Catching Up!

Wow! I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted here! Sadly, that's mostly because I haven't done anything on the car this week. I've reluctantly but honestly given up on my October deadline. I'm not certain what to establish for an honest and achievable deadline, but my next bi-monthly car run is November. Not exactly roadster weather, but hey, gotta have a goal.

Otherwise, had friends stop by today to check on the project, bench race, and horse trade parts. I think I'll be sending down the road a '49-'53 truck motor I've had for years, to my friend who wants to put it in his '34 pickup that's currently running a 327. In exchange, I may end up with some of the chassis parts he's changing out for new. We'll see, but he's excited about the motor, and I'm excited it will go to someone who will use it. Tomorrow I hope to do as I've said for some time now: run the motor 'til it's hot, drain the oil, and get it into the garage to pull and mend the pan, and change out the clutch and pressure plate.

In the meantime, below are a few fun photos from the weekend so far. The first are from the Military Vehicles Collectors show/swap meet I went to on my day off.Picked up several Stewart Warner gauges, including the olive-drab bezeled one below for just two bucks; reportedly from a very large WWII truck. Also got two starter solenoids, one with the remote starter button on it, so you can bump the motor over from the firewall.And, finally, an ammo case to use as a battery case to hide my Optima battery. The case isn't period correct; once held .223 ammo - probably Viet Nam era. But, it's the right size, has a nice patina, and no one will see the stenciled side - it'll be up against the gas tank. Grand total for all this goodness? $25.

Finally, a couple photos representing the Oktoberfest where I met a friend today.We had a total blast, including doing the requisite "chicken dance"!(Yes, sharp-eyed readers, I realize this photo does not depict the chicken dance, but I couldn't take pictures and flap my arms at the same time)

Never made it to the dirt track races we'd planned to go to afterward. Oh, well, there's always another time for the races, but how often to you get to drink beer and dance like a chicken?

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Good Friends Visiting

Last night, inexplicably, became the night for car friends to visit.

I'd barely begun putting the groceries away when my friend who was to have come by on Sunday stopped by with his SoCal friend building a similar roadster. I let them in the garage as I threw the cold items in the fridge and freezer. Went out, toured them around the heaps of parts, and talked shopped for awhile while my bachelor special (pizza) cooked in the oven. Ding! Went the timer, and off went those guests.

No sooner had I sat down then my other friend came by with my rebuilt carburetors! Got a whole milk crate ("don't lose that milk crate," he told me) full of my two rebuilt Holley 94s and a bunch of extra parts (were there supposed to be extra parts left over?). After sitting that down and scarfing some of my dinner (as it were), and with it approaching 8:30, another friend called, and I had to beg off until eating something.

Anyway, finally got my carburetors, don't know the final price tag, but they look good. Hope they work as well as they look. Just waiting on the same old guy for my distributor...not sure when that's due.

Nothin' on the car tonight; wiped from work, and a little social conversation and cooking consumed the evening.

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Gratuitous Video

I'm posting this mostly so I have a place to go to hear that flathead - it beats running out to the backyard and firing it up in the dark!



Oh, and I suppose I should indicate here I spent a good part of the day running the flathead until it started flooding into near carb-fire territory. My uncle thinks I got the float stuck sucking up junk from the little fuel tank I'm using to gravity feed it. I figured I'd overcome the needle valve with too much fuel pressure and was flooding it: literally fuel dripping/pouring into the intake. I spun the motor several times with the ignition off just to spray the fuel out of the cylinders for fear of a backfire out the carb.

Anyway, you can see that I picked up a generator belt so I could run it with the water pumps doing their cooling duty. Since I didn't have a fan running on it, I continually ran water through the radiator: in the top via the garden hose, and out the bottom via the drain. She did pretty well, but smoked a bit from the right bank; it was blue smoke (oil). I shot Marvel Mystery Oil down the carb, which seemed to clean it up a little. My friend (who couldn't come by today) suggested the rings were frozen to the piston and therefore not rotating(?) to seal out the oil. He suggested Marvel or diesel down the cylinders to free them up. My uncle suggested an old Okie (literally) trick: a teaspoon or less of baking soda down the plug hole with a little oil to help take the glazing off the cylinder walls. Supposedly this trick was told to him by an old-timer long since passed away who was his old car mentor. I may just give it a whirl, although I'm considering Bon Ami, because it "hasn't scratched yet" in the many uses I've had for it.

After playing with the motor, I spent some time on finishing up the transmission: clutch release fork, shaft, and bushings; throwout bearing, and u-joint. Still need to gasket/seal it, and redo the shifter ball cap/spring thing.

Thankfully, I only have one night's obligation this week, and a 3-day weekend coming up, so I hope to get a lot accomplished this week. We'll see...

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Inspiration and Good Eats

Went to Billetproof today; had a great time with my friends, and the weather was beautiful! Shot many photos, but I tend to shoot parts of cars for inspiration, and tend to forget to shoot the whole car. Additionally, this year's show seemed to have fewer hot rods and was predominantly customs; they also had what I would call street rods: pretty 50s cars that looks like they would usually turn up at a Goodguys event rather than a homebuilt hot rod/custom show. Sadly, or to my advantage for when I'm ready to show, there were perhaps just a half-dozen '26 or '27 Ts among the several hundred cars there, and few (if any) were flathead powered or in any way similar to what I'm building. In any event, I have below a few photos (courtesy of my new iPhone!) for you to check out. These are a distillation of what I thought were the best cars and/or most inspirational for my project.

A few nice traditional cars









Love the cool witness on this one; and a great car to boot.

After the show, I got to go to my friend's birthday BBQ. He and his family made me feel right at home (except when they were habla-ing about the gringo loco in their midst ;-) ). We had great food, drink, conversation, and the Blues Brothers on the DVD! This bachelor will be eating well on the leftovers they so generously sent home with me.

And a quick snap on the ride home.This is a familiar site to me as I would see this reflected in my rearview mirror nearly every evening for a year and a half when I commuted to my first job out of college.

Tomorrow I'll be running the flathead and hosting a visit from another friend of mine whose SoCal friend is building a similar '27 T.

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Too Much Technology!

Obviously, someone has a problem.

My BlackBerry, my Samsung Alias (soon to be retired), and my new deactivated iPhone (aka camera-enabled iTouch)

Today I bought my friend's old iPhone 2G to use as my new portable multimedia device. The BlackBerry's great at email and the biz world stuff. My Samsung's been great as my fun phone/camera/video/texting device, but I'm cutting some tethers and dropping that cell phone. It'll be retired to a standalone digital camera/video device. The iPhone, when deactivated, can still use wi-fi, like the iTouch, but also has a camera. However, it doesn't shoot video, so I'm in a bit of a quandary if I want to do that.

BUT, it does all the other things I want it to do very nicely: carrying my pictures, iTunes, and using wi-fi to surf, email, or - best of all - Pandora. Yeah!

Anyway, played with the flathead tonight. Jerry-rigged the radiator (need better lower hoses and clamps) and ran her for a while. Once again, started right up. Just remarkable. This weekend I'm installing the generator and belt to run the water pumps, and set up the radiator properly. Then I'll run it to operating temperature and drain the oil, and then the water after cooling. Tomorrow, however, I'm off to Billetproof (yay, even though I don't have my car ready).

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Just Checking In

Hey there, my loyal readers (all 3 of you), just checking in to let you know the carbon monoxide fumes didn't get me.

Just been terribly busy with the daily routine of life. However, I couldn't stand not blogging (I think I have a problem) BUT at least I have something to justify posting: I dropped off my generator last week to ask the rebuilder to thread the pulley further back on the shaft by about 1/8" so that the fan belt will line up with the water pumps.

I picked it up today and they took care of it; just shimmed the armature so it moved forward, thereby allowing them to thread the pulley on so that it lined up with the end of the shaft. Anyway, getting too technical here: suffice to say, they fixed it and things should line up fine when I install the belt.

Having the generator back is important to starting the flathead, too. Now I can install it and run the fan belt, which will allow me to run the water pumps (need to reinstall the radiator in the '32 frame again, though (oh, well), so I can get the motor up to operating temperature.

Then, I'll drain the oil and pull the pan; the motor has an 11" clutch and pressure plate - too stiff for the '26 on the street - I'll change to a 10", probably, depending upon what the flywheel is drilled for. And, I'll have to fix (probably by brazing) the hole Pick-n-Pull punched in the oil pan to drain it.

But, first things first.

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New! Longer Video: Second Flathead Start!

So, if this embed video thing works correctly, below you'll see what actually preceded the video I posted on Friday: the Second start for the flathead.



What actually happened on Friday was that I added the condenser to the distributor, and just bumped the motor over while grounding one of the plug wires to the head, to see if I was getting a stronger spark - and she coughed!

I was surprised, but topped off the gas tank, choked the carb, and kicked her over again, and she fired! So, the first start was not recorded because I was too dumbfounded to believe she'd start. Once I returned to my senses, and returned with a fire extinguisher (just in case!) I filmed the second start. BUT, that video was too long to email to my photo hosting site, so I shot the third start in MMS-friendly format, and posted it soon thereafter.

Now you have "the rest of the story."

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Time Off for Good Behavior

Well, my sports car friend convinced me that, having gotten the flathead running yesterday, I was entitled to some time off for a Saturday morning road trip. And, he was right. I sure needed it after Friday. Emotional roller coaster: had to put my ill cat to sleep in the morning, followed by the victory of the motor starting in the afternoon.

Anyway, got away for a great morning's drive with my friend and several other like-minded car folks, most of whom enjoy European sports cars, as you'll see in the following photos. The deal is, we start with breakfast at one house or shop, drive for about an hour on beautiful back roads, end up somewhere for coffee/visit, turn around and head back a different way, catch up for lunch, and call it a day. I felt my blood pressure drop several points today, especially once we hit the straightaways!

This was our ride for the morning ('62 Porsche 356, still running 6 volt!):
Here's the house we stopped at for mid-morning coffee (like straight out of Sunset magazine):
And here's a look back at the pack that ran today:
I was so zonked from Friday, not enough sleep, and the morning, that upon wrenching just a bit in the garage, I conked out on the floor for about 20 minutes before I had to get ready for a local performing arts offering (longhair music).

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She's a Runner!

Woo Hoo! I've got a runnin' flathead, and she's even got good oil pressure (whew!)

Gotta go play with it some more, but here's video (sorry, cellphone footage is all ya get right now; might not even have sound, but ya get the point!)

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Laid Back Learnin'

Went to my uncle's tonight. Mostly hung out; he's not been feeling well. Had a chance to talk distributors. I found the source of my weak spark on the junkyard flathead: no condenser (duh!). I thought I needed one, but didn't see it in the simplistic wiring diagram I set the flathead up by, so wasn't sure where it went, as I've only really worked on one other points-type distributor.

Oh well, got a condenser tonight from my uncle. Here's how to install it on the diving bell distributor:

And on a '42 crab distributor (if ya squint just right)

I also got a volt-a-drop to drop 12 volts to 6 if I wish to run one of these 6 volt coils so I don't burn the points

Other than that, I didn't do much else today; was recovering from a self-induced migraine (two many "candles at both ends" nights) so a forced nap helped set things straight this afternoon.

Tomorrow evening starts a 3-day weekend for me, so let's see if I can try lighting that flathead tomorrow before it gets dark (getting earlier and earlier every night!)

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Back to Work

Got back to my day job today; not too rough a return, and my presence was "appreciated." Was too wiped to update last night, and had to take care of a little biz tonight, so no car work, and just a brief update.

Got the flathead hooked up like some MASH patient on Sunday under a borrowed canopy to keep the beating sun off me and the motor. Wires, cables, fuel line, stuff everywhere. She spun like crazy on the 12 volt battery; nominal (7-9 pounds?) oil pressure while spinning.

Despite having a (what I characterize as weak; my uncle thought it was OK) spark at the plugs, and gravity feeding and dumping fuel down the carb, I couldn't even get her to spark, pop, or cough. She only gave up vaporized gas from the carb.

I ran out of steam before I ran out of gas, so I'm going to wait on this until I get my rebuilt carb, some good plug wires, and new plugs. I may even have my own rebuilt carb(s) by then, too. I think I'll return to the brakes in the meantime.

More tomorrow, if only pics of the wired flathead.

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Christmastime is Here!

While it's not Christmas in July (nor December, for that matter), it's still Christmastime at my house. Or, at least a little of the Christmas spirit arrived last weekend (forgot to post this with my birthday presents post).

I hit two estate sales last weekend (a weakness of mine; oh, the lure of mid-century goodies!) and picked up a couple things: a cool deco 30-hook tie rack (two bucks!!) and the following:

The gal I bought them from was so cool. Not only had she tested each set and replaced all the burnt-out bulbs, but she split up the third set that was in a decaying box and tossed the working bulbs in these boxes. After hearing that, I was afraid to ask the price. You ready? A buck a box! Less than their original price back in 1958 (based on the copyright on the boxes). Dig the Charlie Brown Christmas trees on the box! Vintage Christmas stuff is also a weakness of mine (along with collecting Christmas music).

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Beat the Heat

I'm glad yesterday was so productive, 'cause today sure wasn't. The oppressive heat didn't help: 103 from midday until nearly dark. I got a few things done, but mostly prep work for (maybe?) tomorrow. Mostly got parts today to start the motor:

Uncle
- Coil adaptor to run use modern coil with "diving bell" (pre-'42) distributor
- Carburetor from his '50 Ford (the one we pulled the motor from)
- Small accessory gravity-feed gas tank
Hot rod parts pusher friend
- Advice (stuck lifters, distributors, coils, temp gauges, fan pulleys)
- Double sheave '42-48 truck crank pulley
Local parts place
- 12 volt coil (internal resistor)
- Starter solenoid
- Battery and starter cables

Accomplished today:
- Cleaned up and mounted my rebuilt '40 distributor (my uncle and I rebuilt this the night we rebuilt his '42 distributor)

- Cleaned up and used the distributor caps and plug wiring that came with the motor (sorry for the terrible midday lighting)

- After struggles with too-long mounting studs and other hassles, mounted my uncle's carb
- Mounted gas tank
- Got gas (an accomplishment considering I forgot my wallet! Ashtray cash doesn't go far at the gas station)
- Wired up the solenoid and starter

While it was broiling this afternoon, I took a break and headed to my parents' house to get a muffler display I'd forgotten I'd stored up in their garage rafters, complete with a pair of NOS (I think) 30" glasspacks. No pics here of the mufflers, but check out the display:

CO Kills!

Considering I look like the guy above, I'm gonna call it a night.

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Progress and Photos a-Plenty!

Got a lot done today, or it seemed like it after 8 hours in the excruciating heat; got to 103 on the patio where I was working.

Spinning? How About the Fan?
Initially pulled the battery from the Scout to get the flathead spinning, to test it. Not enough juice; not even after rapid charging it for a while. Tried the battery charger itself, in "start" mode (55 amps). Enough juice to spin the starter off the motor, but apparently not enough to turn the motor when installed. Futzed around for a while, and just got hot tired and frustrated, so took a break and mocked up fan arrangements. First photo below shows one arrangement with bungee cords serving as fan belts. Some funny alignment issues going on, perhaps more apparent in the second photo, sans cords. The double crank pulley in the first picture is the '49-'53 truck pulley I got yesterday, to check dimensions between the front and rear pulleys, relative to my generator, water pump, and fan locations. Savvy Ford folks may recognize in the second photo that I've turned the fan carrier around, to see if it would pull the fan closer to the block, to work with the late double pulley. It did, but only kinda.

Fan Mock-up with Bungee "Belts"

Fan Mock-up Less "Belts"

As I was doing this, however, I realized (duh) that the radiator location on my test frame is closer to the block than it will be on Twice Lucky's frame, and that I should relocate the radiator back on Lucky, meaning that most of the work I'd just done was relatively in vain, BUT it made me realize I have a lot more room in Lucky's frame, which made me think of this part that I'd photo-documented in my friend's junk pile yesterday: a '42-'48 passenger crank pulley.

Passenger Double Pulley

This pulley has what appears to be about 2-7/8" between pulleys, which I can accommodate in Lucky's frame, AND it puts the fan very (but not dangerously) close to the radiator, which should give me good draw, considering I won't be running a hood. Here's me mocking up the fan assembly, with the approximate spacing shown in the previous picture.
This means I'll basically be running the fan as it would've been stock on the '42-'48 Ford passenger vehicles. We'll see how this goes once I get the actual engine in Lucky, since this is just the bare block I'm using to mock things up.

Compression Testing
Here's a terrible image I shot after I'd removed the radiator and Okie-rigged the water fittings to keep water in the block since the radiator went back on Lucky. You can see how bright (hot) it was out there while I was working. After fooling with the fan in the somewhat cooler garage, I returned to the motor, to do some oil pressure and compression testing. What's not detailed here is my midday escape from the project to 1) get lunch 2) get my uncle's battery charger with more amps to spin the motor, and 3) take a breather and get some well-needed advice from my uncle why I was having trouble getting the motor to turn. The short answer is: not enough juice. Even at 200 amps, his charger is a third of what my battery will deliver - ONCE it's charged up! So I got back to the motor with his charger while my charger tended my battery.

Results: Passenger Bank, 4-3-2-1 (L-R)
Results: Driver Bank, 5-6-7-8 (L-R)

Flatheads aren't numbered like modern cars, hence the numbering you see above. You can also see the results I chalked above each cylinder. It was a trying process. First, it took me a bit to realize I'd popped the house circuit breaker when I changed chargers. Then, the 200 amp charger would only spin the starter on the motor after I'd manually cranked it past the "compression" cycle on the cylinder I was compression testing. Additionally, I never got oil pressure. I tested the gauge (good), blew out the line (clear) and spun the motor without these attached (gusher of oil a la the Clampetts) but apparently wasn't spinning the motor enough to get continuous pressure to the gauge. Oh, well, I know from the oil it gushed that the pump is working.

So, as you can see from the results, compression was high and pretty consistent except for #7, even after adding oil to the cylinder to test the rings. That means a valve may not be closing all the way. No surprise there. This was the cylinder that had rust and crap down the intake port, meaning it probably got water down the carb at some point. But nothing that some Marvel Mystery Oil and some running shouldn't resolve, and if not, it's still pretty good compression. In fact, in checking my results against a tune-up spec sheet, I believe even more firmly that I have a "99T" or '39-'41 truck (100 hp) motor. It's running 59A (post-war) heads that, for all I know, were milled to raise compression, hence my higher readings. I think I already mentioned the adjustable lifters it's got - I think it's a former hot rod motor that later served time in the farm truck; I noticed a little remnant of (hot rod?) red on the intake today. I'd love to know its history, and I think I have enough bits of the story to track it down but, alas, I digress.

So, finally, I feel confident enough about the motor's condition after today's testing to go get the supplies I need tomorrow to start it. I wonder if I can get my uncle to help me and, perhaps more importantly for you, reader: shoot video of it running?

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All Fixed Up

Got a bunch of things back from the repair shops today, including my cat from the cat hospital, who's doing well considering her diminished kidney function. Funny thing is that I spent more on her today than I have in several weeks on the hot rod. But whadda ya gonna do? She's family.

Otherwise, on the car side of my life, I started the day at my friend's place over in Okieville, scrounging through his pile (literally) of old Ford parts, looking for fan and pulley parts. Came away with two parts from '49-'53: truck double-sheave crank pulley, and a Merc intake (takes a 4-bolt carb) with its generator/fan stud in front.

Then off to the rebuilder to pick up my generator (rebuilt for 12 volt) and starter. Starter wasn't ready upon my arrival, but the new-style Bendix drive showed up while I was there, so he began to install it. To make a long story short (to quote my father), the new-style drive wouldn't work on the 12 volt starter innards/shaft, so by the time I returned from lunch, I walked out with my original 6 volt starter, with its original spring-style Bendix, but now pinned AND keyed to the shaft, to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic failure while running on 12 volt.

Rebuilt Generator (note "Rebuilt" stamped on case)

Starter (note "Rebuilt" on Bendix, and gratuitous fluorescent orange Pick-n-Pull number on case)

From there I went out to the spring shop, and picked up my Model A front spring, with its 11/16" eyes now reamed out to 3/4" so I can use '32 and up shackle studs and dump the (clearly) aftermarket Pete & Jake's shackle bolts for original Ford parts.

Finally, at home and avoiding the 99 degree temp, I looked up fan parts in my copy of the Green Bible, aka the "Ford Chassis Parts and Accessories Catalogue." Known as the Green Bible for its green cover (1950 edition; mine is a now-coverless 1949 edition, which was orange) and how it lists all 1928-48 (47-1/2 for trucks) Ford parts by component category, and name and part number, with extremely useful exploded diagrams (example below).
I was surprised to discover that the fan parts I have are '42-'48 passenger, and consequently '49-'53 truck, which is what threw me. I also learned today that the crank pulley I need to use is likely from '42-'48 truck. The passenger pulleys are too widely spaced to work for my application: they'll stick the fan in the radiator.

I almost hate to commit to this next part, but (in theory) not much is holding me back from at least spinning the motor tomorrow, if not starting it. I do need to pick up a coil and starter solenoid, and have on hand a working distributor and carburetor, but I think I can scare those up from my and my uncle's collections. Crossing fingers now for tomorrow!

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Not Much Today

Today I had to tend to the realities of life: paying bills, a little work (yeah, despite it being my vacation), and some civic volunteerism duty (I like it). I think the only hot rod thing I did today was pay for the parts shown below. A great deal, by the way, for which I'm grateful.

Oh, but I did get invited to help with the local drags coming up in October! That may be Twice Lucky's debut. I'd hoped to bring her out to some events/shows in September, but I had to accept the fact that that's not going to happen. But October, on the other hand...

More in store for tomorrow, most of which will be picking up parts: spring, starter, generator, and maybe carbs and distributor. Let's see, I also need a coil, condenser, what else? Oh, and recharge my battery to see if I can spin the motor...and, and, and...

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A Birthday Well Spent

Well, never made it to the diner as suggested below. Got in the car and received a call from my transmission rebuilding friend who had some car parts for me (below): '32 Ford transmission mount/rear bearing retainer, U-joint, and clutch release shaft. Not shown is a part I need to return since its wishbone mounting points are too wide to work for the T or RPU: a '37-'41 genuine Dago dropped axle.

After stopping by to get the parts (and a brief lunch of necessity at the golden wretches), I headed out to Pick-n-Pull on a lark to see if the '37 1-1/2 ton truck that donated its motor to Twice Lucky was still there so I could finish robbing its dash (below, before I absconded with the gauges).
It wasn't, and I was disappointed thinking how many imports would come back across the sea from that Ford steel. You can imagine how elated I was to later learn that some forward-thinking restorer or hot rodder got the whole cab, which made me feel better that I didn't take the dash, so they have that much more with which to work.

Instead, I stumbled upon an International truck (my other old car is my Scout Traveler) from which I refrained stealing its 4-barrel carb and intake and, remarkably, a Scout II! It graciously donated to me its lovely International Orange tailgate, so I can run a tailgate when I take the top off my Traveler. I also made off with the side trim, too. But the tailgate was the best deal at $50! I think repops in fiberglass are around $250 and may or may not include the mounting and latch hardware.

Donor Scout Lamenting the Loss of Its Gate
My Scout Posing With Its New Gate
After all that, I still had time for a family birthday dinner and then off to my local music haunt for a little hillbilly and rockabilly to close out the night before this just-before-midnight post.

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Happy Birthday to Me!

Nothing car-related to add at this moment, just dropping off some pics to the post below. Off to the diner for lunch!

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Early Birthday Surprises!

Tomorrow is my birthday (woo-hoo) and as today worked out, I got two early surprises for my birthday: a transmission rebuild and a complete '41 rear end!

Transmission Rebuild

My friend who is a gear wizard with early Ford stuff (mixing and matching stuff that's not supposed to work together, amazing adaptations of overdrives, etc.) called me early this morning to see if today would work for him to come by and help me rebuild my '39 (for lack of a better year) transmission. I said sure, since I hadn't anticipated him coming by for a few days. In the span of just a couple of hours, some of which was spent catching up and showing off my project, he had virtually singlehandedly rebuilt the transmission, with me basically watching and learning (admittedly, there's not much to it; not enough for two guys).

What I started (and ended) with is a '37-'39 transmission case (they're all the same) with a '39 shifter top (double-detent; the rails on which each shifting fork slide have ball bearings pressing from each side, thereby supposedly holding the transmission more firmly in gear) and the correct fork for the later (better) synchro; and late ('46-'48) gears. My particular transmission had seen duty backing up a small block Chevy (I think a 283) and consequently had stripped teeth on the cluster and low-reverse sliding gears, so today's "rebuild" simply consisted of replacing those gears with some good used ones. The synchro brass was in good enough shape to retain, as was the rest of the brass and bearings. Since I'll likely subject this transmission to some missed shifts and other accidental abuses, rebuilding with good used is good enough.

'41 Rear End

After spending the afternoon working on the front brakes, my other friend (the one who assembled Twice Lucky's body) called to let me know he'd picked up the complete '41 rear end he'd told me about a few days ago. This came from an old guy early Ford restorer who knows his stuff and restores correctly. Only, he'd changed out the running gear in his '41 to Chevy stuff, and was unloading the offings. While the engine and trans had already gone down the road, he still had the complete rear end, which he offered up for a very favorable price.

Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. While this particular rear end may not go under the Model T, it may very well end up under the RPU. I don't have a complete rear end for that car (long story) and can therefore use the parts I was going to use for the RPU, along with a rare 4.44 ring and pinion and matching banjo, to build a third rear end for whatever (maybe even a homebrew quickchange!). When my friends showed up with the rear end (entirely in the back of their full-size Dodge pickup - I was impressed) I was stunned at the condition. Very clean and rebuilt correctly, down to the safety wire on the torque tube.

Has early ('39-'41) brakes with the lower eccentric adjusters (I'll lose those; too hard to adjust from what everyone tells me), the complete brake lines, emergency brake, torque tube and correct for '41 short radius rods, speedo gear, and bell assembly to the transmission. All painted and pretty, too. Apparently only had 1,000 miles or so on it. Oh, and it's (for me) the more desirable 3.78 ratio (rather than the somewhat common 4.11). I almost hate to cut it up (which I'd have to do for the T, but less so for the A: only shortening the torque tube).

My friends and I then spent the rest of today's very pleasant evening weather standing around old cars and shooting the bull. I think they'll be able to help me make up my lake headers, as it turns out! One thing at a time, though...

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Twofer

Didn't post the past two days; too wiped at the end of the day, though not necessarily from car stuff. Nonetheless, I did get some things done, as described and illustrated below.

Brakes
Beadblasted the brake grease baffles (Ford's name for them) for the rear brakes, and began fitting the front ones - tricky because of the different style brakes than original, resulting in interference from the wheel cylinder. And, on the left backing plate, I'm using a "hairpin" style steering arm, so the threads enter from the outside, with the nut on the inside where there's little room to tighten them inside the baffle. So, in true hot rod fashion, I got out my handy cutoff wheel and began hacking on a rusty baffle as a template for the nicer ones. Results below.

Baffle template, with access holes cut for tightening the nuts

Baffle template, installed

Electrical
Admittedly, it'll be some time before I'm ready for electrical work, but I'm at the "gotta plan ahead and order" stage so I'm crafting the system in the back of my head and considering the supplies I'll need, and the path: buy a harness, or build my own.

Having scoped out the wiring diagram in the gotta-have book, "How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod" (Bishop and Tardel), and done some diligent research, and my own voluminous notes on what I want/need in an electrical system (based upon my years of working on funky old cars with hack-up wiring) I am considering building my own harness rather than buying. Main reason: I want it to look vintage by using braided wire and glass fuses (rather than the modern fuses and rainbow of fruit-flavored wiring found in most kits), and the price is likely cheaper buying the supplies and custom-building it to my applications, which are practically nil in this little buggy.

Free Advice
A word of advice on the aforementioned book, by the way: it's a great resource, and a great guide, but it ain't the bible. There are a few errors, which they've acknowledged and perhaps corrected in subsequent editions (I have an earlier one) and they've inadvertently jacked the prices on some parts that aren't necessary for a traditional build. Do yourself a favor if you're reading this and considering building your own rod: talk to people who have been there, done that - a lot of them. Go to the H.A.M.B. and look and listen. Find consensus, and/or pick your favorite answer, add that to your own opinion of what you want in a car, pick an era (mine is 1950-52) and stick to it, and then just trial-and-error your way through it. You can always change/upgrade later.

Today's project, by the way, is the brakes: hopefully just plugging away on assembling the front and rear backing plates.

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