New member, first Ford project

[m610]

Final work-bit for the day. I love this little fan. I hope the motor works. The external wiring will have to be replaced, obviously, but insulation on armature windings is different so maybe new hook-up wire and a little cleaning is all it needs.

[m610]

I am starting to look for a rear bumper. An older one with patina will be fine. New ones are available, but...


Also, it would be nice of the original radio worked. I might take it out to see what we've got. Older radios did not use electrolytic or tantalum capacitors, so that will help. Most likely we'll find a shop that can repair/rebuild it. Unless you guys know of a better solution.

[m610]

I've been told we already have the rear bumper.

The two electric motors (heater and fan) look fine on the inside. I just need to replace their power cords.



Two days ago I picked up a few parts from Sacramento Vintage Ford, fuel line and some wiring pigtails. Really nice folks, and this was on their counter.




I unrolled and fed the fuel line under the car and hooked it up at the tank. I was not happy seeing how the original fuel line just sat loose under the car and will do something different this time.

I attempted to connect the pigtails to the headlight but could not get them through the hole. I'll remove the connector/ends today and will try again.

I don't really like how the wiring looks where the pigtails connect to the main harness. What do you guys do here? See the photos below.

[m610]

It took a lot longer to get that fan motor back together than expected. It was tricky getting all of the parts in the right place at the same time, but I prevailed.



Next up was the wiring. I had to remove the connector tips to get the pigtail down the hole for the headlight wiring, and even then it was a tight fit. Any time the wires in the bundle crossed over each other it made a thick part and that was the hangup.

I'm reusing the headlight connectors, and two of three connections went well. The red wire would not go through the hole, and the day ended before I could finish.


The scene when I left for the day.

[Gary Tosel]

The headlight sockets appear to be new or are they original? Please use only the original Ford sockets, since the nice shiny reproductions are just that, but they do not have spring steel and when you try to install in the reflector and bulb, they will NOT WORK properly. Ask me how I know?

[m610]

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Originally Posted by Gary Tosel

The headlight sockets appear to be new...

Thanks for the tip. We are reusing the original sockets.

[m610]

Battery question - The space available in front of the driver is about 7.5" tall, and we can't find a battery under 8.5" tall. Are suitable batteries, ones that fit, available, and if not, what do people do, relocate the battery to the trunk?

[Gary Tosel]

There was a woven asbestos cloth cover for the wiring coming out of the headlight switch. Since asbestos is difficult to find, I used the silver colored woven cloth cover used for modern spark plug covers that are rated for high temperature. They typically are used with headers on modern cars.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Gary Tosel

There was a woven asbestos cloth cover for the wiring coming out of the headlight switch. Since asbestos is difficult to find, I used the silver colored woven cloth cover used for modern spark plug covers that are rated for high temperature. They typically are used with headers on modern cars.

[highbeams]

Originally Posted by m610

Work continues in the front section, until we can figure out if the recommended brake drum puller will work for our car. I really prefer to get the wheels and brakes, and suspension taken care of before moving on to other parts of the car.

It was dirty work but the inner fender liners cleaned up okay.




They look good installed. The installation is temporary. I have to get the sealing strips first.




With the engine area clean and painted I can start installing the wiring. I had no problem connecting the fancy plug to the steering column, but I'll need to get the pigtails to complete the connections to the lights and horn.





I'll be moving on to the interior next. I need Richard's (car owner) approval to remove the seat. He's rightfully concerned about the fabric and how it seems to be integral to the rear deck. I need to find a clean way to separate it. Richard want's to stay with the original interior fabrics. They will get patched but not replaced.

The driver-side floor is damaged and rotted out, and there's not much left of the battery tray. The catalog I have shows wooden floor panels. From what I see in the car at the moment is metal panels were installed over the wood panels. Is that correct?

While I am working inside I'll remove the heater and check it out. The radio will stay in for now, but if we can find a shop to work on it that would be great. In more modern electronics capacitors, mostly electrolytics and tantalums, go bad when not used. I figure neither of these were used in 1930s radios, but we will see.

The filler neck came out of its vinegar soak yesterday. It looks great after a little wire brushing. A lot of scale came out of the inside but that looks good, too. I still want to see if I can run a brush around in it.





It's been a fun project so far.

An EXCELLENT shop that I used for my '68 Mustang am/fm radio; for the radio and anything electrical D&M Restoration: 57-B Creekside Park Ct., Greenville, SC, 29615
ph: 800-722-0854

They are very well known, been in business for decades. THEY QUOTE YOU A PRICE BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR RADIO! My radio was completely rebuilt including the fm yellow light!, returned in two weeks. Upon using the radio in the car, I noticed a problem; phoned them. They said ship it to us COD. = within days they found a bad capacitor, and shipped it immediately.

I am amazed by these very professional folks. This took place half-dozen years ago. My radio is brand new to this day! Very highly I recommend.

Patrick 'Pat' Malone

[m610]

Thanks for the recommendation. I found them on the Internet so it looks like they are still in business. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

[Gary Tosel]

You show the filler neck and there should have been a lead washer between the neck and the tank. I hope you found the old one and can replace it with a new lead washer to seal the neck to the tank. I would not recommend any other type of seal for this part.

[m610]

Thanks. We have the lead washer. We're holding on installing the filler neck until the sheet metal back there has been repaired.

[m610]

A quick update.

The headlights are all back together. We haven't tested them yet, but what could possibly go wrong?



We took the radio out just to make room. We'll see about sending it to the shop recommended above.





I'm still unable to get the defroster fan to work. I guess I'll take it apart again and check for breaks in the wiring.

The heater is back together and is working. I flushed the little radiator and replaced the power cord for the fan. We won't put it back in the car until we've taken care of the floor. (Love the patina!)




Part of the section of sheet metal on the driver-side floor has rotted away. We're thinking of making a replacement, or if we can find one pre-made, we'll go for that. Richard does not want me to remove the seat so I'll be splicing it in. The wooden sections toward the front are in bad shape but making replacements will be easy. It's just 3/4" plywood. With some of the plywood scraps I can fix the pieces between the frame and floor on the driver-side.

The battery tray came out nice. I had some sheet metal bent, then I painted and installed it. The battery sits 3/4" lower than originally but I think that is okay. There's still space between the top of the battery and floor.







Mike

[m610]

Sorry for the lack of updates. We've been making slow progress on uninteresting parts of the car, such as the floor panels. I made new wood panels and cleaned and painted the metal panels. The driver-side metal floor panel has most rotted away so I made a replacement, which will take some doing installing it.

But today, success! I got the rear drums off. It still wasn't easy, and when the drums broke free they sounded like I broke them, but instead they both came off.

The puller tool fit and worked well.



As I was trying to get the drum off I needed to used a cheater bar, and even then it required some effort, too much, I feared. I stopped and took it off again to make sure everything was okay. It all looked okay. I tired again and it would not budge. I was about to leave to get my propane torch but decided to try one more time, and this time no additional effort was required to turn the tool. I figured either the threads were traveling or the drum was finally moving. Worrying that the threads were starting to go I removed the puller again to look, and the threads were okay. Once I had it back together again I continued soon I heard a loud bang, and the wrench was suddenly loose. I figured either I had broken something or the drum was free. Fortunately the drum was free. The story for the driver-side brake was about the same. It took some effort but it came off, again, with a bang.

The drums themselves look great, very few signs of wear, in fact, very few signs of use. I think a brake job must have been done soon before they disconnected the rear brakes.

The problem with the brake was super obvious. The oil seals had failed. Maybe when that brake job was done they left the old ones in. Anyway, the right-rear was well-oiled and oil was everywhere, coating everything. The left rear had some leakage but was mostly dry.










I've got the parts on the bench, soaked with PB-Blaster to loosen everything. Tomorrow I will clean them up and maybe I'll take the drums in to get resurfaced. Meanwhile, I'll locate new brake shoes and seals. Once I have parts it will be easy to finish the rears then I'll start on the fronts.

Any recommendations on what other work needs to be done in the rear? I'd like to get the bearing out to clean, inspect, and re-grease. Anything else?

Mike

[Newc]

The axle key inner upper edge, can cut into the drum, so try to have a rounded key edge inside/ upward toward drum slot. Club member had this problem. Newc

[m610]

Thanks for the tip. It's probably come out as I clean things, so I'll make sure it goes back in right.


Also, I'll be using a dab of anti-seize when I put this back together. It'll save someone some trouble 40-some years from now.

[marko39]

Originally Posted by m610

Thanks for the tip. It's probably come out as I clean things, so I'll make sure it goes back in right.


Also, I'll be using a dab of anti-seize when I put this back together. It'll save someone some trouble 40-some years from now.

do not use antiseize or grease on the axle taper or hub when reassembling it should go back together dry.

[m610]

Interesting. Why?


Edit - I googled and found nothing to help answer this question. Several people point out that the friction of an un-lubricated taper joint is why everything should be assembled dry. None of the cases I read about ever mentioned a key-way, which these axles have. I'd think the key-way takes care of the friction part of the equation, and the taper is mostly there to ensure alignment.


Thoughts?

[marko39]

The torque should not be on the key as it will wear the key way and can cause the axle to crack. I have seen pics. of this posted here maybe do a search.