3k-One Year-30's Ford-Rat Rod Build Thread

[Wolfco]

I wire wheeled the Turbo 350 tranny with the 4.5" wire wheel on the grinder...boy does that work good!...just a few minutes and all the crud and dirt was off of the housing and now it is somewhat clean.

I installed the engine, front and rear suspension....much nice to work with newly primed parts vs rust.

[Wolfco]

The driveshaft yoke wasnt made for more that about 10 degrees of travel....so i took a grinder to the yoke and fixed it ....ground some clearance in the yoke...we do that on our off road Samurais and havent had issues....if you dont have clearance, you will bend the driveshaft or tear the ears off the yoke..(from experience).
Made some aluminum spacers on the lathe to keep the arm centered in the piston for the front rocker arm on the front suspension...(piston pin area).

made some brake lines for the front and rear. Might be hard to see but Notice the "L" channels i welded to the inside of the frame to retain fuel line, brake lines and wiring. These channels will protect from exhaust heat and keep the utilities from draggin in the dirt!
Jeff

[Wolfco]

My friend Steve came to help on the brake lines. He has all the flaring tools and line benders, bending pliers etc.
My Master cylinder will be on the firewall , up high.

DO i need residual pressure valves ?(all 4 brakes are drum).
DO i need a proportioning valve? Ford 9" rear, 63 F100 Fronts.

I have a single outlet master cylinder 1" bore. I want to have a cool looking older master so this is what i have. I realize the twin outlet would be safer, but this is the route i wanted to go. All new brakes, new lines... so i think i should be ok, heck...they made millions of cars with the old single outlet type.

anyone have ideas about the valve questions above?

thanks
Jeff

[Wolfco]

I used a camper hot water heater for the end shells of the gas tank. My friend had an older camper and replaced the hot water heater...i said "what are you doing with that tank?" and he said "scrapping it"...so i took it home for free....i had to weld some pinholes due to leakage...i think i found nearly 25 pinholes. i will probably coat the interior of the tank with a sealant called "Red coat" found at Oreilly Auto Parts.
At my workplace (Polaris Industries)..we have a open shop policy, so Friday after work we rolled a 15" wide section to fit the end caps from the water heater...i will plug the extra bungs with pipe plugs. we used an atv billet filler neck for the inlet for gas, and i will use the atv/snowmobile style cork float with the fuel level dial in the cap...
I used a handsaw for cutting the internal 2.5" tube ....fun stuff. I mounted the tank with some thicker version of plumbers strap and wedges under the tank. it is very solid. I plan to clean up the outside of the tank due to weld burn/distortion from "pluggin all the leaks from the inside."
Jeff

[Wolfco]

i cleaned up the casting bosses on the ramhorn exhaust manifolds....what a grinding mess...i wore a respirator for most of the work, but that casting stuff is messy. i used a grinder then a flap wheel...they look much nicer now.

[Wolfco]

i had some orange cable from a garage sale...came with some other stuff ...around 10yrs ago. I almost threw this stuff away many times but kept it for a "rear battery" project!! I'm glad i still have a bit of "pack rat" in my blood....notice the orange cable lays in the angle iron channel on the inside of the frame rail ...man that worked slick!
I crimped on new ends and soldered them too. Made ground and power leads. Welded a thick washer to the frame for a good ground near the engine....

I also shortened the throttle cable about 15"....i cut the lug off the end and removed the inner cable, then cut the housing, reinstalled the cable and crimped on a new end (actually i used a brass snowmobile carb main jet, drilled it to .045" and slid it over the cable end...then pounded it with a hammer to clench the cable)....cheap fix and works great. You can use a small #4 or #6 nut for this purpose too. The outer cable was worn so i slipped a pc of rigid air hose over the cable and heat shrunk the ends to hold it together. it looks great and works great too. This custom throttle cable is only about 11" long.

Jeff

[roddguy]

Hey Wolfco, on your brakes I wouldn't think you will need a residual pressure valve because your keeping the master up high on the fire wall. So there shouldn't be any leak back. I would suggest an adjustable proportioning valve though. I don't know how well the brakes ballance out and it's not likely you will find a limiting block to suit. Put in the adjustable valve, set it a zero or even pressure and do a few hard breaking tests preferable on a loose serface where you can get an idea if the fronts or rear are locking up first. Then adjust it accordingly until you find even braking.

[Wolfco]

I just got the SPeedway order today on the prop valve and the 10 psi RPV.

I think i will follow your lead...install the prop valve only...i can always adjust it if i need to.

As for the RPV, i can add it later if if want to....it is just ugly purple valve from Speedway and i dont want to add it if i dont really need it due to the high mounted master cyl. thanks for the info.

[falconvan]

Really nice work! Cool idea on the tank, too.

[Mr Blue]

Neat looking car man! Very cool and unique ideas for the suspension and the cool gas tank. Love saving money if possible. Keep up the good work. don Jr.

[Wolfco]

thanks for the comments.

I made a dash from .080" alum sheet....cut out the hole for the Bronco speedo. This is a cool speedo i bought for 35 bucks. It has all the guages ...similar to a CJ Jeep guage but older looking.
I plan to mount two guages for the air bag pressure...and a glove box on the right side of the dash. The cardboard template was a great asset...i would have wasted a few pieces of aluminum if i hadnt made a pattern.
I used a plasma cutter to cut holes for the guage and glove box area.....and a jigsaw to cut the speedo hole.

Jeff

[Wolfco]

I borrowed a brake line bender from a friend...bent the brake line for the master cylinder. Notice the welding wire template....that works great to get the bend correct. I got some good brake line sections from a donor vehicle...and only used this one used section on my car. the line it really nice shape and no rust, has a cool spring over the brake line and a "pigtail" bend that i liked.
The exhaust runs right through the rear bumper, and i made some "homemade" grommets with some 3/8" rubber gas hose, just cut a slit in it and installed into the bumper....nice!
To keep the exhaust from baking my @ss, i wrapped the area of the exhaust pipe under the cab section...i had some leftover wrap from a chopper bike project from a couple years back..i used a couple of hose clamps and also some FARMER bailing wire every 8" or so to keep the wrap intact...
WWFD? = what would a farmer do?

That is a good rule to follow. farmers are smart dudes.

[OFT]

Have a question on the rubber fuel line used on the exhaust. How hot do you think the tailpipe will get?
I run a 9' stack (stainless 3") after 2' of pipe from the muffler (BBC) under running board and during warm/hot days you will burn your hand on end.

Earl

[Wolfco]

i dont know how the rubber fuel line will hold up to the heat...i wasnt going to have any grommet but this was easy and cheap (about 1 ft of fuel line)...on a car with full exhaust the very end of the tailpipe doesnt get real hot....we'll find out..

I think the rubber fuel line will hold up better than the rubber on my tires!!!

[RClippa]

Great build.

My roommate did the exhaust on his car out the rear bumper, welded it in flush so it just looks like a hole. After a couple of really good rev limiter clutch drops the bumper is to hot to touch within a few inches of the opening. The bumper is made out of 2x2 box steel. I think that you might want to go ahead and remove that fuel line before it melts and is tough to clean.