Thread: Some progress on a Ye' Olde '31 Ford

Tweet

NOTE:: I just copied and pasted this so its really chopped up. sorry, too lazy to fix it, deal with it. Haha

Got power about 2 weeks ago so ive been at the barn every night after work. Havent done much but i have done alittle. Stripped my wheels and gave them a nice coat of paint. Threw in the 327 and trans, just need to get a mount for the trans and pull the body to get it all in. And tomorrow i think ill get to patching the floor and cowl.

And this past week i splurged and bought a whole bunch of parts. Just waiting on my steel 32 shell and some special parts.

Heres some pics of what the car looks like now, not much different than when i posted last.




Well.. got some more work done this past week. Monday i put in new cowl patches, and got a lovely sunburn. They turned out pretty crappy but theyll work. Forgot i had the long reach clamps at the barn... duh. Made some floor patches yesterday since it was raining and couldnt weld outside. I think they came out pretty nice. And today got a late start so i cut out the old front section and tacked in the new section. Got my tires mounted today too. So im moving along and should have the rear in this weekend if things go as planned.

Looking good, keep us updated on the progress!!!!

me like!

Real Steel! I wish I had real steel but I am committed to 'glass now. I wanted to ask about your plans for a radiator fan. Looking at where your crank pulley is through the empty radiator shell it looks essentially the same as my 350 in a Brookville frame. That puts the water pump shaft 8" or less above the bottom of the radiator (Walker 487-1 in my case) so even with a small 15" diameter fan, a shroud will not be able to cover the bottom of the radiator. The easy answer is to use an electric fan but that draws at least a surge of 70-80 amps on start up and maybe 30 amps while running. I am trying to figure out how to use just a mechanical fan, but I am wondering what your plans are for the fan in the hope that I can find a way to avoid the electric surge with a small 15" flex fan?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

Real Steel! I wish I had real steel but I am committed to 'glass now. I wanted to ask about your plans for a radiator fan. Looking at where your crank pulley is through the empty radiator shell it looks essentially the same as my 350 in a Brookville frame. That puts the water pump shaft 8" or less above the bottom of the radiator (Walker 487-1 in my case) so even with a small 15" diameter fan, a shroud will not be able to cover the bottom of the radiator. The easy answer is to use an electric fan but that draws at least a surge of 70-80 amps on start up and maybe 30 amps while running. I am trying to figure out how to use just a mechanical fan, but I am wondering what your plans are for the fan in the hope that I can find a way to avoid the electric surge with a small 15" flex fan?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Well i swapped to a short water pump. I think this will set the fan back far enough to where itll clear the front crossmember. If not, ill cut it down, just for looks of a mechanical fan and install an electric fan in front between the insert and radiator.

Got some more done this past week. Kept forgetting my camera so ive got these crappy cell phone pics. Last weekend i stripped and cleaned the engine. Got rid of the chevy orange along with the 20 other layers of paint. Painted it a nice gloss black. Threw on the new water pump and pulleys. Painted the ram horns white and slapped those on to see what it would look like (sorry, no pics of that) And i got some early chrome chevy stamped valve covers that look o so good against the black. Been getting more parts this week from The Hot Rod Company and Riley Auto, thanks guys, was great dealing with you. Took the body off on thursday night. Yesterday i put the front end together with my new drop axle. Put my f100 spindles on. Then today, stripped the front fenders getting them ready for some repairs. Then it got too hot around 3ish so i went inside and stripped more paint off some of the smaller parts and painted those. Heres the crappy pictures of the progress but ill get some better ones tomorrow.

Well ive been working a little every nite on the murray and ive gotten a bit done since i last posted. Been stripping the panels pretty much every nite this week and painting a few odds and ends when i had nothing else to do. Also painted the trans and cleaned it up good. Tried to attempt to install the lockup kit but that was a no go. And i put my axle together for the final time, this time with backing plates and i clearenced for the brake cylinders since im using the earlier round spindles. Otherwise thats been all ive been up to. Heres some pictures of most of everything that ive gotten done.

Looking good, keep us updated.
BradC

Well ive gotten alot done.. but i just copied my latest post from other forums that i visit more frequently. Alot more has been done than what i described.

Well didnt get much else done but it looks more like a car. Found flexplate bolts while i was cleaning up so i got the motor and trans together. Put that in and redrilled holes for the trans mount. Mounted my shifter to get the linkages made and make sure it works before i set the body on and mounted the ebrake handle. Ran the rear cables too, just waiting on the ebrake arms that go inside the drums and i can hook it all up. Thats about it.. hopefully ill get some more done after i get back from the jalopydrags.. haha

Looking good!

Heres a little more. While it was nice yesterday i moved some stuff around and made some room to make a paintbooth but havent built it yet. So i moved the body and got it over on its side so i could por15 the bottom and undercoat it. It was warm yesterday so the paint dried quick but i think itll be a little longer for the undercoating, dropped into the upper 40's today. And i spent the past couple days getting the primer smooth on the fenders and body. Looking pretty and cant wait to get it painted, maybe next weekend since its supposed to be warmer again. I know its not much progress but atleast its something.

Looking very nice. That Por 15 is great stuff. Used it on my frame, and will be painting the interior with it and ceramic beads mixed together for a rust proof heat shield!

Well ive been busting my ass in the cold the past few weeks trying to get everything finished up on the body before it got too cold. I replaced the rear wheel wells and structure underneath, welded in the floor panels, molded in the panel, and did all the bondo work on the body and fenders. Primed the fenders last night and i por15'd the whole inside the other week. Kept leaving my camera at home so here 2 crappy pics i took. Ill have some better ones once i get it painted... hopefully this week

Very solid body you have there. Nice to start with one so good, isn't it?

Don

Wolf it is looking good there . Seems you have been putting the time in when you can . Body is looking straight and almost ready for final coat . All of us admire the advance in the car builds so keep these pics coming .