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.

Last entry of 2012

Well it's been a fast last couple of weeks. Wasn't able to get much done on the Ford but did get a small patch done on the passenger door. Still have another one to finish up and the filling process to do.
Got the flu a couple of days ago so that stopped everything except the orfice flow. I believe I may have seen my pancreas a couple of times. Back on the mend now and finishing the packing for Panama. Should be home around March 14th, just in time for some more body work.
Hope whomever is reading this stuff has great holidays. As I stated before, if your interested in what we are doing, Check out Nancy's blog at:   nharless.blogspot.com.
See you in the spring.

Door Repair

Well, got through Thanksgiving after four kinds of pie and lots of gravy. I wonder what cherry pie wrapped in bacon and smothered in gravy would taste like. Hummmm!
Gotten down right cold outside, but I did finish getting the three rusted hinge pins out of the doors. What a job that was. Lots of penetrating oil and a big hammer with a drift pin and some drilling.
Had to cut out a rusty spot on the front bottom of the drivers door. The pictures show the sequence. I first made a patch out of 18 gauge and marked the spot to cut out. Used a die grinder with a cutoff blade to open up the hole. Hand fit the new piece and spot welded it in. Then filled in between the spot welds. After that it was grinding time. then went over it all with body filler. Still have more filling and sanding to do before the first primer goes on.
Started working on the passenger door. Got all the paint off. I have the same spot in that door to repair, plus the inside corner is rotted out. Will fix both bad places that at the same time and do some body filler on that one as well.
Only have two more weeks to get some stuff done before we head to Panama. We will be in Bocas Del Toro, house setting a place in the rain forest for three months. It is all off the grid, but does have Internet access. If your interested, Nancy has set up a blog that you can follow our time there. It is:
www.nharless.blogspot.com.
Lots of Howler monkeys, birds and jungle. The house sets above Dolphin bay on the Atlantic side, close to the Costa Rica border. There are two dogs (Gelli amd Indy) who will take care of us. Hope to get some fishing in and spending time trying to figure out how to get this truck done faster. I guess it would help if I stayed home.
NAW, I'm going to Boogie til I puke!

Plug Wires, Doors & New vise Station

After getting the new roll of MSD plug Wiring, I had to cut the three new wires to length and use a small tool to squeeze the ends on the wires before the boots went on. I have been moving back and forth for three years using my vise, when needed, that's in the garage attached to the house. I finally took time to build a spot on the end of my welding bench in the big garage and moved it there. A lot more convenient now and used it to put the new ends on the wires. Put some dielectric grease in the boots and all went together nicely. Got the rerouting done. Have to make a couple more small brackets to keep them from rubbing in a couple of places.
Took the passenger door back off and got the windows and most of the guts out. Should get it sandblasted today. The hinge pins are rusted in so have to drill them out. (I have new stainless ones).
The weather is still nice, so will blast while I can.
Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to the gravy.
Wait a minute, is anyone reading this stuff???

Sandblasting Doors

Got the MSD wire kit yesterday so now I can build the last three sparkplug wires. Need some dielectric grease to help slip the boots on and will get that tomorrow when I go to town.
Figured out how to get the door handles off with the help of Google. Made a wedge tool out of wood so I could hold down the spring loaded covers around the handles. Then it's just a matter of knocking out the pin that holds it all together. Interesting that I found a cut off nail in one of them. The pins now cost 50 cents apiece. Got them ordered, plus new hinge pins.
Got all the guts, (window roller device) out of the drivers door and sandblasted it today. It's not in too bad of shape. A small patch needs to be applied towards the bottom.
Since I rebuilt the fitting in the bottom of my sandblaster last week, and now have all the valves regulated correctly, it works a lot better and using less sand.
Never give up, and Boogie Til Ya Puke.

Door Hinge Pins are a bugger

Finished up welding the patches on the left rear fender and put the first coat of filler on it. Will take it into my workshop in the house and finish up sanding when the weather gets colder.
Got a new welding helmet that has automatic darkening. Should have gotten one of these to start with. It's a middle of the road Miller. Works great.
Had Dean Long come help me put the passenger door on so I could see if the bear claw latches I have will work. Looks like the pair I have will take too much reworking of the door. (they were given to me so not out anything).  Found some made to fit bolt in's on line that look great and easy to install, but the $350 price tag says we will stick with the originals.
Started taking the drivers door apart so I can sandblast it. I spent three hours getting one of the hinge pins out. It was thoroughly rusted in. I beat, chiseled, beat,(a few expletives here) and finally drilled the pin out. Also got the glass and wing window out. Got to figure out how to get the door handles and window roller handle off so I can get the rest of the mechanism out. This door is in pretty good shape. Needs one small patch at the inside bottom.
The new electric heater I bought looks like it's going to work out fine. It was very comfortable in the garage today. We'll see what happens when it really gets cold out.
Ordered  a 25' roll of MSD sparkplug wire and end fittings today. The routing of the plug wires wasn't working out the way I had routed them around the Ram Horn exhaust. I needed three longer plug wires so had to go this way. Should be a lot less noticeable with the new routing.
Yo the lowly turtle, it only makes progress when it sticks it's head out.

Frustration and progress

Had some problems doing the spot welding on the new metal I was replacing on the rear fender I had sandblasted. Got real frustrating. I had depleted the Argon gas  needed for the MIG welding, so took the bottle in for a refill. Talked to Sam, the welding GURU and salesman at AIRGAS in Burlington. Explained to him what was happening and he gave me some tips to try. I was basicly running on the automatic setting on the welder. Sam told me that wasn't always the right setting for the metal I was welding. I came home and did some fiddling with the controls. Took me a while to get dialed in correctly but all seems better now. As you can see in the pictures, thing are getting better. This all slowed me down considerably, (plus some other things,) but I'm back on the fender and slowly progressing.
Also bought a small 240V electric heater and in the process of installing it so I can work a little longer while it's getting colder.
There is a tunnel and i'm looking for the light at the end. I think it's a long tunnel.

Sandblasting, WHOOT, WHOOT.

Time to hit the sheetmetal. Started beating out some smaller dents in some of the front sheetmetal. Need to weld up some holes and put in some repair pieces.
Got the sandblaster out yesterday and worked on the right rear fender. It's the one with the least amount of rusted out metal.  It's pretty clean now, but have to cut out some cancer and weld in some new metal. Three more fenders to to blast. Got the hood and doors to look forward to also. Somewhere there is a song that says "Life is but a dream". You dream a lot while sandblasting.

Transmission Cooler finished

Took the transmission cooler and brackets apart. Trimed the brackets and guard to size and painted all the parts. Finished installing everything. It tuckes up on the frame behind the passenger running board. Looks like it is pretty well protected up under there. Time will tell if I made the right decision by putting it there instead of in front of the radiator. The thermostatic controled fan is not wired up yet, that will come later.
Getting colder out now so got to get the front fenders sandblasted before it gets too late. Got to start beating and welding some sheetmetal now.
WOW, where did the summer go???

Transmission cooler and tin work

Got a nice B&M transmission cooler from Tony Cetta. It is thermostat controlled with a fan mounted to the front of the cooler. I didn't want to put it in front of the radiator, as the airconditioner condenser is already mounted there. My thoughts were, too much blockage through the radiator.
Decided to mount it on the frame behind the passenger side running board. Made a couple of brackets to hang it off the frame. Couldn't figure out what fittings were needed coming out of the transmission for the cooling lines. Found a website that did the same as I was doing with great pictures and all the numbers for the fittings and lines. (GOOGLE is great). Got them all from Summit Racing on Monday and installed it all on Tuesday. Decided I needed a guard to protect the cooler and fan from any road rash. Bought a piece of perforated metal and made the guard. Still have to make some end pieces for the guard and then paint all the parts.
No Job Johnny came down and helped me work on straightening one of the running boards and also fitting the floor cover for the transmission.
Going to try to get some more sandblasting done on metal parts before the weather turns bad.
I think the running gear is very close to starting the engine. If not this fall, next spring for sure.

Power Steering hoses an d Adjusting Valve

Had to get away from the A/C for a while, so started to run the power steering hoses and pressure reducing valve. The Mustang Two rack runs at a lower pressure than the Chevy power steering pump I installed, so I had to put a pressure reducing valve in the lines. I got the kit from Yogi's but it is actually made by Heidt's. The hose is a stainless steel wire mesh covered tubing. They warn you that when working with the mesh that it can poke into your fingers. BIG UNDERSTATEMENT!  While making up the four hoses I must have stabbed myself a dozen times. Anyway, made a bracket and  mounted  the reducing valve to the frame. Finished making up the hoses and hooked everything up today. The reducing valve allowes you to adjust the feel of the steering, hard or soft.
Now I have to find a place for my transmission cooler.

More procrastination and a little work

The heat has finally subsided, but more interuptions came along. Nancy headed to London with my daughter Shannon and grandson Parker for two weeks, soooo, good time for a road trip on the Harley. Headed to Topeka to see Rubber Toes and do a little cruisin. Headed south out of Topeka for some pie and broke my clutch cable 120 miles from Toes house. Nursed it back to Topeka doing some fancy synchronized shifting without the clutch, and started calling around for a new cable. Had to go to Olatha, (60 miles away) for a new one. Toes and all his tools and knowledge helped me get the new one installed. Headed back home the next day with rain looking me in the face. Toes rode with me to Atchison and a half mile later it started raining. 300 miles of rain. At least it wasn't cold, and I made it home okay.
The girls and Parker got back home and the grandson helped me do some more work on the airconditioning. Got all the holes drilled and hoses run, including the dryer. Yop can see the dryer in the picture mounted on the right inner fender panel below the AC pump.
Still have to make a bracket for the heater valve that will fit behind the right kick panel in the cab.
Maybe next week i'll get more done.

Heat Procrastination

Well, been a little too hot to work in the shop for a while, but I did get some sandblasting done on the running boards and I got the holes cut in the cab for the AC hoses. I have some of the hoses mocked up and now making some brackets out of the 2 1/2" stainless steel exhaust pipe to hold the dryer. The dryer keeps moisture out of the system.  It's a little hard to explain so when I get it installed a picture will help. Hopefully the heat will subside soon.

Back to the AC

Went ahead with the decision to put the AC controls between the gauges and the radio face plate. I layed out the area to be cut on some masking tape and then drilled 4 holes in the corner areas  Next I cut the hole out with a die grinder and a cutting disc. Cleaned up the burr's and everything fit fine.
I think it all lines up symmetrically with the gauges, radio and the ash tray Almost like it was put there 64 years ago
Need to start to laying out the hose routes now. Also need to get some heater hose. It wasn't included in the kit. Found they didn't include a couple of fittings that was supposed to be in the kit for the AC hoses, so need to call Vintage Air and straighten that out. More drillin and cuttin coming up.

A/C and Other Stuff

Got the A/C box mounted under the dash. Had to make 3 out of 4 brackets, but that isn't unusual when it's not a sure fit system. Spent way too long trying to fit the controlls in the area where the ash tray mount is. Didn't like the way I did it,  so will ponder that some more. May put it between the gauges and the radio. Looks like it might fit there.
While rummaging around in some of the old parts boxes I found I had forgotten to install the front shocks. Mounted them yesterday.
Working on the front inner fender panels today. Had to cut out and make room where the new front suspension was installed.
Decided to do some more sandblasting today as the weather is finally getting cooler.  Worked on the left running board. Need more sand. Will get that tomorrow. Got to get plugging on the sheetmetal.

Defroster Vents

The defroster vents supplied by Vintage Air are plastic and not as wide as the original ones. I would have had to weld up the old holes in the dash and drill two new ones for mounting the new vents. I decided to use the old ones and then found out the old vent hose was 1-3/4", while the new hose is 2" in diameter. After some head scratching I remembered I had some 2" exhaust pipe left over and found it just slipped over the old vent pipes. They were a little loose, so I mixed up some metal filler and packed it inside. When it dried, I sanded the rough spots out and painted them. They will work great and will be a lot sturdier. Plus they are original equipment. Not that that makes any difference now.
Got to install the main box under the dash next.

Installing the Air Conditioning

Opened all the boxes for the Air Conditioning today, an actually sat down and read the instructions.  I already had the pump installed on the engine, so next I installed the condenser in front of the radiator. Didn't like the brackes that were furnished so made my own out of 1/8" x 1/2" flatbar. Drilled three 3/16" mounting holes in each and gave each a couple of 45 degree bends for a small offset to bring the condenser about 1/2" away from the radiator. Next I have to install the defroster vents in the dash.

Driveway Rake

Stayed out of the garage for a while because of the heat. While resting in the cool of the airconditioning I decided I need to make a rake to smooth out the area where they tore up my lawn while installing the new septic system. I thought it might also work as a driveway groomer.
I had some scrap angle iron laying around so cut some 3/8 bar stock and rebar 2 inches long (45 Pieces) and welded them to two 45" long 2" x 1/4 inch pieces of angle iron. Had to buy some 1/4" x 1-1/2" angle iron for the side pieces and the runners that hold the 8 x 16 concrete weight blocks.
Tried it out yesterday and this morning after adding three weight blocks. Works great, and no welds broke.
As you can see, my best helper is also a great tester.

More Good Help

Had a great time in Niagra Falls and Nancy renewed my contract, so I'm good again for a while.
It's been very very hot here in the midwest the past month and the lack of rain is causing havoc with the corn and soybean crops. It also means I spend less time in the garage.
My oldest son Joe showed up from Washington State Saturday and is here for a little more than a week while his wife Louise and her twin sister Linda are doing the RAGBRIA. It's a hot one this year.
Joe has been helping me on the truck and today we installed the new Edelbrock aircleaner. We also put some heat shielding on the brake lines that run close to the exhaust system. We then finished up the rear axle vent and  put on some front sheetmetal for mockup.
Will  wait for it to cool down a while before continuing on. I think mounting the Air conditioner condenser will be next. Have to build some brackets for it first.

30 Years of Pure Bliss

Finished up installing the transmission kickdown cable and made a few clamps to tie things down.

July 17th is our 30th anniversary, so going to take my honey Nancy (AKA Babycakes) to Niagrra Falls
Good time for a break and I think I got a few points for this one. She said she might renew my contract.

New Yogi Parts on

After mocking up all the parts I got from Yogi's, I took it all back apart and primed and painted the brackets gloss black. Put it all back together. Still need the hoses for the power steering and the pully doesn't quite line up yet , so have to sort that out.
Mounted the Carb bracket and put the throttle linkage and Transmission kickdown linkage together. Drilled the firewall for the gas pedal and linkage cable.
Ertzinger showed up and we put the distributor in for mockup of the plug wires. Still have to sort out the routing and buy some plug wire separators.
Opened the wiring box while it was hot outside. Started wiring the gauges but didn't get to far with that yet. That whole wiring project shoud be interesting. Especially for an old plumber

More New Parts

Decided to go to the Good Guys Car Show in Des moines last weekend. I wanted to see a lot of cars, but mainly talk to vendors and try to pick up some pointers and parts. Ended up at the YOGI'S display and delt with Yogi himself. He gave me a lot of pointers and and a good deal on the parts I bought from him. Got all the stuff for Air Conditioning, Power Steering pump and brackets, Throttle cable, pedal and braclets, American Autowire Kit for wiring the whole truck. Kickdown cable for the tranny. Alternator bracket and a few other do da's. He gave me 10 percent off and free shipping and threw in a hat and 2 shirts. Nice guy and helped stear me in the right direction. Boxes came Tuesday. Sorted it all out this morning and started putting the air conditioning compressor and brackets on and the power steering pump and brackets to see how the fit was going to be. I have to take it all back apart to paint the brackes after making sure it all fits. It's so hot here now that I was dripping sweat all over the engine so came in to cool off. I think I will look at the wiring kit and see if I can wire up the gauge panel here in the house.
Whew, time for a libation.

Transmission Linkage fixed

All it takes is time and patients, and maybe a libation or two. Did some tweeking on the column shaft extension I had made and shortened the rod about 1/4 inch and it all came together. Got 6 nice solid shifts. Need to get some stainless one inch bolts to replace the mockup ones I used to put it together and paint the column and that should be finished.
Continuing on with some of the sheetmetal. Have to cut out some rusted area in the front lower fender panel and weld a new piece in. There's a couple of other spots on this piece that need replacing also. Then try some skim coating with body filler. There is a lot of sheetmetal work to do.

Transmission linkage sucks

Taking a break from sandblasting, I thought I might hook up the transmission linkage I got from CCP. This looked very straight forward with minimal thought. Now I wished I had paid more attention in Geomerty class in High School. The brake lever didn't seem to be a problem til I hooked things up and found it in the way. Okay, we can overcome these small obsticals. With a small bend in the shifting rod, wha-la, Brake lever out of the way. Next I found with the 700r4 transmisson, you have an overdrive gear which means you need to move the shift lever one more position. It got humorous after a while as I was moving the steering column up and down, twisting it and moving the shifting rod everywhere. On the floor, In the cab, back to the floor, you get the idea. I haven't figured out (yet) how to get that last shift position. I made an extension for the column lever, rebent the shift lever a few times and now have moved on the doing some hammering and mud work on some sheetmetal. I will let my brain and the shift mechanism cool down for a while. I think it's going to rain.

Sandblasting Again

Got two new clamps I was missing for the exhaust and put them on. Took all the bolts out of the clamps (Stainless Steel) and coated them with anti-sieze, then cranked them all down tight.
Started sandblasting the sheetmetal parts for the front end. Lots of little pieces. Need to get the metal work going. Going to test my hammer skills on small dings. Summer is almost half over.

Back Home from the Dragon

Had the best ride yet this year. 3000 miles and 13 states. Rode "The Dragon" 4 times. Many, many bikes there. Some go fast and some go faster. Was great. Can't wait til next year. Where you say???. We don't know yet.
Back to the F1. Got the exhaust J hook hangers installed. I'm checking with the experts to see if  I need to apply 2 more hangers. Pretty solid with out them so may just wait and see. Had to order 2 more step clamps. They should be here Tuesday. That should finish the exhaust system

Started doin some sandblasting on the grill parts and the front lower fenders.

By the way, I have to bite the bullet and will put in a whole new septic system. An unwanted venture at this time. Bids are out and back. They should start within two weeks.

J Hooks manifold clamps

Had a problem with our septic system this week plus a few other things slowed me down.
I bought a 3 foot length of 3/8" stainless steel rod and four 6" SS 3/8" bolts and with some help from Rubber Toes (Roger Droz and No Job Johnney ( Bob Ertzinger) we used a propane torch to heat the rods to make J hooks for hangers for the exhaust system.
You may notice that Roger and Bob seem to have had too many jello shots.
Anyway, the 6th annual Old Dogs Motorcycle trip starts tomorrow and  Rubber Toes , Two Gallon (Dennis Patrick) and I will head to the "Tail of the Dragon" in North Carolina. We've tried to go there the last two years and weather turned us in another direction. The first hurricane of the season is there right now, but should be gone by the time we get there. The "Dragon" is a 11 mile streach with 318 curves. Shoud be a Whoot.
Will weld up the J hooks when we get back.
Boogie til ya puke!

Exhaust welding done

Bob Ertzinger came down Monday and helped me tweek the rest of the exhaust and.got it ready for welding.
Today I finished  the welding on the front part of the exhaust. The right side is in and the left side still has a little clean up yet. Will finish that tomorrow. Welding stainless steel doesn't seem to be much different than regular steel. I still need a lot more practice. I spend too much time grinding and clean up. At least it looks strong and has good penitration.
Next I will start working on some of the sheet metal. I'll start with the easy stuff like the front fender lowers. The ones I got in Spokane are a lot better than the ones that came off the truck but still need patch welding and straighening. As I said before, i'm an apprentice again.

Back In The Saddle

Got back from Washington State late yesterday. Had a nice 90th birthday party for Nancy's mom and got to see all our kids and grandkids while out there. Thats always a treat.
While visiting in Spokane, I found some Ford F1 parts on Craigslist and picked up a left rear fender, the front right and left lower fenders, 2 running boards and two headlight cans with chrome rings.. The sheetmetal is all better than what I have, but will still need work. Got it all for a hundred bucks from a guy named Robert in Otis Orchards, just east of Spokane. He has three projects he is working on and the F1 needed to go.
Back to the exhaust now. Have to take it all back out and weld up the front sections. A lot of it will be clamped so it can come apart easy.
Nice to be home again.

Exhaust and Fuel Sender in

Got the fuel sender installed. Still have to run a ground wire to it but will do that when I get the wiring kit.
The exhaust is finally all mocked up and tack welded.. Now have to take it all back apart and finish the welding. Also have to get and install some hangers.
Going to Washington State for a couple of weeks. Nancys mom is having her 90th birthday party. See you when I get back.

Exhaust and Gauges

The pictures at right show some of the mockup's I have done so far. As you can see, I even turned some 2 1/2" wooden dowels to use in the process. The one that I think will be used is the one where I cut two 90 degree elbows and made a 2 inch jog in the pipe to clear the brake booster. It's just tack welded so far with a little more fine tuning to do before I complete the welding.
My new Autometer gauges showed up today. The Speedometer has a tachometer at the bottom of the gauge which saved me from installing a separate one. The dash gauge plate is a polished aluminum billet insert made by Boese Engineering out of Tempe Arizona. It will be a while before this all gets wired in but I got the fuel sending unit with the fuel gauge and now I can install it and finish up the fuel tank.
Back to the exhaust.

Who said "Patience is a waste of time"?

Well, sometimes you just have to set back and look. Scratching your head also seems to help.
I thought I had cut a fat hog with my first mockup of the exhaust system. I've modified those plans many times so far and still not finished. I'm having a problem with the drivers side. I have the elbow now coming around the outside of the steering shaft (Bob Ertzingers suggestion), which gives me just enough clearance from the shaft. My problem now is getting around the power brake booster and master cylinder. I made a mockup out of cardboard today that curves inside around the booster. I need a little more contemplation before I start cutting and welding pipe.
Meanwhile, UPS arrived today with the new Flowmaster Mufflers and Torco Stainless Steel step clamps, the carb spacer and mounting bolts and the Speedometer output adaptor for the transmission. Put the Speedo adaptor on and it is now ready to be wired when the new gauges arrive. I got a real nice used Edelbrock 1406 Carberator from Van Aldershof and installed it today after the Spacer and mounting bolts arrived. Still have to connect all the do daa's to it yet but it looks cool setting on the 350. Still have to decide what air cleaner to use but I think one that matches the valve covers will look great.
It will be nice to get the exhaust system sorted out so I can move on, Still a lot of work to do on the cab.

Steering, Seat belt plates etc.

Made a bracket to hold the steering column to the cab floor plate. I had to Split the plate in half so I could get it around the column I had made the plate last year and now the steering shaft is in solid. That allowed me to cut the 3/4" double D shaft extension and put it and the two universal joints in. Now I can actually turn the front wheels with the steering wheel in the cab.
Made some upper seat belt mounting brackets to weld to the cab just above each seat by the doors so I can install three point seat belts later. Still have to make the brackets for the floor mount yet but will buy the belts first that have and installation package with them. Got to decide on the color first,
Will be working on the exhaust system next.
Had a nice surprise last night when Dennis Patrick (One of my Old Dogs who ride Hogs Partners known as "Two Gallon") from Topeka showed up with his son Russell for a visit. Russell is a woodworker and keeps me updated on his projects. He looks good in my Ford.

CAB BACK ON

Got the cab back on today. My best helper (Nancy) assisted with the installation.
I had been practicing my welding on some scrap exhaust pipe and finally cut a piece of the Stainless Steel pipe and practiced on that. I’m not there yet, but not far away. There are so many little things that needed finished or mocked up that I decided to put the cab back on today. I have to finish mounting the steering shaft to the firewall so the double D shaft can be cut to length and the universal joints installed. Once that’s in I can finalize and weld up the first bends out of the manifold of the exhaust pipe on the drivers side.. Anyway, still plugging along.. Got to get my annual health checkup tomorrow. The one day out of the year where all orifices get checked. Yuck.

Water Pump, Fuel Line, Tranny cover and Stuff

Got the bolts for the water pump and installed it. Applied the pulley and fan also. Will have to either modify the existing radiator fan shroud or put an electrical fan on. The new Chevy engine sets about 3'' lower than the old Ford six and puts the fan towards the bottom of the radiator. I'll have to do more investigation on this.
Rolled out the coil of 3/8" steel fuel line and ran it from the tank in the rear to the fuel pump on the engine, with short rubber jumper hoses on each end. Also got it all clamped to the frame on the right side. Still have to run the line up to the carb, but don't have a carb yet.
Worked on the tranny cover and welded in the new piece after cutting out the cancerous part. This may still have to be modified if it doesn't fit over the 700R4 tranny.
Started mocking up the exhaust manifold and the passenger side looks like it should be fairly easy. (Did I say that?) The drivers side is another story. The steering shaft is very close the the dunp tube on the manifold. I'm looking for a short radius 90 degree elbow now to fit in there.
Cab goes back on soon for more mock up.

Been busy

Got a lot of parts ordered and all arrived this week. Installed the Radiator hoses but think I will change the top to a different type. got the new long water pump but now have to get some bolts to hang it.
Got the speedometer drive and driven gears and put that all together today. This allowed me to put the driveline in that's been patienly waiting. All fits good so far.
The Flowmaster stainless steel 2.5 inch exhaust kit arrived, so started mocking that up today. This will take a while. Got to practice welding stainless pipe before I ruin the good stuff.
Still have to weld up the transmission cover thats waiting.
Fuel line is here. That will install shortly.
Weather is great now.
Time to get something done.

Radiator and Shroud is in

Got the Stainless Steel radiator mounting kit from Texas and found it was all too small. Guess it probably is for a car. All parts are much smaller than what came out of the truck. Sooo, I sandblased all the rust off the old bolts and springs and gave them a nice coat of primer and gloss black paint. The weather warmed up again the last tweo days so installed the radiator mount and radiator with the fan shroud. Looks good and measurements show I need the long water pump. The 17 inch mechanical fan I got from Texas will work fine I think. i will know after installing the water pump. I also installed the starter.
I needed to finish up making the clamps for the parking brake cables and also installed them.
The manifold elbows I got are plain steel and probably won't get used but is helping me figure out how to run the exhaust piping.
Sand blasted the transmission cover yesterday. part of it was rusted out and had a piece pop riveted to it. I now need to cut out the rusty part and weld in a new piece.
Cold out today so going to order some more parts. (It's only money, right?)