1955 Ranch Wagon Cruiser

Well since I haven't been on here much over the past few months, I just found this thread last week. So I sat for hours and got caught up. Of course, I've already seen a lot of it, so there's not much to say until you get more work done. Get to work![

The LS engine in a Ford always makes me think of this guy's 1982 Fairmont sedan. http://www.lsxtv.com/features/car-f...att-happels-turbo-4-8l-swapped-ford-fairmont/

Maybe you should buy a turbo.

8literbeater said:

Well since I haven't been on here much over the past few months, I just found this thread last week. So I sat for hours and got caught up. Of course, I've already seen a lot of it, so there's not much to say until you get more work done. Get to work![

The LS engine in a Ford always makes me think of this guy's 1982 Fairmont sedan. http://www.lsxtv.com/features/car-f...att-happels-turbo-4-8l-swapped-ford-fairmont/

Maybe you should buy a turbo.

Click to expand...

Says the guys who just sent his back to get the excessive oil consumption fixed.

Radiator hoses

Been working this week, haven't done much car building.

Got the Swivel water neck from S&P. Looks great - I guess I don't want to know where it was made. It's polished - I might need to glass bead it...

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It fits and the hose I had fits
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Here's a fuzzy pic of the upper hose with the fitting for the steam vent and the petcock.
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OK I've been trying not to show my ignorance but I can't stand it anymore....
What the heck do you need a steam vent and petcock in the upper radiator hose for. Please enlighten me. I've never had one and if I need one to keep up with the Joneses I want one.

Looks like good progress. That working gets in the way of playing you should quit that nonsense. Then again so does not having any money to spare for building another project.

I-R-POPS said:

OK I've been trying not to show my ignorance but I can't stand it anymore....
What the heck do you need a steam vent and petcock in the upper radiator hose for. Please enlighten me. I've never had one and if I need one to keep up with the Joneses I want one.

Looks like good progress. That working gets in the way of playing you should quit that nonsense. Then again so does not having any money to spare for building another project.

Click to expand...

Work does annoy me, but when I translate it into more car parts it gets tolerable.

The petcock might not needed on this, but when the hose is higher than the radiator water neck, air can get trapped in the highest part of the hose. Had that happen on the F2stang and couldn't get it to cool until I added the petcock and bled the air out of the hose. Easy to do it now; a pain later.

The LS engines don't have coolant going through the intake so there is a high spot in the heads where steam and air can collect. GM connects those 2 places and T's a hose into the highest point on the radiator. LS radiators have a port for that steam vent. My radiator didn't have that. The things I have read say you can drill and tap the water pump or weld a bung on the radiator or do what I did. In the photo you can see the steam line just behind the water pump. The end that connects to the hose has a little duct tape on it.

And now I am fully schooled on the need and can completely understand the
situation. Thanks! It makes sense.
I don't guess I need one since me or the Joneses I hang around with don't
have that situation.
Never to old to learn something.
Stay after it.

I'm not gonna let you get away with going a week without an update.

Just random stuff

I didn't do anything very interesting. Partly because I had to do some paying work. Gate latches and cane bolts help pay the bills.

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I got the shifter handle I made for the F2stang (Doug is using the stock Mustang shifter) and forged it longer and added a bend. It maybe a bit short, but it's good enough for now.
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About 3 more hours with the hammer and dolly and the wing is close. Looks good, but doesn't feel perfect.

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It turns out this big tube provides the strength for the inner fender. I found this sway bar in my asset pile. I'll need to bend it in about 1" one each side, but it should work pretty well. I'm waiting for the bushings and end links.

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I'm putting the front suspension together, so I can get it back on the ground.

Springs

I made these to hold the front suspension at ride height. I ordered the springs based on the original weight, but I'll probably have to get lighter ones. The engine and trans is around 200 pounds lighter than the original; the radiator and seats are lighter.

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AC vents - dumb idea

I thought it would be cool to use bezels that match the gauges for the AC vents. They are 4" which is the size of the holes in the dash. However, there aren't any aftermarket louvers that are that big. Found some Ford F 150 vents that are 3 5/8". Then could not find any aluminum or plastic tube that would fit the inside and outside dimensions. Doug had some 4 1/2 od 3 id steel. I spent nearly 20 hours watching the lathe do this. I needed to end up with 4.128 -20 threads for the bezel. with a 3.680 id.

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The thinner "nut" fits the smaller diameter threads and holds the whole thing in the dash.

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Will look something like this when it's done.

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Still not done - Can't make a 40 hour project over every detail, especially insignificant details.

that is way cool

Sway bar

I received the bushings and end links and got the sway bar installed. I don't know where this sway bar come from or what it fit but it was an almost perfect fit. It is the same diameter as my neighbor's (Gary) '40 with a Mustang II front suspension. His works great and I think we're going to be about the same weight. If not, it will be easy the change out.

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On the ground

My neighbor lent me some horses that he used to lift the body on his '40. They are made for a 2 x 6 to bolt in. I wasn't thrilled with buying wood when I have tons of iron around. So after much deliberation I dug into my supply of scrap U Haul axles and welded one in.

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Picked the front up with the fork lift and got it off the platens.

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Chained up the platens and dragged them out. The rear is on jack stands with 4 x 4 cribbing under them to get the height.
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A stressful half hour later and it's on the ground.

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Next up, mount the gas tank and fill in this hole.

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This is a cool build. Thanks for sharing.

Gas tank

Back tracking a few months .... I pulled the gas tank and took it to a radiator shop that boils out tanks. He confirmed that it was DOA. It actually had rusted through from the top as well as the bottom. There are several sources for 1955 Ford gas tanks, but they all say "except station wagon". I found one for a station wagon for $600.
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So I built one. All the sources indicate that an in-tank pump is the way to go. A return line is needed. Some baffles to keep the fuel at the inlet.

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I put a 5/8" radius on the corners with this. A wooden slapper smoothed it up.

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Gas tank

More construction photos

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This is the inside of the lid.

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After a long search I found a Walbro 255 in tank pump for $70 from Amazon. I made this plate from stainless to hold the pump, return line and provide terminals for the wiring.

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That is one sweet tank, I'm really liking this build!

Gas tank install

For some reason, I made the mounting of the tank about as difficult as possible. I remade the top straps twice and modified the second ones once and also hd to mod the lower straps. But it's in. There is 1/4" neoprene between the straps and the tank.

The goal was to mount the tank so I could make sure the "trunk" floor would clear the tank.

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I didn't have the screws to lock down the sending unit or the fuel pump plate, but that's where they go.

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Turns out I didn't have a big enough piece of metal the fill the hole, so I just marked the hole and I'll fill it after I get the body off.

That tank looks great.
Don't forget to include a trap door in the bottom of the trunk, so you can change that fuel pump or sending unit without dropping the tank. Or, if you don't want to do that, at least put a drain hole in the tank, so you don't have to drop a tank with 100+ pounds of gas in it. Gas is 6 pounds per gallon.

The tank does have a drain. And I am planning on an access panel in the floor. I really don't trust in-tank fuel pumps even though all the modern stuff uses them. I know I'm going to have that change that sucker more than once.