Hot Rods Getting the bugs out -My T coupe build

Adjusted the wheelbase, tightened up whatever loose bolts I could find and the wobble persists. When I ***led this as getting the bugs out, I didn't realize how persistent those bugs were. After sorting out the fuel filler situation, I managed to turn the filler neck a wee bit and now the vent pipe there is interfering with the shoulder belt reel. When I go over bumps, the door opens. I read stories here from guys who report about how they drove 100 miles for a short drive to check things out; right now I would be happy to take it on the highway. What spurs me on to work on this is that I need to show up with this car for Bill Forward's 80th birthday on Saturday. I posted a picture of his '34 Ford with "Iron Ordeal" on the door.

 

^^^prayers sent up for you................

 

My steering damper arrived from the Old Car Centre and purchased the latest Rodder's Journal from them at the same time. Had to figure out how to mount it since it is made to clamp onto the tierod at one end and a hairpin radius rod at the other but I don't have hairpins. I made a little bracket and bolted that onto my split bones with nutserts. The doors never fit right after I took the car apart to paint so I spent some time to try and figure something out. I pulled on the door without turning the handle and the door would pop open so obviously it wasn't latching. Tried putting washers behind the striker plates to push them out further and that didn't help. I remembered reading somewhere that I should check for door fitment without the latches in place so I tried closing the doors without the striker plates in place and to my surprise, the door latched without the striker plate on. It works, but I don't like the look of it. Have to come up with something to make it pretty.

 

Saw your car at the Coaldale Show and Shine. Very nice and it definitely captures your attention! You should post a few more current pictures here for those that followed your thread. There are a lot of details that we all can learn from.
Cheers!

 

It is nice to be appreciated. The trip to Coaldale was the first time the car actually hit the highway and I am pleased to say that the death wobble has disappeared. Also the first time I filled the gas tank since last year's update with the filler neck and it takes gas now but the whole car stinks from gas smell so more work is needed there. The gas gauge reads F with it full but the real test is of course where E shows up. I am getting used to the stupid gear shift pattern and drove it in overdrive for the first time. I mentioned earlier how after the gas tank fix, my seat belt/shoulder harness retractor interfered with the fuel filler hose. Made a tool to rotate the filler neck and now can use the seat belt. Amazed at how back in the day before seat belt laws I felt safe without using them and now feel totally vulnerable without them. For those of you wondering why I haven't moved the car in over a month during prime summer time driving weather, minor health issues but I'm doing good.

 

Good to hear you are on the mend! Glad to see your on the road. Still fussing around with my issues but I am out driving it a bit. Now putting in a new steering box as the last item to correct the steering issues.

 

I have complained before about my poor choice of transmission and how my free S10 transmission turned out to be the wrong one. Now that I know that the S10 needs to be the first generation model, it made looking for the right donor easier. My buddy Gary, asked me if I would be interested in going for a free ride / vacation trip into Mexico in a motor home towing a small utility trailer and attending the NHRA Nevada Nationals and SEMA on the way home. How could I refuse since my wife said "Go!"? While travelling in Mazatlan, I noticed that there were several of the old S10s on the streets so I thought we might as well check out the wreckers for a cheap transmission. Found one for what I think is a reasonable price and hauled it home since we had an empty trailer at this point. Over the winter, I hope to do***ent this swap and cover the problems involved. Here is a picture of the old Ford transmission with Jeep shifter that is coming out. The T5 is very close in external dimensions.

 

So what is that ******...looks like a Ford top loader??

 

Ford toploader 3 + overdrive mated to a Jeep shifter that is not for overdrive. Makes for a really bad shift pattern.

 

According to an old magazine article, my old transmission was available in '77 and '78. The one I really needed was found in Ford F150's from '84 to '87, known as the T170RTS TOD. If I had one of those, it would have made for a very simple swap but every one of those trucks I see seem to have an automatic. S10's with manual transmissions are way more common and are better with 5 gears to boot.
Getting the old ****** out was a real pain, but I knew that would be the case. It was full of gear oil and I didn't have a driveshaft yoke to plug the end. Old cars with floorshifters mounted way in the front all have removable floorboards to make getting the ****** out but since I am the one who built this mess, I have a small cover where the shifter enters the cabin and didn't want to take out the floorboard due to how I mounted the carpet (stupid since I have to change it anyhow). The shift tower would not clear my little hole so I made the situation worse by unbolting the shift tower from the transmission. This is all while oil is pouring out of the end. Next mistake was to unbolt the clutch pressure plate and that didn't help either since the throwout fork and bearing are pressed against it. Then, I unbolted the clutch slave cylinder. Still wouldn't come out. Next move was to unbolt the bell housing which wouldn't move because it was held in by the starter and that tin plate on the front of the bell housing which were the next items to go. Finally pulled the ****** out but I didn't have the car raised high enough for the ****** to be pulled out while on the floor jack. Yanked the jack from under the ****** and the oil slick just keeps getting worse.
With the transmission out, it was time to look over the situation. Both the Ford and S10 units are the same length so I don't think I will need a new driveshaft. The new transmission bolt pattern matches the one on the bell housing. No adapter needed this time around. Definitely need a different clutch plate. Is there one available with a 10 1/2" diameter? Need a driveshaft yoke and a new speedo cable made.

 

Feel your pain for certain. To get the ****** out on the 31 you have to pull the engine. I think I have now done that 5 times this year alone. I have it down to a science now and it takes a bit less than 4 hours working alone, but without the oil on the floor.

 

What was I thinking? Pulling the engine would have been a lot smarter.

 

When my is built i problaby have to take the engine to if i have to remove the box.

 

I left the engine in place because there is too much stuff presently in the garage. If I pulled the engine, I would need room for the engine and related hardware. Too many projects in the garage.

 

Getting nowhere fast. Previously, I mentioned getting my transmission from Mexico and included a picture of it beside the one I pulled out. Looks like a proper t5 doesn't it? Well, looks can be deceiving. It isn't a t5. What I didn't mention is; I purchased two transmissions there. A friend of mine is building a '50 Fleetline and I remembered him telling me that the shifter on his t5 was a bit too far back so I thought that since I was in Mexico and there was two available I might as well get another one to help him out.
When I came home, my friend was deeply commited to his current transmission and declined to switch horses midstream. The swap meet is coming up in February so I'll just sell it there. Must be other guys in need of a transmission.
Took apart the first transmission to check it out and clean it after checking out Youtube videos on how to work on a t5. First problem was taking off the top cover. There are two special dowel bolts that locate it and one of them just wouldn't come out. Ended up grinding the head off the bolt to get it apart. Whittled out a new spacer on the lathe to make a replacement bolt. Took off the extension housing and found a lot of shrapnel inside which looked like aluminum but not to worry; the video said that was normal wear. The gears and such looked good so OK. Somehow, while everything looked like what I saw in the videos, something was off. The overdrive gears in the extension housing were missing. The mainshaft is machined to take the overdrive gears and the cluster shaft is also made for the overdrive and the extension housing has a bulge to accomodate all that so it is evident that Borg Warner just made a cheaper transmission. Guess it must be a t4.
I had higher hopes for transmission #2. This one came with a shifter that had a 5 speed shift pattern on the knob. Took off the extension housing and yes, it was a 5 speed. Now the question is; what do I do with the other transmission? I can't in good conscience sell it at the swap meet as a t5. The extension housing has the forward shifter location that we want for our old cars so it might be a good piece for someone to convert a transmission with a rear mounted shifter but the steel shift plate thing is for a 4 speed. I hope that it can be swapped out for the correct one if I am crazy enough to try and piece together another transmission. I seem to have bad luck with transmissions. It's not that I'm an enthusiastic driver and grenade them - I just seem to purchase the wrong ones.

 

Transmissions can be frustrating.
A hour work to do a jeepconversion on my box tok 4 weeks.

 

After having the car on the road for the summer, I figured it was time to upgrade my progress report here. I ended up using the extension housing from the T4 since it had a mechanical speedo drive. I ground the necessary mods to the shift plate for the shifter to engage top gear and it seemed to shift OK on the bench but with it on the road, it is evident that I need to whittle it a bit more. Didn't want to take it apart and fix it and lose out on driving this summer; wait until fall. However, it does work great as a 4 speed so far. Now that it is almost fall, time once again to look into the deficiencies. I had mentioned previously that the steering damper had taken care of the speed wobble. It hadn't totally fixed the problem. Going down the road, I can still feel it shake a bit, but it is a lot better. On a video posted by LGKustoms, Lee showed that his was a result of his steering arms having come loose so I thought I would look there. In my case, I discovered a little bit of play on the right side of the tie rod. The clamp wasn't tightened enough, so that turned out to be a simple fix.