Hitch is in

Finished installing the trailer hitch last week before the cold weather hit. Had to modify it a little to get it to fit. Cut off  8 inches of the forward mounting tangs and used those parts to beef up the other two frame mounting points on each side. Pretty strong now and if nothing else, it protects the gas tank somewhat. The weather has kept me inside and working on wood projects for a while.
Need to turn the chassis around in the garage so I can work on the front sheet metal. I would like to put in new front inner fender well panels. The existing ones have quite a few factory holes that would need to be welded up, and one side has a lot of rust pits. I think new metal would look nicer. The top of those pieces are curved and the outer fenders attach to them. I need to figure out how to make new metal while possibly incorporating the top part of those curves. Head scratching time.
Headed to Panama after Thanksgiving for another house setting job for a month. Will be back the second week of January. Gonna be colder then. Hope you all have a great Christmas.

New Stainless Bumpers and Grill Trim

The new stainless steel bumpers and grill trim arrived this week. All from Dennis Carpenter. Very happy with the bumpers. They are polished to a higher gloss than I expected.  I also didn't know how the grill trim was going to be mounted to  the grill.  There are a nice bunch of very simple stainless clips that slide into crimps in the back of each trim piece. A 3/16" threaded stud is welded to the clip and holes will need to be drilled in the grill shell for the clips.
Mounted the back bumper temporarily to get positive measurements for a trailer hitch. Looks good there, and I just ordered a Draw Tite hitch from Amazon. Should be here next week. Now I need to get back out and bump some more metal. Rain is here today but it's still warm out.

Gone Again

Did a three week stint in the New England States. Had a great time seeing the coast and eating all the seafood I wanted. Great stuff. Hit the fall colors just about right. Next, headed to Panama again for a 3 week house setting job in December. Should be better this time. (I hope.)
Got a little done on some of the front end sheet metal. Pounded out a lot of dents and cut out some cancer. Put some new pieces in and fixed some torn bolt holes. The weather is going below freezing this next week so that will slow things down again. Going to order the front and back bumpers in stainless steel soon. I need the back bumper to take measurements for a trailer hitch. I will also order the stainless steel grill bars for the front end at the same time. All that, except for the hitch, should come from Dennis Carpenter Ford Parts. Got to get the cab painted this next spring so I can start the wiring and interior stuff. How long is this going to take????

Side Tracked Again

About time I got this updated again. Got side tracked again with a few things, but got some work done on the back fenders. Had more Cancer to cut out on one and then built some backer plates for the mounting flanges. Decided to sandblast all the flash rust off again this morning. Got both fenders done before it started raining. Need some mud work and sanding on both. Then I will shoot them with the first coat of primer. Have a little more mudding to do on the cab and then some touch up primer for it. Not much time left to do outside work as winter is fast approaching. Got to move the boat back in the garage also. Oh yes and we leave for New England for three weeks next Saturday. Also going back to Panama again in December for a better house setting job for a month.
will this truck ever get finished???

Inside of Cab Masked

Masked off the interior of the cab so I can shoot the next coat of filler primer. Had to mask the inside of the dash and just above the front windshield. This area will get painted just like the exterior.  Still have a little spot mudding to do before I shoot it again. Going to cool down tomorrow so will mud then and maybe shoot it the next morning if the weather cooperates.

Cab Interior Painted

After shooting the whole cab inside and out with etching primer, I painted all of the interior with DuPont Centari Acrylic Enamel. When talking to my car guys group, they told me ,first, Paint it a light color. This will make it easier to see up under the dash when doing the wiring etc, I chose a very white color that really brightens up the interior. The boys said to just paint it with a brush as it will all be covered up later anyway with upholstery or carpeting. Also you can get into some of the cracks and crevasses easier with a brush. I put on three coats and that should protect the inside longer than I will be around. The Centari white was mixed two to one with a DuPont reducer and one part hardener.
I may have lost a few more brain cells from the toluene smell, but that stuff sure dries fast and hard.
You can see in the photo's that I got a little sloppy and will have to sand some off the exterior. Minor problem. Next I have to do a little more mud filling in spots I missed and then mask off the interior and shoot the outside with the filler primer.
Winter is coming, gotta hurry up.

First Etching Primer On

Well, since it was going to only get up to 77 degrees today I thought this should be the day I jump in and shoot the first coats of Etching primer. I think I have let this painting get to me and have procrastinated long enough. First I wiped the cab down one more time this morning with PRE ( a wax and grease remover) from Eastwood. Read the directions again on the primer can and mixed up the first batch of primer and reducer one to one. (This is all DuPont stuff.)  I had stapled a piece of cardboard to the wall to use as a test for fine tuning the spray. Sprayed the first batch up under the dash and firewall and emptied the gun there. To make a long story short I mixed enough batches to prime the whole cab inside and out at least two times. Some areas probably more. I used one half gallon each of the primer and reducer. It was both easier and harder than I though it would be. I had to mix up more paint than I thought.  I had a hell of a lot more overspray in the air while painting than I thought there would be.  After mixing, the primer was a lot thinner than I thought it would be. It sprayed easier than I thought, and I think I covered everything pretty good.  I have found at least 4 runs I need to sand out.
Hope I don't have to sand all this crap back off.

Poor Man's Paint Booth

Well, I stapled up some plastic to the rafters in the big garage, to be used as a paint booth. I made it 12 feet square and it looks like I will have plenty of room to move around the cab while shooting it with primer. Even made room for a fan that sets in the window to draw out overspray.
It's been in the 90's and very humid right now so will have to wait a few days to shoot it.
Still have some more mudding and sanding to do, but the booth is ready. This is truly going to be an interesting experience for me as I have never painted anything before. I think the understanding of runs and orange peel is soon to come. BUT, gotta do it, gotta do it.

Re-sandblasting, Mudding and sanding the Cab

After flipping the cab back over, I set up me little blasting tent out front of the garage and re-blasted both the inside and outside of the cab. It took a lot of blowing out the crannies and crevasses to get all the sand back out and it still is leaking out in places.
I did a bunch of mudding on the inside firewall where I had welded up holes and the floor interior, to try to flatten it out as best as I could. I decided the interior doesn't  need too much sanding as most of it will be covered up anyway It's not bad, just not perfect. I am now working on the exterior, trying to get it ready for primer. More mudding and sanding. I want to prime both inside and outside. Then I will paint the interior with a DuPont Centari white paint color for protection. This too will eventually all be covered with Dynamat and upholstery. All that will be my first test with a spray gun.  WHOOT, WHOOT.

Bottom Painted

Bob Ertzinger, (No Job Johnny), came down last week and helped me get the bottom ready for paint. He is shown with a paint gun in hand, but we used Spray cans instead. The product is made by 3M Company and called Professional Grade Rubberized Coating. I used five and a half cans for at least 3 full coats. This should give it good rust protection and help some with the noise level. I first used a product from Eastwood called PRE to clean and prep the bottom.
Next I will flip it back over and re-sandblast the whole cab inside and out.

Seat belts are in.

Got the seat belts installed and decided not to weld in the bottom plates. Pulled everything back off and now ready to do a quick cleanup sandblast to the bottom so I can paint it.
Got the fiberglass front fenders this week. They are made by BEBOPS and sold through Yogi's. Yogi himself helped me out by having BEBOPS bring them to the Nationals show in Kentucky last  weekend, and then He transported them back to his shop in Monticello. Then my son-in-law Quinn, who works for Yogi's, took them home to Marion and I got them from him on Tuesday. Saved me shipping costs . Great service from Yogi's. Thanks a bunch.
When my company leaves the first of the week, I will take the cab outside and do the blasting.
Anxious to finally get a little paint on the old baby.

Side tracked again

Well, family business comes first.
Moved my sister from Indianapolis to  Coeur d' alene, Idaho. Then had grandson Parker for 2 1/2 weeks. Plus a few other distractions.
Now it is 95 degrees out with 94% humidity. Nothing in life is perfect.
I did finally bite the bullet and ordered fiberglass front fenders for the F1, and seat belts for both the F1 and the Model T. All coming from Yogi's through my son-in-law Quinn. Great place to deal with. Nice to have a relative working there.
Dug out the F1 bed last week and decided to remove the metal bed. I want to replace it with a piece of aluminum diamond plate. The factory did a great job of welding it in every 6 inches. Took a while to cut all the welds out. Now the clean up begins.   I started sandblasting it a couple days ago, but the heat got to me. Will let the weather cool down a bit before I continue.
Fenders probably wont get here until August, but don't need them right away anyway. Will get the seat belts this weekend and can install them in the cab next. Then I can weld those nuts to the bottom of the cab and re sandblast the bottom floor. THEN maybe I can get it undercoated.

Pushing Forward

Got side tracked a few times again, but got the seat belt brackets welded in. Drilled bigger holes in the transmission cover so I could use 1/4 inch bolts and nuts to hold it down. I will weld the nuts down on the bottom when the cab comes off again. Pulled all of the stuff out of the cab getting ready to pull it for bottom cleanup and welding. Also will paint the bottom before going back on.
Been working in the rear fenders, cutting out the cancer and replacing with good metal. Will mud over the top of that to smooth it all up.
My friend No Job Johnny showed up this morning and we pulled the cab off.   Now to finish welding some pin holes and nuts on the bottom and clean it up for primer and bottom coat.
Been raining here dogs and hogs. Maybe I should work on the boat instead.

Busy, but back again

Got side tracked with the 26 T, but back on the F1 the last couple of days. Made some brackets for the main fuse block and finally made a decision on where to place it. There wasn't enough room in the left kick panel (my first choice), so I finally mounted it on the firewall behind the gauges. Should be convenient for all wiring. I was going for a slick firewall in the engine compartment but decided 4 bolt heads would be okay.
I also installed some glass guide pieces in the doors to compensate for removing the wing windows. The mock fiberboard seems to roll up and down okay. We'll see what happens when the cats whiskers and guide pieces go in. That may stiffen things up a bit.
Going to weld in the brackets I made for the top support of the safety belts. More welding to do on pin holes in the cab, then a complete cleanup of the cab again before the primer. Also almost time to remove the cab and seal and paint the bottom of the cab. A lot more to come.

Okay, so I got side tracked

I got side tracked, a little. Seems that I have been over three years without a rod ride while working on the F1. A couple of months ago I started looking for A T Bucket. I found a 1926 Tall T Coupe in Texas a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted a driver for a while. Got it for a good price and decided to have it transported from Port Mansfield (about 50 miles from Brownsville) to Wever. Made arraingments and no transport takers for five days. I got a little bajiggity and decided to go get it myself. Friend Bob decided to go with me. To make a long story short, we drove a total of 2600 miles round trip in 4 days. three of it in the rain.  Anyway, it's here and titled in Iowa now. Got insurance on it yesterday. Had some problems with the brakes and replaced the master cylinder twice, new calipers on the front and new brake lines on the front. It stops good now. Has a 1958 283 chevy in it that came out of a Chris Craft boat. Got a 350 automatic behind it and a Ford Nine inch in the rear. Should be fun for a couple of years. As I said, just a driver. Now back to the F1.

Seats Out and New Master Cylinder Cover

Pulled the seats out to get to some of the little things left to do on the inside of the cab. Inlarged the access hole in the floor to ge to the brake master cylinder and made a cover for the hole. Will weld the nuts on the bottom of the floor pan when I remove the cab for the last time.
Now I need to figure out where to put the wiring fuse box and build a mounting bracket for the fuse block.
Wish this rain and cold weather would go away. more high winds coming tonight.

Finally warming up

Even though it's been a very cold March and April, I have been busy. When it was too cold to work in the garage on the F1, I started building two more rocking chairs. Doing glue-ups on the rockers and the back braces now. Most of the rough cut out is done. A lot of machining and finishing to do yet.

Had been working on the F1 doors. Got the cancer cut out of the drivers door and new pieces welded in  and ready for a little mud work. Got the doors hung about a week ago and got cold again.
My friend Bob came down today and we got the doors aligned. Had to bend one of the hinges on each door to get them lined up fairly close. We also figured out how to put an aligning piece in the door for the window to track straight. You can see by the picture that I have eliminated the wing windows and went to a one piece window. Both doors line up good and both new latches work great.
Next, going to figure out where to put the the wireing harness fuse block. I think a bracket can be made and fit in the left kick panel.
I probably will be complaining about the heat soon.

Oh, I almost forgot, I bought a 1926 Model T Coupe with a 283 in it off E-BAY Last week. Located about 80 miles East of Brownsville Texas. I thought about going to pick it up myself but have changed my mind and will have a transportation company bring it to me.
It's not a show car, just a driver. Should be fun for a while. I'll post a picture when it get's here. Might take a week or two.
Now it's back to work.

Hey Baby it's cold outside.

Been almost a month since I've been out in the garage working on the F1.  I caught up on some of my reading and then thought, I need to do something else to keep myself busy. Well, It's been about three years since i've done any woodworking. I think might have had a little mental block after I caught a couple of finger tips in a blade kick back while working on a project for my daughter. Anyway, I decided the wood I had setting in my garage for a few years,  slated for a couple more rocking chairs, needed to come inside and get acclimatized. The last couple weeks i've laid out and rough cut pieces of sycamore and black walnut for two more chairs.   It's been good getting back to my old familiar wood tools, and the smell of fresh sawdust is close to sausage gravy.  I have all the parts cut out except the pieces for the rockers and the back splats, and I did some glue- ups for the seats and the back rests.  Looks like the weather will stay cold for at least another week, then I will use this as a rainy day project and get back to the Ford. I can never say I have nothing to do.

Altman Easy Door Latches

Been working on the new Altman door latches between cold weather and snow storms.  Cut out the area stated in the template directions with a die grinder cutoff wheel on the door edge and installed the latches. The 1/4 inch nuts holding the mounting plate are hard to get too so used some J&B Weld to hold them in place. Seems to work okay so far. The latches worked okay before mounting in the door but the looseness of the operating arms needs to be tightened up. After installing everything on the drivers door, I mounted it on the cab. The door shuts and latches great but doesn't open worth a hoot yet. More tweaking to do. I think they will be a great added safety feature when I get them figured out.
Big storm here today and snowing as we speak. We need to shoot the ground hog.

Time to get started again

Well, back from Panama a little early. Was an interesting trip. Bugs got me bad, and i'm a little skinnier now.
Anyway, back to the F1. Wanted to try to eliminate the wing windows on the doors. Took all the guts out and cut a template for a full piece of glass out of hardboard. Had to cut the top metal anchor spot for the guide rail off with a hacksaw so the full piece of glass would go up through the slot in the door. wasn't sure the glass would go inside the door with out a bunch of cutting somewhere. It's a tight fit but will go in and turn inside. I also thought I might have to add more length to the bar at the bottom that pushes the glass up, but that seems to work okay also. May have to put a guide piece inside on the wing window side. Works good so far.
Ordered a new set of made for 48 Ford F1 bear claw door latches by Altman Easy Latches from Speedway yesterday and they arrived today. There a little pricey, but at least they are made in the USA. Started laying out the drivers door and will work on it this weekend. Looks like a good safety addition to the doors.