Hot Rods Just Another 5-Window Build Thread

Front frame horn boxing plates are done ....


I also painted the rear

.... and tacked the t-out bearing to the carrier. Rainy day so it took a while for things to dry. Doesn't seem like much but it was a good day in the garage .....

 

Every thing you get done is one less thing you gotta get done.

 

Got some stuff done today but few pics. I re-torqued all of the p-plate bolts and hooked the tranny up to the motor, getting things good and tight and ready for install. The t-out bearing looks good after the haircut ....


The second pic has a piece of paint stick in there to show the clearance. It won't be much of a pedal throw but I am fine with that. I also installed the MC but ran into a problem. The mc bracket and mc holes did not exactly line up quite right ....

My solution was to use a 5/16 grade 8 on the inside where the bracket had little room for the bolt to pass and ream out the pictured hole for a 3/8 grade 8 bolt. In order for the 5/16" bolt not pull through, I made a plate to spread the load and used heavy duty thick washers on the MC side so I could crank down on things. Whether the plate will stay in it's currently config I can't say - we'll see. Sorry there are no further pics - tomorrow.

I also worked on the roadster - she was loading up and giving me fits. Found out the back carb of my progressive setup idle mixture screws had backed out a bit causing the overload on gas. Drives like it should now ....

Back at it tomorrow .....

 

Installed the rear sway bar, steering box, cleaned up the shop, using some frame reference points I got the front end straightened out (for an initial pass), ordered my mc push rod - it was just a day of "smalls" I guess. Here is a pic of the mc mount that I described yesterday ...

It's finished up and painted now. I also set up a make shift dolly to easily move the rear around ...



The rain that just won't quit is holding up the works for painting and then installing items. I think it's supposed to quit Monday or Tuesday - hope so.

 

More smalls today - it finally stopped raining so I was able to paint a bunch of small items.

I also struggled with one of the front shackles. It would not "close up" tightly like the other side. After some trial and error I noticed that the unthreaded portion that is inside the bushing was longer than another I had of the same size by about 1/8". Since it was stainless, I carefully ground the unthreaded portion down on each leg, doing just a little at a time, and that resolved the issue.

I am getting close to dropping the frame down on all fours soon ....

 

Good day in the garage today. Got that rear spacer drilled, painted, and installed, finished painting the rear, and worked on and fixed a rear shackle.

The 35-36 rear radius rods are set for a 2 1/4" spring and I am using a 2" 40 front spring. So the shackle mount in the radius rods have to be trimmed down to 2". I went a little over on the one and used washers to space it out. I also got my rear U-bolts ready, making sure the new spring thickness with spacers are ok.
I then shuffled the shop around, putting the rear underneath the rear of the frame and moved the engine/trans combo to the front of the rotisserie. Installed new kingpins and my spindles, trimming the 46-48 spindle for the F100 brakes, and installed the backing plates ....


Ran into a problem though- the brake line hoses are too long ....

.... so I will need to source shorter ones from the 16-17" ones I have now ..... I keep moving forward ...

 

So I got my brake pedal rod - it's adjustable, the push rod is the right diameter, but the heim end is too big for the bolt on the pedal ....

So I went to the hardware store and bought a sleeve and the same thread bolt but with a shoulder. Turns out the shoulder is the same size as the heim. I cut a larger groove in the sleeve and test fit it in the heim. After a second cut, she slipped right in.

But now the sleeve was too tight for the bolt to pass so I reamed the sleeve to fit the bolt ....

The end result is exactly what I needed.

I am back on it tomorrow ....

 

Nicely solved!

 

Thanks!

 

Brake pedal rod worked great - I had to cut off about 2.5" in length, rounded the end, and installed it ....


I then hit my stash for a rubber grommet and it was done ...

I finished installing the front brakes after fighting the pass side a bit (nothing ever assembles easily), and I ordered some shorter hoses from a vendor that fellow Hamber Truck64 turned me on to. Paid yesterday, they made them and will ship tomorrow. Should have them mid next week. Thank you!

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up, prepping for dropping down off the rotisserie, and some roadster maintenance. Another good day in the garage.

Btw - the push rod came as shown, $20, and from an International Harvester dealer.

Many thanks to all who have served - it is your sacrifice that allows us to do what we do. God bless you all and have a great Memorial Day. Please remember all who lost their lives protecting our freedoms .....

 

Got back at it today - installed my new front brake lines - much better length as they are now 4" shorter ...

With the hoses in place, I bench bled the mc ...

This pic is after the fact but it worked out well. I then rotated the frame to put the two inlets to the mc on top and connected the actual lines. Now it was time to drop the frame off the rotisserie. With some blocking of the front roll arounds, I dropped the front end first after removing the inner most rear spreader bar bolt and loosened the back one so the frame would rotate downward ...


On to the back and after mounting the rear tires to the rear axle, I removed the back part of the frame from the rotisserie and got the rear spring into the rear crossmember ...


After a cleanup, some re-arranging, and removing the rear post, the frame is now on all 4 of the roll arounds ....



Next is to finish mounting the rear end liking it up with the front, connect the rear brake line and bleed the brakes, install motor and trans and keep on keeping on until she's ready for startup ....
Getting pumped ....

 

We're all pumped too, Tom. You'll be burning rubber with the proverbial you know what grin sooner than later. Great job.

 

Thank you - I do not know about burning rubber but I do know I want to burn up the miles in it!

 

Houston the deuce has landed

 

Hey, I like that!

 

Didn't do much that pictures would be able to tell but I spent several hours getting the wheels all square with one another. I am now ready to install the motor and trans .....

 

Great progress! Looking forward to that start up video!

 

Thank you - so am I!

 

Real good day in the garage today with things really starting to come together. Got the motor and trans installed, clutch linkage finalized, and it is working great btw, flywheel cover installed, park brake setup in, rear shocks and sway bar all bolted in, gas line from the motor to the frame line is done, speedo cable is in, made a bracket to support one of the two lines between the mc and proportioning valve (need to make another for the other side) as I did not want them to loosen up over time if they were not tied down, and got things organized and cleaned up in the shop a bit. Whew ..... doesn't sound like much but I was at it for 7+ hours and that's a real good day for me!






I'll be back at it Monday .....

 

Spent a good deal of the day cleaning up my exhaust pipes and prepping them for paint. I like to use stove black as it's good for 1200 degrees - I have not had good luck with the spray can high heat paint ...

I also finished my brake line brackets ....

These actually took more time than I anticipated but that's nothing new. I also rechecked my upper front shock mounts I had shortened. Driver side is good but the pass side needs to be tilted up and away from the frame. I will play with that while installing the exhaust on Wed ..... I have a pretty good size "finish" punch list for the frame and firewall - once it's done, the body gets installed and a much shorter "final" punch list made .... making progress ...

 

Kind of "ho hum" stuff going on right now. I am finish welding and cleaning up the front shock mounts, installed the exhaust pipes, and dropped the firewall on the frame checking for last minute things needing doing before cleanup and paint ....

 

Not too much time in the garage today but I got the front upper shock mounts finish welded, cleaned up and painted. I am also getting the front and rear frame horns prepped for painting where they were held to the rotisserie. My garage time will be a lot of short time periods but that's kind of good for what I have going on now .....

 

Finished and installed the front upper shock mounts today, painted the front and rear frame horns, and setup for making more exhaust baffle plates. Just chipping away at it .....

 

Made a first and partial second pass on the firewall today ....

The front shocks are sleeve over and the over sleeve has a skirt on it. With the shocks fully installed the skirt was very close to the shackle. I started to "washer out" the shock away from the shackle but then I thought if shaving the skirt giving me the needed clearance ...


Little paint and another item off my punch list. I also installed the spreader bars ...

Starting to look more like a hot rod now!

 

Just got in the garage a couple hours ago and got the firewall pretty much squared away and primed ...

Just a couple small areas need to be attended to before top coating. ...

 

Started on insulating the firewall today. I did not have any if the self stick insulation on hand but I did have the rilled foil stuff so used it to start with. ...

I could not find my roll of silver tape so I used what I had on hand. This is the first if two insulation layers, then the carpet. Spray adhesive will be used for each later then the heater box, fuse panel, and gas pedal will be installed. I did this for my roadster and it worked surprisingly well heat and sound wise. We shall see ....

I also set up my one exhaust baffle - I originally started with six disks but I added 4 more per side ... I am anxious to see/hear how this all pans out ....

I will test exhaust sound with this first and see how it goes ....

 

More firewall work today. Bought some spray adhesive and got to work on finishing the first layer of insulation ...

The second layer went on pretty easy, including all of the access holes ...

With the second layer some of the lines and deep cuts of the first layer if padding started to smooth out a bit so the carpet layer hopefully will be smoother still. But, before the carpet I painted the firewall ...

Not perfect but I am satisfied. Next came the carpet ....

The stainless bolts with the nuts on them are the stock holes for the firewall padding holders. The ones without the nuts are for the items that will be installed on the firewall like the heater box and fuse panel. I stopped at this point due to how precise the carpet cuts will have to be for glueing and it had been a long day - I didn't trust myself and tomorrow is another day .....

 

Carpet looks very nice!

 

Thank you - it's just some indoor/outdoor stuff from Lowe's but it has a profile which I like ...

 

More work on the firewall - got the gas pedal in, heater box, and ran the hoses through the firewall. It's all hooked up and ready to go.


Got to paint the heater cover, gas pedal, and touch up a couple things ....

now it's on to the fuse panel install ....