Danny Boy is BAACK! w/ '55 Big Window

[Coupeguy2001]

I have a suggestion....
Why not dicker with the insurance company, get a check, and then use the money to finish the 55, and keep looking for a replacement truck. Buy a inexpensive daily driver till you find the right replacement truck, then sell the daily driver, and get a loan on the new truck?
That way, you will have the 55 paid for, and have the luxury of waiting for a really nice replacemnt.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Coupeguy, thanks for the suggestions. There'll be plenty of "dickering" - you can count on that! I'm very fortunate in that I have several options I am considering. Options I never had earlier in life and especially after I went through a divorce 16 years ago.

So far, I have paid for all work on the truck out-of-pocket. I don't "need" a daily drive for the time being as the agency I work for provides a Toyota for me, so that's nice. My insurance coverage provides a rental car for 30 days so I have a Ram 1500 crew cab I just got the other day. Building the '55 is in preparation for it to be my daily driver when I retire in 2017.

But I am going to need a tow vehicle for a mid size travel trailer in awhile. We are keeping our huge 5th wheel as a "granny flat" at my step son's north of us about 3 hours probably until our grand daughter is of school age (3 years). In the meantime we have nothing to camp with and we'd like to go back to that. My girlfriend has the hots about getting an Airstream($$!) so as of now she's going to pay for that - we'll see how that plays out!

I COULD use my '55 as a tow vehicle with the 6.0 but I don't think I want to. So everything is in flux for awhile.

[Dan in Pasadena]

September 23, 2016

Both engine mounts are now fully welded in and it turns out they're Ford flathead biscuit type. The rear end is also mocked up but I somehow forgot to give him the shackles so he can't finalize that yet. It looks as though there will be plenty of room to fit the radiator between the clutching mechanical fan and the core support.










He custom makes the cross flow radiators from a kit so the inlet/outlet will be perfectly placed. Someone asked me about pictures of the crossmember for the 4l85e so I took a couple but they're not very clear, sorry.

[ChuckDriver]

Looks good Dan!

Do you think the high hump trans tunnel will work with the bigger trans?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by ChuckDriver

Looks good Dan!

Do you think the high hump trans tunnel will work with the bigger trans?

Yes, we've already decided that should work fine.

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[Rickysnickers]

Nice work. Is that a Fox body I spotted in the background?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Nice work. Is that a Fox body I spotted in the background?

Yes, it is but I didn't ask why it was there. He's got interesting projects in his shop all the time. If it's still there when I go in next I'll ask about it.

A friend of mine belongs to the Huntington Beach Car Club and they were showing their cars at the "Cruisin for a Cure" car show at the Orange County Fairgrounds today. Extremely impressive, they had 3500(!!) cars show up of every kind you can think.

I only took a few photos of things I was interested in for my truck: Colors, interior colors with red cars, etc. I thought you guys might like to see what I saw. I'll start off with something I doubt ANY of you have ever seen before because I know I'd never see it. A HUGE replica '59 VW completely accurately built 40% larger than stock and running Dodge Ram running gear.

[Dan in Pasadena]

This '38 Chevy coupe is almost certainly the color I will paint my truck. It's a 2012 Honda/Acura color called Murano Red. It doesn't photograph accurately, it's actually a darker red than this photo shows and it is perfect to me.


The back story on this car is interesting. The guy bought it when he was 15 in 1966 for $250. He built it the first time by 1979 and drove it all those years. He took it apart for the build it is now in 2012. It is flat gorgeous. Foose wheels, a bone color interior that's more attractive than the way it photographs.
[IMG]

[Dan in Pasadena]

I also caught a few picture of Task Force and other trucks. The TF's just to show you guys and the green Ford because I loved the color. It's lighter than my truck used to be but I ALMOST would consider painting mine like it except I love red.

[Dan in Pasadena]

A few more just for fun:

[Advanced Design]

Looks like some good progress with your truck Dan. And nice trucks from the show too. Appreciate the sharing.

[ChuckDriver]

Cool pic's Dan!

[Russell Ashley]

Great pics of some very nice cars/trucks. That Volkswagen is crazy. The sign says they scanned a 59 VW and then re-created it 40% larger. I wonder what the process was to make the new components.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

Great pics of some very nice cars/trucks. That Volkswagen is crazy. The sign says they scanned a 59 VW and then re-created it 40% larger. I wonder what the process was to make the new components.

Hi Russ,
Yeah that VW came up on me from behind to park. I turnedaround and was flabbergasted when I saw it! You can bet it wasn't cheap to build that, whatever the process was.

[gotmotors]

That red looks really good Dan. You know it seems like all reds are hard to photograph. Your truck is coming along nicely, looking good.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by gotmotors

That red looks really good Dan. You know it seems like all reds are hard to photograph. Your truck is coming along nicely, looking good.

Thanks Jim. I wish the red would photograph accurately but it is beautiful.

[Dan in Pasadena]

September 29, 2016

No bill for labor this week because no work on the truck was done at the shop. The rear axles for the Ford rearend and rotors were sent out to be re-machined to the Chevy 5x4.75 pattern to match the Corvette patten up front. I can't recall the price for this but I THINK a few hundred.

I hadn't found the rear shackles because I put them away too neatly! They were disassembled and in a Ziplok bag in a spare tool chest I've been using for the smaller parts. Found them and delivered Tuesday but they worked on other client's cars this week.

I also delivered the factory column drop and floor filler plate. Plate will be used to patch the floor as I intend to use one of those polished "eyeball" style floor mounts for the column and a matching drop. Factory drop will be use to mock up the column.

[Kim57]

Coming along real nicely.
Kim

[MIKESAD50]

Looking good, nice progress.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks guys. I'm hoping this week results in a few things: Installing the inlet & outlet in the aluminum radiator to coincide with the engine. Finalizing the steering setup including the column drop size and fabricating the floor plate for one of those polished "eyeball" style column floor mounts.

I have to pick a gas tank pretty soon and I'm deciding between the generic but formed 16 gallon Mustang style one Tanks Inc sells or the folded up one that the Car & Truck Shop sells that is 21 gallons. I'd like the extra capacity but don't want it to be visible from behind below the bumper. Maybe if it's black it won't show much? Also have to decide on bed fill or side fill.

Pretty soon I have to decide on an intake too. The stock truck one works great with extra torque due to longer runners but is fugly. Black plastic looking. MAYBE I can find an aftermarket engine cover I can live with. I'll have some more discussions with Mike about that.

[lynx5653]

Dan , check out this link for engine cover https://www.google.com/search?newwin...w=1020&bih=486

[torchlight]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Thanks guys. I'm hoping this week results in a few things: Installing the inlet & outlet in the aluminum radiator to coincide with the engine. Finalizing the steering setup including the column drop size and fabricating the floor plate for one of those polished "eyeball" style column floor mounts.

I have to pick a gas tank pretty soon and I'm deciding between the generic but formed 16 gallon Mustang style one Tanks Inc sells or the folded up one that the Car & Truck Shop sells that is 21 gallons. I'd like the extra capacity but don't want it to be visible from behind below the bumper. Maybe if it's black it won't show much? Also have to decide on bed fill or side fill.

Pretty soon I have to decide on an intake too. The stock truck one works great with extra torque due to longer runners but is fugly. Black plastic looking. MAYBE I can find an aftermarket engine cover I can live with. I'll have some more discussions with Mike about that.

Dan, are you using a carb or a EFI throttle body on the intake?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks Lynx!

I have seen a couple of those engine covers before and all-in-all I'm not all the excited about any I've seen so far.

I stopped off at the shop today to speak to Mike since he wasn't there yesterday. He was working on my radiator, installing the two outlets and locating the mounts. We discussed what intake I'm going to use and I think I've narrowed it down to the Edelbrock Performer LS dual plane intake that kind looks like their Performer for a non-LS engine. I want it in Endurashne but so far haven't found if they offer that?

I also need to take my 15" Torq Thrust knock offs to use as rollers. Since they have 75 series tires they will mimic the height of the 17's I have to use due to the caliper size.

[lynx5653]

you are welcome. cant wait to see what you decide on