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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