Not too much time spent in the garage lately, I have been traveling out more than I have been at home. I did get a chance to get in to things a little bit tonight before I head out to Easthampton, Massachusetts tomorrow (anyone live out that way? )

It shouldn't surprise me but I keep finding bits and pieces of sheet metal, brackets, etc that need to be welded up. Take for instance the gravel pan here. I had forgotten that the side piece pictured had just come right off with the passenger side fender. It looked to be spot-welded to the pan, but as you can see when I started it needed to be "straightened up".





I ended up fitting it several times and doing some hammer work to get it nice and lined up. After that I drilled some small holes to the small apron piece and then put the vise grips on to keep it tight and in place.







I don't think it is going to come apart any time soon. I did make sure to clean up as much of the surface rust as possible on both parts to give me a clean weld.

Next up was some blasting work in the cabinet on small brackets and the aprons that go over the top of the upper control arms.





Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Got around to installing what Ford called the "anti squeak seal" on the inner fenders. I used the original holes for the staples and a little bit of sealant where I thought it was needed. Only had enough to do one side. I guess when I ordered this stuff last year I obviously did not read very well - needed two "kits" to get one car completed.





It has been so hot out here lately I decided to work on the fenders in the basement this evening. They both needed to have all of the hardware and stainless removed. I was amazed to find the original clips had held the SS to the fender so tightly. When I began removing the nuts on the under side they began disintegrating - this is about 1/3 of the dust. The driver's side fender was much worse than the passenger side concerning surface rust. You can really see the rust after the SS trim was removed... and of course the original Sea Sprite Green and Snowshoe White.







I feel embarrassed to say that I cannot make out completely what the original shape of the clips actually is supposed to be. I do have some idea. It looks as though there are 10 a side of course, but the two at the very front had a very different shape/size to them. I got out a Restoration Specialties Catalog and looked at clip number 2517 - that looks like the original 8 one each side, but I have no idea about the other two. Anybody have any ideas? Or is there a better clip somewhere?

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

A little word about hardware. I had broken quite a few of the old pieces of hardware, be it a J nut for the fenders, a nut/bolt combo that I had to gorilla in two to remove it, etc.

I decided to purchase a kit that was advertised as being all of the nuts and bolts you need for the front end sheet metal....



Do not be confused here. Every little bolt, washer, nut, etc, came in that box on the left AND WAS NOT BAGGED. The separation was done by yours truly, and alas we found that pieces are missing. First up:



If you know your fenders, the above picture is the hardware needed to bolt the rear of the fender at the middle THROUGH THE BODY and access the nut by removing the kick panel. Note - we have enough to do one fender... thankfully I saved everything so I am sure I have what I need, just have to dig it out.

Next up... this little photo:



When bolting the air dams to the U support of the radiator, I discovered that there were none of the shorter bolts included in the kit. All were the same size, and too long for the U support (bottom'd out pretty easily with room to spare at the head). YOU WILL NEED the smaller bolts I have pictured - these are half of them.

Kits may save time because you don't have to sit and measure, count, inventory every little piece you need, but when the kit does not meet your needs... well, that ain't fun.

Said kit ain't cheap either.

Ok, rant over. That was basically the worst of it today with the installation.



Note the photo immediately above. The 6 longer J nuts are in the picture being shown against the shorter size of most of the J nuts that go on your front end (the 5/16" diameter J nuts anyway, you do have some smaller 1/4" elsewhere) well, anyway they go on the inner fender at these locations, 3 a side:



Here are some photos of my makeshift battery tray, battery, and starter solenoid removed and both sides of the inner fenders and air dams/tubes installed!





Next up is to get the seals on both sides installed (if your eyes are pretty good you may have noticed in the photos that these are not yet attached) rear splash guards installed, work on the gravel pan and get it ready to install, ready the bumper brackets, and then grab the fenders to see what we've got! :eek:

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Got a few things done this weekend after being out of state for a whole week...

First plan was to make gaskets for the air tubes and vents. You can take a look at the photos - I had some neoprene stock lying around and a sheet of 1/8" rubber matting from a Canadian supplier, eh?

The holes were punched out with an old socket - seemed to work well and we saved a little dough on the "manufacturing" this weekend.





I used the sealer pictured above to seal all of the gaskets at the air tubes, but i used only the large gaskets themselves at the screen/air dam position.

I also began installing the rubber grommets for the wiring harness to come soon. The kit pictured below is extremely handy for your firewall, fenders, and other sheet metal holes where you will have wiring pass through. With an electric fuel pump, electric fan, A/C to come in a year or two, etc, there will be plenty of extras what with relays and all the like. I have a Rebel Wiring Harness that I will use on this car for more circuits as needed.



Back to the inner fender/air dam assemblies. Basically I decided to assemble the air dam, vent tube, air deflectors (small tubes that direct the flow of air), and the inner fender while all parts hung from my paint rack. Before I could get to hardware though the rubber splash guards had to be installed - you know the ones - they have those pesky staples that hold them in place. I had saved my old guards and referenced the original holes from the staples, punching small holes with an awl so that I could push a staple through. After doing that, the holes were lined up perfectly (well, as perfectly as the factory had done so!) and the staples were pushed through their original holes and then hammered down on the other side while a vise grip kept it tight. I am HAPPY with the installation and they are holding tightly.









More in the next post... don't want to exceed any limits on pictures and what have you

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Not too much to post today, but with this most recent paint job on the inner fenders AND the recent delivery of brand new front end sheet metal hardware it is just about time to start putting it all back together up front.







Any tips on getting this front end back together? One question I had was about the large pad underneath the "U" shaped radiator support. When do I tighten that one down? that pad is pretty thick as new, but it was as flat as a pancake when I removed it.

I assume everything begins in the reverse order of how it was all removed. Begin with the radiator support, attach both air dams and then attach both fenders?

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

I got into the garage early this morning, cleaned it out, washed the car with dish detergent as well as I could (before tackling this body work), and took the 55 out on the street in front of the house a few hundred yards or so - it is has been a while since she moved out of the garage (not since I installed the Hurst shifter). The floor shifter works like a new one and I was reminded that the 292 with goodies has a lot of get up and go!





The fellas at the print shop where our church prints millions of Bibles a year gave me some leftovers of an industrial roll of high grade paper - this is excellent masking material! I mounted it above the workbench on 2x10's with conduit running through the middle to act as an axle. The weight of the roll is a little over 50 lbs. Probably more paper than I will use, but it's there and it is 36" wide.



On to the grinding when I get back next week!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

The dog days of summer...

I did strip the quarter panel of the old white paint and spray primer on it to do a test of appearance, mil thickness of the paint, etc. I am very happy with what I am seeing although i did reduce the topcoat a tick too much.






The test square of white paint looks yellow in the photo but it doesn't look that way in person. It is the Wimbledon White Ford paint code from the 60s Mustangs, kind of an off white I guess. The garage is going to be a mess for a while! And the garage is the way the entire family enters/exits the house each day. I think I am going to try to pull the car out side when I do the stripping, paint and block sand inside, etc. We will see how that works with momma!

Last night I did reinstall the steering column and dummy shaft - the shifter is on the floor but I didn't want a hole there where the old column shift was at and I didn't want to leave it on there either.



First, I laid out all of the column parts and the two seals that need to go on the column before you place it on the steering gear assembly. I used some masking tape to keep from scuffing things up on the new paint, but I wasn't perfect I can tell you that. Note the orientation of the large rubber seal - it needs to be oriented correctly. The photo is showing the FIREWALL side of the seal. Obviously I will need to cut a hole for the clutch release rod - We will wait until it all mounted up to do that but it should be pretty straightforward.





Don't forget that felt oil baffle that goes inside the steering column. Here it is pictured up top but it needs to go down to the bottom where you will tighten the tube to the steering gear.



Before installing the steering wheel, make sure you place the white plastic bushing around the steering shaft - this bushing goes rests between the shaft and that bearing in the cup of the column tube. If you look closely in the photo above where the spring is shown in the cup you will find that small bushing in place. Here is the part number...



One last item to mention... After working on that steering wheel for a loooooooong time would you believe it fell off of the paint rack? TWICE! It cracked again and of course is dinged up. I hate to say it but for now since I need to move the car in and out and start getting this body work done I just gave up and installed it. It looks good in the photo - but trust me - IT AIN'T :mad:

I will locate another one and have it ready for after the car is repainted.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Thanks for the tip...I do move the head of the sanding disk around quite a bit so as not to build up too much heat in one place. The grit is 80 also.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Be careful. The heat from the disk sanding can buckle panels and you will find yourself filling areas that may have been straight before. I prefer a composite disk that is an open plastic structure with an abrasive in it. The disk I am talking about removes the paint but does not score the steel surface easily, preserving the factory metal. Which ever disk is used you should take care not to heat it or it will distort.

More photos... it did not take too long to get this done, but boy the mess! It looks like I am going to have to start pulling the car outside and take care of this mess in the driveway where I can hose down the dust. The surface on the sheet metal continues to look pretty good. Why the white tutone when "crow's feet" after all those years I am not sure.

     

Got to put the column and steering wheel back on first!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com