round stock wrapped around it and welded to form the bezel.Problem is the steel doesnt conform easily [ATTACH= to the curve in the pan.I believe I will make another set using copper tubing.I can bend this to comform exactly and solder it to the tailpipe itself.

 

I found my missing hood hinge!! It was in a box of stuff I had put away and forgotten.I got both hinges cleaned up ,primed and painted today ,so I reckon I will try installing the hood tomorrow.

 

I got the hinges on today and installed the hood.To my amazement it opens and closes! Doesnt fit worth a damn,but I can deal with that .

 

I worked on that hood fitment today.It really is way off.I will post a pic tomorrow,maybe I can get some input.I started building the column shift linkage today.I dont have any of it,just the steering column and the little sleeve on top that the shift rod went into.I believe this will be one of those things that will look very simple once its done but that takes hours and hours to get to work right---

 

Here are a couple of pictures of my hood problem.The hood is adjusted as far forward as it will go.Any input on how to fix this is appreciated.

 

With all the repairs you've done on everything getting Good fit lines can be a real Challenge. First is to get Doors to Quarter gap even top to bottom (below window line). Next is go to Fender to door and set proper alignment. One thing that can happen is have good Door to Fender line and still have the Core support to low and not even know it. I know you built most of the front support system by hand. Not picking on it but as you're learning it isn't always a finger snap and move on. So back to your Hood. It is very easy with a low front fender mount to Over Close the hood. This will tuck the front hood corners back and end up behind the fender corner, it will also open the Gap between rear edge of Hood and the Cowell ridge. Lifting the Hood some will close that Gap and extend the front hood corners. If I remember correct you did a fair amount of welding on top of your hood.. Things move around and it don't take much. If everything seems to be correct your Fix may be just as easy as pulling forward on the Hood Corners and moving them into place. I'm not suggesting just yet but it's an option after everything else is adjusted the best you can. To go along with fit, the inner fender panels have a impact on hood to fender fit. That is where you open or close the front to back gap fit. It also changes the over all length of said Fender.
The Wizzard

 

As always thank you!! That was pretty much what I needed to know.

 

I got my shift linkage made up and on the car.It actually was pretty simple,( I am sure something will go wrong now I have said that)Top pic is the shaft(1\2" OD heavy wall tubing) and the shift arm which is 1\4" X 1".Second pic is the shift lever on the shaft.I made the sleeve out of a piece of an old rifle barrel and drilled and tapped it for 2 10-32 set screws.The lever is another piece of 1\2" tubing.The shift knob is just made out of a piece of 1" aluminum scrap.To my amazement the whole thing works just fine.Here it is in "park" position.You can see the set screw holes in the sleeve.

 

And here is the pic of the linkage under the hood.The rod from the arm to the trans is 0-1 so even in its annealed state it is stiff enough I dont have to worry about it bending or losing is shape.All I really have left to do there is find or make a somewhat more presentable clamp for the column and bottom support bracket.

 

Nice!
Just wondering,why didnt you use the automatic column?

 

Antti that is the automatic column,at least I assume it is.It came out of my 51 parts car which was an automatic.All it had on it was the little bracket at the top that the shift shaft fits into now.???

 

Kurt,thats a manual column,but looks like someone have converted it to work with the automatic tranny.I had that column too when i bought the car and that column was also converted for automatic transmission.Here is a pic of my automatic column,that i bought later:

 

Stinage. That is a stick shift jacket your working with. The Auto jacket Finnrodder posted has a special feature that's quite necessary. It's called an Index Detent. That's what hold's the lever in the selected gear position. I know what your thinking, the Valve Body has a gear detent, I don't need any stock unit. Well you might be right 95 percent of the time. It's the other 5 percent that get's ya. What you built has weight and leverage just hanging there waiting for a good harsh dip in the road at speed or a large enough (who knows how big that is going to be) Pot Hole to make that thing shift by itself. It's really a Fu---ed up event to go into Low gear at 60 miles an hour because IF you realise what just happened you will most certainly shove it into Reverse. Take that info as you like, no Knock of your work intended however at this time I'll pass on going for a Ride with you.
The Wizzard

 

Antti,PNB thank you both very much for the info. I didnt have anything for comparison and just assumed that since it came out of an AT car----.I believe I will make a ball and spring detent to help hold the shifter in the "drive" position.I will post pictures of what I come up with.Thanks again,Kurt.

 

I was fooling around today with some different hubcaps and wondered if anyone else had an opinion on what to use and why .I think I have more in one of the sheds ,I will look tomorrow.

 

I'm personally not a fan of any of those. Some spider caps with beauty rings would look good. Or single bar spinners? Lancer caps always look good on everything.

 

Thank you voodookustoms.What is a spider cap ?

 

The spider cap just covers the center of the wheel and lug nuts.

 

I prefer the look of the spider caps and beauty rings as well.

 

Thank you both.

 

I made a series of small modifications to the front support and raised the fenders about 3\8".This helps with the height problem but didnt do much for gap.It looks to me like I need to move the top of the fenders in toward the hood a bit at the back.I can do this pretty easily by slotting the 2 top fender mount bolt holes but would like to know if that is the right way to go about it.PNB? Anyone?

 

Fender fit starts at the Doors. If your Fender edge is out past the Door skin, by all means push them in till flush with each other. Remember these cars had some quite large panel gaps when new. This whole BMW fit stuff didn't start till the 90's. The hood gap to fender is a wedge in relation to the Car's center line. Moving the Hood back on the Cowell and the Fenders forward will close the Gap your talking about. By the way, the issue your having is quite common in projects that have had heavy mod's done along with Body off Frame and mix and match parts. They can be a real Bugger.
The Wizzard

 

I will do those things.I know I will get this eventually but your advice is sure helpful! Thank you.

 

Finally got to go back to work on the car! My wife has been in the hospital ,so time has been short.I am in the process of installing the trans hump and driveshaft tunnel,I am using as many pieces out of the various junk cars around the house as I can.I need to raise some of the shaft tunnel and cover up the bellhousing.I cut a bunch of pieces out of a scrap 77 nova and guess I will have to fabricate the rest.Should have some pictures by the end of the day.