50s Ford F1 Build

[Dirtyrat]

wish I had your motivation.....

If you narrow your number of projects, more will get done!
I'm a man on a mission, I want to enjoy this truck this summer...

Anyhow, looks like I need about a 2" offset in the drag link to clear the tire by about 3/8" at full lock which gives me a little wiggle room if I need to adjust the position of the pitman arm on the steering box to center it up... (The drag link shown is for mock up only)

New drag link is in, I'll probably be cutting and bending it tomorrow with a little help from the blue wrench to get the solid 3/4" shaft to bend...

Filled in some of the dash tonight as well, still have some metal finishing and more formed areas to make but its getting there...

On to pics...

 

[Torchie]

Looking good DR.
You are carrying the F-series banner forward here on RRR.
Not much progress on our F's from Northern Michigan and points north...
Torchie.

 

[Old Iron]

"If you narrow your number of projects, more will get done!"
Truer words were never spoken
Coming along real nice DR [P

 

[Dirtyrat]

Thanks guys, tonight we bent the steering drag link, even with the torch man that 3/4" diameter solid rod is tough to bend smoothly, I had a 4ft tube on it and still had to put quite a bit of effort to bend it... we did get the offset and tire clearance is good.

I'm going to tack weld some of it together without the DOM tubing and do a final fitment before adding the DOM, and I'll snap some pics when I do that tomorrow.

I plan on welding in a plate for a little more strength along the bends on the back side.

Anyhow, I ordered some DOM tubing to strengthen the areas where I splice in an extra 9.5" of 3/4 diameter solid rod... The DOM I bought is 1"OD and .760ID, should work for the extra safety factor on a butt welded shaft...

 

[CORPO]

Lifes been busy.. havent been following to closely latly... shame on me.. anyway just wanted to say its looking good!

 

[MercuryMac]

You guys were talking about spreading yourself too thin at times. I am your guinea pig as I have broadened my horizons, widened my scope, multiplied my options, and taken on three extra projects. It leaves the poor old original project sleeping. Nothing gets done on it. It's not always cool but sometimes life deals you weird cards, so you play them.
Dirtyrat, you're doing fine.

 

[gold03]

Sheesh

Truck looks great Dr. You are definitely a man on a mission!

 

[Dirtyrat]

Something is bothering me about the steering now, with the wheels centered, and the travel set in the middle of the steering box, the steering lock distances from right to left are different... (Lock meaning when the caliper would hit the axle)

I assume because of the steering geometry there is a difference, it appears I need to change the length of the steering shaft to shorten it and move the pitman arm off center of the travel of the steering box to make it even, and by doing so I will need steering stops as the steering box has more travel than the axle will allow before interference...

Well, I guess either way I have a little time before the DOM tubing shows up to sort it out...

 

[Torchie]

Sounds like a case of change one thing. Change everything.
Keep at it DR.
If it was easy any one could do it.
Torchie.

 

[CORPO]

Not sure on the fords... But my axle has steering stops that bolt on with the tapered pin that holds the king pin in place... Perhaps urs are missing???

 

[CORPO]

Heres what my stops looked like

 

[Dirtyrat]

Not sure on the fords... But my axle has steering stops that bolt on with the tapered pin that holds the king pin in place... Perhaps urs are missing???

The original stops were the nuts on the back of the bolts that hold in the tapered studs for the king pins.With the brake upgrade they are not usable as far as I can tell. I'll be making something to solve it once I get the centering of the travel sorted out...

I'll probably just do it at the pitman arm if I cant fit anything on the axle...

 

[Dirtyrat]

Well, in my mind I have not sorted out why the steering travel is different from left to right when starting in the middle of the steering box travel, but I did sort out that it really does not matter, steering stops are required so I'm happy with a parallel drag link and a perpendicular pitman arm when driving straight ahead.

Tonight is a night off, tomorrow is working on the daily driver day...

 

[Dirtyrat]

Daily driver should be good to go now, replaced both 1/2 shafts and I do not seem to have any wobble now... Was nice to see the truck out in the driveway with brakes, temporary steering and the ability to put it in park and have it sit there without a block of wood holding it in place.

I did have to cover it up because its snowing out, but shes back in the garage now...

I imagine I will do some work on it tomorrow.

 

[Torchie]

What!! No pics

 

[Dirtyrat]

What!! No pics

Heh, next time I have it outside I'll get some pics... the rear body was not on it anyhow so just looks like a bobber truck really without it...

Unless of course you meant the daily driver which no one would care to look at anyhow

Hopefully I'll have some pics of some sort of progress today but I'm not sure what I will work on, if anything...

 

[Dirtyrat]

Little bit of progress tonight, mostly grinding/smoothing welds.
Also worked on welding in some substantial structural pieces to the door jam areas to make sure the jam is strong enough... Thats about it for tonight... more tomorrow.

Thursday I plan on getting a battery, I have some interesting(at least in my mind) plans for putting the battery behind the dash (boxed in and sealed from the cab) and just having holes in the firewall for the side post terminals...

 

[I-R-POPS]

Space for everything can get tight and you have to put where it will fit.
Sounds like a good plan.

 

[MercuryMac]

Dirtyrat your creativity is going to show with this battery box. I, too, hid my battery in the cab in an air tight compartment. Well not quite air tight, as I put a 3/8" tube from the top of the battery to outside the cab, to vent any unwanted battery acid steam because of over charging. I breathed boiling battery steam for three long hour days, years ago, before I figured out what that funny smell was. That incident has made me slightly paranoid in this one area.
Keep on tinkering.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Space for everything can get tight and you have to put where it will fit.
Sounds like a good plan.

Agreed, there is not much room for a regular battery where I want to put it.

Dirtyrat your creativity is going to show with this battery box. I, too, hid my battery in the cab in an air tight compartment. Well not quite air tight, as I put a 3/8" tube from the top of the battery to outside the cab, to vent any unwanted battery acid steam because of over charging. I breathed boiling battery steam for three long hour days, years ago, before I figured out what that funny smell was. That incident has made me slightly paranoid in this one area.
Keep on tinkering.

Yes, I plan on sealing the box as best I can, as well as a physical vent to keep any vapors outside the cab.