Daniel

I know it's a lot of work. This may help you stay motivated on the wheel.

http://limeworksspeedshop.theshoppad.com/#/product/crestliner-steering-wheel-16-diameter-ivory-white-for-1951-ford

Yikes!

The link opens real slow.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Wow - I did not know that. Most may balk at that price but I can certainly see why the wheel is so valuable. This Bakelite material is pretty old.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

I saw a company at the Grand National Roadster Show that reproduces a lot of different old style steering wheels. They did have our wheels but as I recall they were in the $400 plus range. Might have been these guys:
http://www.restorationperformance.com/1963-impala-steering-wheel-red/


Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

I have been out of town for a few weekends but during some of the weeknights I have been able to get a few things done. I did take steering wheel and fill all of the cracks with epoxy as you can see. The cracks around the base, or inner circle where the spokes meet, were very bad and there was much to fill. I am beginning to see why NOS steering wheels are so pricey. I wonder when a company will start casting OEM Steering Wheels for our cars? I think the tri-5 shebbies have a few companies that offer them.





I am going to let the epoxy cure in the basement tomorrow, so I just hung it from the rafters.... along with the panel that holds down the hood. Would you believe it fit in my blast cabinet? After blasting I brushed it with a new metal prep and primer. I will scuff sand it later after it cures and plan to paint it gloss black.



On to those pesky vent tubes that let in the fresh air or heated air depending on which way you turn the flaps...



The one above is for the passenger side "magicaire" heating system that doubles up the passenger side vent tubes for fresh air, heated air, etc. Both sides actually need new rubber seals. I was planning to blast these pieces and repaint anyway so no big deal. However, drilling out the spot welds can be very tricky when the seal plates are attached the pivot inside the tube. (NOTE: another helpful car guy said that I could have pulled the pivots straight out of the door seals without drilling any spot welds and simply drilled out the plates on the vise - DUH... can anyone else speak to that?)

Anyway, I guess trying to make things hard on myself, the plan was to drill out all spot welds WHILE THE PLATES WERE STILL IN THE TUBE. How could one accomplish this feat of unneeded skill and expertise? well.... check out the 2x4 cut for the purpose of keeping the plate at a good angle of access.





That was all good and well for the passenger side tube. Since access could be gained from 4" hole on the side of the tube, I guess a monkey could have done that with one arm tied behind his back. Ok, so what to do with the other side?

I could only drill out a weld or two, and as you can see there were six a SIDE. So, I got the Dremel out and wallowed out the spot welds only on one side of the pivot. This made it easy to push the "opened" side past the pivot and then remove the plate assembly from the tube. I could then put the plates on a vise and drill out the spot welds pretty easily.







I also took the "insulated" sheet metal tubes that are made to connect the 90 degree elbows off the firewall to these tubes and cleaned them up pretty good. Another member, Mark T, gave some really good advice on using something called Armaflex and then a picture of some material to make a homemade cabin filter for each side.

We will keep you "posted"

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

Been a long time since my last post ---- my thread is starting to get buried on the forum!

The situation with the steering column bearing and bushing was resolve. A few friends here on the site gave some direction as to what bushing should be used, spring, placement, etc.



The second photo shows the bushing surrounding the shaft and resting in the bearing. This will keep the wobble out of it for sure. For some reason, this was missing in my parts lot I got some time ago when I bought a 56 Ford steering column, shifter, z bar, and manual transmission car parts. I think we have this sewn up now.

I did prime and prep the fake shifter shaft that I am going to install to replace the original since we put a Hurst Syncro Loc in the floor. I have only shifted on jackstands, but with the wheels and transmission moving we liked the way she shifted.... smooth.




Now to start putting the front end sheet metal back together. But first we needed to assess what we have and take inventory of the clips, hardware, and original rubber seals. I hung the inner fenders and deflectors up in the air and stripped, bagged, and tagged the parts that came off. The air deflectors took a trip to the bead blast cabinet (barely fit in there) and then we set about a plan to work on that nasty driver's side rot.

You can follow along in the photos to see what I did. It is certainly no professional repair, but I liked the results. I need to purchase some sheet metal forming tools - that would help lol.







I also had to weld a tab on the passenger side inner splash pan, just a photo here to double check weld penetration.

Next we were off to paint since the weather was so good...



And since we were feeling froggy today and looking for a challenge, I decided to attack the steering wheel with a dremel tool to open up the gaps - I also took 120 grit sandpaper to it (not shown). I am going to get some PC7 Epoxy and start working on it next week in the basement. I did a 55 wheel for someone on California about 5 years ago ---- yes, this is work.



Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

Got home tonight and what was this?



My order from Online Metals was already here! It is a steel tube 36 inches long, 3/4" OD and little bit less than 5/8" ID.



Ok, so what to do here? I need to get the ID to match up to the stud on the bottom of the steering column cup (5/8" OD exactly). I happen to have a 5/8" drill bit so into the vise goes the steel tube. I wanted to use my drill press but this tube needs to be at least 29" long so I could not find a way to use it. Back to the handheld drill...



I made a mark to let me know how far I needed to go into the steel tube to give me 5/8" ID to slide over the stud.



I watched the drill a good bit during the process to make sure I was getting deep enough, but the label on the tube told the story as the further I went the more burnt the label became - easy breezy! After the ID was widened a little bit the tube was slid over the stud to check fitment.



Next, we went to the lower portion where the shift levers were located and the end cap fits to the steering column tube. At that point we eyeballed the location to give us a cutting reference for length. No need to be so precise here - this is not a service part and will not function. This is solely for aesthetics.



Back to the vise and a cut off wheel and we were in business. The tube fits extremely well and when it is primed, prepped, and painted no one will tell the difference. It will resemble a factory part.





Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

Back in the garage today for a little while, but mostly to work on these...





I rebuild at least one Holley 94 or more each month, some passenger car variety, some of the truck variety (different air horn of course) - but I sell every one I build. I completely go through them, have a very good parts stash, and use an ethanol compliant kit for each one of them. The funds help the project along.

Oh, and I also found one of these to make myself a clock too. Now that my dad has one I thought I would make one too. I already have the clock for the headlight ring.





I did spend a few minutes removing the shifting shaft on the column. To maintain some sense of appearance I believe I am going to get a tubular steel shaft that is 5/8" ID and 3/4" OD to mount on the column.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=7765&step=4&showunits=inches&id=283&top_cat=197





I measured the post that is under the cup on the top of the column and it is 5/8" OD. It looks like my plan will work and I can just prime and paint one up to match (I need to touch up the column anyway since I boogered it up a little bit when I put it in the first time.

I took a photo of the top of the column and the cup. There is a bearing at the top of the tube. At first I thought it was for the steering shaft but the shaft does not even come close to the diameter of the opening. Am I missing a piece or something? I am going to have to check my diagrams and take a look see. The parts all 56 passenger car pieces, column tube, shaft, steering wheel, etc. One thing I just thought about... is there a spring between the bearing up there and steering wheel?




Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

Here is a photo or two of the boot I picked up that will cover the shifter and the hole. It is a whole lot larger than I want it to be, but with the footprint of the shifter mechanism coming up through the floorpan I really have no choice here.



I plan to install Dynamat, or something similar, under the carpet so I guess these small sheet metal screws that came with the boot and chrome retainer are not going to work... should be easy to find a few. I am taking note also that I will have to be very careful not to harm the wiring harness sitting on the trans tunnel when I drill the holes for the boot later on.

Hopefully I can get in the garage tomorrow

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

The installation of the shifter took quite some time. Checking clearances, attaching the lever, setting the tilt, etc. But this is what I ended up with concerning the amount of "throw" from the shifter...

First                                                                                                                  Second
     

Third                                                                                                                  Reverse
        

And Neutral...



So now that I had all of that squared away it was time to install the rods that attach the shifter to the Hurst levers on the pivots on the side cover. The First/Reverse rod installed without too much issue - no problems there. But, check out the interference on the Second/Third gear rod -



So..... out it came and put into the vise to be "modified"



Now we're cooking!



By the time I got done with all of this it was too dark outside and this 55 has no headlights so I could not swap the gears to see how we're doing in that regard. I need to set the stops anyway.

The hole I made for this thing is approximately 5.5" by 4.5" and it is on that weird angle where the shift lever will be oriented far to the right and up the tunnel. Time to go shopping for something sizeable.

Glad it's in and I am pleased with the results so far. I did sit down in the seat several times and swapped through the gears to make sure there was no binding, etc. At first I thought the shifter might be too close to the side of the driver but I think I am going to like where it is oriented and the height of the shift lever is near perfect.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

You know those times when you hear someone say, "This won't take long, only an hour or two?" and then you end up spending most of your day tackling a job that throws every problem in the book at you? Your situation defies the odds and unlike the average completion time for the project you end up adjusting, tweaking, cutting, drilling, adjusting some more, assembling, installing, re-installing, etc, etc, etc. To top it all off I even lost about 7 important pictures from my crazy camera that somehow "corrupted" photos I took!

I lost track at the amount of time I spent under the car today but the end result was extremely SATISFYING!

We will start from the beginning.



Since the old transmission on the bench was an excellent means of mocking up all of the parts for the Hurst Syncro Loc floor shifter, it was time to remove the stock Ford shifter rods and install the assembly. Easy breezy right?

After removing the original shifter arms and levers on the side of the case I installed the Hurst levers as pictured here:



That part of course was pretty easy and went well. I made sure they were on the correct pivot and oriented correctly. Next, time to remove the two upper bolts on the case and install the main bracket that looks like this...



That was a little more difficult than I first expected - there is very little area above the transmission tunnel and your hands get awfully big under there when you are trying to ratchet on things and get everything connected!





The passenger side attached pretty quickly but the driver's side was a bear - that is the side where all of the shifting, hardware, and speedometer cable go. I had to make some adjustments but as you can see at least the overdrive lockout lever still moves freely. Glad I got that one corrected on the bench!

Next came this bracket...



It attaches up front at the top bolt that secures the solenoid to the transmission...



The two holes at the rear of this plate line up with the main bracket and both holes are the attachment points for the shifter itself. This part went well - no hangups.

Now we come to the shifter. The first thing I did was to put the neutral rod in place (white, L-shaped rod in the photo below)



This white rod needs to be in place when you are lining up your shifting rods that go from the shifter to the transmission levers at the side cover. Also, keeping the rod in place while adjusting the TILT of the shifter (towards the dash or towards the front seat) is an added bonus.

Next comes the hack job on the floor pan. The idea is that the shifter needs to be installed on the bracket, then using a punch mark the center of the hole you need to cut so that the shifter arm can be connected through the floor right? WRONG - not with this setup. The clearance is so small that the Syncro Loc could not even be attached to the bracketry.

Great....

What to do? I decided to orient myself from above by drilling two holes. One at the pivot of the shifter (center line of shifter) and one immediately above the second hole on the bracketry (this is where the slot is located on the Syncro Loc). This took forever, but I wanted to be sure I cut out NO MORE THAN WAS NECESSARY to install the shifter. Check out the picture below...



:p Those are all of my cuts. I started with the large rectangle you see, but each time I kept finding out that something else interfered, one of the stop bolts got in the way, etc. Crazy stuff I know, but I ended up with what I think is the smallest footprint for the shifter going through the floor pan.



more in the next post

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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