Thread: 39 Ford (Coast to Coast) Rebuild

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Good to see the car in the hands of someone who can put the thing together correctly and make it a decent car!!! Nice work!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Good to see the car in the hands of someone who can put the thing together correctly and make it a decent car!!! Nice work!

Thanks everyone. If I would have known it was going to turn out like this, I would have just blown the car apart and reassembled. But remember, all of this started with a few minor repairs and a quick install of power steering. I still can't believe the what I'm running into, but I suppose there are cars like this out there. I talked to the owner a few times in the last few weeks and suggested that's what needs to be done for next year. But for now, the main thing is to make it safe. He wants to drive it for the summer.

On to the steering. (finally)

FWIW, I have the same Wilwood brakes on my car. I have the most common 1" Corvette style master cylinder. I originally had a 7" single diaphragm booster, but decided that more boost wouldn't hurt and changed to a 7" dual diaphragm booster. The brakes are not overly sensitive with that setup. If you have a 1-1/8" master cylinder, the pressure would be about 27% less - too low for my tastes.

You're on the right track with the sway bar. I just saw a picture of a new frame with that type of setup. The bar was mounted on the back side of the cross member, but connects to the front side of the lower A-arm.

I've been driving my '37 Oze around some corners, at speeds that are faster than normal and don't have excessive body lean, even without any sway bars. It's no Corvette though. I'd install sway bars, if I could get them made without a huge expense. I've read hot rod magazines long enough to know that you can get anything made, if your budget is unlimited.

Whoever installed those windshield wipers wasn't real sharp - there's way too much overlap on the blades. Most never get used anyway. I must have them on my car to meet Colorado requirements.

With the install of the power steering rack, I had to shorten the steering shaft by about a inch. As I pulled the shaft out, I was amazed that the universal joint at the rack didn't even have a flat ground on it. The only thing holding it from spinning was the 2 set screws.

There are 3 joints in-between the column and the rack, 2 were good quality and one was not. Since the power rack uses a larger spline, the poor quality u-joint will be replaced. Shaft has been cut and modified to fit the new u-joint. All I have to do is try to tighten the lower bearing in the column now. It's just a touch loose.

Shaft 1.jpgShaft 2.jpg