Not yet; tomorrow hopefully.
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Not yet; tomorrow hopefully.
Falcon, can't believe I missed this thread until tonight. Cool project and great progress so far. Nice score on the free flathead. Also nice floor work and fender repair. This car looks to be in great shape for the most part. Will converting it to 12 volts make the gauges useless or will they work with 12 volts?
Thanks, Steve; for a 62 year old car it's not too bad. As far as the gauges I'm still deciding. The speedo, temp, and oil press are all mechanical so problems there. I think the amp gauge doesn't care what the voltage since it just measures current draw so that just leaves the fuel gauge. The previous owner had the fuel tank cleaned out and coated but lost the sending unit. I don't know if I'm going to get a new sending unit and use a small 6v-12v converter for the stock gauge or I also saved the gauge and tank from the Buick. It looks like the tank will work in the factory location so I might just build something to mount the gauge under the dash and use it. It's free and the wiring is already right for it. This thing is on an ultra tight budget!
Here's what I came up with for the fuel gauge;this is from the Buick. I'm going to use the Buick tank so it's already got the right sending unit and the wiring is right for it. Plus it's free. I opened up the engine and it looks like someone rebuilt this thing not too long ago. Zero sludge in the pan, you can still see hone marks on the cylinders, and all the bearings look new. I'm just going to get a gasket kit and stick it back together as is. I finished rebuilding the back brakes and got the rest of the brake lines ran. I was going through the spare parts in the trunk and decided I really don't like these taillights so I'm going to do something else. Not sure what yet but I think it looks much better without them.
A few more.....
dosen't look like it even ran after rebuild.
Bearing look great. What did you have in mind for tail lights?
Yeah, I know. Even the valves look like the seats are freshly ground. The guy that gave it to me didn't have any history on the engine. It came from a parts car he bought; the manifolds were in a box in the trunk so he never tried to start it. Even the clutch plate looks fairly new.Quote:
Originally Posted by cffisher
Not sure on tail lights yet; I'll browse Ebay and see what I can come up with.
How's about a rolled pan and some slotted tailights?????Quote:
Originally Posted by falconvan
like rolled pan idea.
That'd be cool, Dave but I dont think I have anything to make a curved piece like that. Dont you need something like an english wheel to pull that off?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Severson
Nope, a piece of 20ga. can be easily shaped to a rolled pan configuration by just bending it around a round post, welding bottle, or something with the radius that would be correct, then shaping it a bit by gently pushing with the palm of your hand a little bit at a time along the length of the piece---a nice straight line where you want the middle of the radius makes a good guide.....Quote:
Originally Posted by falconvan
It's a thought, Dave. I'm half tossing around the idea of cutting this thing in half and making an RPU out of it when my 48 is done so it may end up with something quick and easy for now. But you never know; I got a bad habit of changing car plans!
Not to steal someone else's idea but I'm thinking this is where this may be going eventually. This guy built this from a 46 Ford 4dr sedan.
Found tail lights; going with 59 Pontiac Catalina
Changing tail lights is a cool way to spruce up the looks of a car you going to mount them vertical??
Im not sure yet, Charlie. I bought them off of Evilbay so I'll have to see once I have them in hand. Got most of the dash back together, a little more wiring done, got the old tires cut off of four wheels and getting ready to clean up and paint, and engine gaskets came in today. Here's my grand kids as anxious for a ride as I am. My granddaughter is just like her mama; always has to be in the drivers seat!
Coming along nice on the build Falcon! Not sure you'll get to do much driving, looks like that position has already been claimed!!! I wouldn't mess with the dude wearing the shades, he looks like trouble for sure!!!!
i used a telephone pole one time to roll the front pan on a 64 corvair with a power screw driver and use of a 2by 4 would make this go fast just do it in the cloak of night :) lay the steel up on the pole screw the 2x4 to the pole as a hand helper and bend the sheet cut to size after bending abit longer sheet helps in bending. less you have a slip rollerQuote:
Originally Posted by falconvan
That thing got a Hemi????:LOL::LOL::LOL:
I remember a time I bent some sheet metal around a light pole:eek::eek:
knew some nice gals that i pulled there upper control arm back on there TR 7. there been many times were a pole or tree has worked like a charm .try not to bend body metal around polls of cars i am driving but a time or to got very closeQuote:
Originally Posted by cffisher
I had a few death defying crashes when I was younger but never hit a pole. Always seemed to figure out a way to put a car on it's side or it's roof!
It needs a hemi, Dave! Maybe someday; I got a feeling this one is going to be around a long time and go through a lot of changes. Except they'll be more gradual and I'll try to keep it on the road as much as possible at the same time. I did just pick up a set of rust free front doors although Im not putting them on now.
I've always thought of doing that build it while I'm driving it, always did them that way when we were kids. Now I seem to get so carried away on the build that after the first day on a project, there's nothing there to drive!!!!!
Same here! I always have to reduce a car to it's molecular constituents before I'm ready to start putting it back together. Im going to try and avoid that this time so I can actually enjoy driving it, too.
Hard to drive them while hanging from a rotisserie:eek:
Does complicate things, for sure! maybe put an electric motor on the rotisserie, then sit in the seat, put on the belts and go round and round??? Rollover practice!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by cffisher
I tried bending fiberglass over a pole once..it didn't work out too well, but luckily the t top shattered making for a fairly easy exit :eek:
That should be a cool daily cruiser when "done" falcon. Just don't let it slow down the progress on the '48 too much!
Nope, once its on the road in the next couple of months it's officially "done" until the 48 is wrapped up. After that, look out.Quote:
Originally Posted by 35fordcoupe
It may just be me, but I think 59 was over the top in styling. Even as a more door that ride is cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by falconvan
Looks like the engine had been bored; .060 on the piston tops when I cleaned them off. Everything inside this thing was really clean. It doesn't look like it's been together very long. Got it all painted up and installed today. I decided on a non-standard color. It's Caterpillar Beige.
Closer and closer.
Ok, the head is on and the clutch linkage is squared away. The shift linkage was a nightmare. No matter how I adjusted it it would not hit all the gears. Finally after looking at the other trans several times I found that the upper shift arm was 3/4" longer than on the trans I put in the car. Taking this arm off while the trans is in the car is tough; you can just get three fingers and a wrench in between the floorboard and the nut that holds on the arm. Flipping the wrench gives you about 1/4 turn per flip. But after swapping it, all gears are where they should be. On another note my super slick homebuilt master cylinder bracket ended up right where one of the shift rods needed to be so I have to do some alterations if I want brakes AND gears. Also, I really don't like the look of the stock tail lights so I'm going with these. There from a 59 Catalina and are a little big but I like them.
Big is good some people can't see a BUS!!!!!!!
Engine looks good, Falcon!!!! Lights are a bit big, but they should be able to see you, anyway!
I agree on the engine work....great job.......great choice for teh loghts too. Big improvement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Severson
As for the tail lights.....hell if they cant see a bus or your car.....your tail lights wont be the problem. Keep the updates coming.
Engine looks great, and nobody can claim they didn't see those lights!
they didn't look that big on the pontiac
The engine color is a nice compliment to the patina'd green. It's hard to tell on those tail lights up close, but I think they fit the space well and certainly clean up the fenders for a smoother look!
Yeah, I'll just have to cut one in and see how it looks. If I dont like it, i got just had my MIG bottle refilled.