1952-59 Ford Working on the '59

Windshield is in... took a bit to keep the bottom trim in place, otherwise it looks great with the blue tint up top. My brother polished up the bottom trim, since it goes into the gasket and is locked in place.

 

Picture of the stainless trim at the bottom.

 

One shot of the floor plate back in with the clutch master rod hooked up to the pedal arm. We made the top of the floor plate over using .062 aluminum sheet I had laying around.

 

Blew the doors off it so we could sand all around the door and get the old gasket off. Found 1 surprise on the p***enger door. The bottom has a spot welded flange that locates the gasket and probably keeps it from getting kicked. This was pretty well rusty, so we ground it off. Plans are to make a new piece from .032 stainless sheet and pop rivet it in place.

Tip for getting the doors back on straight: Drill a convenient hole through the door skin and hinge. I went with a 3/16" hole so I can use a substantial pin to re-locate them. It worked, took like 5 minutes to attach each door and they lined up perfect.

 

Lookin really sharp bobss.

 

better slow down working on it or you will end up with a driver I for one am looking forward to that it will take a long while to get the smile off your mug.but plastic surgery will solve that if you get tired of the looks you get driving around with a huge grin.car guy's will understand and grin back others not so much.P.S. so much for that post you made thinking there would be no interest EH(Canadian for Huh)

 

Thanks. The car is starting to go back together. Got a lot of paint work to do, floor pan, interior garnish & dash, door jambs and so on. About 2 months ago it became a restoration when I gutted the rest of the interior. Big milestones: windshield is in, all the door gl*** is set, rear quarter windows installed and working. After the paint, the heater and dash go back in, in conjunction with a total re-wire.

 

More work, I was off last week. Got the wiper motor mounted, hood latch back on. Jury-rigged a pressure tester for the heater core before that went back in. The Kwik Wire harness is ready to install.

 

Great work bob.
Is that the original wiper motor ***embly or did you fab that up?

 

After market, made by Newport Engineering. Hope it works as good as it looks.

 

Ah... newports. Id like a set but it just ends up too expensive given ship and customs. Ill try converting another elec wiper to use as soon as i can stand on my head for measurements.
Keep it up.

 

More week over the long weekend. Got the harness installed, have to run the wires out next. Painted all the trim as well and it came out great. My brother shot the paint for me.

 

It's all looking good, Bob....hope you're recycling all those Colorado bubbly cans.

 

I sure do recycle all my cans and bottles. Had to go out and buy some bigger bins for some reason though...

 

More work late last night. The driver's door is complete. I had to make up a couple of brackets... thought I had them all but it was easier to make them than to rip the garage apart. New gl***, gl*** channel, vent seals, the works.

 

Looking good Tex. Do your arms look like you lost a knife fight yet?

 

I meant Bob....gotta quit drinking during the day!

 

Bob....curious...does the '59 still have those #12 tapped holes for those brackets? Hard to find screws for them, especially in stainless. I retapped all my #12's to 1/4-28. Bracket looks good, btw. Wish I had a Bridgeport.

 

lol.. been there, done that...

 

These took a 5/16-24 bolt. The mount for the bracket on the vent window channel I pop-riveted on, maybe the '57 is different? The mill I use all the time. The DRO is kaput so I dial everything off. As far as getting cut up working on the door, we wrap all the sharp edges with duct tape. Really sharp points get filed down first.

 

Now I have 2 doors that work 100% and can even unlock with a key! Ran some of the harness wiring out the front too.

 

The dash went in, no picture since it was so dark by then. The defroster plenum is held together with gorilla tape and JB Weld. Took a shot of how I get the doors back on fast. I drill a 3/16" hole through the door skin & through the hinge. Line it back up later with a piece of 3/16" rod.

 

A very hot and humid weekend. But got the tach and gauges located and some of the wiring sorted out.

 

I sweat all my beer out too fast this weekend, whatta waist. Looks like progress on your ride, Rebel Harness?

 

Looking good Bob...love that sanitary look.
"The dash went in, no picture since it was so dark by then".....take them in the dark with flash, that way you don't have the glare to contend with. I have that problem all the time with sunlight coming in thru the windows...lol...now if I could figure out how to make the camera's flash work when it thinks it doesn't need it..

 

The harness is Kwik Wire, very nice so far. But I hear good things about Rebel as well. So I basically flipped a coin. Downed a ridiculous amount of beer over the weekend....

Thanks Tex, trying to keep it clean and every piece has to be as good as the rest of it. Taking pictures with my Samsung flip phone so far.

 

Worked on mounting the clutch slave to the bellhousing. Made the plate from 304 stainless. I had an interference with part of the bellhousing... Bridgeport to the rescue. I need to make up a sleeve that goes over the rod next.

 

Got the steering wheel back on to see how it looked. Dash is back together, only minor wiring remains. Ran wires out the back, popped the rear interior panels back in since I had them laying around.

 

Washed up the engine compartment, it was full of dust, over spray, etc.

 

Powered up the electrical system... everything works! Had a minor wire swap issue at the RR taillight and a bad ground at the license plate lamp. Had a wiper link flipped under the dash.. needed a little dremel work too. Heater motor is a bit noisy, but that's okay. Found a clock in the trunk... no workee at the moment. Got a GM alternator with internal regulator for $55, easy to wire up. Harness kit came with a 50 amp fuse that protects a lot of the harness.