Those alternators can be clocked.  Loosen the four screws, separate the case just enough that it turns, and spin it to the desired location, tighten the four screws.
If you separate the case too much, the brushes fall off, then you have to pull it all the way apart to reinstall those.


Lawrenceville, GA

Thanks Charlie, I was not aware of that. I think I am going to be ok and I do like where the plug will be positioned.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

On with the Ford Follies!

Last night it was time to get the wiring harness going. If the weather is nice I try to get body work and paint completed. If it's raining then on with the things we can get done in the garage.

What we have here is a RebelWire brand aftermarket harness.





I chose RebelWire after looking at reviews, reading other forums, and checking out what they had available. I did not want to go with an original harness - too expensive and there would not be fuse panel, not enough circuits for what we are adding here, etc. RebelWire is made in the USA from what I am told, and from what I have read the customers who write on forums like this one appreciate the customer service with RebelWire in case there are any problems. Each wire is laid out with its intended use/circuit labeled every 6" along the insulation. The kit comes with the main loom and panel, is zip tied (color coordinated in that regard) per bundled use, a separate bag for the alternator and other accessories, and of course instructions. There are no terminals with the kit.

Ok so first up was to choose a location for that fuse panel. You can see in the photo below where I chose to place the panel. It seemed reasonable enough and will not be too hard to read/replace fuses when needed. The only hitch was that ALL wires exited to the right of the loom - headed straight for the main pedal bracket! (more on that later).



What a mess of wires coming out of that small panel!

Time to take a break and get a Ford Follies story. Take a look at this photo and guess what happened...



Yep, dufus me - while drilling the third hole to mount the panel to the firewall my drill bit came loose from the keyless chuck in my cordless drill! :mad: Nice. I will have to say that while I like the location of the fuse panel it was a joke with all of the contortions and octopus-like positions I had to be in to secure everything under there. A real show. Me and the 55 playing a round of "Twister" :eek: Thankfully this is not a reality TV show but I would bet people would pay money to see the unplanned goofs and what have you!

Take a look at the following photo to see how I solved the issue of the wires exiting to the right...



With that small piece of hardware, the wires were brought up and back to the left - especially those wires going to the ignition and headlight switches. Trust me, there was plenty of wire in there to reach to the steering wheel if needed, and the loom that ran to the steering wheel could reach the front seat easily.

So what was it like at the firewall in the engine bay? Could we use the original rubber grommet and keep things pretty clean looking?



I had my doubts - there were a lot of wires coming out of there!



So, I started with one run of the loom and that fit pretty well. I looked at the other and noticed that there were splices to run through where the end of the run had two wires but that same line had one wire at the firewall. This.just.might.work.



And so it did! Nice and tight too so that it held pretty easily at the firewall.

But now look at this mess!



Although it looks bad I really don't think there is going to be too much problem here. The instructions read pretty well and the lines are all marked every 6".



This afternoon was very nice outside so I finished removing all of the paint (and a little rust) from the hood outside, and I cleaned up the shop for some friends coming over later on this week. (Needed to put new gloves in the blast cabinet and a new lens as well)

More Ford Follies coming soon...

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

As promised, the saga continues:

With the good weather yesterday I spent some time outside removing all of the paint (and a little rust) from the hood. I have been waiting on the trunk lid for it's next coat of primer/surfacer just so I can get the guns out and paint at the same time since prep and cleanup takes a little bit to do. I did some sandblasting where needed, used some paint stripper, and then a plastic wheel that is made for removing paint.




There were some small holes up under the lip, but there was not enough a problem to warrant breaking out a patch panel or what have you. The hood does has a few small dings here and there that I will have to smooth out. Some of the work I have already done with hammer and dolly - I didn't see much now but I am sure that once a guide coat goes down things will "pop up"!

Towards evening I decided to stay in the garage. I don't know about you fellas, but the garage is like a place of peace and satisfaction to me. Nice to get in there, turn some wrenches, get a few things done, organize parts and plans, etc. My attention turned to the blast cabinet again...it was already time to replace the lens. I guess I use that thing quite regularly to blast small parts and what have you. Hardware is especially easy to save and very quick to turn around.

Would you believe I have owned this thing for 10 years and have never replaced the gloves? Check out these photos though:



I had bought new gloves at the Carlisle, PA, swap meet a couple years ago actually (man, has it been that long since I have been out there? ) So, I quickly remembered where I had put them and replaced them without much fanfare. The SkatBlast cabinet I have is made pretty well and the accessories I got with the cabinet itself have held up well. Of course I use quite a bit, and I have gone through a lot of media and several of the replacement lens. Nothing beats tearing off the old foggy lens, removing all of the old goo from the plexiglass, giving it all a good cleaning, and then installing a new lens!



After the move from a 40x24 shop I have a new appreciation for many of us that do not have much room. I am in a 19x18 garage that holds everything - tools, the car, parts, refrigerator, kids stuff, lawn equipment, etc. That may be larger than what some of you guys on the forum may have, I don't know. But man, trying to navigate the garage with body parts, stands, tools, other parts, benches, cabinets, and the like - just trying to keep a car door open can be chore!

If any of you have space-saving tips or photos that show what you've got, let me know by all means.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

Didn't get too much done today, tomorrow is Easter and I spent most of the day running around with the wife and kids - including the "Crepe Cafe", antique stores, TJ Maxx, etc. How we missed Walmart I don't know!

Looking forward to church tomorrow with all the kiddos and the wife. We are supposed to have some staff members over for Easter dinner - one of them quipped, "Will we get to see the car?" So I did a little cleanup today too.

The hood was primed, and what will probably be the final two coats of primer surfacer were shot onto the trunk. It gets better with each session. I had to hang the hood in an interesting way on my panel cart so that I could paint both sides in one session.







When I checked the mail today, what was this in the mailbox?



Now what can this be?



Oh yes, an NOS find! A beautiful hood crown bezel with plastic insert... very nice - check it out.



After looking at those pictures it seems like the color is off, but I assure you it is not. I guess the flash on the camera changes the color hue at different angles.

At any rate, have a Happy Easter tomorrow!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

Why I get involved in little projects like this, I don't know. Maybe it is the satisfaction of fabricating something small that will be entirely functional and serve a purpose, maybe it's the OCD part of me that just can't let things rest, who knows? :confused:

Take tonight's overkill for instance. Not wanting to have the heater hoses touch the alternator as they run back from both the intake manifold and the water pump caused me to come up with a simple way to make a bracket from pieces of scrap I had lying around. 1/8" flat stock and some 18 gauge sheet scrap and way we go!



First up was to trim the flat stock:





I drilled a 15/32" hole with the press, planning to make a slot that the bolt that tightens the alternator could use to keep the bracket in place. I also found a stainless bowl about the circumference of the alternator to give me the arc I wanted.



(you can tell I measured this a few times to see what angle/distance on the arc I liked best off the alternator - crazy how much changing the attachment point of the upright to the sheet metal changed the angle of attack for the heater hose bracket I was fabbing up.)

Next was to get a good rectangular shape out of that sheet metal piece that would essentially be rail for the hoses to ride on. About 6.5 by 4 or so...



Then we judiciously fitted the sheet metal to the arc at the top of the upright (1/8" flat stock).



and got them both cleaned up and ready for welding by using a magnet to give us a 90 degree angle.



(the straight edge was used to check our distance on either side of the bracket, we didn't want to weld anything up without the two pieces being as square as we could get them.)



A couple of tacks and then on the backside.



We checked our welds and we had good penetration. I decided not to go too crazy since this was sheet metal and very easy to blow through.



cleaned up the welds...



and then into the blast cabinet...



What welds? lol Not quite perfect but good enough for what we are doing here.

And here is the fitment before painting the bracket -



If you know the way that the stock heater hoses run, they take this exact path as they head to the inner fender on the passenger side just aft of the battery. There is a special FoMoCo bracket that keeps the hoses resting on the fender - I can only assume that this is to keep them from flopping around.

I have more photos of the trunk and the hood but it is pretty boring stuff, just block sanding, more block sanding, and a little more block sanding! Although, the trunk is about ready for color!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

NIce work.  I would find a way to attach that shield using at least 2 mounting points.  The hoses will lay on it in a way that the vibration and very slight force applied could loosen the bolt.


Lawrenceville, GA

"Why I get involved in little projects like this, I don't know. Maybe it is the satisfaction of fabricating something small that will be entirely functional and serve a purpose, maybe it's the OCD part of me that just can't let things rest, who knows? :confused:"

It's called Anal Retentive Disorder. ( Describes a person who pays such attention to detail that it becomes an obsession and may be an annoyance to others, potentially to the detriment of the anal-retentive person.)
Good luck with that!


"FREE SAMPLE"

Not a bad idea. Let me see what can happen here beyond a lock washer!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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

Okay, Okay, laugh out loud!!! You are not the only person who has ever said that to me.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

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