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1952 F1: The Garage Roommate

Select from the following six options, derived from two basic designs w/ colors and options.

  • A

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • B

    Votes: 7 53.8%

  • C

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • D

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • E

    Votes: 3 23.1%

  • F

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .
msell66 said:
You’ll finally get to use the TIG.
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A ton. Which is just fine by me. Been playing around with it and like it a lot. Getting comfortable with it. Lots of challenges ahead with this project for me using it too. Vertical welds. Upside down welding! Plus since I plan to install tubs out back I'll be doing some thin metal stuff too. Also should be some stainless and aluminum work along the way. Plus a mini-project at some point I believe will happen. I can see me wanting/needing a rotary welding fixture. Sure would make some of the exhaust fab work easier (and much better looking!).
 
Looks like you have some work cut out for you! I was watching a show this morning and they showed an alternative to the Shockwave system. Mittler Bros makes a nice hydraulic over coil over. It’s a pricey unit but very well built. It is so easy to spend your money!
 
So the chassis work started in earnest finally yesterday. All the holiday events are over. The house guests gone home. The wife back to work! I had yesterday and now today for uninterrupted garage time. Finally got cold here after 60 degree temps for Christmas. Have the heater running full blast now getting things warm out there.

Yesterday, I took off the whole front end, inner fender panels and core support. I also removed the full stock front suspension and transmission, stripping it down to the bare frame rails. Be aware, 70 year old steel transmissions are HEAVY. Started cutting away stuff to allow welding in a new crossmember for a MII IFS set-up. I bought the crossmember as a DIY kit of just laser cut pieces as the plan is to modify things a bit and maintain the stock 45 degree support braces shown in the pic as they also serve as the engine mounting points for the flathead. In the long run I think this will make things easier and also structurally much more solid.

A couple pics as it sits now. By tonight I hope to have the crossmember tacked together and in place along with the top hats and the frame boxing done. Hope to have it all finish welded by the weekend, wheels mounted and sitting on the ground. Which reminds me...I need to order up a pair of air bags!

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Despite what you may have thought I have been hard at work on the truck. Just haven't been very good about taking pics and posting updates. The front suspension fabrication and installation work is all done. I've decided to take the truck to a bit of a higher level build than I originally wanted to so there is still work to be done before I can paint it all. I'm building up the welded seams in areas that will be visible when the hood is open so that I can grind and sand them smooth so everything blends in seamlessly. I'd rather do it that way then slather on a bunch of filler. More durable. Just takes a lot of time and makes a big mess!

I also removed the full rear suspension and rear end. Already sold it all off. Next up is a small frame notch and the 4-Link. Also mini-tubbing it using a small 3" tub extension in the bed. This won't require narrowing the frame but will allow up to a 315 or so tire. Be starting that work this coming week, I hope.

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Whaaat?

Your not sticking to the original plan? I'm shocked!

Seriously looking nice!

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
 
Got a bit of time to play around on the truck today. Went ahead and put the bearings and rotor on a spindle so I could mount a tire and make an actual measurement of the front at ride height. Between the MII conversion, drop spindles and air bag looks like it will ride about 6 inches lower. Should I decide to, I can use the ride ride control to drop it another 3" or so but that would be for show and such. That would leave the front bumper just off the ground.

Here is a pic I took when verifying axle centerline and such before I commenced installation of the MII crossmember and stuff. I did some calculations on final ride height and placed the tire at that point. The second pic is the tire actually mounted on the finished suspension. It's spot on. Love it when things come together!
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Next up is boxing some areas of the rear frame rails, notching it a bit for axle clearance and installation of the 4-link. I'm using my "original" (not 1965 Ford original) 9" rear end I started with for my mustang. It is more than hardy enough to back up the blown flathead. You may recall I had a custom housing built for the car to beef things up and upgrade to 31 spline axles, TruTrac etc.. Anyway... Before I can do the 4-link I need to make some modifications for the rear to fit. Actually, for the rear with standard Ford 4.5" BS wheels and tires attached. As it sits, the bed sides are about 3/4" too wide to fit between the tires. So out comes the saw and in go some mini-tubs. '48-52 F1's have massively wide rear fenders. Biggest of all the fat fendered Fords, as I understand it. Installing these 3" tubs will give me around 13-14" of usable space to stuff with rubber. More importantly, I can do so with standard BS wheels to open up all kinds of options for wheel choice without being limited in width or having to pay a premium for custom stuff.

All set to ruin a perfectly good paint job.
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Really looking good, sir. I need to update my build too but pics of scraping undercoating lack that cool factor....:cool:
 
And the point of no return has been crossed. I've cut large pieces of perfectly good sheet metal out of my truck bed!

I'm going to use a panel adhesive to join the arched flange to the bedside (hidden under fender) and weld in the lower lip to the existing bedside flange (currently painted). I may change my mind later and do some spot welds along that flange from the outside (under the rear fender) but since things are in paint already and I'm not sure where I'll end up on final color choice this seems the best route to take for now.

This 3" tub gives me space now for the mustang rear end with tires mounted so I can do an actual level, ride height set-up of everything to let me start the mock-up, tacking and then final welding of the full rear suspension and notching of the frame.

There is so much involved I feel much better doing it this way. I need to not only locate/design(modify) all the mounting brackets for the 4 link but also the air bags and shocks (or single combo like a Shockwave). Meanwhile, I've got to figure routing of the dual exhaust pipes over/around it all and, oh yeah, build a framework and locate a rear fuel tank too! There is a whole lot going on in a small amount of space and if I can make more of it real and visual as opposed to just measurements on a sketch I feel a lot better.
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Didn't sleep all that well last night so I found myself just laying there thinking about what I wanted to tackle today on the truck. Something occurred to me. All along the plan was to keep the stock bed height. Not to notch the frame so much as to force me to create a "hump" or to full and outright raise the bed up off the frame for suspension clearance. Then I thought, why? It's not like I am ever going to use this truck as, well, a truck. And even if I did raise the bed it is deep enough I'd still have likely close to a foot of bedside height.

So why raise it? Well, the wheel tubs got me thinking. There is still PLENTY of room between the current tub inner face and the frame rail. If I modified the tubs to be even wider and used up that space between them and the rails I could stuff HUGE tires under it without having to narrow it one bit. Why be limited to a 10" wheel when I have room for a 15"?! Not a big deal to do it now. Three years from now it is a tremendous undertaking. Plus, raising the full bed brings other advantages. I could build a "hidden" trunk which would be a huge bonus when actually using the truck and traveling. Would also give me a place to mount all the air ride components like the pumps and tanks, all hidden out of sight but safe and protected from the elements.

I am building the blown flathead for this truck. That is not changing. The current plan for the back half is more than ample for that engine set-up but I am now thinking further down the road. My next project will be a honest to goodness street rod. Likely something along the lines of a '31 coupe. I know me. The flathead would get yanked for that for obvious reasons which means new powerplant for the F1. In that event, the other bucket list item for me is a 1000+ HP build. BIG pressure Coyote likely. Twin-turbo, maybe. Or some massive Jon Kaase engine. Something really stupid. :p

Another bonus if I go this route is I'd be forced to buy at least a bead roller if not a brake too. I sometimes think I do all this crap just for the excuse to buy new tools!

So the question is do I go pick-up some 16 ga sheet metal, split apart some perfectly good tubs and undertake the task of stretching them wider?
 
Build it for the flathead now. Rebuild it later for the godzilla motor. You can just make it a brand new build.


Mark
 
msell66 said:
Build it for the flathead now. Rebuild it later for the godzilla motor. You can just make it a brand new build.
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I forgot about the new Ford "Godzilla" engine. That would be a nice one too! How cool would that one be with huge screw charger on top!

I'm going to go ahead and set-up the 4-link now as they way I have planned would be the same regardless of tub depth or even the frame notch as ride height will have the axle tubes just under the bottom of the stock frame rail. I'll hold off permanently affixing the tubs for now and see how things go.
 
Man, time flies by. Quick update. Been busy drilling out almost 70 year old rivets all over the truck frame. Removing old spring mounts, etc. Much more metal work and parts fabbing this weekend is planned. Had a delivery from a metal supplier earlier this week with a bunch of flat stock sheet and some structural tubing to make some custom shock mounts and a crossmember for the upper mounting of same. Also will be boxing almost three feet of frame rail, each side in the rear for all the new stuff to affix. Should finally be able to get the 4 link completely installed.

Back to the earlier discussion about how to bag and shock the rear, I am going with a single unit, air over shock design just not Shockwaves. Have a set of these and assorted bits scheduled to arrive early next week. Should be interesting. Couldn't find much of anything about them online but from the same company that supplied the rest of my air management system and parts so, what the hell. I just love being the guinea pig.
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So the job required work has just about ground to a halt with the whole virus thing. That can mean only one thing...more garage time! Parts have been arriving and more scheduled to show up today. I've made quite a bit of progress I haven't yet shared as most is temporary as I need to do a full physical mock-up with everything in place to make sure I have clearance where needed for suspension movement, etc. This post is just to whet the appetites for a lot of pics to come very soon.

Anyone ever use Swagelok components for plumbing hard lines? I'm thinking to go with full-on polished stainless lines and fittings for the full fuel and air systems in the truck. Might as well make it all purdy after all this effort! Swagelok seems to be the first choice for high quality leak proof applications.
 
OK, now this pandemic shit is getting real. I've got parts orders and deliveries being horribly affected! Stuff that was to be here now or the next couple days is getting delayed or even put off for a while. Damn it! I thought I had stuff ordered early enough in the mess to not be affected. This is really affecting progress as things need to come together in specific sequence at times when completely redesigning a back half of a chassis. I'm trying to stuff 12 lbs of shit in an 8 lb box, as it were. Really need parts in hand to test fitment and clearances. Good news is the aluminum fuel tank arrived and according to tracking the key aluminum metal bits is to deliver today. Worst case I can do some TIG fabricating of the tank mounts. Maybe I'll get lucky and more stuff will show. Hate being stuck home with time to work and nothing to work on! Rant over
 
Horseplay said:
OK, now this pandemic shit is getting real. I've got parts orders and deliveries being horribly affected! Stuff that was to be here now or the next couple days is getting delayed or even put off for a while. Damn it! I thought I had stuff ordered early enough in the mess to not be affected. This is really affecting progress as things need to come together in specific sequence at times when completely redesigning a back half of a chassis. I'm trying to stuff 12 lbs of shit in an 8 lb box, as it were. Really need parts in hand to test fitment and clearances. Good news is the aluminum fuel tank arrived and according to tracking the key aluminum metal bits is to deliver today. Worst case I can do some TIG fabricating of the tank mounts. Maybe I'll get lucky and more stuff will show. Hate being stuck home with time to work and nothing to work on! Rant over
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Drive to Ames, IA. I need someone to get up on my trailer roof to sand and repaint it!
 
I know what you mean! I like having some time at home to work on things but now when I need stuff I can't get it. And like the TP i didn't stockpile car parts either...
 
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