'57 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan

[jlsanborn]

Congrats Vic! Looks awesome from here and sounds like just small stuff on your punch-list. How's it run man? Can't wait to hear your foot in it.

[sduckworth13]

Awesome job Vic, congratulations on the first place award.

[Gus350]

Car came together real nice congrats Vic.

[Vic1947]

Thanks, everyone. We had a great time even though the car was a load to drive. Spent all day on my back and finally located the source of the handling problem. There's an "L" bracket with two 1/2" fine thread bolts that attach it to the center of the rack. It also has the attachment points for the heim joints that connect to the inner tie rod. Well it turns out the 1/2" bolts had worked loose, despite the fact they were safety wired. That's where all the play in the the steering was coming from. Thankfully the safety wire kept the bolts from backing all the way out. Tightened them up, replaced the safety wire, adjusted the toe-in and it drives like a dream.

I also replaced the leaky lines with the new ones. The shorter line fit perfectly with no modification. I had to reroute the long one so I spliced it with one of the -4AN couplers off the old lines. All nice and tidy and no leaks!

Tomorrow, I plan to call CPP and see if they have a universal Street Beast hydraulic brake assist unit in stock. If so, I'm going to next day air it and pull out all the stops to get it installed. The manual disc brake setup has too much stopping distance for me. Safety first.

I removed the breather assembly from the valve cover and replaced it with a PCV valve. While in the process of doing that, I noticed the tips of the flex fan looked slightly deformed. Felt up under the radiator cover and could tell right away it had been in contact with the fan. There was at least 1/4" of clearance, but I guess at higher RPM, it's either sucking the cover into it or changing the profile of the blades enough to make contact. Took the cover off and straightened the tips out and will reengineer it at a later date.

While I had the car up in the air, I went ahead and moved the rear coilovers up to the next set of holes. The suspension bottoms out slightly when you hit a bad place in the road, so the extra lift should help. Not to mention the fact we'll be carrying some extra weight in the back with luggage, tools and coolers.

[Low Elco]

Congratulations on the hardware and the shakedown! So glad things are going well overall.
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[Elliot949]

Shake down runs are more important than people really realize. ..

[flashed]

Congrats on the win and figuring out what was needed on the suspension and getting it taken care of .It turned out beautiful and the 2 cars together looked great .

[Xeen]

Nice work getting that laundry list of issues sorted out quickly.
Woah a street beast hydraulic brake assist you aren't playing around those are high dollar units, you must really be uncomfortable with the lack of stopping power of the manual brakes to pop for one of those bad boys.
On the other hand this instantly raises the value of the car because the guys who really know about hot rods know these aren't cheap so you will definitely get your money back out of it if you ever sell the car.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Elliot949

Shake down runs are more important than people really realize. ..

You are so right, Dan. Not only are they valuable for identifying problems, but they also let you get used to all the strange little noises and quirks that are part and parcel of an old vehicle.

Originally Posted by flashed

Congrats on the win and figuring out what was needed on the suspension and getting it taken care of .It turned out beautiful and the 2 cars together looked great .

Thanks! You could go to dozens of shows and never see a '57 Ford Custom, so having two right next to each other was pretty cool.

Originally Posted by Xeen

Nice work getting that laundry list of issues sorted out quickly.
Woah a street beast hydraulic brake assist you aren't playing around those are high dollar units, you must really be uncomfortable with the lack of stopping power of the manual brakes to pop for one of those bad boys.
On the other hand this instantly raises the value of the car because the guys who really know about hot rods know these aren't cheap so you will definitely get your money back out of it if you ever sell the car.

I wouldn't say I'm really uncomfortable, Brian, more like I'm just not used to the increased stopping distance. I know I'll feel safer with the booster unit, though. Unfortunately, CPP is missing several pieces to complete a kit right now and it will be about two weeks before they can assemble one. The tech looked up my info and put a quote in the system so when we return, I'll get it on the way. Until then, I'll increase my following distance.

This morning I drove down to the trim shop and talked to Jeff about the antifreeze in the carpet. He gave me some tips for cleaning it, but said unless it started smelling musty, chances were good there would be no lasting damage. Pulling the moisture out with the wet/dry vacuum probably saved me. However, if it does start to stink, he said they could easily replace that side for me. Next stop was the body shop so the guys could see the final assembly. Had a nice visit and then headed down to the shop that did the alignment hoping they could put the targets on the front end and give me a readout while I waited. It was not to be, as they had a full house. Set up an appointment for Thursday morning to recheck everything after I fixed the problem with the rack.

Back at the ranch, I removed the grille and got busy installing the electric fans. They have these recesses built in for different types of brackets, but didn't include anything you could use to join the two fans together. So I took a few measurements, got busy on the mill and made some "H" shaped blocks. They hold the two fans together really well. From there I made some "W" shaped brackets out of stainless sheet metal and the fans are now firmly in place. Had to remove the blades and flip them around for the fans to work as pushers. They blow up a storm but are surprisingly quiet. Rather than install the Derale adjustable fan switch, I ordered a 185 on / 175 off preset switch from Speedy Bill. By the time it gets here tomorrow, I'll have the rest of the wiring done and all I'll have to do is plumb it in. Three days left!

[Xeen]

Excellent problem solving and fabrication as usual.
Don't look now but you didn't have to fight that one to the death to get it to work right.
/knock on wood

[Pick]

Vic, it is so much fun to watch and learn as you solve problems!

I have a dumb question though........(but I'm pretty good at those!)

What holds the "H" pieces in place? I see that they have positive stops at the back so they can only come out one way, but is there any chance they can vibrate out the same way they slid in? Or are they held in with something unseen?

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by Pick

What holds the "H" pieces in place? I see that they have positive stops at the back so they can only come out one way, but is there any chance they can vibrate out the same way they slid in? Or are they held in with something unseen?

I had the same thought but I just let it go because I figured if Vic thought they were loose enough to come out of there he wouldn't have left it like that.
I also considered that he may have JB Welded one side, so that only one side disengages. #shrug

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Pick

Vic, it is so much fun to watch and learn as you solve problems!

I have a dumb question though........(but I'm pretty good at those!)

What holds the "H" pieces in place? I see that they have positive stops at the back so they can only come out one way, but is there any chance they can vibrate out the same way they slid in? Or are they held in with something unseen?

No such thing as a dumb question. I cropped the last photo so you can see the retaining screw a little better. The fit was very close and I had to tap the blocks lightly to seat them, but didn't want to take any chances.

Pusher fans are all wired in and work great. Carpet cleaning company will be here in the morning to see if they can get the coolant out of the passenger side floor boards. It's not drying very well on its own. Weatherstrip goes in tomorrow.

[Pick]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

No such thing as a dumb question. I cropped the last photo so you can see the retaining screw a little better. The fit was very close and I had to tap the blocks lightly to seat them, but didn't want to take any chances.

Pusher fans are all wired in and work great. Carpet cleaning company will be here in the morning to see if they can get the coolant out of the passenger side floor boards. It's not drying very well on its own. Weatherstrip goes in tomorrow.

I was pretty confident you had it covered ('cause you are always WAY ahead of me), but I know I always like to have a second set of eyes covering the "what ifs", so I figured I'd ask to make sure.

Good luck with the carpet! I really hope they can get the coolant out for you!

[jlsanborn]

Awesome job on the fans Vic!

[swamp rat]

.0005 interference Press fit?

[Xeen]

Hey Vic;
Okay so here you are just a scant day away from leaving, are you feeling confident everything is all good with the car?
Have fun on the power tour, I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Hey Vic;
Okay so here you are just a scant day away from leaving, are you feeling confident everything is all good with the car?
Have fun on the power tour, I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back.

Well, the disappointment is thick enough to cut with a knife around here. It appears that Mother Nature is not going to cooperate with Power Tour this year. We looked at the extended weather forecast all along the route this morning and the lowest chance for rain was 60% on any given day except the first day in Madison. Given the high probabilities for lousy weather at nearly every stop, we've reluctantly opted to cancel. I don't mind dealing with an occasional rain shower, but I'd just as soon avoid the flash flooding, hail, lightning and etc. It's rained here 31 out of the last 35 days, so I'm inclined to go along with the soggy predictions. We'll just have to research other events for this summer and try Power Tour again next year.

On the bright side, this will give me time to upgrade the brakes and revisit a few things that could benefit from some fine tuning.

[Xeen]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Well, the disappointment is thick enough to cut with a knife around here. It appears that Mother Nature is not going to cooperate with Power Tour this year. We looked at the extended weather forecast all along the route this morning and the lowest chance for rain was 60% on any given day except the first day in Madison. Given the high probabilities for lousy weather at nearly every stop, we've reluctantly opted to cancel. I don't mind dealing with an occasional rain shower, but I'd just as soon avoid the flash flooding, hail, lightning and etc. It's rained here 31 out of the last 35 days, so I'm inclined to go along with the soggy predictions. We'll just have to research other events for this summer and try Power Tour again next year.

On the bright side, this will give me time to upgrade the brakes and revisit a few things that could benefit from some fine tuning.

I'm sorry to hear that Vic, I know you worked your butt off to get ready in time.
I'm looking forward to hearing about further upgrades and the fixes/changes you are planning.

[jlsanborn]

Aw man, that sucks Vic but I hear what you're saying. I'm sure you'll be getting around plenty once the weather clears.

[knomadd]

Sorry the weather won't cooperate with the Power Tour. It does sound like you can use that as an opportunity to fix some of the things I feel you're still stressing about. I mean literally feel... as I'm reading, I'm feeling a bit of stress about your deadline and the things you say are still needing attention. I can only imagine how you feel, but I bet there's a bit of relief to go along with the disappointment.

Looking forward to your future updates as you get things sorted out. I'm sure you'll blow our minds once again.

[swamp rat]

I can feel the frustration Vic, I hope the places you lined up to stay at won't charge you for canceling this late in the game, but i think in this case playing it safe is the best way to go, think how much worse you'd feel if the car was damaged by the a hale storm or if someone lost control in a down pour and collected you in the process, sounds like the rains can get pretty bad out that way.

Kick back for a couple days and relax with a cold beverage of your choice, even if its an iced tea you deserve it!

[Vic1947]

Thanks, guys! You're right about the stress... guess it was sneaking into my recent posts. I feel a lot better about the decision this morning. It's been raining for several hours and won't end until mid morning so I'm going to kick back and have an easy day. Kathy got on the phone yesterday and cancelled most of our reservations. We only had two that we couldn't (St. Louis and Memphis) but we can change the dates of the reservations so we're going to research car shows/cruise-in's in those towns for this summer and reschedule. More later.

[Xeen]

We had good size hail here last night and there is damage to my truck, so I am positive you made the right decision in canceling, it's just not worth the risk of damage to the vehicle.

[Gus350]

You can always do the Des Moines Goodguys show the weekend of July 4th. Plus I'll be there and check this beauty out lol. And it's a nice venue from what I hear.