240 Wiring is in.

Just finished the wiring job. Got the trench filled in just before the rain started. According to my test meter, I now have 250 volts in The TOY BOX. Now I have to wait and see if the jolly old fat man will bring me a big ass compressor to suck up that juice.

Wiring for 220 volts

Well, I've been doing a lot of soul searching on this project. Found out my soul was blank, so had to use some other souls to help me. I decided I would like to try to do all the sandblasting myself. That being the case, I need to wire the TOY BOX for 220 voltage so I can run a big ass compressor and get a good mig welder. After figuring all that out, Nancy and I went to Indianapolis to visit my sister and her daughter and family. I left there 4 pounds heavier. Those girls can sure cook.
Back to the F1. Bought all the material to wire the TOY BOX yesterday. Planned to get it all wired including digging a trench for the wire between the garages done today. I got both boxes mounted in the garages and some of the wire strung, but didn't get the trench dug yet. Will do that tomorrow.

Found a tap today at FASTENAL but the kid there never heard of a tap extractor. Will have to buy one from the internet. Raining and cold today. Doing research on the internet on Compressors, 220 volt wiring, Welders, Sandblasters and Oxy/Acet torches. Lets hope time and money don't run out before this project is done. I will always have money for beer though, cause Nancy gets a raise in January. (:

Drillin and Tappin

Went back to working on the cab yesterday. Started drilling and tapping the door hinge plates. We had to drill the heads off 6 of the 12 screws holding the doors on. The top six just had to be cleaned out with a tap. The bottom 6 had to be drilled out and retapped. Broke the tap on the next to last one. Got to get an extractor to get it out. Got the heater out and controls. Glove box door and box liner. Ash tray and holder out. Defroster hoses and deflectors out. Will work on the left side of the dash next that holds the gauges, ignition, Starter button. The air intake flap and parking brake handle also need to come out. A little bit each day.

Knuckle Busting

Well, got my second badge of courage today. Smashed my left thumb while trying to chisel a bolt off. I guess that's why they call it knuckle busting. Finished the cart to put the cab on so I can roll it around the shop. Went to work on the front clip and with the help of my thumb, I got most of it apart except a little of the grill area. Have to figure out how to lift the cab and set it on the cart. Will probably use some 2X6's for bracing and a chain jack. Contemplating that in my head now. Then have to build some kind of roller cart for the engine and transmission next.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Well six days have gone by and a lot of progress. Rubber Toes Droz showed up on Monday afternoon and I was working on getting the brake hubs off. He changed clothes and said "Lets do it" Got all the drums off except the right front. Looks like it needs a brake job. We tackled the running boards next and had to grind all the heads off the bolts. This grinder is turning out to be the right tool. We got the boards off and cleaned up some of the mess and Toes was grumbling about my organizational skills as he was trying to find tools to work with. By the next day, he had all the wrenches categorized and organized. Even I didn't have trouble finding things. The next morning No Job Johnny showed up for breakfast and then we started working on the front clip. That came off altogether and I will separate those parts later.

Bob left and we decided to take a break and do a little motorcycle riding. Toes took my old BMW and I took Chubby the Wonder Hog and off we went to pick up a golf club my son-in-law Quinn left at Gibson Woods golf course in Monmouth during the Hog Snout Tour. It was about 53 degrees and the wind was gusting up to 30/35 miles and hour. We had bundled up but after riding the 118 miles round trip we were ready for a cuppa hot tea.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wednesday we started working on the cab doors. Big problem here, as the screws did not want to come out. We ended up going to town and got an impact driver which was made in Taiwan and proceeded to break after about 5 good whacks. Toes drilled out the screws that wouldn't loosen. Got both doors off. On the trip to town for the impact driver we stopped and talked to a couple of rod builders that Roger knew and WOW, did I get an education. These guys are pro's and their work is outstanding. It was well worth our time to meet and make some new sources of information.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Thursday we started on the cab and the steering column and box. The steering box was a bugger to get loose. All the rest of the bolts to the cab had to be ground off. The cab was loose late that evening and we slid it back on the frame about 6 inches. I now have to figure out how to set it off. It is too heavy for us two to handle. Sooo, without Rogers help I would still be standing beside her with a puzzled look on my face. Amazing what two or three guys can accomplish in a short time with a grinder and a 5 pound maul. I still can't believe Toes drove all the way here from Topeka to get dirty and scrape a few knuckles. He also brought some of his famous BBQ pork with him. Both Bob and Roger have been a big inspiration so far on this project. Unfortunately, Toes left this morning, and wouldn't let me talk him into living here for the next couple of years. He said I need to work on those organizational skills first.
I'm learning as I go and it continues to be great fun. Roger said something about "the fear of the unknown" but I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and sometimes the left shoe is on both feet.
Boogie til ya Puke.
Coot

Bring Beer

To those that have danced with tequila in their boots, Well, since I have slowed down on golf and woodworking, I decided to try something different. I have always, or at least for a few years, wanted to put together an old vehicle of some sort. First it was a 32 Ford roadster highboy on my wish list. Then the thought of maybe a late forties early fifties Chevy pickup. Changed my mind again to a 48 Ford F1 pickup ( that is Nancy's birthday year but I can't reveal how old she is ) and started looking. Found one over in Lincoln Nebraska in late September owned by a very nice lady named Stehpanie, and brought it home. Now, bear in mind I have no special tools to do this project. but as Colonel Sanders stated when he was 70 years old, "I hate chicken, but I needed a job". Sooo, he is my inspiration. (A chicken plucker for inspiration, Hummmm).Well, i'm into it now, and Nancy thought, since i'm not doing the Hog Snout stuff anymore that some of you might be interested in watching this project come apart and hopefully back together. I realize this is not golf and this type of thing may not flip your skirt up, so if your not interested, I understand. Watching cockroaches die isn't my bag either, although I don't mind stepping on them. Delete this if you don't give a rip, or, you can go to Nancy's newly constructed Blog Spot Called: www.norms48ford.blogspot.com and see how much inspiration the chicken plucker has given me. This is going to be a long project and i'm almost 69 years old now, so I have to get busy. I don't plan on working on it every day, but if you visit the site every once in a while, you hopefully will see some progress. This is my first endeavor of this kind, so I welcome all comments whether it be constructive or criticism or constructive criticism . I have already found out the F1 is the teacher and I am the Apprentice. I don't know much about Blog Spots, but in this case, you have to start reading from the bottom and go back to the top. Strange, but what does an old plummer know? Any and All help will be appreciated. Bring beer. I will Boogie til I puke.
I am

NOTSONORMO

October 30, 2009 - The Fenders Come Off

Got the box and rear bumper off today and put it on my little trailer. The box wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be but I know it will take 4 people to put it back on. It needs some repairs but will get it sand blasted first.(some time in the future.).I'm rethinking the 6 volt system. Had trouble getting it started again today but as it warms up it runs fine. I think the 12 volt system will be the way to go. A lot of guys ahead of me have done it for a reason and I guess, why reinvent the wheel. Frame looks pretty good but the bolts are sure a bugger to get out. Have ground the heads off most of them.Hope the pix down load faster this time.

Coot

October 30, 2009 -- 12 volt versus 6 Volt

Well. today was a good day. Started out trying to get the engine running better. Wasn't going to well so decided to start taking off some parts. I don't have a torch, so decided to use my angle grinder to grind off the heads of the rusty bolts holding the bed and fenders on. Cut off 8 half inch bolt heads holding the main bed down. Cut off a bunch of smaller heads holding the two rear fenders on. Wasn't too bad, just took a while. Both rear fenders off but the bed is still attached. This was good progress so thought I should give the engine another try. Found the Distributor was off one more cog. Got it running and adjusted the distribtor so it was purring like a loud kitten. Opened the garage door (see, i'm getting smarter) and ran it for about 15 minutes. Warmed up good and found I do have to get the radiator repaired. Leaks in two spots near the top. Also found the oil sending unit is leaking so will need to renew that. All dash gauges seem to work. Got about 50 lbs of oil pressure and didn't seem to smoke much. Starts right up now with a push of the start button. I had been thinking I would change it to a 12 Volt system but, 6 volts seem to be working fine now.

Coot

MOTHER of PEARL !

10/27 Well, I stayed out of the garage yesterday and attended to other chores, but today it was back at the fuel pump. Had to take some guards off and used a 1/4 inch drive socket set to get the nuts off. Tite place. Anyway got it off and washed up the outside. Took the glass sediment bowl off and found a tar like liquid inside. The gasket for the bowl broke so knew I would have to get or make another. Was pumping the shaft arm and heard a pop. Thought I might have blown the diaphragm so took that apart. More rusty goo. The diaphragm looked like it may have some cracks and will need replacing eventually. Decided to go to town and see if Farm King had a gasket or/and a carb kit. No luck there. was going to go to Auto-Zone and saw Huffman's coming up so though, hummm, I wonder. Guess what. They had the gasket but no fuel pump or carb kit. Went on home and put the fuel pump back together. I thought I might as well try it cause I can't get a kit today anyway. Turned the gas shut off valve on the tank back open and put the fuel line to the carb in a plastic container to see if the pump was pumping. Hit the starter button and no fuel in the sediment bowl. Put some gas in the carb and hit the start button again. Ran for a few seconds and checked the bowl again. Looked like it was half full, MOTHER OF PEARL, could this be happening? Put more gas in carb. Ran another 5 seconds and bowl was full now. More gas in carb. This time gas shot into the plastic container. WAHOO, Removed the container and hooked the fuel line up to the carb. Grabbed the gas linkage and hit the start button. HAH, that bugger fired up and started running. It ran as long as I slowly fed the gas with the linkage. It ran for about 3 or 4 minutes when I realizes the garage door was shut and I thought I better shut it off and open the door so this won't be my last time doing this. I could not have been happier. Went to get Nancy (for proof) and she came out and I did it again. This time I slowed the feed down and guess what? It idled. Again MOTHER OF PEARL. Nancy snapped a couple of pictures as I was grinning. I shut it off and she said "is it always going to be that lowd?" I told her there was no exhaust system on it yet. I have lot of tweaking to do yet and I also think the radiator has a leak at the top but the Phoenix is starting to rise out of the ashes. Yes I have grease on my face and yes I have grease on my forearms and hands and fingernails, but who gives a big rats ass.

I'm Happy.

Coot