1952-59 Ford Working on the '59

The car vin tag indicates I have a 3.56 rear in the car, but the revs seem too high for that ratio. Whatever ratio I have , I need something one step up. So I put my tire diameter and gear ratios 3.56, 3.70, 3.90 and 4.10 into an online calculator and solve for RPM at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 & 80 MPH on a spread sheet and print it out.

At the bar last night I'm talking this over with my buddy and since my speedometer may be a little off, he wanted to pace me in his Vette and tell me when I was up to 50, 60 and so on. Wait I say... got a GPS on your fancy phone that spits out the MPH you're traveling at? He monkeys with it and comes up with it.

So we go for a ride about 10 last night. He reads off 60.. my RPM is 2600, at 70, RPM is 3000. Look at the chart and I have a 3.70 rear and I'll pick up a 3.90 or 4.10 posi rear. My speedometer reads about 3-4 MPH on the low side.

 

Bob, I think you may be going the wrong way if you are trying to reduce rpm at highway speed.

 

I need to increase the RPMs especially around town with the steep cam I have. At 30 MPH I have to drop it into 3rd gear or it lugs badly.

 

Literally working the bugs out of the car. We were on the way to a cruise night, took the Ocean Parkway since it has zero lights. Got a couple of bug splats, then more and more... this shot was about 1/2 way there. There were 2 motorcycles pulled over, I can only imagine....

Get to the cruise as it turned dark, NO visibility, had to pull over and clean off the windshield.

 

Looks like you have just drove my neck of the woods.

 

The previous week... maybe 4 bug splats. I talked to someone else today who drove through there, same thing.

 

Sometimes it's so bad that it sounds like rain hitting the windshield. I rarely drive at night in the warm months. Too much work cleaning the car up.

 

Some guys have trailers for their cars.......we have bugs.

 

Supposed to be bug mating season or something... ruined their party.

In the picture to the left over the dunes is the ocean. 50' off the pavement to the right is the Great South Bay, so its notoriously buggy at dusk with mosquitos. No idea what these things were, maybe gnats. Got home and hosed the car off before they dried up.

 

Working on putting a shroud on my radiator. I'll try to take some pictures tonight, yesterday was too hectic trying to get it done. Butchered up a '65 Chevy shroud, but neatly. Drilled 4 new mounting holes.

Machined parts add up to 14 items total. ( 4 ) standoffs with 3/8-16 female threads, ( 4 ) 3/8-16 studs. This secures the radiator to the support and supplies the holes to mount the shroud. Then I needed ( 4 ) short bushings to for preventing the shroud from rubbing on the radiator. Lastly, ( 2 ) 1.5" x 1.5" x .062" angled pieces to block air at the edges of the shroud. Shroud opening is a little bigger radiator on both sides.

About 8 PM Sunday, we realized the fan was too deep into the shroud. I need a 1/2" spacer to get the fan closer to the shroud opening.

 

Stopped at the local speed shop, got the spacer kit, Permacool and ran me $20. It had everything, but I swapped the hardware for stainless steel. My buddy Neil stopped over after 8:00 and it took us 20 minutes to get 'er done. Went for a ride and everything was fine. The acid test will be running in traffic. I'll take some pictures in daylight soon.

 

Otay... here's the finished product. And added a recovery jug too. One picture shows the standoffs I made up and the side angle pieces to block off the edges of the shroud.

 

Very ***iful, Bob.

 

That turned out real nice.

 

Thanks, I just hope it does the trick. Cooling off here a bit, may have to wait until next year to see if it really works. I have a cruise on Friday night, that's where it got hot on me twice, so that may be the acid test.

 

Had the car out yesterday in the afternoon at about 4, had to go about 10 miles north of me on a notorious parkway, known for delays and accidents, but the only way north - south without going way out of my way. Traffic was slow a few times and the shroud seems to work, never got past 180.

On the way home, I have a new noise, either a TO bearing or blown out exhaust donut. Happened close to home so I haven't checked it out yet.

 

Exhaust donut, nothing urgent and I'll see if I have one. Got my parking light bezels and new lenses in. Found a period correct bumper sticker and slapped that on. Primed & installed the gas tank door too.

 

Hustled to get to a local cruise last night, maybe a 16 mile run. Took the parkway there... mistake, bumper to bumper. But the car kept cool. Got off that and took a local road, more traffic and the temp crept up to 210, but not 230 like last week. AND.. the cruise was canceled, they're doing a fair there this weekend.

Took the Ocean Parkway home... no bugs this time and I could do a steady 70.

 

Hours before my 10/1 heart attack I borrowed an alignment rack and me and the shop owner aligned my Ford. We had a tough time with the first side we set the camber and caster on, turned out a 1/32" shim made a big difference. The other side and the toe went quicker. We went to dinner after, I wasn't feeling great. Dropped my buddy off and eventually went to the ER.

Last week my friend Neil stopped by and he took me for a ride in the Ford (I'm not supposed to drive yet) on Sunday. On the way back home the car developed a miss and we traced it to the right bank. We put a vacuum gauge on it and the needle stayed steady, ruling out a valve train/ cam issue.

Today my brother stopped by and we rolled the Ford outside so it would be cool to work on. Took out the right bank plugs, they all looked a little rich but the #4 was fouled. I ran the plug wires under the ram horn manifolds and had a piece of fireproof sleeve over the #2 & 4 wires. We got those wires separated out and the #4 came right apart, burned through. The #2 wasn't far behind.

The good news is that I can run the wires over the manifolds and put straight terminals and boots on them. The broken wires can be salvaged, they are long enough.

 

Thought we said to TAKE IT EASY
don't push your self the car will be there next week

 

I was beat by the time it was getting dark. I did no lifting at all and mainly got supplies and tools from the garage. Otherwise I didn't pick up a wrench. If I do too much I pay for it the next day, my PT guy warned me about it.

Ordered Taylor straight plug terminals and boots from Summit, also some DEI protectors for the wires that p*** over the manifolds. Today I'll be at a car show and swap meet with my brother and his wife. They agreed to leave when I've had enough.

When we were out with the Ford, with no warning my brother takes off at a stop sign and rows the Ford through gears. I looked at the tach... 5k RPMs all the way. The car leaves straight and hard, 3rd gear yielded a good tire chirp.

 

Can you say that again?
Cool!

 

The car is definitely fast. In the spring I'll change the rear to a 4.10 and try some traction bars I have laying around, old Lakewoods. For now I'll just try to drive it all winter on nice dry days.

 

Installed my new straight plug boots and terminals, I have to shoot a few pictures. We finished up and wanted to go for a ride... and I drove! First time in 6 weeks I have driven the car. No added pain so I'll be driving it daily.

 

Grear news!

 

I mean Great news!!!

 

Nice day today, snow flurries and about 40 out... what to do? Pull the rear out, time for a posi. I did the hard work under the car, used an air ratchet mostly. The old rear is a 3.56 and the wear pattern was good, the pinion had a little slop in it. I'm ordering a 3.89 trac-lok from Quick Performance on Monday.

My springs are on the way from Mc Veigh, shackles and other parts from C & G Ford. Also pulling the trigger on the front sway bar from Southwest T-Birds.

 

82 here and a great day to attend a car show today!
Sounds like you're getting it done..hurry, Spring is on it's way to you guys!
3.89's....there goes you're wonderful gas mileage. Keep us posted on how everything fits.

 

I don't care about the gas mileage, I need to pick up the RPMs with the bigger cam especially around town so it doesn't lug. The weather is iffy for the next week or so, may as well take advantage of the down time.

This is the activity from yesterday, my son Ron is doing a fine job supervising. Spots on the driveway are melted snow and ice I had to clear off. It was quite comfortable to work outside.

 

Got the rear springs installed. I'll have to see if my brother snapped any pictures, we were dodging the rain drops for a while and had to hustle. Shackles came from C & G Ford parts, so did the u-bolts.

I got an early start putting the car on jack stands and s****ing 50+ years of crud off the axle housing. I got it clean enough to squirt some VHT satin black on it. The 3.89 posi ham should show up this week with some luck. I've been scaring up parts to get that installed.