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

[IC2]

It's now insured and registered and had its' first (legal) 10 mile ride today. Now I have a 'punch list' of things to do tho none are very much, but that list of honey do's in my wife's hand will take priority for a while

(I do have to move the rear end forward about an inch - screwed up when I reassembled then forgot - a long senior moment)

[34_40]

It's now insured and registered and had its' first (legal) 10 mile ride today. Now I have a 'punch list' of things to do tho none are very much, but that list of honey do's in my wife's hand will take priority for a while

(I do have to move the rear end forward about an inch - screwed up when I reassembled then forgot - a long senior moment)

ALL RIGHT DAVE! That's GREAT I know I'm setting here (in Delaware right now) grinnin' from ear to ear, I can imagine how happy you must feel! I am so envious!

[randyr]

It's now insured and registered and had its' first (legal) 10 mile ride today. Now I have a 'punch list' of things to do tho none are very much, but that list of honey do's in my wife's hand will take priority for a while

(I do have to move the rear end forward about an inch - screwed up when I reassembled then forgot - a long senior moment)

WooHOOOO! Congrats, Dave! I'm thinking if you put the wife in the passenger seat she might forget all about the honey-do list!

I see what you mean about the rearend. Hope that's an easy fix. The car is looking great though!!!!

[IC2]

Thanks guys - It was a blast!!

The worst 'punch list' items are an hour to put (lots) more caster in the front - I used the TCI specs and do need at least 2-3 more degrees to keep the car in a straight line. Moving the rear end forward will take a bit more time. I have at least an inch in the driveshaft yoke. If it needs more, then need to do some surgery on the 4-bars and shorten that shaft. I might even raise the rear another notch at the same time. Regardless, I'll still do as much as possible and if not enough, it will become a winter project so I can drive it this summer. The rest - for the most part, 'nigglers' and a day without honey do's

Then - there are the seats. No one said it would be easy(inexpensive)

[34_40]

Thanks guys - It was a blast!!

The worst 'punch list' items are an hour to put (lots) more caster in the front - I used the TCI specs and do need at least 2-3 more degrees to keep the car in a straight line. Moving the rear end forward will take a bit more time. I have at least an inch in the driveshaft yoke. If it needs more, then need to do some surgery on the 4-bars and shorten that shaft. I might even raise the rear another notch at the same time. Regardless, I'll still do as much as possible and if not enough, it will become a winter project so I can drive it this summer. The rest - for the most part, 'nigglers' and a day without honey do's

Then - there are the seats. No one said it would be easy(inexpensive)

And no one ever said it would it would be finished!

[IC2]

And no one ever said it would it would be finished!

The only time a hobby car is finished is when it goes down the road with a new owner - then you get to start all over

[34_40]

The only time a hobby car is finished is when it goes down the road with a new owner - then you get to start all over

My favorite part!

[randyr]

Hey Fellas, I finally got to spend a few hours with my '37 this weekend! I hauled my rear end out to the garage and pulled my rear end out from under the car (those are two different rear ends...). I sanded it down and prepped it for painting so I can re-install if for good. Once I get that finished and get the car back on the ground, I'm going to raise the body high enough to get a good seal & coating on all the new floors, etc and replace all the rubber mounts with new ones. I'm also on the lookout for some more acceptable gears for the rear end. I don't think the current 2.75's will be all that impressive with a 5 speed trans . Will snap a few pics next time I'm out there so you guys will believe me.....

Hope you had a great 4th!!!
Later,
Randy

[bluestang67]

It's now insured and registered and had its' first (legal) 10 mile ride today. Now I have a 'punch list' of things to do tho none are very much, but that list of honey do's in my wife's hand will take priority for a while

(I do have to move the rear end forward about an inch - screwed up when I reassembled then forgot - a long senior moment)

Dave sweet outside pic in the light . Did you see the headlights squint down from the sun light .

[IC2]

Dave sweet outside pic in the light . Did you see the headlights squint down from the sun light .

Bobby - the lights are right now so far out of alignment that any squint is possible - one of my p/l items if it ever cools off enough to actually do some work on it(tho I did just return from a quick cool off ride)

Randy - were you able to clear the cobwebs off the '37 easily? Need progress pictures!!!

[bluestang67]

Randy as above +2 we need some pics .

I spray the garage for spiders and bugs periodically , but there are egg sacks under the stang .

[randyr]

Ok, here are a few pics of what I've been working on in between other things.
As I said earlier, I removed the rear end, stripped it and sprayed it with Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black Primer. I'll top coat with their paint as soon as it arrives.

There's also a shot of the new lower springs I installed and the new upper shock mounts. I also notched the frame a while back to make sure I had enough clearance. When I refabbed the inner wheel houses, I cut the new pieces to skirt down over the frame in case you could see through the rims when the car is completed.

I also have a question about the rear roof seam. What are the pros & cons to welding the seam and finishing it off smooth or just let it remain visible. Any thoughts?

[randyr]

So, while waiting for the paint to arrive for my rearend parts, I decided to strip the paint off the driver's door and see how I need to address the problems there.

Back in the day when my dad & I built this thing we didn't know too much about body work so here's what we did. To repair the rusty door bottom, we cut the bottom off another door and lap welded it onto the bottom of this door. My dad wasn't a very good sheet metal welder at the time so there was a lot of warpage and it also created a very thick door edge at the lower rear of the door. I smoothed it out pretty well with body filler which looked pretty good except the rear door edge was over 1/4" thick at the bottom. I always hated that but didn't know what to do about it.

I could get a new door bottom repair panel and redo it all unless you guys have any ideas for a simpler solution. Thoughts??

[IC2]

I thought I felt the world stop!!

OK - it sounds like opinion time(this ALWAYS gets me in trouble)

Why Eastwood when your local paint supply has some good epoxy for the rear and other chassis parts? I happen to like SPI, but DuPont/Nason make good epoxy and it can be tinted or you can use the flatted DuPont black over it. My thing with Eastwood is that it isn't local, it's a premium price, particularly when you need to add shipping and many of their tools and products are also available at Harbor Freight for a lot less, and are exactly the same.

I would probably leave that seam between the roof and main body unless there was major rust pitting or a rust out. It may have some sort of webbing and will need to be removed before you can weld and finish fill. (I just looked at a bunch of my pictures of '37s - and of course most all had that seam filled )

The door bottoms - I think that I would redo them with proper patch panels. Most '37s doors hang open at the bottom corner anyhow and the added thickness just exaggerates it. I looked at probably over a dozen at York a couple years ago after someone mentioned it to me in conversation and with one or two exceptions, they all had that gap. Here's a photo of the EMS inner and outer panels: http://www.emsautomotive.com/Pn107.html.

Whatever you do, I'm sure it will look great!!