50s Ford F1 Build

[sgtpontiac]

Neither have I.....but it's in Livonia

Well no luck with the wheel company I tried, I will try some of the other ones soon.
I also went and verified a caliper bracket from a 2004 mustang, and its taller than my caliper bracket which I was hoping it was shorter so I could move the caliper inboard, and lathe off the outside of the rotor... oh well, I'll figure out something I guess...

Also picked up the 57 Pontiac, I will get some pics tomorrow night, while I'm finishing up tacking the roof together...

Sgtpontiac, any idea what it costs to have those widened? I never priced it... I have to find tires that will work too if I go to a 16" or 17" wheel, tires that are 18" wide are not easy to get... 16 probably easier than 17...

Weldcraft wheels....(734) 779-1303 Fax (734) 779-1345

 

[Dirtyrat]

Weldcraft wheels....(734) 779-1303 Fax (734) 779-1345

Thanks, if I decide to go with larger wheels and tiers (= big $) I'll look into that... for now, if I have to tear down the axle to put on smaller brakes thats what I'll have to do... looks like ford motorsports makes a kit I'm going to look into that.

I tried to test fit a '04 stang caliper bracket, but it is taller than the '12... which seems opposite of how it should be, but what ever... guess the axle flange is much shorter on the '04 stang...

 

[Dirtyrat]

making progress, sunday was a marathon day

Sunday, I went and picked up a trailer from work using their F250 super duty diesel.
Went and picked up the 57 pontiac rolling shell, brought it to the house, cut the body off the frame, loaded it all into my garage, then took the rolling chassis back to the guy I bought the body shell from. Then I took the roof panel out to storage because I am trying to sell off what I dont need from the shell.

I also plan on using the dash in the rat, I like it much better than the for dash...
Anyhow, on to the pics, and progress tonight was tacking in the passenger side front roof, and starting the repair panel for the inner header panel of the cab.

Almost forgot, found a decent deal on tires, so I'm going to pick up newer front and rear tires, my fronts are not drive worthy, and I only had one rear with tread... new rears are 21.5" wide... going to be monstrously wide... =)

I also had an idea on fabbing my own axle end cap that the caliper brackets mount to, I'll get more on that when I get a rotor and mock up a new bracket, goal is to NOT have to dismantle the axle to put these on...

 

[sgtpontiac]

Cool......looks like you are working in some tight quarters...

Where the heck did you store the Poncho??? Chop looks like it's coming along.....looks like you've got as many projects as I do...LOL... good luck with them all man....[cl[P

 

[Dirtyrat]

Where the heck did you store the Poncho??? Chop looks like it's coming along.....looks like you've got as many projects as I do...LOL... good luck with them all man....[cl[P

Thats going to be the back half of the rat truck!

Thanks for the compliments, on to the progress from tonight.
I have some panel beating to do along the welds, and one thing I have learned is that dents can really throw off your curvature, I think next chop I will pound out the dents first =)

 

[Dirtyrat]

Oh, forgot, tires were ****, one was cut all along the outside... so still looking for a single rear tire (M/T Sportsman 29x18.5 R15) or a pair of something...

 

[Snake Farm]

Wow, you are flying man! Chop looks good and I can't wait to see the Poncho butt go on

 

[GJunktionMike]

So how many of you neighbor freak out when they see a trailer with a old car on it.

 

[Dirtyrat]

So how many of you neighbor freak out when they see a trailer with a old car on it.

It was pretty damn funny, I could tell if it was a man or a woman driving before they even got close, they would either slow way down and look at what we were doing, or drove past like there was nothing to look at!

I'm sure some of my neighbors were like wtf?

but it was only in the street for an hour total, and we had it all packed in the garage [cl[cl

 

[sgtpontiac]

That ponco back end will look killer....!!

What made go that route? But whatever it was.....NICE! [cl

 

[Dirtyrat]

Once I saw the cover of Hot Rod with the drag truck with the coronet rear, I knew what I wanted to do... Thats what sparked the idea, and I always loved the late 50s cars with the fins...

 

[GJunktionMike]

It was pretty damn funny, I'm sure some of my neighbors were like wtf?[cl[cl

[cl[cl[cl[ddd

 

[Dirtyrat]

Minor update

I cut off the stock '12 mustang brackets that the caliper brackets mount to, and just quickly test fit the '04 rotor which has a higher rotor hat, smaller overall diameter (10.5 vs 11.8) which means I can move in the caliper approx .65" depending on all the clearances I need to check. And it looks like I should be able to make my own brackets, and mount up the '12 calipers and pads and have it all work and I'm pretty dang sure it will clear just about any 15" rim.

Only downside is that the rotors are non vented and 5mm thinner, which means I need to pay attention to pad life to make sure I don't over extend the caliper at some point. Shouldn't be a real issue however, as I doubt I'll ever wear out the rear pads.

I'll try to snap a couple pics once I get the brackets cut this week.

 

[jfg455]

Only downside is that the rotors are non vented and 5mm thinner, which means I need to pay attention to pad life to make sure I don't over extend the caliper at some point. Shouldn't be a real issue however, as I doubt I'll ever wear out the rear pads.

Just cut a small ring that will slip into the piston cup and give you the 5mm back. Speedway does this with their economy rear disc kits. They use a wilwood rotor that is .81" thick and a front GM metric caliper that is made for a 1" rotor. They give you the little shim that goes in the piston to make up the difference. The caliper will still center on the slides anyways.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Just cut a small ring that will slip into the piston cup and give you the 5mm back. Speedway does this with their economy rear disc kits. They use a wilwood rotor that is .81" thick and a front GM metric caliper that is made for a 1" rotor. They give you the little shim that goes in the piston to make up the difference. The caliper will still center on the slides anyways.

In theory that makes sense, I will have to look into that, great idea, I'll have to get on the lathe this week and cut me some pieces up =) I have to see how all the spacing works out with the bracket mounted and central to the rotor, I would think I would have to space both sides, but I'm tired and I might not be thinking about it clearly...

PS Side admin, we need a little smiley on a lathe or something [cl

 

[Dirtyrat]

more progress

I finished up tacking in the roof skin for the most part, still to fab the windshield lip, and do the door frames. I did notice with these curved roofs, when they are cut they sure to spring back quite a bit, I've had to come up with a way to jack the roof up in the middle and try to over compensate for the springback on the roof...

I got my prelim brake bracket drawn up, waiting on the laser guys to cut it at work to test it out. 11.8" rotors to 10.5...

Anyhow on to the pics.

 

[Dirtyrat]

stitching up the roof skin

Made some progress, got 3/4 of the roof skin stitched in, and mostly panel beat into shape.

I want to say to you guys who have done a chop, my hats off to you, as it is no picnic trying to keep everything flat and the sweeps true. I found that using a couple 2x4s across the doors or front to back and a small jack with a narrow block of wood helps ALOT for putting some tension on the roof while welding, and thus, much less panel beating....anyone else try that?

I also got my caliper brackets cut, and I'll probably mock them up tomorrow or sunday and get the wheels on the rear axle. I cut the dash out of the Poncho, and 'm gathering the pieces to make it look like its a dash. Looks like an 8" section will probably make it fit in the F1 cab. Also snagged a set of used 57 pontiac taillight lenses off ebay for $25 =)

On to the pics...

 

[Dirtyrat]

Brake brackets test fit, mission accomplished.

I been sick as a dog the past two days, but I can't go that long without wrenching before I go insane, so I did some minor grinding, and test fit the RH brake bracket, bolted up the rotor, caliper and wheel, and I have about 1/4" clearance on the diameter now, which I am more than happy with. (BTW the odd looking 4 hole washers in the pic are just to space out the bolt because I didnt want to cut a 10.8 bolt until I knew everything cleared, and I just had them lying around.)

I still have to work on the yaw bracket, which should be a piece of cake, probably take a measurement, weld in a hardened washer, and oblong the hole on the backside.

All in all I mived the caliper in .550" which leaves clearance from the caliper bracket to the rotor hat, and also gets the brake pad inboard of the edge of the rotor.

Pics:

 

[sgtpontiac]

Did the wood thing on mine...helped a little...

I found that using a couple 2x4s across the doors or front to back and a small jack with a narrow block of wood helps ALOT for putting some tension on the roof while welding, and thus, much less panel beating....anyone else try that?

On to the pics...

Way too much sheet metal up there...had to do a ton of metal work to get it flat enough for filler...didn't really want to use a crap ton of fill...got cramps in my hands holding onto the dolly...LOL..

 

[gold03]

That roof is really looking good! nice work. [cl

I tried to bring my truck home last week end, but it didn't work out. Hoping this week end gets it home. Can't wait to get going on mine instead of watching and learning from you guys.

gold03