1952-59 Ford Its more than just a car (a 54 mainline story)

Love it AJ, great memories right? You're doing good!

 

Hey AJ, how did you adress the cleaning of the most hidden recesses of the trunk, I mean like the areas between wheel well and rear quarters for instance? Its a hard knucle busting task..

 

Thanks Rui! You couldn't be more right, the memories are what connect us to our otherwise hunks of steel.
Ya cleaning out around those brackets is not easy i bought a set or ***orted sized wire wheels for my grinder and drill. smallest size 1.5 inches up to about 4 inches. i also used a dremel. But really a chisel got the bulk of it out. Also if you use a grinder with a wire wheel, cover the area a little. It kinda melts the old sealer and sprays it everywhere.
Ive been slowly chipping away at my wiring, its pretty dull. I took many of yours advice about removing the dash and adding a quick clip. Its a molex 12 pin. actually went by pretty quick

But then when it came to my dash i felt it needed something. So.... This is the plan! I like how the gauges still kind of resemble the cl***ic look. I didnt want to have to wire the dash so many times, with the original gauges then eventually a new set, so i skipped a couple of steps. It really all started because the wiring kit i got comes with the gm light switch and ignition but both of those needed me to can the light up bezel feature which i love So my minds always turning. I popped the little light holder off and moved it over, then i sealed up the center where the oil and gas sending units were I wanted to leave the light switch and wiper switch on the dash so i planned to put them on the outsides and put the new gas, water, oil, and volts gauges on the middle

 

Those gauges are sweet! Didnt get there yet tough..
Thanks and keep us posted.

 

I used those connectors behind my gauge panel. I got mine at Radio Shack...look to be the same thing. They also sell a little tool that is used to remove those pins/wires from the housing that has come in handy a few times for me.......just a few weeks ago I was installing a new replacement speedometer. unplugged my dash panel, that was out in 2 minutes. then had to change the wiring from the old speedo to the new, and once again that tool I mentioned came in handy to remove the wires from the housing. I used multiple connectors varying them so they could only be ***embled the correct way.

 

Thanks Rui, ya i love those gauges, Tex i looked into the tool but so far haven't needed it yet...luckily. Ive checked out your thread and i have to hand it to you...you've done some amazing things, Its hard to believe its a 57 on the inside!
Here was my idea for the speedo... After 2 hours of cutting i came to this disappointing conclusion. It looked absolutely terrible! so i went back to the drawing board.
It took til my fifth attempt, I broke the first 4 in different places the finally got it.
Im really happy how this came out! I have a second dash so this one was just to figure out what to do and not to do.

 

Pretty slick. Looks good.

 

I felt like i needed to make the speedo work before tackling the rest of my project I really like how it came out, I still have to make a new aluminum piece, but for now it will do.

The wiring was a little frustrating, the lamp light wire and the 12v wire were too short. I had to add other wires but it came out ok. After wiring it up i had to test it out! I used my sons 12v power wheel battery.
I want to find som sort of instrument light that will match the gauges better, like a cool white tone. Ilove the way these gauges look, especially at night!! What do you guys think? I was trying to keep it semi stock looking

 

Looking excellent so far.....gonna be sharp with some paint and new panel behind the gauges.
I'd suggest you use the same type of electrical connectors for the gage panel as well. That's where the connectors are more apt to be needed anyway.

 

They look sweet!

 

Nice progress, looks like it is coming along really well!

 

Thanks Rui Thanks Papa, Thats clever Tex, I was thinking when i was wiring it what i was gonna do when i pop out all the gauges to finish off the dash. I guess that will be a good time to add the connections. Haven't had much time lately to work on her lately but hopefully over the weekend

 

Hey Fellas. So its been a long time since ive posted anything and ive actually made a bit of progress, Ill post more on that really soon, but i felt like today was a good day to post. August 30th was my dads birthday and today he would have been 102!
Heres a few of old p***port pictures i found in sequence.
My dad would never leave the house without a suit. Even through his nineties he would always wear dress pants and a tucked in ****on up. Always cl***y! Everyone my dad met felt like they had to call him papa, it was really sweet. He went to one of my friends kids cl*** and spoke about WWII and at the end they allwrote these nice thank you cards and addressed them to "Papa" I called him Babbo which means dad in Italian (Tuscany region more specifically) He told me once that he called his second wifes' father babbo and he called her over and asked why her husband was calling him stupid. Hahahaha i guess other Italian dialects use it differently. Happy Birthday Babbo!!

 

Nice to hear an update. I had forgotten about your story! Please keep us informed, as I'm hooked so far.

 

Looks like your doing a great job and a car that has history with your family,I like the work you did on the dash.

Similar to what I did on Brenda's wagon. HRP

 

Nice update. Glad to see your still at it.

 

Thanks guys! HRP... I love what you did with your dash there, in another picture you sent me i saw all the hard work you did to put in your air vents. I like things to look custom but subtle and that nails it. So not too far from me is a place called Ormes Bros. They do all sorts of hoses, so i decided to pony up and pick these up from them.

They were just under $100.00 and they made them while i waited. They are really beautifully made! This got me moving to try to finish up my brakes.
That booster and M/C literally sticks out 18"! anyone else running a booster? I'd love to see how yours came out. I picked up a roll of 3/16 brake lines then realized a roll never looks straight. So i got creative and made a homemade straightener and pulled 25 foot of roll through it a couple of times. Then i got to bending.
This was the front cross member line in the vise.

My master cylinder has one port for each disc and a third line for the rear. I didnt get them perfect but close enough. Then i ran the lines to the rear. That was quite a chore. It was so long and i had to run it through the braces and over the frame to attache at the rear.

I needed about 16 inches more tubing. I didnt account for having to run two lines up front. I forgot to take a pic of the rear all finished but you might catch a glimpse when i post about my gas tank escapade.

 

Lines look great. That's a good tip on straightening the line. I'm gonna have to remember that.

 

Thanks longroof, i was pretty impressed it actually worked! I did the 3/16 no problem but am kind of worried about the 3/8 its very rigid. So in a previous post i talked about doing the front bushings. that was a treat, I forgot to take pis of the process but i used a small bench press and a couple of 2x4s with various sized holes to press out the old bushings. Super high tech. i picked up the leaf spring shackles and bushing from macs and seem fine.
the picture was really just for reference #s. Im terrible at remembering to take photos before, during and after. Ive got a bunch of afters its the the rest of the lot i forget about. lol.
A while back i was going through some of my dads old tools and i came across this screw driver. at the time i was like why would he have kept this but i realized...every tool has its purpose. This bent screw driver and curved file got the bushing out no problem.
See my pooch in the background?

Theres the rear shackle in place. an heres the front of the leaf

And the infamous left overs of 63 year old rubber

 

There was a post not too long ago about the 55 tank in the 54. I read the post in the sticky and decided this was a great plan! i picked up the tank and sending unit for 139 on ebay. in a previous post i took a side by side picture of the original tank and the new one. I dont remember if I said it yet but i am going running the efi system.

The kit i used for the in tank pump is from tanks inc, about 230 bucks but it comes with the pump, and a sending and return line all built in. Its a pretty good looking unit! The instructions say you need at least 6 inches and this tank was about 6 1/2" i was cutting it close. Also for anyone attempting this process...I watched a video they have on their website and the guy said use a 4" hole saw, well i used it and i couldnt fit the pump ***embly down there, then I read the instructions. 4 1/2" home saw is what you need. I needed to bore it out with a mini cut off tool.
I had to flatten out the ribs which was way more work that i though it would be. I was really banking on the sheet metal screws being able to pull up the low spots. It took a while but i finally got it done!

so with that done i turned my attention to the straps. I measured the length of both tanks and it was 2", exactly what was in the sticky. I had some por-15 left so i painted the straps


So i got it ready to install and this is where i realized that the filler neck is longer and at a different angle than the original!!!!!!!!!! The front of the tank sat well but the rear by the neck did not I widened the hole but it still wasnt enough. Then the light bulb turned on. I was at Costco and saw this garage flooring mat sold in 2x2 squares, i cut em up on my table saw and glued em together making about a 3/4" spacer instead of the little 1/4" ones


This lowered my tank a little but now it sits right were it should!


Unfortunately i mocked up the tank by myself so i didnt notice that the filler neck was sticking out of the back of the car. So i cut my access panel in the wrong place. Oh well hopefully when its done all be able to hide that

 

Good choice to install an in tank unit. I used tanks Inc as well, except I welded in their recessed installation "box".
I'm anxious to see how you run your fuel and vent lines. That is where I ran into all kinds of clearance problems. A tip: if you run your vent line from your tip over valve under the trunk floor, then down, it will slosh gas into it then blow it out when tank pressure builds up. I don't know where the exit location is on your vintage car.....mine ('57) was/is above the license plate (see avatar). I had to rerun a new vent line up into the trunk so I didn't have any low spots in the line that could fill with liquid gas. I used soft home type 1/4" copper for the vent tube. Not a good choice for fuel lines, but I thought would be fine for the vent line. I connected it to the tip-over vent with a section of rubber hose.
I'm sure you know this, it's obviously not your first rodeo, but on your fuel lines, make sure you run a flexible line off the tank to where it connects to the hard lines. That's part of the clearance issue I had.....the multi-layered blue goodyear "rubber" fuel hose for modern fuels I used is much bigger diameter than hard lines, but necessary, imho.
Good thinking on the dense foam blocks to space the tank. I used 1/2 x 2 nylon bar stock I had...........not to locate the tank correctly, but to get the room I needed for the mentioned fuel lines.

 

This was my version of a brake line straightener. Not my idea, found it on the Hamb somewhere worked well.

 

Thanks Texas I like your set up I wanted to do the recessed box but my in tank clearance would have been a bit too low. I'm anxious to start the fuel lines but thank you for the tip. This is actually my first project of this magnitude so all the info I can soak up from everyone is so welcomed! If you look at the last full size image of my post you can see where I scored the floor, the idea was to make room for the rubber hoses but luckily my little foam blocks gave me enough room.
Diyguy that's a great tool! I love these garage tricks!

 

Awesome build! Love the family history & the bond with your dad. Much respect to you! I see you're in SoCal, hope to bump into you at shows sometime! Looking forward to seeing this 54 finished & on the road!

 

Thanks Kustomline54! it really is a labor of love. I cant wait to get it out on the road. 2002 was the last time she drove on the open road.
I had some down time and i decided to tackle my hood hinges. When i removed them i noticed they had been repaired once before. They had a bolt through the center and it always seem to work fine. So here is the tear down
A neighbor has a shop and he sand blasted them them all. Springs and the hinges were spotless. he wrapped em up in plastic so they wouldn't surface rust. I should have taken more pictures but usually i just dive in and remember photos later. Ive got tons of pictures of the afters. lol. So then i rattled canned them and i think they came out really good.
Then it was time to re***emble.

I opened and closed them and they feel great. Ill let you guys know what happens when the hood goes on. HAHA

 

You know when your project has been sitting a while its hard to get motivated? Thats a big reason why this car sat so long to begin with. I bit off more than i can chew. Well...Ive been chewing for a long time and every now and again i break off a good chunk. So if youve been following along you probably remember that my pops left me an envelope with $500 and i used that to buy the 93 tbird with 42092 miles in it that is going to be the transplant. Well...It needed a little love before going in. The motor ran but the car was in a front end wreck. I tried to move the water pump pully and it was frozen. I figured thats a good place to start. But before getting to it, with a little help, i pulled the motor out. you cant tell but he actually enjoyed this. hahaha
A friend of mine told me i should drain the ****** but i ***ured with i knew what i was doing and that i cut the whole front end off. so...long story short
I made a big mess. I guess i didnt look that closely at texas57 pics of his removal. I should have dropped the whole cross member. Oh well i guess theres always next time, but at least i got it.

after getting the old pump off i saw why it didnt move. i smoothed it out with some 400 grit and it ended up very smooth

looks good on there. So then i installed the front sump oil pan and i also put on a new ****** filter.

 

Save that independent rear end, it is the same as I installed in my 53 F100 and I bet you can get maybe $200 out of it if it is in good shape.

 

I am noticing that the T-Bird exhaust manifolds are a semi-shorty header I wonder if the steering box clearance will be good with those it looks like their shape would be an easy hook up to a dual exhaust in a 1952-56 car.

 

Any updates this car is turning out awesome. Your dad would be very proud.
Keith.

 

So apparently time waits for no one. It keeps ticking regardless of whatever you're doing. A lot has happened since I was last wrenching on my dad's car. I had another kid who is now five, the small boy in the pictures helping me pull the motor from the tbird is now 14 and as tall as I am. Life has been a roller coaster. Even though my youngest has never met my dad, he talks about him as if they'd known each other his whole life. And he loves his Papa nonnos (grandpa in Italian) car! I've been chipping away lately and feel really good and excited again!
My little one loves doing whatever he can to help get the mainline running, even if it's just washing off the inner fenders


Like in my tagline it so much more and just a car, both of my boys are and have always been super into cars, cl***ics, hot rods, muscle cars, imports, trucks, name it, they love it!

My Big One to know help help up more too, which is just plain awesome!



I've got pictures that ill start upload with what weve been doing soon. Anyways guys, I hope everybody is doing well and I look forward to chatting more!
Blessings