50s Ford F1 Build

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Bet yours got more looks than the shiny ones parked next to it! That's a good enough reason for an award right there - crowd attraction!

Way to go!

John L.
 
Did you end up running the exhaust to the ports in the bumper?
-Chaz

Yes sir, they are through the bumper indeed!

Looks like a nice job on the exhaust! But all this time I thought you were going to run some sort of cut outs???

I will add those out back once I make the trunk floor and the hitch. I'm not sure how much space I will need/have so I didn't want to put those in right away and have them in my way. Nor did I have the time to engineer the cables or air lines to pop them open right now =)
 
Couple seatbelt pics... got one side pretty well done.

The 3point setup is mounted to a heavy bracked which was welded into the body mount area, and a stiffening plate welded all the way up the pillar behind the door for more rigidity, I may add a little more to it later, but its pretty stout.
Hoping this week to get the passenger side done so I can work on wiring again.

This morning I'm going to try to get the fan installed and some wiring done for it.
There is a cruise today we planned on going to, and although I don't think I need the fan, probably good to be safe than sorry...
 

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Nice work on the belts.
I still have night mares about a serious accident while in
my '48. Especially when my grandkids are with me.
There's just not much there for protection.
 
Thanks guys!
I been off and on the board, just been really busy, and really just going out to meets and enjoying the truck! I still need to do the other seat belt, and sort out one wiring issue. I did sort out the delay relay, and how to make it turn off as ford intended.

For whatever reason, the thermostatic switch I was trying to use did does not work, so I ordered a thermostatic fan control switch from Jegs, and installed that tonight. It is adjustable, and has a setting to manually force the fan to run.

Also stopped at a U-hall place and got some fuel, they discount for propane in a vehicle, so I got it for $2.99/gallon and I think I can get it about 50c cheaper at one other place. When I got the 15 gallons it got me to just under a 1/2 tank on the gauge which means perhaps I did get the sending unit arm correct when I made it, but I'll see more when I fill the tank. (50 gallon tank and 80% fill is 40ish gallons)

I have driven it quite a bit, couple hundred miles, and run it up to at least 75-80 a couple times, for the most part driveability is great, shocks need to be stiffened up a bit, and I need to try to adjust the toe a bit as on uneven pavement it seems to wander a bit more than I would like...

Not sure if I should try to get an alignment somewhere or keep trying on my own...
 
Great build, DR. Nice to see you are putting miles on it. I liked the pics from Billetproof. It is truly one of a kind and cool as all get out.
 
Not finding a lot of time to wrench on the rat, but still driving it & enjoying it!

Couple of pics from the show this past weekend.
I cannot believe the outpouring of excitement from people in the car world, older guys, young kids that just love to talk about this rat. I let the kids sit in the driver's seat, and they are really excited about it!

Trying to get people back into innovation, and also get kids into cars!

Great job on the belts DR.
What is your toe in set at now. All you need is 1/16-1/8 max.
Torchie

I need to remeasure, it may have been more than that.
 

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good job with the kids D R[cl


sounds like you had a good time at the show.


Later:cool:

X's 2 DR.
When I was driving my panel seems like everytime I went to get gas some one was all over it. With the parents permission I always let kids sit in the drivers seat and the parents always snapped a few pics.
We are all ambassadoors to our hobby and mentors to kids if we choose to be......
Torchie.
 
Outstanding Rich! Your truck is a beast!

When we first met, I never thought you would be building a kick-ass truck like this! Too damn cool
 
Outstanding Rich! Your truck is a beast!

When we first met, I never thought you would be building a kick-ass truck like this! Too damn cool

Thanks!

Last night I picked up a CHEAP propane grill, and ran a line off the tank vapor bleed line into the trunk and out to the old frenched antenna hole on the side so now I will be able to grill off the propane tank. Tonight I'm going to fab up a grill mount for it, and do a piece of the trunk floor so I can put stuff in the trunk for the Woodward dream cruise.
 
Woodward Dream Cruise & stuff

I applaud you for taking the time to allow someone else the opportunity to enjoy your work [cl

Thanks! Same thing at the woodward dream cruise show, I let plenty of kids sit in the driver's seat if they and their parents wanted them to. Gotta get kids into building and wanting to learn about cars!

what happened to the cook top you had
I could still get the cook top, but I think what my real plan will be is to get my hitch assembly built and make a hitch mounted grill that I can put on when we are going to be at a show all day and be able to cook a couple meals on a larger size grill.

I also have a propane fridge that I need to pull out of a friend's scrapped camper in a couple weeks, I plan on trying to make my own insulated box in the trunk or cut down the fridge a bit to fit it in the trunk so we can run it all day at shows off the propane tank.

Anyhow, the dream cruise went relatively well, only trouble is a slightly leaking brake line that I need to replace. I've never seen a braided line fail at the crimp end, but this one is about to fail there. I'll be calling rough country to ask about it tomorrow and see about a replacement set.

We went and cruised Woodward on Wednesday night, and then to the Dream Cruise yesterday. I got especially lucky because I didn't have a ticket to get into the car show area and I was told I could buy one on the day of the show which turned out really was not the case because they were all pre-sold. My luck came when they were going to turn me away and the organizer of the show saw the truck and told the entry worker to let me in and I could pay them for a spot. I was super happy to be able to park with all the people in the park and next year I will be on their mailing list and buy a ticket in advance. The park is right along Woodward in walking distance, tons of bathrooms, food court area, full of awesome cars and also a preferred seating area with bleachers to watch the cruise if you want to sit there.

I had a temporary grill on the back of the rat for the day so we could cook some food & people loved it! I actually had a woman kiss the bumper of the truck because she was so in love with it! [S[S

There was an awesome Studebaker custom on a Chevy Colorado chassis from New York, I talked to the guy for about 1/2 hour looking at it and the pictures of the other cars he has built, definitely an imaginative and talented builder!

I'm also posting a shot of my friend Jamil's cutlass out on woodward, and although some people will not like the style, as a real car guy I can appreciate the work that goes into every build!

I'll try to get the wife's pictures posted up when I get time.
 

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