39 Ford Project

[Custer55]

My next project turned out to be one I had not intended to do at all. In the process of installing the new front springs from Speedway Motors I decided to modify the upper A-Arms purchased on Ebay.
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Once I got the front spring in place after cutting 1 1/2 coils so far I noticed the angle of the ball joint and the spindle ball joint hole were quite a bit off from each other with the suspension set with the lower A-arms level to simulate finished ride height. I dragged out one of the old original upper arms and the ball joint pad on those is angled up to match the angle on the spindle.
Not sure why they don't do that on the aftermarket tubular arms but from what I could find on the internet they are pretty much all made that way. Maybe it doesn't matter but it seems to put the ball joint in a bind pretty early on droop and the ball joint boot doesn't stay in place like it should either.
image.pngI first tried to just bend the tubes up at the bend but didn't get anywhere doing that so I cut off the ring where the ball joint screws in and made a jig on my welding table to fix the ball joint angle and shorten the arms about a 1/4" as they were a bit longer than the originals. Shortening them will make getting caster and camber adjustments easier as I could only get 1/2 degree of negative camber the way they were.
image.pngHere is a close up shot of the fixture to hold the ball joint sleeve at an angle and shorten the arms at the same time.
image.pngTack welded in place to test fit before fully welding. Not the exact same angle as the spindle but way better than it was.
image.pngI have the ball joint boot in place in this shot and It fits way better now. On my digital angle finder I have about 1 degree of negative camber and could get up to almost 3 degrees so camber and caster adjustments should be easier to get where they need to be as well.
image.pngHere the passenger side arm is all welded up with a gusset added on the inside for additional weld strength. This project was a good excuse to get some TIG welding practice as well because I sure need a lot more practice at TIG welding!!
image.pngHere I have the drivers side arm all welded up and test fitted so the gusset will clear the spring hat with the a-arm adjusted all the way in. It
will have plenty of clearance when the front end is at it's final caster and camber settings.
image.pngWith the arms re-painted they look good as new. In the background you can see I have my new starter solenoid mounted to the firewall and all the battery cables in place. I used all 1 gauge cable from Battery Cables USA. Once I do a bit of wiring to the ignition switch I will be able to use the column key switch to test fire the engine in the future. That being said I think my next project will be a gas pedal and throttle cable set up. Stay tuned.
Brian

[Custer55]

Sweet! Love the metal forming work you did on the side panels!

Thanks, got all my battery cables today so I can finish up on this project.

[Custer55]

Nice work!!!!

Thanks

[Belair-o]

Sweet! Love the metal forming work you did on the side panels!

[bigblock]

Nice work!!!!

[Custer55]

For my next project I decided to find a spot to mount the battery. The original spot was a recessed area in the firewall but that is long gone with the new firewall that I installed. Being a pretty narrow engine compartment and a small block Chevy being much taller and wider than the flathead that the 39 had the trunk was the logical place. To keep the battery cables as short as possible I went with mounting it right behind the rear seat. I looked at several battery boxes online but didn't see any that I liked design or pricewise so I ended up building my own similar to one of the better designs I looked at.
image.pngThe first step was to make a base plate out of 1/4" aluminum I had on hand. I drilled and tapped 3/8" holes for both mounting studs and battery hold down rods.
There is 2 extra holes in the lower corner as I drilled them in the wrong spot but the tray that holds the bottom of the battery in place will cover them up anyway. Overall size of the bottom is 10" x 13".
image.pngThis is the battery tray that will mount to the base plate made out of 18 gauge. At this point I need to weld in the corner pieces and finish welding up the 2 seams. It is the same size as the battery tray in a 55 Chevy as I will be using my old battery from my 55 which is a group 34 / 78 size so a replacement would be easy to find.
image.pngWith the tray finished I taped it in position on the base plate so I could drill holes in the tray by measuring from the edges of the base plate to locate them the same. As you can see my mistakenly drill holes in the lower corners are completely covered.
image.pngHere is the tray and base plate mocked up with studs for the battery hold down and studs to mount the tray to the base plate which will also have a couple of pop rivets on each side of the tray as well. The studs where the tray bolts down will double as the the bolts to hold the base plate to the trunk floor with spacers as needed to level it out.
image.pngNext was to make the sides of the battery box. I made this in 4 sides that will be plug welded together on the ends and the corners on the flanges butt welded together. I used some 22 gauge I had on hand which is pretty thin but with the bead rolling and top and bottom flanges it will plenty strong enough.
image.pngHere it is all welded up. I made sure it is square and sits nice and flat since it will be removeable to make getting the battery in and out easier.
image.pngBolted in place in the trunk. I had to use spacers to keep it up off the trunk floor a bit as the only flat area big enough for the base plate was right over the gas tank which would have made it impossible to get to the mount bolts with the gas tank in place. As it was I had to position the mount studs/bolts to straddle the rear crossmember. Also in this shot you can see the bulkhead battery cable connectors for the ground and positive cables. I got these from Amazon for under $20. for the pair. They are brass 3/8" studs and they have the outer mount screws so they wont spin in the body when you tighten the cables and they came with the rubber covers for the studs on each side of the bulkheads.
image.pngHere I have the top cover made up from 3/16" aluminum which I had on hand again, with rubber gasket material added to the base plate and the cover. I just used high tack gasket sealer to hold them in place. In the background is a 1/2" pvc water pipe which goes through a grommet in the floor for the box vent.
image.pngEverything in place here. As you can see the threaded rod for the battery hold down doubles as the top cover hold down bolts. I will eventually replace the nuts with wing nuts so no wrench will be needed to get the top cover off.
image.pngHere is a view from the backside where you can see the vent tube better. The pvc pipe worked well for the vent set up as it cost next to nothing for the fittings and I had enough pipe in my leftover plumbing parts stash. On the inside of the box I just used a half of a coupling and a short piece of pipe into the elbow to to hold it all in place with a small screw that goes through the coupling and the pipe. I have holes drilled and grommets installed for the battery cables to come out of the box and connect to the bulkhead fittings. Just need to measure what I will need for all the cables and get them ordered and installed to check this off my list!!
Brian

[Custer55]

Woo hoo! Lights (front and back), action (vroom, vroom!) - gotta be getting excited! The light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn't a train! Good job!

Thanks, still lots to do but getting there!!

[Belair-o]

Woo hoo! Lights (front and back), action (vroom, vroom!) - gotta be getting excited! The light at the end of the tunnel, and it isn't a train! Good job!

[Custer55]

I got a few more things off the to do list the past week or so.
20250314_123616.jpgFor a brake light switch I was going to plumb in a pressure type switch but decided against it because most are not compatible with Dot 5 brake fluid which I like to use as it doesn't hurt the paint. I got this lever type switch from Speedway Motors as it is meant to mount to the engine compartment side of the firewall with under floor master cylinders. I drilled and tapped the lever for an 8-32 machine screw and attached a screw with a little roller tube where it will contact the brake pedal arm.
20250314_123630.jpgThe problem with that was the position the switch ended up was right behind the brake pedal so it was impossible to drill the mount holes for the switch around the brake pedal. I tried to take out the pedal but that wouldn't work without removing the booster and master cylinder. So I made a small adapter out of 3/16" aluminum to mount the switch to so I had room to work around the brake pedal to drill the mount holes. I only had to drill one from the engine side then just located the rest from the interior side of the firewall.
20250314_161111.jpgHere is the switch mounted in place. I checked it's function with a battery and a test light and the brake lights will come on with about and inch of pedal travel. I can make small adjustments with the mount holes or the size of the roller that contacts the pedal as well.
20250314_161139.jpgOn the inside just the 4 10-32 machine screws hold the hole thing in place. Once I get sound deadener, insulation and carpet in place they will never be seen.
20250316_100535.jpgNext was to install the 12 volt halogen headlight conversion kit that also came from Speedway Motors. The kit comes with H4 halogen bulbs, bulb holders to go into the original headlight reflectors (in my case my home made reflectors), wiring pigtails and a press nut to hold the bulb holders into the reflectors. Instructions said to drill out the reflector hole to 1" dia. and the use the press nut to hold it in place. Well I could not get the press nuts to hold anything no matter how I tried so I ended up drilling a couple of holes and pop riveting the bulb holders into the reflectors which worked much better.
20250316_111425.jpgHere is one mounted into the headlight bucket so it will function just like the original headlight with a 12 volt halogen bulb instead of the original 6 volt bulb.
20250316_110746.jpgAnd with the lens and trim ring in place It will also look just like the original.
20250316_110917.jpgAnd temporarily hooked up to a battery to test out the light. Not sure how bright the headlights will be but has to be better than 6 volt originals. I don't drive my old cars and night very often anyway but just good to have headlight for the few times they will be needed.
20250318_160401.jpgTuesday it was in the mid 50's here so I got the engine and trans bolted back in place and installed the quadrajet carb I got used off of ebay a while back to see how it would start and run with an actual carb on it. I had started it previously with just the starter and HEI wired up by just squirting a bit of fuel in the intake manifold. This time I filled the float bowl through the vent until the accelerator pump would squirt some fuel and it started right up as before and would idle and rev up nicely with the throttle. It will still need some tuning but I feel confident it will run just fine.
After I had run it a bit (not too long as with no working cooling system or exhaust system it was pretty loud, and I didn't want it to get too hot) I added a fuel line from the pump to the carb so I will just need to run a hose into a gas can the next time I start it up. I also drained the oil as the oil looked ok and was pretty much up to the full mark but I have no idea how long that oil has been in there so it will have fresh oil and filter and hopefully mufflers before I start it up again.
Brian

[Custer55]

/\ What he said! Liked the tip of using copper wire to mock up the brake line!

Thanks, the wire mock up is easy to bend up and gets you in the ball park for the shape as well as the length of the line so well worth the time.

[Custer55]

Nice!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

[Belair-o]

/\ What he said! Liked the tip of using copper wire to mock up the brake line!

[bigblock]

Nice!!!!!!!!!

[Custer55]

Continuing on the front lines.
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For the line that goes across the front crossmember I made a mock up with cooper wire first then copied it with the brake tubing. On the left end where the tubing will go thorough the frame I put a small grommet behind the tube nut and siliconed it in place so the tube nut would not slide back into the frame by accident during installation.
20250302_124944.jpgFront line in place on the drivers side.
20250302_124952.jpgContinuing over to the passenger side and through the frame.
20250309_115837.jpgDrivers side front hose bracket attached to the frame and clipped in place.
20250309_115857.jpgAnd a slightly different view of the bracket on the passenger side. For the front brake hoses I am using 79 Camaro hoses as they were the longest hoses I could find that had the correct end for the calipers which I am pretty sure are GM D154 from the kit I bought years ago that came with 11" Granada rotors to fit the Mustang II spindles.
20250308_112216.jpg
So the last step before filling the system with fluid and start the bleeding process was to install the rear brake shoes and drums. It is a Power Stop kit that came with most of the needed parts and coated drums. It's been a while since I have worked on any drum brakes so they are kind of a pain compared to disc brakes but I think I have then all together right.
20250308_113049.jpgAnd here is the drum in place. It looks nice with the silver coating vs the rusty old drums. After filling the master cylinder with Dot 5 fluid I started bleeding the brakes. I had a couple of spots I had to tighten up some fittings better but that is to be expected when doing a complete new system. I think I will need to bleed a bit more air out eventually but am getting a pretty good hard pedal so happy with that since the front calipers had been sitting in a box for over 25 years. So at this point I have steering and brakes that work.
Brian

[Custer55]

Slow but sure I am getting closer to this car being drivable.
20250214_135806.jpgWith the rear fender lips flattened out I bolted them back on along with the rear tires to check clearances. I don't have the brake drums in place here but the steel flat I taped to the tire is the same thickness as the drum will be. The steel flat clears the inside lip of the fender at the top by 3/16" or so now so that should be fine since it is just at the widest part of the tire sidewall and not at the tread.
20250217_111508.jpgMy next project was to run brake lines and I ended up buying a 25 foot roll of 3/16" tubing so I made this tool to straighten the line with some old rollers I had laying around.
20250217_111527.jpgIt doesn't get the line perfectly straight but good enough for me. I looked at some tools online that are for one specific tubing size that looked like they would work better so at some point I may invest in one. The tool I built will work on 3/16" up to 3/8" tubing so still worth having though.
20250218_111501.jpgHere are the lines on the rear end. The tee fitting on the left is from the 57 Ford rear end so I used a 57 Ford rear brake hose as well.
20250220_120241.jpgThen I made a bracket to hold the other end of the brake hose to the frame. So as not to burn off any paint I drilled and tapped the frame and attached the bracket with 2 stainless 10-32 machine screws. 20250307_144042.jpg
Here is the line off the master to the rear brake hose with a 10 lb. residual valve and Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve. I ended up with a 3/16" spacer behind the prop valve as the adjusting knob was tight to the frame without it. I also added the slot in the frame for the rear line to go from one side of the frame to the other. 20250307_143857.jpg
Here the line continues to the rear brake hose. I bumped it up over the rear spring hanger bracket mount bolts so if that ever needs to be removed it can be done without disconnecting the brake line.
20250307_143848.jpgAnd all hooked up to the brake hose at the rear.
20250302_125057.jpgHere is the front line from the master cylinder to the front brakes with a 2 lb. residual valve for disc brakes. So I would only need one residual valve I added a tee fitting to the front brake hoses.
Also I drilled holes in the frame to run the hard lines through so I wouldn't have to cut anymore of the inner fenders away to clear the hose and hose brackets.
20250302_125255.jpgI still need to make a bracket to hold the end of the hose to the frame but you can see how the line comes out of the frame to attach to the hose.