I call it the Bruise..........

[Canonman67]

Didn't work on the truck last weekend so I could take care of some personal business. Didn't accomplish a lot this weekend due to a lack of energy. I think the rain just zapped me, we haven't had any for quite some time and I just wanted to curl up inside and enjoy it. I need to get back to making a list and planning my work. I ended up just kind of screwing around in the shop. Decided to see how the flashing was going to go on the sheet metal so I did the trans cover.
Didn't turn out too badly, so I think I can do the rest of the floor without any major problems. Installed the pushrods and rockers.
I'm painting the valve covers.
Next week I'll sand the paint off the ridges and polish them. I think I like the blue better than the usual black.
Especially against the aluminum ridges and lettering.
Gas tank is in for what I hope is the final time. Managed to get it and the skid plate undrcoated and hung. Cleaned up the sending unit wiring.
Here's a shot from the rear of the tank, skid plate and transmission. It's amazing to me that I still have to run the parking brake cable, drive shaft and the exhaust in the remaining space. On a side note I lost my glasses the last time I was in the shop. Discovered them this week right next to the angle finder you see stuck to the frame. I annoy myself.

[michael9218]

Nice build! Can you elaborate on that gas tank? I haven't seen anyone do a tank inside the frame in front of the rear axle. What did it come from and what is the capacity?

[Canonman67]

Michael9218 It's the auxiliary tank out of a '71 F250 that I bought for parts. They vary between 21.5 and 25 gallons. Here's more info on them. http://www.fordification.com/partnos/fueltank-aux.htm
Here's what the tank looked like before I pulled it from the parts truck.
I think the dentside version is the same so if you wanted a new one they're available and I don't think it would take much to fabricate the rest of the hardware.

[sargentrs]

Looking good! Great job on the fuel tank.

[Canonman67]

Looking good! Great job on the fuel tank.

Thanks, like everything else it took awhile. I can't believe how naive I was, when I started I thought I'd be done by August.

[Canonman67]

Got back to the valve covers this weekend. Started with 300 grit

Then 600


Finished with 1500.


I still need to clean the dust off of them but needless to say I'm very pleased with the outcome. I started on converting the ashtray into a phone holder\charger. http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =6&t=80292 Also started on the clutch linkage filling the egg shaped holes and redrilling them for the clutch rod.


When I fitted the z-bar I discovered the one I had was too long and wouldn't allow the frame side bracket holes to line up. I'm assuming it's because it's from the small block I took out. Happily the shop I rent space at specializes in old Ford parts and I just need to find the right shelf for another one.

Other than sandblasting the pulleys and brackets I didn't get a lot done.

[Canonman67]

For some reason I really like that photo, maybe because it looks like progress even though I found a couple of more things I need to address.

I'll be reclocking this to get the connections to the side. I also need to find either a single groove pulley or another double that has a shallower center section so I can get the retaining nut on.

I'm going to pickup another power steering pump, I'll also need to find an "outie" style pulley so I can get it on the second groove. I need to have the ac on the third groove since I'm using TylerB43's ac bracket

I'm going with metalcast paint instead of the usual black. I'm tired of the black and blue on the exterior and I refuse to do it in the engine bay. I won't paint the compressor clutch but everything else will get the metalcast paint.

The ARP bolt package seemed like a great solution to the mismatched bolts that held the old FE together when I bought it. Now I don't think it's really worth the price for a daily driver build. It's WAY TOO universal for the $150 plus price tag.

Case in point even though the bottom holes have been cleaned the bolts bottom out before getting tight. I'll admit I like the clean universal look of all the heads but if I'm not building something show quality I think I'll skip them next time.

I spent the bucks for Sandersons and am pleased overall. BBBBBUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTT, (you knew that was coming, didn't you) their finish could be a bit better.

I think they should take a bit more time on the finish so it better reflects the quality of the design and the materials.

You know it's one thing to see a picture on the internet and quite another to see it in real life. The starter picture above is one of those things, I knew it was going to be close but I REALLY didn't get HOW close. It's something I'm going to have to think about. I apologize if this seems like a bitch session, it wasn't meant to be. I do want to clarify that I'm not condemning the bolts and headers as garbage, they're both good, quality products for what they are.

[Canonman67]

So I got the pulleys, brackets and spacers painted.

I like the metalcast paint a lot better than the usual black. I still need to hang the power steering pump. I held off because I didn't have the right pulley, today I found a donor around back of the shop.

The ashtray is almost done.

I need to get the power outlet in.

The parking brake cable is in and connected under the truck.

I placed the valve covers on just to encourage myself.

I won't bolt them on until I've got the engine completely assembled.

[Canonman67]

Turns out the donor pulley puts the belt on the first groove not the second. So the pulley search continues. I cleaned and checked out the power steering pump and it's okay so I got that hung which helped when dealing with the pulleys. I finished the fab on the phone charger. It still needs some fine tuning with the screws and paint but other than that it's done.

In addition to that I painted the blades on the fan. Not the most productive weekend but there's always another one coming.

[Canonman67]

Didn't get a lot done this week, only spent one day at the shop. I did a bit more of the flashing in the interior so I could put the gas pedal in.

I've decided not to paint the interior since the weather is so cold. I'll get the body work done through spring and shoot the entire thing later this summer when money's easier and I can afford to rent the spray booth. I spent the rest of the day trying to button up the engine.







I still need to get the distributor in and figure out the throttle linkage. Still to go, the fuel pump and fuel to the engine, finish up the power steering then get started on the sheetmetal so I can start wiring.

[Canonman67]

This weekend ended up being all about sound deadening and insulation.

I'm pleased with how the insulation went down even though I was trying to make as few seams as possible.

Since I'm deleting the cigarette lighter I'm using the hole for the cargo light.

I also hung the fuse panel and the firewall pad. Well I halfway hung the firewall pad.

I'm using EZ Cool Insulation from http://www.lobucrod.com/ Here you can see that a single 4'X10' roll did all but that one corner of the floor on the passenger side. I have another roll for the back, ceiling and doors.

A closer view of the mess. I'm using a KwikWire kit and it looks pretty straight forward, so far at least.

[Canonman67]

Didn't get much done this weekend. Waiting for the steering column to dry so I could sand and recoat. Did a bit of straightening on the wiring and installed the switches so I could proceed with the wiring. Here's a couple of pictures for your pleasure.

[Canonman67]

Spent more time on the wiring this weekend, sorting the different feeds and running the mains. Had a few problems staying focused on what I was doing as you can see by this photo here.

I want the wiring clean but not so much a feature as it would have been this way. The weather's been wet lately so I'm running behind on getting the inner fenders painted which is holding up the wiring.








I did manage to get the steering column painted and installed, even took the time to run the cruise control wiring down the factory channel. Though I discovered that I have the wrong horn brush.

I've had these parts for awhile and I wish I had tried to put them togther before now. Oh well, at least they're only a couple bucks. Since I'm off until the fourth of January I'll be working in the shop all week, hopefully I'll get quite a bit accomplished.

[Ozblitz]

Your doing a great job! Im just about to get started on my 68' so, its very encouraging to see your progress. Is your cruise control aftermarket or from another vehicle?

[Canonman67]

Your doing a great job! Im just about to get started on my 68' so, its very encouraging to see your progress. Is your cruise control aftermarket or from another vehicle?

It's aftermarket, I forget who found it but it was someone on this site, I bought it here. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J0 ... ge_o00_s00 It's an old proven design that I actually had on a '75 Maverick. It worked well enough then so I thought I'd used it again. I bought the control from a Rostra dealer on Ebay, the universal Rostra design is the same as the one I bought except it's more expensive.