1952-59 Ford Evintho's '54 Customline build

Impressive work! Keep 'em coming. Maybe I'll see you at a show someday in the nor cal area. Would love to see it.

 

Great work, keep it up.

 

Little update.
Pushed the car out into the street for sandblasting the undercarriage. Put up a blast barrier and proceeded to blast the whole underside of the car.





That was fun!



Back into the shop. Primed the firewall, painted the framerails and undercoated everything underneath then reinstalled the rebuilt front suspension with Aerostar coils.



Brakewise, I went with '68 Mustang drums, shoes and wheel studs.



The Raybestos 1634R drums ($30 from RockAuto) fit like a glove and the wheelstuds from NAPA were a bit longer, as were the shoulders but didn't cause any fitment problems at all.



Next, I decided to tackle the rear pan/valance issue. It's basically two panels sandwiched together. The trunk extension and the outer body panels. I cut the outer body panels out to access the truck extensions. It was this bad on both sides.



Repaired both trunk extensions. I'll attack the outer panels later.




Next up, rear suspension removal. I took it out as a unit.





After blasting underneath, I found this. Trapped dirt and moisture allowed it to eat through the quarter from the inside out.





Now's the time to address it. With the rearend out I've got all the room in the world to work! First, I cut out the inner panel.



Next, I coated the inside of the quarter with POR-15 then formed and welded in the corner piece.



Finally, formed and welded in the longer piece. I just overlapped the metal instead of **** welding 'cause nobody is gonna see that. Once I seam seal and undercoat the repair it'll be basically invisible.



Turned my attention to the lower section of the quarter. Cut it out, formed a patch and welded it in. A skim coat of filler should finish that up.




In the morning I'll order all my rearend rebuild parts from Dennis Carpenter so I can get into rebuilding the rear.
That's all for now.









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You must have some great blasting equipment. Looking really good.

 

Thanks man! Luv my Texas Blaster!

 

very methodical work...great results...well done

 

Very impressive work. I hope to have your skills one day.

 

Good progress. I am thinking about power brakes. I see your booster is flush mounted. What booster are you using and did you change the pedal ratio . Thanks

 

No, I didn't change the pedal ratio. By my calcs it sits at around 5:1. The 5.0 that's going in pulls 16" of vacuum @ idle so I'm hoping those two factors and the fact I'm running drum brakes will compensate for a touchy/sensative brake pedal.

Here's the booster I'm running...…
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Diaphragm-8-Power-Brake-Booster-Gold-Zinc-Universal-Hot-Rod-Universal-GM/191875518176?hash=item2cacac0ee0:g:SfEAAOSwlJlaoY6s

 

I need to make those same rust repairs on my 55. You made it look easy

 

Now you have my admiration. That was tough work with a pot blaster. I have one , not that brand, and not fun to do what you did. Makes me recall my first real attempt to clean a frame with the body on. This was about 1970 on a 1940 Ford. I had a siphon blaster, visqueen taped from body to floor, and a bright , for the time, light. Even though I had a head/face cover I had sand in my eras for days. Never did that again. Great job man.

 

Just a notation if you still have a y-block this unit will not work there are similar units on e-bay that come with an offset bracket to clear the exhaust manifolds.

 

Rear suspension finished! Blew it all apart and sandblasted everything...…



Bolted a couple of lengths of 1" square tubing to the 3rd member and that made it easy to carry around. Set it on a 15 gallon barrel for cleaning.....



Replaced the axle bearings and seals, all new bushings, anti-squeak pads, spring clamps, etc.
Here's all the small hardware painted and ready to go back on...…



I'm far too old to lay on my back and wrestle a 3rd member into place. I ratchet strapped it to the floor jack and it was amazingly easy to slide into place!



All new brakes and replaced all the brake lines and rubber hoses too. All back together and looking good!



Scored a brand new fuel tank from a member here who bought it for his '56 years ago but sold the car before he could install it. Got it for a great price too! Holds a full 22 gallons!



The '55-'56 tanks are a little different than the '54's but it fit perfectly! The only mod necessary was to lengthen the mounting straps a couple of inches. I utilized the tank straps that came with it then cut the rear sections off my old '54 straps and welded them to the new straps.



I'll be running the factory Mustang fuel injection so I ordered the in-tank fuel pump cradle from Backorder Bob Drake. Well, the fuel lines stick up an inch above the trunk floor. What to do? I removed the access door for the sending unit from the trunk floor then opened it up to the front of the fuel tank.



Built the sides then designed a box to cover the obtrusion.





I welded the back portion to the sending unit access door 'cause it's got a neat little flap that slides under the trunk floor and secures it in the rear and 2 screws hold down the front. I like it!



Next up is a full rewire!

 

Great Build ! And these pictures may be a huge help to guys with 52-54 projects.

 

Thanks Jeff! I try to do***ent most everything I do in the hopes that it'll help the next guy with his project.
My goal is to get the platform for the car finished, then I can build up from there. With the floors replaced, suspensions rebuilt and the undercarriage blasted and painted/undercoated, I think I'm about there! Onward and upward!

 

Jeff called my attention to this thread, it appears you have made a lot of progress.

I was impressed with the cradle you built to support the front of the frame with the front suspension being removed.

I am subscribed, your do***entation and discription will help a lot of guys facing these types of repairs. HRP

 

I agree with HRP, and he made me look again. I did almost exactly the same to my 55 trunk for that Drake set up. Doing some very nice work.

 

A little more progress. Pulled the original wiring harness....what a mess! The cloth insulation was basically gone with lots of bare wire exposed.



Luckily, I found this at a garage sale awhile back for $25. The guy obviously didn't know what he had. The box was a little beat up but everything inside was there, complete and still sealed in their cellophane bags!





Mounted the fusebox high on the kickpanel and tucked up and behind the dash.


I separated all the wiring and ran it to it's respective areas. It's coiled up and marked and ready for connection.





Moving on to the next task, I pulled the windshield and back gl***. The gaskets were toast and I needed to do a bunch of metalwork on the roof so out they came. Surprising how easy they were to remove! The windshield gasket was brittle so I just popped the inside lip off in chunks with a screwdriver.



I left the stainless mouldings on because they're integral to the gasket. I gently pushed on the top part of the gl*** while my wife held the bottom so it wouldn't pop out and hit the floor. Came right out!





The back gasket wasn't as brittle so I had to slice all around the inside lip with a razor knife. Did the same procedure. Pushed on the top portion of the gl*** while my wife held the bottom. Again, came right out!



Built a little stand using s**** lumber, electrical conduit and some pipe insulation. Now they're stored out of the way so they won't get damaged.



Next up is more metalwork. The drip rail and sections of the roof were rotted through. This was the worst spot. Cut out the drip rail and roof section. No turning back now!



It's packed with that factory sealer garbage that loves to retain moisture. Had to s****e that all out.



Did the front section first then moved onto the side section.



Welded on a 1/2" strip for the valley of the drip rail.



Next I built the face of the drip rail. Cut a 1/2" strip of 18ga and gave it a little tweak in the middle on my HF brake. That helped it match the contour of the original. Welded it on. I could barely get the tip of my MIG down in the hole!



Moved onto the side section and did the same procedure. Made relief cuts every inch or so I could make the curve.



Semi-finished product. Might not win the Ridler award but it'll do!



Had to do the whole front section too.





Had to backtrack a little today. When I mounted the '55 fuel tank I thought all was good and then I noticed the fuel door would close all the way except when the gas cap was on! So, today I pulled the tank and shortened the filler tube a little over an inch.





Fits like a glove now and the door closes with the cap on!


That's all for today. I hope I'm not overwhelming you guys with tons of pics! I just like to do***ent and explain everything I do in the hopes it'll help someone else during their build. I've got a little more metal work to do and then I'll start pulling the drivetrain outta the Mustang.

 

Excellent thread and I am not overwhelmed. Looking forward to your following posts.

 

you are doing excellent work the only drawback may be what will occupy your time and keep you out of your wifes hair.I am sure rich can relate to your wiring even if his was a bigger project but still a pile of spaghetti

 

Very nice work! keep those pictures coming. I have exactly the same work to do, right up to the rusted areas, rear, wiring, etc. I have a built y block and want to run fuel inj also. Interested in how you will run fuel lines from pump onward.

 

Not quite there yet but, I have an in-tank fuel pump. The tank is a Bob Drake unit. I'll need to fab my own supply and return fuel lines and run them forward to the fuel rail on the 5.0.

 

Lookin good, great work.

 

Impressive work! Do you have formal metal fabrication training or are you self taught?

 

Thanks Zax! No formal training. Took a welding cl*** at JC a couple of years ago, bought a MIG and got to work. Cut my teeth fabbing body panels and patch panels for the roadster. I learned long ago, patience and attention to detail separates the men from the boys.

 

Wow, I've missed most if not all of this thread....gonna find some time to go back and read/study! Impressive progress.

 

Definitely helping me! Thank you for the progress pics! Killer build!
Getting ready to do my floors and rockers, will be ordering pretty soon!

 

Great solution for covering your in tank pump. Blends in as well as possible and easily removed for servicing. I won't be able to use this in my wagon, but helpful to many. Nice job!

 

Nice work on that roof!

 

Impressive work.