Thread: 39 Ford (Coast to Coast) Rebuild

Tweet

At this this point, I have to give everyone credit who has built (or rebuilt) a street rod. I have built many race cars, but this is the first street rod. All of my race cars have looked good, but the main purpose is function. But this is the first time I have really had to deal with "form". I'm still doing a "function over form" build, but I'm leaning more towards "form" than before. This makes certain decisions difficult.

went back and looked at some of your early post of the sway bar and i'm not sure why but it looks like they put it on the wrong side of the X-member.. I don't see any pictures of the back of the x-member so i don't know how much room you have there but here are a few shots of a sway bar i had to add to a '50 chevy using the Mll x-member... it bolts on from the rear and goes out and under the lower a-arms. this x-member was not made for the sway bar that is why i had to add the end pieces to it so i would have something to bolt the blocks to that held the sway bar.. if you have the room in the rear you could put it there... This bar and set up came from TCI

I'll take some better pictures tonight. I think the sway bar is in the proper place, but like everything else on this car, I have to second guess it.

BTW, nice work above. I love the fabricated holders for the sway bar. Looks beefy.

Originally Posted by autotec

After thinking about it, I had to agree. After 2 days of playing with 3 different racks, plus different bushings, spacers and lines, I think I found a combination that fits. (with the front sway bar)

I have yet to remake the hard lines, but it will fit. Below are the pictures. Sorry about the pictures, but it was getting late.
Attachment 60802

Glad you can make it work. I'm sure all the hard work will pay off in the end.

In the lower picture, in the upper left hand side, I notice a locknut with no bolt length coming through. Perhaps you've only fitted it for "rough-in".. or mockup... but if not it may cause an issue down the line.. just thought I'd mention it.

Originally Posted by autotec

I'll take some better pictures tonight. I think the sway bar is in the proper place, but like everything else on this car, I have to second guess it.

BTW, nice work above. I love the fabricated holders for the sway bar. Looks beefy.

Yes your's may be on the side they first planed it, but if you could move it to the rear you would be better off i think.... i see in your pictures that it looks like it was rubbing on the end of the rack maybe as the car went into driveways where the a-arms moved up a lot... waiting to see the pictures from the rear...

Originally Posted by parkwood

Yes your's may be on the side they first planed it, but if you could move it to the rear you would be better off i think.... i see in your pictures that it looks like it was rubbing on the end of the rack maybe as the car went into driveways where the a-arms moved up a lot... waiting to see the pictures from the rear...

I forgot to take pictures tonight, but I'll be back out there tomorrow. I did look at the arrangment of the front suspension tonight, and I don't think it's possible to move the front sway bar without considerable modification, but I could be wrong. Pictures will tell the story.

I was hoping to get the brakes squared away tonight, but I was stopped by a part that wasnt bagged properly. Below is a picture of a pair of parts, one is correct, one is not. The one on the left is correct. I'll reorder and continue on with the intake gaskets.

Spacers.jpg

Originally Posted by 34_40

Glad you can make it work. I'm sure all the hard work will pay off in the end.

In the lower picture, in the upper left hand side, I notice a locknut with no bolt length coming through. Perhaps you've only fitted it for "rough-in".. or mockup... but if not it may cause an issue down the line.. just thought I'd mention it.

You guessed it right, still in mock up stage. Just making sure everything fits.

It's been awhile since I posted a update. It's been a busy couple of weeks out here in the garage trying to get it ready before the nice weather hits, but I kept finding more so it's still here.

I'll start with the brakes. I recieved the replacement rotor adapter and got the brakes bled. I have a very nice pedal and I think I should be ok with the master cyl size. I'm not sure what size is in here, but I was a little concerned with the bigger calipers. But I should be good.

The intake was leaking coolant and oil, so I figured a simple gasket replacement was in order. Well, I found stripped intake to head threads and a missing dist gasket. So a complete day to remove the heads and intall Heli-coils in the stripped holes. Plus I found a missing gasket for the upper plenum. I'm thinking this was one of the big vacuum leaks on the engine.

I also found the valve covers have been gutted on the inside and the main vacuum line was just going to the breather. This vacuum line was also paired with the MAP sensor and that wasnt good. So I ordered new valve covers with the proper PCV breathers and installed those.

Intake 2.jpgIntake 1.jpg

Man, it sounds like they need to keep the guy who worked on that before totally away from cars. Not even sure I'd want him working on my bike!!

Good progress. Thanks for the update too..

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

Alright, I'm stumped. I just went back to the front suspension after spending some time on the engine and I can't figure out how the sway bar links are supposed to work on the front. As you can see in the picture, the front link goes through a sleeve in the control arm. I could just butt the bushings up against the sleeve, but I bet they will tear over time. I quickly installed the link just to show what I'm talking about. The only thing I can think is I'm supposed to use a different type of link, but this is what it shows to use.

Thanks, Justin

sway bar 3.jpg