Technical What are you working on?

After last weekends unusual summer storm "cyclone" is what the news claimed but I'm pretty sure it was just some rain, Not even a lot of rain just a lot of rain for the time of year but I digress). Anyways it took me a few days to get going again but in today's not so epic saga of the rust removal of the 1931 Model A pickup truck in California's never seeming to end summer heat we have a few things going on like more rust repair, cutting of the fire wall for the '59 283 and astro van t5 plus filling the no longer needed holes on the fire wall and as we come to the drivers side the typical Model A cowl rust patch Plus what is not seen in the pictures as I spent probably a good couple of hours straightening the badly bent up (front) bulkhead on the pickup bed.
Everything I do gets it a little closer but I am ready for a different task for a little while.
Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have more progress done.

 

If you manage to put Dodge bed sides on it I would like to see it so keep us posted.

 

Slowly getting things done on the ‘40 Olds. Maintenance on my three boats keeps me pretty busy during the summer months. Just ordered some “block hugger” headers to replace the mis-matched cast iron manifolds that were on it. Then a complete exhaust system. Still debating whether to run it all the way back or exit in front of the rear wheels. I recently installed a new master cylinder and will be installing new wheel cylinders and brake lines. My goal is to have it running and driving before next spring. Should be doable… This car was a project that has been sitting for probably at least three decades, so I’m sure there will be bugs to sort out.

 

You didn't ask for any opinions, but I'll give a short one. I had the exhaust on Clarence running out just in front of the rear wheels for about 15 years. I never did like the sound as you heard 4 cylinders on each side. After running it out the back I like the sound a lot better. ymmv

 

Replacement flathead is in! It was a battle. Hopefully intake, exhaust, and starter tomorrow

 

Today's progress

 

Looking great! Pardon my Flathead inexperience, but is that a stock style distributor? I’m very unfamiliar with Flathead ignition systems. How do the wires attach to the cap?

 

Ford Flatheads had a couple different distributor and cap designs through the years. This Flathead is a '47 model, 59A. I'm using a stock style, later round cap setup. The distributer itself has been converted to a 12V Pertronix setup. Here is a diagram that shows how it all goes together with the stock configuration.

 

Finished welding all the brackets on the rear axle ( 66 Bronco 9”) for my coupe, blasted it and painted it. Need to press on new axle bearings and assemble it all.

 

I got the posi unit for the Corvette, so I tore the rear apart, and did some grinding, and I'm getting ready to put it back together. This case is for non-posi, so the one rib needs to be trimmed.

 

Working on opposites last couple days...worn out 283 and fresh blown BBC.

 

^Some big 'ol pipe about to get welded. Break out the buzz box!

 

Crap! Just saw this Mikey. Limited time for the computer as of late. You're hard on the front end of that coupe! I'm just down Rt 15. Glad to run up and help if you need anything.

 

Thanks so much for the generous offer Steve. I think I have everything fixed. I have been fighting a small but annoying vibration all summer, I have that taken care of as well, I think. Next test drive will verify that. Turns out the vibration is being caused by a worn slip yoke and bushing- trans tail shaft. I will know for sure if my troubles are gone this week end.

 

Pics!!

 

Had to go all the way back to June 27th page 37 to see how long the last "project" took me. Just finished up r&r ing the AG alt/ps pump bracket setup I put on last shop session. In my defense Mom had a double lung transplant in that time, and pretty much took most of the summer to get her back in good health.
I did finally finish the AG setup, still need to brush paint this last spacer. Not a great pic but trust me...its done.
Since then, thanks to my bud @RMONTY I picked up a new to me 2 post lift and thinking hard about buying this lil ugly ol 62 Valiant from the same friend. .. Good times !

 

That "lil ugly ol 62 Valiant" will get really pretty if you put 6-7 hundred horsepower in it.

 

I started the day off early with a guy coming to look at a 9 inch housing I had for sale, he and his buddy seemed pretty excited to look at my garage full of stuff.
He ended up taking the housing and an aluminum Strange center section I also had up on marketplace, I ended up with a few hundred dollars in my pocket.
Then I celebrated by drilling and tapping the frame on the Henry J for brake line clamps, measuring for the front brake hoses and double checking the front end bolts making sure I didn't miss anything.

 

Is that 65 GTO sitting in the shop yours? I’m a sucker for 60’s Pontiac’s. And, glad to hear your mom is doing better.

 

Many thanks on Mom, God has been good to her ! Yessir, thats a true 65 GTO. Pops was a Pontiac guy. He bought & restored it when I was a kid, last tagged in 89. "Ran when parked" kind of deal. Left it to me when he passed. Still got the 389 & Muncie but not the tri power. It'll be in the rotation here asap. Its a special car to me, I want to do it proper. Its still in pretty damn nice shape too. @guthriesmith This is the car that started it all for me.

 

Very cool on the GTO story @Lone Star Mopar . Glad you are able to keep it and will be working it into the rotation. No one in my family was really into old cars or even kept any that started as new cars. Cool that you can keep your dad's car. I was building a 64 GTO back about the time I got on the HAMB, but sold it in pieces. Maybe I can make it down to see you sometime and check out your cars.

 

Thankyou, & Anytime your in Tx we're about an hour north of Downtown. Hambers are always welcome here, I'll give the tour and talk an ear off just about any chance I get. I dont think I can do either Dewey shows this year, but if possible I hope to swing up there for The Gathering at the Roc. @guthriesmith

 

Put running boards, etc back on truck after paint. Boy I never thought this pile would look this good. I couldn't talk painter into the "good enuff" idea. I guess I understand that he has pride in his work.

 

I found this when I was looking for a painter for Clarence. No one would work on it unless I was willing to pay for perfect. Again; their name would be on it and they just refused to have a non-perfect example of their work out there in the public.

Your truck looks great. And perfect. I'd love to have a driver quality example '56 to actually use as a pickup.

 

Fired it up for the first time today! Sorry no first start video.

Anybody else have an issue with the Speedway upper radiator hose dress up kit having the tubes too long? I had to trim the driver side with a Sawzall and it still touches the radiator tube.

 

Washing up my '39 yesterday when I discovered the repop license plate bracket was cracked! The plate sticks up like a sail on the trunk lid, so I guess original brackets were pretty stout!
Pulled the license plate bracket, and light off and took it to my bench to upgrade it. I plated the backside of the bracket with some thick steel plate scrap I had, and then plug welded it, and perimeter welded it too. Ground it smooth, and shot it satin black again.
Glad I caught it before it broke, and maybe lost my old '39 plate, and damaged my trunk lid paint! It should hold up to freeway driving now!

 

So because I am an idiot I bought a job.
Well 2 actually But the first one I don't have any pictures of but I will expain in q moment.
I bought at an estate sale here in southern California a slew a vintage car radios, I only wanted one, I watched Matt at iron trap garage put in a vintage AM radio in a car he was working on a few weeks ago and I thought that was a really neat idea and I would like to do the same thing So I went to a total vintage electronics geek estate sale because I saw What looked like was a few dozen car radios from the 1950s and '60s. This was on Thursday. Which was the first day of the estate sale, I bought I think it was six radios that day a 59 Ford radio, a super sexy 1946 Ford radio, a shoe box Ford radio, a 1956 Ford radio and a new old stock 1955 Ford car radio replacement faceplate/dial knob thing in the box and I think one or two other radios that I don't remember what they were off the top of my head but they are irrelevant at this current moment.
Anyways when I was at that estate sale on Thursday I asked the lady running it when they're last day would be she told me it would be Saturday so I asked her if they would give me a good deal if I came back Saturday and bought car radios right before closing. She told me she would make me a pretty good deal if there was any left so I said that sounds great I will come back Saturday early afternoon and I will buy anything that's left so I went home figuring there might be five to ten car radios left. So now yesterday (Saturday) around 11:00 I redrove about 35 miles to the estate sale except this time I took my pickup truck because I thought I might buy one of those so to speak "little orphan Annie" living room a.m. radios from the 1930s or '40s that look like a piece of quality furniture like the one that you see on that awesome movie "a Christmas story". They were sold go figure they were cheap I probably should have bought one Thursday but I didn't And one thing I have learned in my 45 years of life of buying used junk is the deals wait for no one so to speak. So anyways I ask the lady what she would sell me the radios for and she said I don't know let's walk back there and take a look and let me see what I got... So we got back to the back of the building and she said "for all of it" waving her hands at the dual knob radio collection I said 'correct."
She made me a deal I could not pass up so I said without hesitation "How can I even argue on the price I will take it I will go pay at your cashier right now". So for the next 45 minutes to an hour my buddy and I proceeded to load the back of my Dodge pickup full of 1940s 1950s 1960s and a few 1970s and '80s radios and some really cool 1930s divorced radios (where the electronics are separated from the controller unit) into the back seat of my pickup.
So this is the photo of the truck right as I left the place where I bought them.
I spent entire Sunday (today for future readers), looking up radios, what years they came out of and getting a rough idea of what they actually sold for on eBay.
I have never sold anything on eBay I still don't know if I want to sell anything on eBay.
I do know I had a 1935 Chevrolet Master deluxe control unit (Not the wire portion but the dual knob part) that I knew had some value to it so I listed it and I am pretty sure way under priced it because I sold it today about 20 minutes after I listed it so now all the stuff was essentially free. Now all I got to do is organize all the radios Here is a picture or two of the radios.

So now on to my other purchase I was on Offer Up the other day and I came across "100 California license plates from the 1930s, no matches". They were in LA.
I have been going with one of my buddies on occasion while he sells at at the car swap meets here in Southern California anyways I figured that the license plates would be kind of fun to resell for $5 bucks each (They are beat up) And I would make a few bucks on each plate that way I have a valid excuse for going to the swap meet and doing nothing.
Anyways I went through all of them and I ended up finding three matched pairs out of a total of 97 license plates. One pair of mangled 1939 California worlds Fair and two sets of mangled 1932 license plates all need restoration really really badly.
I have a total of 54 1932 license plates
Probably a dozen or more 1939 plates and then of the other years a couple of each I didn't count them. I don't think I have ever seen so many 1932 California license plates in my entire life. So if you are in Southern California and you end up going to a car swap meet and you see California plates that are covered in white latex house paint You know where they came from.
Near as I can tell at one time in these license plates lives they became some kind of siding for a building Probably at a junkyard or a scrap yard because I have commercial plates, car plates, truck plates and even one government exempt plate.
I thought it was a neat little side story and as I stated at the beginning of this really long comment I bought myself 2 jobs and because they are hamb related I felt I should mention it.

 

Working on a fuel cell mount for a good friends car.

 

So today I drove the vette out to the Labor day auto swap at the local drive in . Met up with a bunch of my friends to bbq and sell parts. I only brought a couple of things in the trunk which consisted of a new Milodon BBC V drive oil pan and a 1250 Dominator. I labeled the pan for exactly what the application was and it's a BIG ASS rectangular pan... A young guy looks at the pan for awhile picking it up and turning it all around. He then ask's if it will fit his Chevelle... I chuckled and said , only if you completely remove the front crossmember Drove home and rebuilt a Holley for my buddies GTO. good day in my book