37 Ford build--IE: old Header issues thread /37 Ford/5.0/GT40P heads

[Irelands child]

Randy,

Wrong Dave. That's Dave Severson with 8000 posts.

Here's a friend of mine with a few posts on a Civil War reenactors' board:

Charles Heath
Mule
Constabulary
Posts: 42420

Jack,
I don't believe I will ever want to catch up w/Dave Severson, DennyW or a couple of others on posts. Then Poncho62 on the other site w/10K+. This @#$% thing gets turned OFF about 6:00PM. But 42,000+ - sounds like someone needs a life beyond his keyboard.

[randyr]

Yeah, I could probably weld a few patches over the holes in this firewall and go with the whole "rat rod" theme and I could even make the wiring work....some of those wires go to an old cruise control that is no longer there, others to a previous heater, electric fan, etc....The wires are all in decent shape even if they are not consistently color coded, etc however, since I have the engine out now and time is money, it seems like replacement becomes more cost effective in the long run and with fewer headaches. Besides, it'd sure be nice to trace down a wire that actually has it's function written on it every 6" and to open the hood and see a firewall that is smooth, clean & airtight!

[randyr]

.....plus, even if I kept the old firewall, it would probably need additional cutting out to clear the taller valve covers since I'm using roller rockers on my newly rebuilt engine.....all in all....it sounds like I could spend hours/days/weeks working on this old firewall and at the end of the day, it would still look like crap....even though it would work fine.....I vote for the new one! LOL

[thesals]

sounds good.... i personally would go with a painless kit, thats how my neighbor went on his 32 A.... added power windows, a nice soundsystem, navigation.... all the wiring is nice and clean and its nice to have a newer style fuse block

[randyr]

sounds good.... i personally would go with a painless kit, thats how my neighbor went on his 32 A.... added power windows, a nice soundsystem, navigation.... all the wiring is nice and clean and its nice to have a newer style fuse block

Hey thesals,
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check out Painless, too. Dave suggested American Auto. I have another friend who used the EZ Wiring kit and liked it pretty well. It'll boil down to best quality for least money...

I see you're a fellow "Left-coaster"

[thesals]

yup, stuck here on the left coast where the sun is bright, but the people aren't

[Irelands child]

yup, stuck here on the left coast where the sun is bright, but the people aren't

Which is why we on the virtuous and verdant green Right Coast call your part of the country the Land of Fruits and Nuts .

[randyr]

Ok. Perhaps I'll suck it up and spring for the high-dollar kit....LOL!

So, on another note....do you weld? mig or tig? I'm looking for a decent used small welder so I can do much of this work myself. I don't think welding can be that hard with a little practice and the convenience of be able to weld when I need it would be worth a lot. I've read that tig is more difficult but there isn't as much slag and the joints are less brittle than mig. In either case, it has to be a small unit that runs on 110. No 220 is available to me.

Hopefully, we'll get a blast of warm weather while you're here.....but then I guess anything would seem warm to you about now, huh?

[Irelands child]

Ok. Perhaps I'll suck it up and spring for the high-dollar kit....LOL!

So, on another note....do you weld? mig or tig? I'm looking for a decent used small welder so I can do much of this work myself. I don't think welding can be that hard with a little practice and the convenience of be able to weld when I need it would be worth a lot. I've read that tig is more difficult but there isn't as much slag and the joints are less brittle than mig. In either case, it has to be a small unit that runs on 110. No 220 is available to me.

Hopefully, we'll get a blast of warm weather while you're here.....but then I guess anything would seem warm to you about now, huh?

I have a 110V Lincoln MIG with gas which does a very nice job. I have somewhere in the realm of $450 in it as far as price which includes a 40 cu ft bottle. For a comparable TIG, would probably be $1000 - $1400 which was my decision maker. If you use gas, there is no or very little slag or splatter with MIG. Without gas - don't bother - it is sloppy farmyard welding. It is very easy to weld with MIG though I did take a 3 night class to sharpen up on long wilted skills - I was a certified navy quality level stick welder way back. Stick with a good brand though - Lincoln, Hobart, Miller, ESAB or similar US made - no Harbor Freight crap - you'll never find parts if you need them.

Anything will be warmer we had +6, but Saranac Lake was -15 !!!!

[MikeB]

Randyr,

At the bottom of this page - http://www.clparts.com/faqwiring.html - you can download a sample of the EZ Wiring instructions.

[randyr]

Randyr,

At the bottom of this page - http://www.clparts.com/faqwiring.html - you can download a sample of the EZ Wiring instructions.

Thanks Mike. I'll check it out.

Randy

[Irelands child]

Tell me if I am wrong here but I don't see switches - ie, ignition, headlight, dimmer - only plugs. Looks like everything is extra above and beyond the panel, wires and a horn relay.

Brings the price up real quick to the fully comprehensive kits and panels such as American, Ron Francis and Painless.

[randyr]

Hey Dave,
You back from beautiful downtown Burbank yet?
I got my engine back Friday. Now I have to bolt all the extraneous stuff to it. I have my new firewall fitted but not welded yet.
Here's a quick pic of both.....

[Irelands child]

Hey Dave,
You back from beautiful downtown Burbank yet?
I got my engine back Friday. Now I have to bolt all the extraneous stuff to it. I have my new firewall fitted but not welded yet.
Here's a quick pic of both.....

Hi Randy,
Made it back safely from Beautiful Burbank - but am still about an hour off kilter as far as time.

The engine looks nice and clean - what rockers are you using? They don't look like my Crane Energizers. Time for a paint job on it - and that's always a bundle of fun.

The firewall sure looks a lot better than that piece of Swiss cheese you had originally. Fits up real nicely. Did you get the trans tunnel as well?

Gotta finish getting my taxes ready today for my accountant - so will be basically off-line for most of today.

[Deuce Don]

Interesting thread to anyone who has ever put a Ford in a Ford street rod. I am new to this site and hope you don't mind an unrelated question. I recently sold my 32 5 window (302/C4) and am in the market for my next project. I am thinking real hard about a Brookville 30/31 A on their 32 chassis with a 302 or 351/AOD combination. Brookville says that I do not need a recessed firewall with this combination but I would need to use the Motorsport short water pump. My 5 window was a Downs body and chassis combination and there were some clearance issues on the front of the engine and the fan shroud. Since you have experience with Brookville products, do you think a 302/AOD would fit without a recessed firewall (it will be on a 32 chassis)? I have had good luck with the Cooling Components electric fan and shroud combination (it gets hot down here) and I would like to use that on this car. Thanks.