Change of plans means the hotrod 302 Windsor has to go....

 You know that feeling when  you see something and you KNOW you just have to have it? Well, that was the feeling I got when I clapped eyes on this really old school looking vintage 302 Windsor engine which I bought from a guy on Facebook a couple of months ago. 302 Windsor. Stage one cam, AU Falcon heads, electronic ignition, hi volume oil pump. But the most eye catching thing of all was that magnificent Offenhauser tunnel ram manifold with twin 450 Holleys sitting on top. Man! I just had to own that. I'd even bought it before settling on a project. The truth be known, I had contemplated buying another model A coupe and giving it the old hotrod look, but when I thought about it, I knew those old things just didn't move me in the same way a pickup truck did, but of course before I bought the F100, I coughed up and bought the engine. 

And I mean, look at it! It is gorgeous! 

I gave it a squirt of paint, changed the leads, added a hi powered starter motor and then decided (after discovering the 351 Cleveland that is in the project truck is a big 4 bolt mains unit, and probably quite rebuildable, ) that I would sell it off to fund the rebuild. Probably just as well. I am not a fuel scientist and the intricacies of carburetors is totally lost upon me, so the thought of this thing going out of tune and having to mess with its timing was already messing with my head, and I hadn't even started it!

Anyway, good news, a guy from QLD wants it for his model T Ford project and I think it will really look at home in a Model T more so than the '56. 

It also hasn't escaped me to realise that two 450 Holleys on a little 302 is probably what you would call overkill, but hey, it looks sensational! 

Anyway, I sold it off last week and today, Getmyride picked it up. Was quite fun trying to stop it from sliding out of control and running down the driveway into his waiting truck, but Joe, myself and with the help of a passing neighbor, were able to avoid becoming the next YouTube disaster video. 

Creating a living dead thing out of, um, dead things.

 

 Today's post is inspired by those brave  pioneers who take body parts of a dead thing and stick them on another dead thing in the hope of creating a lesser dead thing.  

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there was not an original panel left on this truck. I think we should rename it Frankenstein as it borrows bits from other trucks. For instance, I have no idea what colour the cabin was, but I think it was light blue. The front fenders are fibreglass and from another project, The rear fenders are fibreglass and were apparently purchased new for this truck. The bed was rusted out and taken away a long time ago. Both doors appear to be from different trucks. Both 1956 trucks of course, the hood/ bonnet as as you can see, cream coloured. The original left hand drive dash is gone and in it's place is a right hand drive dash that is painted red.  Obviously from yet another truck. There are three sets of instrument clusters and three sets of pedal boxes. None of them appear original. Front and rear bars are new. Running boards are new. The seats are from a Pajero. Do you see what I mean? 

Speaking of bits. I have been hitting the old credit card pretty hard of late and have accumulated a number of items.

First thing I bought was an EZ wire Universal 20 Circuit Wiring Harness Kit. I chose the 20 wire as I have electric windows to hook up and down the track want to add air conditioning.

I opted for a new petrol tank that fits between the chassis rails rather than go for an original that sits behind the seat in the cabin for obvious reasons. I mean, I am sure it's safe there, but since this truck doesn't have a tank, why not start with something new?  The good news is the truck came with a blanking plate. The other thing is, you need various other pieces to make the tank work and am still debating as to whether I stick an aftermarket fuel gauge in there or play around and get a sender that has the same ohms rating as the original temp gauge.

I have yet to actually see what kinds of goodies came with the truck, which is kinda sad, as it was gonna be my pet project. However, a big dose of reality set in and even though I was successful with Dorothy back in the day, I am 7 years older (which isn't really that much) but we just don't have the space for trucks in our new place even though I have a nice garage space out the back. So, what I am saying is, I think there might be a nice new dash cluster in one of the boxes of goodies and if that is the case, would definitely be aiming at keeping all the gauges original. Apart from a fuel sender unit that I haven't bought for that reason, I went and bought some 

CODAN STRAIGHT LENGTH FUEL RESISTANT HOSE 38mm I.D. x 500m and five metre kit of AN6 -6AN Fitting Stainless Steel Nylon Braided Oil Fuel Hose Line.

I also bought this interesting fuel filler cap setup, 

Boat Deck Hose Filler Stainless steel with Key 'FUEL' 1-1/2"

I'm not posting all this stuff up to brag about what I have bought, I merely wanted to give you an idea of the kinds of things that I have purchased that are gonna work with the tank as I hope it might help others if they decide to go the same route. 

Anyway, back to work.  Also arriving in the next couple of days is a beautiful chrome collapsible steering column, wood grain wheel and various other associated parts. You can see why I have to go back to work. Gotta pay for all this stuff somehow! 

Taking stock of the situation and facing reality

 Well, as they say, anything is possible, it depends upon how much talent you possess or how deep your pockets are. I can tell you I have no talent and my pockets aren't that deep, so we have a bit of a dilemma. Bottom line is the truck wasn't quite as good as I was hoping, but even so, I knew it was gonna cost a lot to get it on the road considering I no longer have the room nor the ability (if I EVER did) to get stuck in and do most of the work.  Just one look at the body convinced me that this project was way out of my league. 

Here' is an example of some very dodgy "repairs".

The entire louvered panel has been chopped right out. I nearly had a kitten when I saw this, but fortunately a replacement panel is not expensive and was actually included in the purchase. This panel originally had a heater vent here. I quite liked it, but now it's gonaroonies. 

Not much to salvage here. The entire replacement panel will take care of this. 

Hey, quick question! What is wrong with this mod? No second guesses. 

Check out the custom bed! Might catch on! The tailgate has been badly butchered. 

A bed full of goodies. Sadly, most of the stuff is dog meat. There's a radiator shroud that might be salvageable and apart from the new panel you can see and some pedals, most is junk. I have ordered two new inner fender panels as the others were stuffed. Brake master cylinder was a throwaway item. 

Bit hard to see what is going on here. I can tell you it has a crappy steering column and matching crappy wheel. Seats are possibly out of a Pajero and appear to be quite nice, but I will be sourcing a nice bench seat when I find one. 

She's here, boys and girls! My 1956 Ford F100 has arrived!

 Well, she turned up courtesy of good fortune. Matt from Webtow Classic Car Carrying was able to bring it straight up for a reasonable price. All the way from Melbourne to Shellharbour. She ain't pretty, but she comes with a stack of goodies! 

Meanwhile here she is. Matt looks like he is scoffing into a brownie. I am glad it was him putting it on the tray. If it was me, there'd be a brownie in my pants! 

PERFORMANCE STREET CAR ROAD TRIP 2022

Folks, I have just discovered the most fantastic event that will soon be kicking off in my general locale. This event is called the Performance Street Car Road Trip and it's a three day cruise through some of the major and regional towns of NSW culminating in a show and shine on day three in Albury! What a fantastic idea. And it's all in the name of charity as well, with this event supporting the Gotcha4life Men's Mental Health Charity. Cost to enter? Heck, it's only fifty measly bucks minimum! One pineapple! (you can donate more).

If I can get my truck ready by then...but nah, I don't think so. It hasn't even arrived yet.

But that doesn't stop YOU guys from entering! 

Here's the official flyer.

And just a disclaimer here: I am in no way affiliated with this organisation. I'm just spreading the good word in the best way I know how.  Get onto it! 

Click on the image to take you to the relevant page where you can download an application form and get going on it. 

Sneak Preview of Annabelle, our new 1956 F100 project truck!

 Well, hopefully, we're only a couple of weeks away from having this awesome monstrosity land on our doorstep! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. One thing is certain, the neighborhood will never think of me in the same way, that is a meek and mild librarian who has his head stuck in a book all day (myth number one about librarians, by the way). 

Fact is, she is NOT coming straight to my place. She will be doing a diversion to a workshop whereupon some welding and engine swapping work is being planned.  I don't have the provisions to perform such actions in my new place. If we still lived at our old address I guess it was possible, but not here. For one thing, we're situated on a decent slope of land and even though I have a decent garage space up the back, a fair bit of the preliminary work is going to be farmed out. 

Anyway, here she is in her current state awaiting her lift from Melbourne to New South Wales.

Let me tell you more about her. She is (of course) a 1956 Ford F100. She has been a project that the previous owner has been working on for a number of years and during that time has gathered some good quality panels from a number of trucks, not to mention a very significant list of new parts as well.  More about this later as it arrives. Friends, what you see is basically what I see and know. It has what appears to be a 351 Cleveland that is not running. It is mated to a C4 Auto. The truck has a Jaguar XJ6 IFS already fitted up. Soft mounted the way it should be. It also has an XD Falcon 9" rear end, disc brakes all around. The dash has (as far as I can tell) been completely converted to RHD. I can see bucket seats in the cabin. It has fibreglass guards all around which I am not a big fan of, but we get what we gets these days, and if they come back in stock, I will be ordering metal ones. 

I can see Cragar wheels shod with BF Goodrich Radial TA tires that look brand new. 

Well, unfortunately, that is all I have so far. In my next post I will talk about my hotrod engine swap that I have planned for the old girl. Stick around folks, this is just warming up! Of course, feel free to chip in anytime! 

Dorothy out and about 2016

 I have always loved this photo! Here's a picture of the old girl on the roof of Shellharbour Square shopping centre. My oath this truck stuck out like you wouldn't believe, but I loved her. 

That large primered area on the front fender you see is courtesy of Montague Smash repairs who were supposed to do some work on the body for me, but instead, drove it into the fence and crashed it and had the gall to take the fender off and hide it from view when I went to pick the truck up. They never even started work on the truck and this was months later, and had no intention of doing so, and when I decided they were just wasting my time, went down to pick it up, only to find that the fender had been significantly caved in. At least they finally admitted it was their fault and promised they would fix it, which they did. I was massively disappointed in their attitude, because they did such a decent job of painting my Series 8 RX7 several year earlier for a very reasonable price. 

Here she is again at Vic's Extreme Car Electrics in Warrawong. This time getting her air conditioning lines hooked up. Vic was a big fan of the truck and said he was very impressed with how it all came together. I think he was also very happy with my fitting up of the air conditioning unit and all the ducting and hoses as well because all he had to to was connect the gas basically. 

Here's another one of my favourite photos. Dorothy waiting out in front of Warilla Automatics. I can't remember what they guys had to do with the truck now, but I think it had something to do with the resizing of the tailshaft. I think the yolk was out too much and the shaft had to be lengthened a fair bit, and I think these guys took it away and had it sorted for me. 

This photo below was taken around August 2016 I think. It was a voting day. Local election I think. Parked here on the side of the road outside Lake Illawarra High School she must have looked a sight and a half. Yes, that is my wife getting out of the truck. Must have been a bit of a chilly day. 

Below...Not sure why we were here. It might have been me inquiring about sandblasting. Can't remember. I think the area is North Wollongong.  Gotta love that fat butt! 

A beautiful day and a beautiful old girl. Here she is sunning herself by the lake. Lake Illawarra, circa November 2016. 

Check out the stickers! The old Don't Panic/ (and underneath it upside down is "Ok, Panic!") and next to that is the classic FSM Flying Spaghetti Monster, bless his noodliness! 

Much nicer than that though, is the very neatly created pinstriping around the recessed number plate section. You can see how nicely it came out in the picture above. Dunno who did it. It was like that when I bought it, along with the custom recessed tail lights that are from a Cadillac I'm thinking. 

And on that bright note, this is where we leave our tribute to my first F100. I loved working on the truck and sorely miss her, but I am looking forward to getting a '56 delivered within the next two weeks, so I hope you will stick around and follow the undoubted dramas that will unfold during that built. Stay tuned! 

1954 f100 Retrospective. March 2016. Changing the spring shackles - a dumb move!

 One of the dumbest and most useless mods I made to the truck involved replacing the spring shackles with crappy aftermarket units which I bought from MidFifty.com. Just about every item I have purchased from this company has been of exceptional quality, but these shackles were thin and low grade and resemble something you would find on a cheap Chinese disposable truck. In hindsight I should have just tossed them in the rubbish bin. But the reason I persisted was to get the rear of the truck to sit a little lower and make it look more balanced as it definitely sat up a bit too high in the rear. Did it achieve its aim? Well, to a fashion it did, but when I look back at it, and see the big heavy duty shackles that I cut out just to fit up these shitty ones, I can only believe I must have had rocks in my head. My brother came down to give me a hand installing them as it was definitely a two person operation. 

Anyway, my advise is; don't do it! It just isn't worth butchering those nice old solid shackles for this trash. 

Here's a photofest... 

This is a picture of the actual shackle. See how thin and crappy it is! 

Bloody thin, spindly things they were! Too late to go back to originals now. 

1954 F100 Retrospective July to December 2015

 Well the news is that my new project could be only a week from delivery, so let's start to wrap the retrospective look back at my first F100. Good ol' Dorothy. She was quite a sight on the road, and a lot of people just had no idea what the heck they were looking at and I would often get the WTF expression as I drove past. Such a shame she is still not with me. But life goes on and the new project promises to deliver just as much fun and heartache, so stick around/

For this post, I will combine the last few months of 2015 together in a photofest of some of the interesting things I did to the truck during this time.

By July, I had the Jag front in the truck and  things were motoring along very well.

Can't remember now what happened to the engine, but I think the water pump was leaking, so my brother came down to help me with the water pump replacement and while we did that we did the timing chain. As you can see here, one of the studs broke and we had to get serious by heating up the broken stud and removing it and then tapping a thread into the block to accommodate a new stud.

Here, you can see some serious mods to a new flywheel cover that I had to fit up because the original was missing and a flywheel exposed is a big no no. I coughed up and bought a nice shiny chrome eBay cover and wouldn't you know it...it didn't fit too well, thus the significant butchering to the cover. 

Came up okay in the end!

We replaced the harmonic balancer while we were at it. 

RPC products was my new friend! 

Patriot headers being fitted up. 

The engine was really starting to look nice! 

My brother and yours truly obviously doing something related to petrol as I had the old fuel can in hand. I think it could have been a carbi issue. 

I paid a fortune for these special air conditioning brackets only to discover they weren't going to fit my setup in a million years, so after heavy modification (see below)

I got them to fit. Can't remember where I bought them from, but I think it was from a guy in the USA and I KNOW they were not cheap.  Anyway, once this fitment issue was sorted the rest went together well. 

Nice new Vintage Air unit just arrived! This looks like expensive fun! 

Looking great! 

Even added a transmission cooler! Hi tech! 

Well, there goes the glove box space!

Christmas time 2015! Ah, they were great times!