Blasting, Blasting, Blasting

Started blasting the frame. Set up a plastic tent with a plastic pipe frame. Put a couple of pieces of panel board down for the floor and to make it easier to collect the blown sand. Works pretty well. Found out I can buy blasting sand at Huffmans Farm and Home for $5.50 a bag. That is much better than the dollar a pound stuff at other places. Works good for the frame. I think it will be too course for the cab and fenders. Will have to see about soda blasting those. Anyway, it is tedious, dirty and sand goes everywhere. I bundled up with my welding jacket and filter mask, then the hood. The plastic lens in the hood doesn't last too long with all the sand bouncing off it. I cut 4 more spares out of some left over stuff I had in the shop. The blasting will take a few days to finish and our yearly motorcycle ride will be upon us starting this Saturday. Rubber Toes and Two Gallon will ride up here to Wever fron Topeka on friday and we leave for a 10 state ride through the Smokies this year. Heading to the "Tail of the Dragon" in Deals Gap, North Carolina. This means no work on the F1 for about 2 weeks.
Oh well, it's not like it's a race. Who has more fun than me?

The Frame is Empty

Today I finished removing all the parts from the frame that will be coming off. I started by grinding off the heads of the rivets holding the rear spring pearches, and driving them out with a punch. Moved up to the transmission crossover mount and did the same thing, Had to do some tricky grinding on the rivets holding the front end and motor mounts. Got them all punched out and dropped out the front end. Those boys at the Ford Company back in 48 sure new how to put in a tight rivet.
This all brought me back to the Hillyard Diesel Shop, when I was a Sheetmetal Worker/Pipefitter, and knocked rivets off the panels on old Great Northern F units. Guess what, I'm still working on a F unit. Also remembered that even though I wear leather gloves to hold the punch, It seems like evey fifth strike with the hammer gets my left index finger top knuckle. The left hand is now slightly larger than the right one. This all goes away with a few beers.
Sandblasting the frame comes next and I still haven't quite got that figured out. I need to get the frame outside I think to keep the mess down in the garage. Still thinking about a portable floor for the blasting booth (maybe a piece of linoleum). Should start on that next week. When the frame is clean, I will start putting the new suspension on. It will be nice to work on clean stuff.
I wonder how many beers before this swelling goes down?

Portable Blasting Booth

As you can see by the pictures, I set up a very primitive Blasting booth. Although it does work, I figured out a smaller one will fulfill most of my needs. I cut the plastic pipe in half to 5 feet long and this will give me a 5 foot by 5 foot square 7 feet high. This should capture the media in a smaller area. I now need to come up with a better floor. I will do some research at Menards and Lowe's.
I did a small welding job on a hitch for a friend today and then sandblasted it and painted it. All those skills worked, but need enhancement. I hope Bob's trailer doesn't leave his hitch somewhere along the highway.

The hunt for knowledge is exciting and learning what you don't know is, well, what can I say. Should have done this 40 years ago.

Sandblasting is a blast

Well, time to try out the sandblasting. I first hooked up the little cheap hand hopper I got from Harbor Freight and it worked, but not very well. I then hooked up the roll around siphon rig my son-in-law John loaned me. I had renewed the siphon hose, as it was deteriorated, with a new longer one and things didn't work at all. Found out if I shortened the hose and lowered the pressure it worked pretty well. With all the research I did on blasting, they are right. This is a messy job. You also need serious protective gear. It also goes through blasting media like Montazuma's revenge. Sooo, need to find a place to buy media cheaper and build a portable enclosure to blast in and be able to reclaim the media. I'm not detoured by this as I learned some patience while woodworking. It is kinda neat to watch all the rust and paint desolve right before your eyes. As you can see, I am easily entertained.

Compressor air piping in

Went to town today for the pipe and fittings to finish up the lines from the air compressor. Got it all piped and except for cleaning up my mess and putting a few more clamps on, I think it's finished. Doing a leak down test as we speak. Looks good so far. Didn't even fall off a ladder today. That's a plus in itself.
Should be able to try some sandblasting soon.
That old front suspension is staring at me and wondering when it will get it's freedom.

Inside work

It was raining again all day today, so thought I would tackle removing the rearend. This one didn't come out easy. Had to use a cheater bar on a breaker bar to get the nuts to break loose. After a bunch of penetrating oil was poured on and a lot of grunting, they popped loose. Anyway, got the rearend out and only smashed one thumb. I think It's all comin back to me now.
Next I think I will pull the rear springs and spring purches. They are riveted on the frame, so will grind off the heads and punch or drill out the rivets. I have to be careful with this part as the new rear suspension will use these same holes.
Anybody reading this stuff???

Engine and tranny are out

Finished wiring the Big Ass compressor this morning and cranked it up. Sounds great and pumped up to 175 pounds. This baby ought to blow the drawers of anything. Now I have to pipe it and install an in line dryer to take the moisture out of the air. This is a USA made compressor and it sure shows.
Next I pulled the driveline out of the F1 and got all the rest of the motor and transmission bolts out and unhooked the clutch linkage. Hooked the web straps around them both and rolled the gantry crane over and hooked up the chain hoist. Nancy came out and helped me work it up out of the frame. Tried to set it down on the cart I had made for it and had to pull it back up and do some modifications to the cart. My jigsaw fixed that and then set it back in place on the stand. I'll roll it over in the corner some where out of the way till I figure out what to do with it.
The rear end will be the next thing to come out and then the rear suspension which is all rivited in. A lot of grinding and drilling to do there.
The frame is sure starting to look bare.

Christmas in April

Has been a good day today. Picked up Dave Aldershof this morning and headed to West Branch Iowa to get the new suspension kit. I posted a couple of pictures of Dave and his 39 Chevy and 32 Roadster for you to admire.
On arrival at Chassis Engineering we were greated by Jim, The owner who takes the money, and Denny and George who helped me with ordering parts. They had everything boxed and ready to go. Very nice people to deal with.
Before loading up. we went Through the shop to the back building where Roy Lewis, the retired original owner, was working on his 32 foot long duel diesel engine land speed record vehicle. Roy holds the single diesel engine LSR at Bonneville at a hair over 306 MPH. He is the driver of the car and is slightly older than I am. He is in the process of adding a second engine and will try to break the duel engine record this year set by Andy Greene at 317 MPH. Greene has gone 350 in his car but not a record attempt.
The picture of the 1916 Harley is Roy's round tuit job. He give's me insperation.
Brought all the parts home and unloaded them in the Garage and went to get Nancy to show her the Mothers Day present I got for her.
Going to pull the engine and Transmission next.

Big Blue is here

Big blue (the compressor) got delivered today. Now I have to set it in place and wire it. Should be ready to do some sandblasting soon. Got to get the engine and transmission out next. My new front and rear suspension kit is ready up in West Branch and Dave Aldershof will go up with me Monday to haul it all home. It will set for a while til I get all the old front and rear suspension off. Then I will sandblast the frame. Then the long process of putting things back together begins. I've been told, that's the hard part.

New Gantry Crane

Looks like Nancy has added some music to the Blog.

Yesterday I went to Davenport,Iowa to pick up a new 1 ton Gantry Crane, I figured it would be kind of hard to get 4 fat guys with strong backs together each time I needed a lift on the truck, so I opted to go this direction. Besides, the crane doesn't drink beer.

No Job Johnny came down this morning and I had all parts off the trailer and out of the crate. The whole thing weighs about 600 pounds. Bob helped me put it all together and also brought me a pulley system to use with it. Had it all together in a couple of hours and I thought that would be it. Bob said "I want to see that cab come off", so we set the crane over the truck and lifted the cab off. Worked great. Next I will use it to pull the engine and transmission.

Marian, My neighbor across the street came over and I told her she could help pull the engine and transmission.

I got the crane first, so I can lift the new compressor off the trailer (loaned by Dean Long) That i'm going to get next week. Lot's more to do before I get started with the sandblasting.

I ordered the new front IFS suspension and rear suspension from Chassis Engineering in West Branch Iowa last week. Should be hearing from them soon to come pick that up.

Nice to have good weather again and back on this project.
Tomorrow i'm gonna ride my Harley.
Boogie til ya Puke.

Engine stand

Well, got the engine stand done today and will be pulling the engine and transmission soon. I also finally brought the Miller 211 MIG welder from my wood shop to the toy barn. Still haven't tried it yet but the wiring is ready and will do that soon also.

Finally Back

Well, I'm still alive. Back is okay now and had to go back to Washington State for family business. Got back Late Sunday night. As an update, I bought a Miller 211 automatic mig welder in Febuary. Haven't had time to try it out yet but finished wiring the plug for it in the garage today. Going to buy the big ass compressor for sandblasting and other chores within the next two weeks. It will be a 5 horse Quincy. USA made just down the river from me. Just to let you know what direction I am going with the F1, It will get a new IFS front suspension and new rear suspension from Chassis Engineering located in West Branch Iowa. It is an all bolt in kit made specifically for the F!. I got a great deal from great folks at Chassis Engineering with the help of 2 guys here in burlington that went with me two weeks ago to do the preliminary ordering. Thanks to Dave Aldershof who has delt with them before and Bob Ertzinger I got a great deal. Also got to meet Roy Lewis, the founder of Chassis Engineering back in the early 60's, and now retired from the business but working his dream. He holds the single diesel engine powered land speed record at Bonneville at just over 306 MPH. He drives the car and I think is older than me. He is adding a second diesel engine with two turbo's for each engine to see if he can break the two engine record at 317 MPH. What an interesting guy. I will final order the stuff from Chassis Engineering probably within the next two weeks. Got to get all this done before Nancy gets back from Washington and finds out what i'm doing. I am going to start building the cart to hold the engine and transmission tomorrow so I can get it pulled out. I will add more pictures when Nancy gets home with the camera. More later.

Still alive but hurtin!

Need to get an update in here so you don't think I died. Sent Nancy off to Mexico this morning. Had a big blizzard yesterday with about 8" of snow. Put her on a train to Chicago. Big snow there too so hope the plane gets out. Meanwhile, I tweeked my back layin some tile in the basement area and have been laying low. I did get uptown to buy a new Mig welder a couple of weeks ago for the project. It's a Miller 211 autoweld. Good advice from David Bitting. Nice machine and I will put a picture on when I'm able. Next aquisition will be the Quincy compressor,(probably next month.) I'm itching to get going on this project but right now I have to go put the ice pack back on. Be aware, as Arnold said, "I'll be back"

Back Again

Well, been gone for 6 weeks out to Washington State. Time to get this thing going again. Did a lot of internet research while out West.
Some decisions:
Going to put in a new IFS front end from Chassis Engineering Inc. Located in West Branch, Iowa, about 120 miles north of here. Also going to use their rear suspension package with front and rear sway bars and transmission mount.
The next items will be a small block Chevy engine and 700r4 transmission with a Ford 9" or Ford 8.8" rearend up grade. This combo should let me drive at freeway speeds in comfort. Should also have disc brakes front and rear
Decided to buy a nice big Quincy compressor so I can do all my own sandblasting. Got a sandblaster from my son-in-law John to try out on blasting the frame.
Still have to pull the old six banger and transmission out yet and the front and rear end. All the sheetmetal is off but I still have to set the cab off the frame.
Also need a mig welder to tie things together.
Then a torch set up to round out the big tool expenderatures
But first, Nancy found some tile she likes and will tile the lower computer room area. Uhg, more time on the Lewinski's
Going to check on the Mig welder this week. Thinking of a Miller 180.
More to come, Im still alive. Want to drive it before I die.

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

October 26, 2009 -- Simple Pleasures

Well, after cleaning up some of my mess, the battery charged up enough to roll the engine over. I had the fuel line off the Carb to see if I was getting any gas there. No gas. Decided that the fuel pump was the only thing left I hadn't checked yet. Everything on a 48 Ford truck uder the hood is easy to get to except, you guessed it, the fuel pump. I decided to see if it would come out easier from the bottom. Found a splash pan below that area and removed the five greasy bolts holding it on. It had about one half inch of built up oil and crud on top of it. I took it out to my burner barrell, and do you know, there is something satisfying about scraping that much crud off a piece of metal and making it look good again. (Oh, the simple pleasures in life.)Had to go to dinner at friends house in the afternoon so spent about a half hour trying to get my hands and fingernails clean. You've been there, so you know what they still look like. Only one bandaid on one finger so far.Will take the fuel pump off today and clean it up. Exciting isn't it!

Coot

October 25, 2009 -- Contemplation Chair

Notice the Lewinski's

The cooking of the gas tank didn't work to well, but I decided to put it back in temporarily to get the truck running. Found the shut off drain valve on the bottom of the tank was plugged. Had to pull the tank back out because I had put about three gallons of gas in it (of course) Cleaned it up and blew out the line to the fuel pump. Reinstalled the tank (not a big problem) Opened up the drain cock again and had gas running all over under the truck. Found the gas line running to the fuel pump all rusted out. Got new parts yesterday in town and will put them in this morning. I think today the bird will run again. I am very optimistic. (How long is this project going to take?) I think this fun is going to last a long time.

October 19, 2009

So far, I have the hood off and the engine rolling over. I changed the oil and filter and found out it has very weak spark so ordered a new coil, dist cap, Points, rotor and condenser and a new set of plug wires. Also put in new plugs, battery and cleaned up the carb. The gas tank is pretty rusty and plan on buying a new one. Should get the electrical parts sometime this week. I will work on taking the bed apart this week while waiting for parts.

Norm

THE BEGINNING

  

The last week of September 2009 Nancy and I were on our way back from Minnesota and headed to Lincoln Nebraska to look at a 1948 Ford F1 pickup for sale. I had been communicating with the owner Stephanie Johnson about it for a couple of weeks. In anticipation of buying the truck I had arranged to rent a U-HAUL trailer their in Lincoln. Stephanie told me her grandfather had given it to her 9 years ago and she ran it for a couple of years and it had been setting since. Her Grandfather had bought it from the local telephone company in 1972 and had it repainted Vermillion from it’s original color black. The truck had spent all but the last 9 years in and around Montezuma, Iowa where Stephanie’s grandfather was a farmer. Stephanie gave me a good price and a hug with the condition she would be kept apprised of the restoration and that is part of the reason we started this blog. The other reason is we are so forgetful now we wanted to be able to go back and see what we did. I say “we” because Nancy is my best helper.