Projects Crazy Legs My 54 Ford Build Thread - Old Custom

We’ve been hard at it, I ordered a set of adjustable QA1 shocks for the rear that have enough stroke for the airbags, here is a pic of one of them mocked up.





Here is my chopped up radiator core support, basically after I removed everything that was the stock support I cut 4” forward to have it clear the condenser, radiator & fans. I had to remove the stock hood latches and grille supports as well I’ve modified and got them back in place as well.



Here it is with the condenser & radiator in place



And of course with the fans installed.



Even with it all moved ahead I can only stick my hand between the back of the fans and the pulleys, barely enough room. I don't have the PS steering pulley on, pretty sure I'm going to remove it.



I’m trying to make a cap that will span the entire width of the shroud, I started hammering out this to cover make it all look as good and fluid as possible.





Kinda hard to see but here is a pic of the insid of the LF fender looking forward, notice the fresh air vents are gone. This was to make room for tire to go up inside the fender when layed out.



After I get the front end finally done I’ll be closing in the trans tunnel



I've got a bunch more pics coming of more progress we've done.

 

Looks Good

 

Looking fine!!!

 

Here is the soon to be top radiator mount & air deflector so the air doesn’t go up and over the radiator. It’ll have multiple cuts & bends & hopefully fit good enough to weld to the 2 side caps I made so I can remove it all as 1 top cover. The last pic shows the radiator hose routing I came up with as well.

 

After lots head scratching, cutting, welding, and loss of blood here is what I ended up for the top mount & radiator cover. Basically it wraps around the radiator held in by stock urethane bushings & clamps the back of the plastic shroud holding the electric fans. The hole or weird looking notch is for the radiator cap/neck







Some of you asked how the lower column mount would work. Here is what we’ve come up with. It started out as a picece of 2-1/2” Exhaust tubing, then pie cut down and bent in & welded. The first picture shows what it looks like from the engine bay (I’ll have to wait to finish this side until the engine is out)



This is from the inside, you’ll notice that it has a collar that’s welded to the floor, then the column mount that clamps slides inside it. The reason for this is to be able to gain access to be able to insert the roll pins into the steering U-joint.

 

Sweet build and kick ass fab work

 

Love your car, great work!

 

Thanks guys! I was starting to wonder if I lost all my followers lol

We've been hard at it about everynight and my dads been doing alot on it during the day lately. We had a hell of a time installing the trans with the engine in place so we decided to hack out the trans mount to make it removable (I'll post pics up soon)

Meanwhile we finally got the all right parts for the new rearend project, we decided that it was going to be impossible to ever change the rear wheels once it was all done so we are narrowing the "long axle side" 4" by putting another stock "short side" axle in place of the long axle so it will narrow the rear 2" on each side and it'll center the pumpkin in the car but it'll now offset the driveshaft but we think this is the easiest option to fix the wheel removal issue.

I'm doing lots of weird little stuff like getting the gas pedal/cable mounted, drilled a big ass 1-3/4" hole in the firewall after I just filled all the holes for the LS wire loom, installed the 32" shifter and removed the big gay front seat brackets so the seat sits low on the floor. I ordered a ton of stuff for it, exhaust tubing, airbag parts, intake crap and still doing tons of research on the A/C yet......Dang I thought doing this stuff yourself is supposed to be cheaper than having someone else do it all!?

I'll post more pics up after this coming weekends progress

OH!!! the biggest news, thanks to a fellow Hamb member "Couvy" I have a 54 Ford bumper, brackets, and the lower front part of the fenders on the way to help get this thing converted back to being a 54 Ford

 

this is gonna be a rad kemp

 

I've been standing over in the corner and being mum during this build but I gotta say you guys are doing some excellent work. HRP

 

Thanks guys

 

I just found this thread and all I can say is Holy Crap!.. You have done some very nice work sir!

 

Following

 

Awesome car! Just found your build thread and I have to say the quality and craftmanship going into your car is inspiring. I really like the design of the K-member for the frame and the routing holes for the exhaust. Great ideas and I subscribed. It would be cool to hear that LS fired up and recorded as a youtube video. Thinking about putting the smaller 5.3 in my 50 fleetline so I am studying how you are fitting the engine into the frame and the changes needed. By the way, would you mind sharing what exhaust manifolds you are going to use? Keep it going and great job.
Corey

 

Remarkable ideas & skills!

 

Keep posting, lots of us silently enjoying your build!

Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

Sounds good guys, I'll keep on posting!

1950heavymetal, the manifolds are stock 5.3/6.0L without the EGR/AIR emissions crap. All drivers sides are the same but the passenger sides either will have the EGR mount cast into it or it won't. I have both but I liked the looks of the non-EGR better and if you use it you won't have to hack out the top A-arm mount as much. Other than that no issues on the install other than you need a LS GTO oil pan since they are front sump and works perfect with the Ford front cross member

As for any updates, I'll post some pics of the weekends progress asap.

 

this is a great build i like that you are not putting a ford in it or a sbc but your own thing that makes it a custom and a hot rod. the workman ship is outstanding please keep us posted

 

Here is a picture of the parts I got to convert my Ford back to a Ford, the front bumper isn’t the greatest but it’s a lot better than what I had which was nothing. I have a feeling this will be a major project since whoever changed the Ford front end originally they made all the mounts for the Merc stuff from scratch so I’m basically “wingin” it lol – the worst part is I just happened to get 5 more 53 Merc teeth so 9 total now and that look is really growing on me so I’m having a tough time on pulling the trigger on changing it back considering the Merc stuff is done and if I changed back to the Ford stuff now it’ll push back my progress on getting it on the road even farther……. Too many decisions & too little time!!! lol



I was laying under the car last night and realized I had a pretty good shot at the new removable trans mount & cross members with exhaust holes so here’s a pic of all that.



While I was laying there I shot a pic of the rack, GTO oil pan and tie rod plate my dad made so this gives a better idea of how it all looks. The rack is actually above the cross member even though it looks like it’s not in the pictures. We wanted to make sure that when completely laid out nothing was below the frame that could get hurt.



Notice how we moved the tie rods out to match the same pivot point as the lower A-arm, this was to help the bump steer with such huge ride height changes. Now when I raise and lower the front the toe-in and toe-out barely changes. (We yet to have any proof that any of this will even work but in our minds it makes sense……lol)



My intake parts showed up so a little hacking and I came up with this, I’m not a fan of the ricer/import look of it but it’s pretty much my only option for now.



The car originally had a powered front seat so I unbolted all of that and it instantly lost about 60lbs and it lowered the bench seat about 4” and it’s amazingly comfy!



And last is a pic of the insanely tall double bend shifter I thought I couldn’t live without and it’s hard to see but I got the gas pedal mounted up & done.



My dad “No Plan” is leaving for the “Lone Star Round Up” Wednesday and unfortunately I’m not going but I hope to make progress on making exhaust flanges that bolt up to the bottom of the manifolds and running pipe to the mufflers w/ the O2 sensor bungs in place, along with making a bolt on trans cover, I’ll post more pics soon.

 

I think you are making great progress!...We'll attack narrowing the rear end 4" & finish mounting it so you can get it back on the ground, when I get back from the LSRU....show'em the trunk mock up... that should get you run off of here if they don't do it for the LS engine! ha ha ha ha ho!...tell Gracie I love her...Happy Anniversary, too!

 

Its been a weird last couple of weeks, I’ve had a bunch of stuff happen now that the weather has been turning nice and knowing that my original “First drive date” was going to be missed I’ve been on the depressed mode to say the least. But on the bright side "No Plan" my dad has continued to make progress on the narrowed 9" has finished welding up the rearend for the final time & we are going to install it all soon and get it sitting on rubber for the first time to see how low it really can go!!

Before my “Spring break of no progress” I was making progress on the trans tunnel and trying to get the shift linkage figured out but long story short Lokar said I needed a different shift arm for the 2001 4L80E, to make it shift right with the shifter. Basically it was almost impossible to shift out of park and when the trans was in 1st the shifter said it was in 2nd and then it didn’t have enough power in the shifter to get the trans back into park cuz the shift arm was over center. Anyway I’ve got the part now and TBD if it fixes the problem.
Here is a pic of the bolt on trans tunnel I’m working on



Here is a pic of the molded on continental kit we started. Obviously this is just roughed on, we’d like it to lay down a lot more to match the rear window angle and not such a big bump up on the trunk lid. But I think you get the idea





I’ll post some pics of the rearend once we finally get it all together.

 

Spare wheel hump looks quite good from that angle, fills out the boot area nicely with the long fenders.

 

FINALLY THE MAJOR SUSPENSION IS DONE!!
It’s sitting on the ground on all 4 tires for the first time now, these are not the right sized tires I’ll be running but you get the idea.





I’m still working on getting the front end changed back to the 54 Ford style is why the bumper is off (looks kinda weird)



Here’s a picture of the part we cut off for the new continental look & below is a pic with the basic look of what’ll it will look like with the steel disc mocked up





The new fender skirts aren’t fitted yet; this was just a quick mock up.





I’ve got the new brackets, the Vintage air compressor mounted & wire harness on



Here’s a good pic of the rear all assembled with it layed out, at ride height the pan hard bar is level with the axle



And last is a pic looking through the floor, I’m in the process of getting a driveshaft made for it. Once that is done I can determine how much of the rear floor will need to be cut out for clearance.



Anyway I can’t believe how just rolling a project like this outside can rejuvenate or rein spire a person to keep plugging away at this big of a project!!!

Next on the list is to finish the trans tunnel now that I’ve got the shifter working correctly with the trans, get the gas tank mounted & plumbed, brake lines ran etc. Basically my goal is now to get it running and driving good enough that I can trailer it to Salina for the lead sled spectacular and just lay it out to catch to some sun; but it definitely not going to be finished. Too be continued on the progress……..

 

Awesome build! Amazing fab work.

 

Thanks cmarcus, Thanks to my mentor/dad "No Plan" on the HAMB it is as far along as it is otherwise it'd probably be up on blocks & me still trying to figure out how to get the wheels off of it to begin the project lol.

 

I can absolutely relate. The only reason I know what I know (which I wish was 100x more) is because of my old man. He could rebuild an engine through the tailpipe of a car!

The more I just tinker with stuff on my '50, the more I figure it out. Gonna cruise it down the street tonight once I am home from work for the first time...

 

Yep same here, he's taught me everything when it comes to fab work, welding, trying to think of problems before they happen etc.... (still trying to perfect the last one lol)

Awesome on the first drive!!!! I can't wait for that same day

 

Hey thanks! It was an epic feeling for sure, given there was very little tune up. Now onto those needed things - brakes, tires, new floor pans....the list goes on!

 

Update 8-16-13

Well its been awhile since I’ve given any updates so here’s the latest, I didn’t make the Salina “KKOA Lead sled spectacular” by a long shot with the car (Life got in the way, but I got a deck built on the house & its now complete) but we went anyway as spectators and had lots of fun and the weather was awesome. Anyhoo, I’ve switch gears by deciding to get a ton of little things done lately to generate some ambition and momentum to attack some of the bigger, slow going things yet to do on the Ford. (And its working!!)

I’ve got trans lines ran & mounted, they are 3/8” hard lines up to the motor mount then go to rubber that goes to the external cooler on the front of the radiator



The Vintage Air condenser is mounted in front of the trans cooler



My hidden line lock is now mounted just below the drivers floor toe board w/ a quick bracket I made



Both sides of the exhaust mocked up, fully welded with O2 sensor bungs in place, on down to the mufflers. I’m still not sure what to do after the mufflers to get around all the rear suspension yet, but that’s not an immediate concern. At least now I can fire it up and hopefully hear myself think upon first fire up.



Here is the first shot of the 2.5” tube going through the cross-member while I was tacking it in place. Notice it’s all above the frame so I can lay it down knowing that it won’t smash everything underneath.



Here are 2 shots of the driver’s side area coming out of the manifold, notice how close the steering shaft is to the flange………. I still might have to move it a little bit cuz its super close. But it does clear. You also will notice the bolt in place of the 3rd exhaust stud; that was to clear the top of the frame. Since this picture was taken I had to remove the other 2 studs as well cuz once the down pipe w/ flange was welded up I couldn’t remove it from the car without removing the manifold from the engine so w/ all 3 bolts in place installation is at least possible





I’ve got the driveshaft made & installed, its huge but beautiful! They made it 3.5” diameter to be able the amount of power I’m going to eventually throw at this thing. Unfortunately I had to hack out the entire tunnel to determine what needed to be raised up to clear it all.

Here is a pic of it with the frame laying on the ground



I’m getting ready to pull the motor/trans for the last time to be able to paint the firewall, inner wheel wells & front part of the frame so this past weekend I made mounts & mounted the Vintage part stuff under the dash so I can determine where to drill the hole in the firewall for the bulkhead fittings. FYI, when the Vintage Air instructions say “You’ll need a friend for the next step” take their advice cuz it sucked doing all that by yourself (those GEN 3 units get heavy after awhile)

It’s hard to see in the picture but I’m happy so far with the install since I got 100% of it to fit up under the dash so non of it is visible. Now I’ve a lot more duct work, plumbing wiring etc but at least it’s mocked up.



I’ll post more as soon as I can

 

Did the exhaust fit after it was welded?... Line lock on a kustom?....What is he thinking?