Skip's 39 Ford PU. How it happened

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Your fan will work best mounted "tight" and centered on the core. You want it to blow directly through the rad, not from a distance.

If you think of it like water through a hose, it makes sense... press the hose tight to the rad and nearly every drop pushes through... pull the hose back and more area gets wet, but much less passes through.

"Baffling" from the grille to the rad will increase airflow when the vehicle is in motion... like a funnel, baffling forces incoming air to pass through the radiator, not around, above or below it.

This is cooling 101. Take the time and you won't be disappointed.



Good Luck in Vegas! I used to play league pool, but never made it to the big show! :(

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Thanks, Doc. For the advice, and the well wishes for Vegas. I have been playing APA league since 2011, and this is the first trip to the big games. Going for 8- and 9-ball. I am happy just to be able to say I played in Vegas. If we do well, that will be icing on the cake. Its going to be fun.

I have just the stuff to make baffling for the front of the radiator. Should be a piece of cake. Actually should have thought of it myself. I was the engine cooling system writer for Freightliner Service for years. Baffles don't look like much, but they have an important job.
 
I was just reading the good doctor's advice over again, and realized that, for a guy that used to write instructions for a living, I am not all that good at following them. [S I located my fan at the bottom center if the radiator, thinking that that is the hottest part, (WHICH IT IS NOT. The water comes in at the tip, stupid.) so the cooling is most needed there. Would it actually be more efficient further up on the radiator? (YES) Easy enough to move at this point. (FIRST THING IN THE MORNING) Truth be known, I thought it looked better at the bottom.

I got as far as under the dash with the wiring. Couldn't fine the 300 wire in my Speedway wiring harness. It's wrapped up in there somewhere. :D

Gimme a break, guys. I turned 70 yesterday. [cl[cl[cl

I was going to hunt for it today, but went to an estate sale instead. Scored this guy, with about 200-300 pounds of hardware in it. Some I'll never use, but some I surely will. Three guys were able to load it in my truck flat on its back. I got to unload it by myself. 2-inch Cargo straps and the engine hoist made the job easier. Still had to wrestle with it a bit. <whine> Now my back hurts. </whine:mad: Still need to clear a corner for it to live in the shop. Then I'll get back to the radiator and fan. Maybe tomorrow.

Vegas Update: Had a great time. The team got to the money in 8- & 9-ball, but not in it. Got knocked out of the running by some really great teams. If I had had some more free time, and a car, I would have visited Weld 'er Up to see the famous rats. Maybe next trip.
 

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The fan is relocated. Dead center where it belongs. Then I got sidetracked again. :D

The bins are mostly emptied.

Most of the content was unsorted greasy used bolts and nuts. Way over 100 pounds of it. Looks like the parts washer will get to do its job instead if sitting in the corner taking up space.

There was a bunch of new stuff, too. A couple thousand sheet metal screws of various kinds and sizes. All in nice little boxes of 50. A couple gallons of heavy duty screw type wood construction fasteners. And about 20 pounds of smaller wood screws in two sizes. Then there was a bunch of odds and ends specialty fasteners that I know very little about.
 
Slipping the birthday in the narrative don't make em go away...Happy Birthday Skip! I wish ya many more...
 
man what a score on that hardware! I am genuinely jealous.

Happy bird day too! hope its more purple martin than canada goose.
 
Don't ya just love a deal where you pick something up that you know you can use and then get anointed with all the stuff inside for the same price and when you get to go thru what all that came in it, you know you really made out.
I pulled up in front of a yard sale one day, kinda late in the day. Young gal with a young daughter running the thing. You could tell she was tiring of the ordeal. She had 2 big trash cans. Big ones with wheels. I was eyeballing them and browsing thru what was in them although you couldn't see much. It looked like somebody had just kept cramming stuff inside until they were full. I wanted the trash cans so I could pick stuff up and haul it cause I saw things I knew I'd buy. I asked the girl what she wanted for the cans. She said " give me $5 for each trash can and you can have all of what's in them" and I said "sold". She had been picking up all the crap left over from the sale and was getting ready to shut down for the day and had thrown whatever she could in those two cans. Told me her Dad had passed and this was what was left of his garage and she had no use for any of it. When I got home, jeez, tools galore! Had 17 C-clamps ranging from 3" all the way to 8". Hammers, drill bits, small tools of all kinds, and wrenches too. Emergency road kits, complete with flares. Some yard tools and long handled stuff....I made out big.
That bin of small parts is a real deal...
 
Don't ya just love a deal where you pick something up that you know you can use and then get anointed with all the stuff inside for the same price and when you get to go thru what all that came in it, you know you really made out.
I pulled up in front of a yard sale one day, kinda late in the day. Young gal with a young daughter running the thing. You could tell she was tiring of the ordeal. She had 2 big trash cans. Big ones with wheels. I was eyeballing them and browsing thru what was in them although you couldn't see much. It looked like somebody had just kept cramming stuff inside until they were full. I wanted the trash cans so I could pick stuff up and haul it cause I saw things I knew I'd buy. I asked the girl what she wanted for the cans. She said " give me $5 for each trash can and you can have all of what's in them" and I said "sold". She had been picking up all the crap left over from the sale and was getting ready to shut down for the day and had thrown whatever she could in those two cans. Told me her Dad had passed and this was what was left of his garage and she had no use for any of it. When I got home, jeez, tools galore! Had 17 C-clamps ranging from 3" all the way to 8". Hammers, drill bits, small tools of all kinds, and wrenches too. Emergency road kits, complete with flares. Some yard tools and long handled stuff....I made out big.
That bin of small parts is a real deal...
This particular estate sale was for a gentleman that owned several auto parts/speed shops in times past. He was a bit eccentric. Classic hoarder and couldn't pass up a deal at a yard sale. When he ran out of room to store his treasures, he had more building built. Two of my friends were hired to sort the trash form the good, and the estate has been selling off tools small and LARGE, as well as cars, trucks, motor homes, trailers, heavy equipment, and so on for over two years. I have scored a few other things in that time. Remember my "what is it" thread with the transmission adapters? They were going to the metal recyclers. It was overwhelming just to wander through the "compound". There was even a first year (2006?) red Charger SRT8 with 5400 miles on it that had been sitting in a garage since new. He didn't like driving it. Unfortunately, the lawyers have now put a Barrett-Jackson price tag on it. Silly me, I told then what it was. :eek:

I'll go over again, just to see if there is anything else I missed. :eek::D
 
This week I spent a day weatherizing stuff that has to stay outside, and a couple more days rearranging the shop so I could make a home for the bolt bin and some other parts shelving. Ended up with a bigger mess than I started with! But as of today, most of the stuff is put away, and I can walk all the way around the 39 without putting myself in danger. So now I can get back to work. I also ended up with about two more feet of floor space in the "car side" of the shop. I doubt that the shop will ever be neat and tidy like some of you kid's, but if it is clear enough to work in, I'm a happy camper.

Now to finish the radiator installation. See if I can get the carb to idle down a bit (or determine if it needs to be rebuilt/replaced). Then I should be back at the point where I can take it to the DMV. It will be a dry-weather ride, so I have some time. :D
 
I actually did something today. I installed the new bolts for the water pump pulley. Whooo hoooo!!! I had to buy shorter bolts as I deleted the flex fan for an electric.

Then I looked over the rest of the install for the new radiator and decided it will work fine. Now to take it apart and weld up a couple pieces. Then. I will be back where I was when the original radiator demonstrated that I had bought a piece of junk at the swap meet. :D

I also looked seriously at some wrought iron chairs that I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago. They have some serious potential as the foundation for some bucket seats for the next project.


Any progress is good.
 

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seats

those chairs just look horribly uncomfortable.

in my advanced age l tend to go for a bit of the cushy seats.

good to see ya back at it[cl

Later:cool:
 
27 years in the barn out here, haven't got it really clean yet...:D, but I'm trying. Sure makes working a little easier when it gets any better.
 
This week I spent a day weatherizing stuff that has to stay outside, and a couple more days rearranging the shop so I could make a home for the bolt bin and some other parts shelving. Ended up with a bigger mess than I started with!

as another guy who works by himself, this is always the problem, I spend as much time organizing and picking up as I do working. need some sons. haha.
 

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