1955 Ranch Wagon Cruiser

[Old Iron]

How did you get that pic? Did you put the phone/camera on time delay

 

[DJ3100]

wiring

A friend is putting the same engine (except it's a 6.0 L) in a 74 Chevy truck. He's a former auto mechanics teacher and it's being done at a local high school by a really knowledgeable instructor who has all the certifications and a lot of dealership experience. They were going to start the engine Weds, so I went to help and observe.

We got the battery cables hooked up and a few miscellaneous things taken can of. Ready to give it a go, but the engine didn't crank.

Pretty soon the Power Probe came out and circuits were being tested, some worked; some, like the Vintage Air blower, didn't. They were getting weird voltages, a solenoid was hot that shouldn't have had power, etc.

Meanwhile, I'm panicking. Why hadn't I checked mine as I went? I baled out, went home, installed the battery and started checking circuits. My gauges powered up. Dash lights, parking lights and headlights all worked. The Vintage Air stuff all worked. I bumped the starter and it cranked. I have power to the pcm fuse block. So far, everything looks good!

Later the auto teachers sent me a video of the 6.0 L firing right up. I haven't found out what the problem was, but it didn't take them long to work it out.

 

[Old Iron]

A friend is putting the same engine (except it's a 6.0 L) in a 74 Chevy truck. He's a former auto mechanics teacher and it's being done at a local high school by a really knowledgeable instructor who has all the certifications and a lot of dealership experience. They were going to start the engine Weds, so I went to help and observe.

We got the battery cables hooked up and a few miscellaneous things taken can of. Ready to give it a go, but the engine didn't crank.

Pretty soon the Power Probe came out and circuits were being tested, some worked; some, like the Vintage Air blower, didn't. They were getting weird voltages, a solenoid was hot that shouldn't have had power, etc.

Meanwhile, I'm panicking. Why hadn't I checked mine as I went? I baled out, went home, installed the battery and started checking circuits. My gauges powered up. Dash lights, parking lights and headlights all worked. The Vintage Air stuff all worked. I bumped the starter and it cranked. I have power to the pcm fuse block. So far, everything looks good!

Later the auto teachers sent me a video of the 6.0 L firing right up. I haven't found out what the problem was, but it didn't take them long to work it out.

You made me laugh when you panicked [ddd

 

[DJ3100]

How did you get that pic? Did you put the phone/camera on time delay

I had to take the radiator out so I could climb on the cross member to plug in the connections at the back of the engine. I shot the pic through the opening.

Fyi, these engines have at least 2 connections that are on or near the back of the valley cover. The truck manifold is pretty tall and both hands are needed to connect the knock sensor. No way I could reach both hands back there and get them connected without being able to see into the hole. It would have been a good thing to do before the hood went on.

 

[AZ4GEMAN]

Nice job Dan.[cl

 

[DJ3100]

Update

Spent much of last week working on the AC condenser, dryer and lines. The dryer had to go on the radiator support - there was just nowhere else to hide it. The grille mounts in the 2 holes left of the dryer. Bought some U-bend line or the #8, but my bender kinked it. The smaller #6 line worked great.

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The AC lines, radiator hoses and plumbed surge tank.

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One major project is reassembling the doors. I have some universal power windows, but decided I need the glass channel to determine their location. That means I also need the vent windows. Of course the vent window weather stripping is shot. So I ordered the fuzzies , glass run channels and vent window weather stripping - $400 ouch!!!

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While I was waiting for that stuff I started on color sanding. I'm using 1500 grit on a DA for the large areas and wet sanding the rest. It has taken 10 hours to do about 80% of the body, not counting the roof. Oh and I also installed a back up camera - and wiring for it.

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[Old Iron]

If you buy good seals they do run a little pricey.
Looks good on the color sanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[soltz]

[S satin copper

Love your build [cl

 

[I-R-POPS]

You're making us look bad around here. It's really looking great.
It's really looking nice.

Door/window parts are way too high. I had over $500 in my two doors on my old Dodge pickup.

Did you buy a kit for your a/c? I'm thinking about piecing mine together since the 5.9 engine has the compressor and mounts already on it.

Stay after it spring will be here before we know it.

 

[Torchie]

X's 3 on the price of the window stuff.
I can save about $200 buck a door if I don't use the vent windows.
All your install work looks really great. You are going to have a great driver when you are finished.[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[DJ3100]

Thanks everyone.

Did you buy a kit for your a/c? I'm thinking about piecing mine together since the 5.9 engine has the compressor and mounts already on it.

Stay after it spring will be here before we know it.

I bought a Vintage Air kit. I asked their tech about of using my Denso compressor. They said their system was designed around the Sanden compressor. Other compressors could be made to work, but would not be as efficient. I bought the VA brackets to mount the Sanden on my 5.3 - they are nice and worked well except I had to modify them to clear the Mustang rack. They cost more than the compressor.

The guys that did my AC lines said they have been installing ac in a lot of Ford pick-ups. Old Air products has a nice package that puts all the hoses in one location, coming out of the firewall. They really recommended it. Here's a link: http://www.oldairproducts.com/catalog/custom-street-rod-ac-units/hurricane-ac-systems-c-1_32000000_120131979.html

X's 3 on the price of the window stuff.
I can save about $200 buck a door if I don't use the vent windows.
All your install work looks really great. You are going to have a great driver when you are finished.[P [P [P
Torchie

I hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah, the vent windows will cost about $200 or more. I like the vent windows because I think they are one of the defining features the '50's.

 

[DJ3100]

I have never color sanded or buffed any project before. Paint it and leave it has been my method.

The process of color sanding is to remove all the orange peel and imperfections without sanding through the clear. I decided I could live with some orange peel, but I really don't want to repaint or re-clear anything.

Yesterday I began buffing. I found that orange peel would show up on panels that looked flat. The good thing is that you can go back and repeat any process at any time - or is that the bad thing?

At any rate, I'm having a bit of a dilemma deciding what "Good Enough" is. So far it's about a 6 foot paint job - at least for my eyes. I'm very happy with it - probably because I have low standards.

I liked it when it was in the "satin" stage (wet sanded to 1500), that's actually my preferred style as opposed to shiny. But I'm sticking with the plan. I'm ignoring the roof for now, but I should have the buffing wrapped up today. The first stage is pretty satisfying - moves quickly and makes a ton of difference. The second stage is pretty hard to see results and I haven't tried the third stage yet.

 

[soltz]

DJ, from looking at your build the last thing you have is "low standards" I spent time and money to flatten a gallon of red paint on my 56 F100 and the following year decided to go shiny, lots of sanding and polishing, paint goes on easier than comes off, knocks and grannies, an i gave up at the ten foot stage. Yours i'm sure will be outstanding. [cl

 

[Old Iron]

I respect the amount of work your doing and know it will look killer when done.

 

[zpi28]

That overflow tank is killer. Great job on that. This is going to be one awesome ride.

 

[bob w]

There's nothing "low" standard on this build. I don't think you're capable of doing anything less than your best.[cl

 

[DJ3100]

Thanks guys, but what I really meant is that I don't appreciate flawless shiny paint as much as others do. I hate the thought of having to wash and wax and keep stuff clean. Actually, some imperfections in the paint are a plus. If it was perfect I couldn't stand to drive it.

I was chasing glass today. I got an estimate on the rear quarter windows with channels - $500 per side. Wow. Probably won't be doing that. Most of the Ranch Wagons I have seen had the sliders removed and 1 piece of glass installed. That requires some metal work to fill in the channel for the slider. I should have thought of that before I did the paint.

The same guy told me he has polished about 50 windshields and none of them came out that good and he hasn't seen any that did come out without swirl marks. I was planning on polishing mine, but that gave me some second thoughts. A new windshield, including freight, eats most of $500.

 

[DJ3100]

But First

Continuing with the mission to build out the doors. I want to get the power windows installed, but first I needed the glass channel to know how to get everything aligned. Then I realized I needed the glass before the channel goes in. The glass guy wants to replace the vent glass with the frame out of the assembly. I have to remove them anyway to get the weather strip in. Which brings us to the next issue ....

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How come I had not noticed one latch post was missing? Can't really tell how it is held in, but decided a 10-32 screw would do it. Made a new post.

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It's just set in there. I'll need to remove the glass and modify a screw of some sort to mount it. And the center hole needs to be opened up.

I checked out the windshield - deep wiper scratches. All the You Tube stuff says their product will remove them. But, I get to pay about $80 to buy the kit to find out for sure. New windshields are +- $350, but have to ship by truck - so probably most of $500. I did find a place in Phoenix that may have or can get them for around $300. If I can actually get one for around $300 I might skip trying to polish.

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[I-R-POPS]

Glass and door window operators can give a guy sticker shock for sure.
But it's got to be done right especially in a pristine build like yours. You would never be happy with it if you got it finished and every time you walked by it you notice windshield scratches... even if no one else does. Just my worthless opinion.

Window latch looks great. Stay after it.

 

[Old Iron]

Pops did a little easier job than I will of saying the same thing
I know it's not my money you're spending but, don't even think of polishing the windshield.
With the amount of work you've done and the quality, go with a new one
You can save $200 to $270 somewhere else