Now the old 40 is officially ready for the salt.
Hopefully the salt is from bonneville.
white lines
My original intent with the car was to make it a race car.
Something happened along the way,
maybe it was the fact that it costs alot of money,
maybe it was the fact I'm not as focused as a real racer should be.
Whatever the case,
yesterday I smudged a tube of "boat life" on all the bottom seams.
It's a marine grade sealant,
so should be perfect as a seam sealer in a car.
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Had to add this in here.
Don't remember it being this long but it was 7th grade!
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Yep now it's ready for the salt!
Bring it on.
Just finished mixing up a big batch of red epoxy primer.
Surprised I can even type right now.
not elephant man
Last week I had basically finished up the removeable firewall for the Hurtlocker Truck.
I'll post up some shiny steel pics soon.
I had smoothed the seams with this epoxy fairing putty,
so it looks slick for a firewall.
red frame
Another goal was to clean up the 40 frame a little bit.
The inside of the tubing had rusted up,
so I spent some time with the stool and a little wire brush scrubbing.
Not much fun but necessary.
Still not sure how it had gotten so rusty so quick.
red floor
Another hour or so was eaten up prepping the floor bottom.
I had to restring the body so the straps could be moved,
than the grinding started for way too long.
Now that the first coat is slapped on,
I can use a seam sealer to close up any catchall spots.
There are still a couple gaps that need some patches welded too,
but I couldn't wait to get the majority of it painted.
I've got a feeling it won't look that great in the morning.
That's okay as it is the first of 2 coats.
Oh man I'd love to make this into a funny car.
Imagine pulling into a spot,
flipping some hydraulics,
and the whole body lifts up.
ultimate funny car
1940 ford coupe
Yes that would be wild.
chopped 1940 ford coupe
Today the boys and I spent some time rearranging the shop.
A huge pile of junk had grown in the open space.
junk pile
It didn't take long to clean it up,
and slide the frame into the work spot.
custom 1940 frame
Now that the body and frame are separated,
there is a list of stuff do depending on time.
*add leaves to front spring
*swap to 9 inch rear end
*scrub and paint frame/floor
*mock up 351/t-10 transmission
*fabricate brake assembly + lines
*mount fuel tank/lines
And that is the short list!
1940 ford coupe body
The body needs work too.
The floor seams will be cleaned up,
then a nice thick coat of epoxy primer.
bare floor
I spent an hour grinding all the weld globs and splatter that I couldn't get at before.
A dirty job but man I've been wanting to do this for a long time.
bare frame
Probably 2 years has passed since the frame and body were separated.
I'm gonna bust some a$$ to get them together quickly.
Ken had been fighting the belt and pulley system for the small block chevy.
The pieced together kit was only missing one part,
but it was unavailable separately.
chevy small block
After some hemming and hawing,
he went for it and got the March belt kit.
Shiny!
march belt kit
Time was a-wasting so the other day I had some time to assemble it.
The kids even helped out.
perich brothers
A new water pump was supplied with the kit,
and even though the old one was probably fine,
it's not worth taking all this stuff off if there's a leak.
painting
All that model painting paid off.
The kids sprayed some of the bare metal pieces.
modified chevy water pump
Since he has a billet timing cover,
the bolts had to be swapped out for the button heads.
bad instructions
You would think that the kit would come with good instructions.
There are part numbers punched in to the pieces,
but they didn't match the numbers on the paper.
Good thing there were pictures.
march belt kit installed
The March kit wasn't too tough an install.
The only complaint is the fasteners are cheesy galvanized grade 5's.
Some stainless bolts will be swapped out,
fortunately they can be replaced without disassembling the whole unit.
removeable firewall
My biggest headache is this firewall.
There are still 3 holes to fill.
I tacked some bent TIG rod to match the space needed,
and now the work can be done on my new bench.
blue work bench
This is the new old work bench I mentioned a couple days ago.
Yes the bench is tilted not the picture!
It's a great free work platform.
Now just have to finish this firewall.
The kids had been checking every night,
and we had gotten skunked the first week.
Weird it took so long to snag them.
world's best mouse trap
Jake ended up making the "worlds best mouse trap",
and fortunately it hasn't worked yet.
It's one thing instantly snapping their necks,
but it's another slowly drowning them!
Needless to say my Nana was very happy,
but the elusive rats are what we are really after...
Really I should be content with the multiple stereo systems
throughout the house, garage and shop.
They all crank more than I can realistically get away with,
and while each component is a quality piece,
the prices were so cheap I'd do each deal again.
mcintosh mc2300
So what the hell happened last weekend?
I was doing fine.
While working on the chocolate and cheese roadster,
the Sansui 9090 was so sweet with the Klipsch kg4's and heresy's.
It's a great sounding system.
mcintosh mc2300 on test bench
Well I had found one of these old Mcintosh amps while scrounging craigslist.
It was too far to be convenient.
The ad lingered for a while and finally disappeared.
Of course I had contacted him early on,
so I emailed out of curiosity to see if it had sold.
mcintosh mc2300 rear shot
Dang it if the guy had just gone out of town.
Now he had me baited for when he got back.
Yeah this was the reason for that trip to Santa Ana the past weekend.
The amp wasn't as nice as the picture which he had ripped from another website.
The sound was crispy clean and loud,
but it was not a babied unit, dirty and one of the meters was busted.
After multiple emails and phone calls,
and now a decent drive into Orange County,
this wasn't the deal I was expecting.
I gave a lowball offer,
he didn't take it,
and I told him I'd have to think about it in the car.
Right when the key was in the ignition,
he came out and said okay take it.
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Grateful Dead - Deal
Why would I want something like this?
Okay check out the first minute of this video.
Around the 1:00 mark,
they show a stack of square lights,
than they just show one square meter.
Thats it!
Early Wall of Sound - 1973
Holey Chit!
Check out all the amp stacks around the drums.
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mcintosh mc2300 guts
The thing is almost 130 pounds and the mercury felt every bit of it on the way home.
After plugging it in,
it sounded clean,
but there was something not quite right.
I ripped it open.
Check out the cans on this thing!
broken green thing
The insides weren't too bad for the age.
Oh yeah,
that was one weird thing about this amp.
There were about 4500 of these made,
and they were easy to date with the serial numbers.
This one didn't have a serial number which was odd.
So after opening it I found one of the little capacitors? was broken.
Great.
work station
Using the cheap but trusty Hakko Red soldering gun,
it was an easy fix.
I feel comfortable doing wire to wire repairs,
but haven't had too much practice with board repairs.
Kinda make me want to try one of those electric repair kits.
One more thing to do!
fixed
Through a stroke of rare ebay luck,
I was able to locate a NOS meter.
These meters are the older DB only style,
and I can't believe I found one.
HOYT Mcintosh MC2300 meter
The box arrived yesterday and man is this thing cool.
It better be cause it was more than some of my smaller sub-100w receivers!
Mcintosh MC2300 meter - HOYT
So now I got to figure if swapping meters is something I want to tackle.
The job doesn't look terribly difficult,
just a bunch of wires.
I'll let you know.
McIntosh Addict
Yeah I'm an addict.
I'm blaming my old friend Chip for this one...
I've changed my mind and have decided to build the rusty 40 as a gasser.
The ultimate gasser.
ultimate 1940 ford gasser
So today the kids and I mocked it up for the new body mounts.
raised 1940 ford coupe
I've been confined to the shop the past week or so,
and the boys have been hanging out with me.
It's been really cool,
even though I can be a grouch sometimes.
perich brothers
Today they helped out with a couple projects.
The last one raising the body off the frame.
unfinished business
I was just kidding about the gasser chit.
Hey a guy could dream right!
Now that the back end was beefed up,
the body could be lifted up,
and the bottom can be welded and painted.
dirty frame
The frame definitely needs a cleaning.
The sparse rattlecan coat didn't hold up too long.
I'll also boogie on the master cylinder mount while there's easy access.
jakob & jaxon perich
Thanks again boys for all the help.
You guys kick a$$!
(..rubber band snap...)
Over the weekend I finally made some time for the old 40 project.
It was about time.
backside 40 ford coupe
There was this nagging hole in the trunk compartment.
A small space that needed multiple panels.
holey chit
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Who - Eminence Front - 2006
I remember watching the video on MTV as a kid,
when there were like 5 videos including that one by Journey with the girl walking.
Anyway this song even 30 years old is still too true.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The time making those little sheet metal clamps has really paid off.
I've used them a ton the past couple weeks,
even though I haven't posted the pics yet.
patch panels
I started on the templates friday night,
which was a total waste of time.
The next morning the design was changed a little.
I really wanted to make them one 3-sided piece,
but it was too time consuming.
sheet metal clamps in action
These sheet metal clamps are totally awesome.
Bro.
Seriously.
stool time
A couple ugly tacks and the panels were stuck.
tacked up
The project had to wait til this evening to finish up.
The front gap corner was filled,
and a long strip was cut out to match the bottom hole.
13 sheet metal clamps
All 13 clamps were used in this little space.
There is a transition from the flat rusty piece,
to the curved rear panel,
and these little buggers did a perfect job.
I'll weld it up later.
tacked up
This area really magnified the deficiencies of the auto-darkening helmet.
Even with 4-sensors,
I was flashed countless times,
especially working in the corner sections.
Those diagonal support bars would block the top sensors,
and the rear panel would block the bottom sensors.
Sitting higher would help a little but made the welding tougher.
Oh well.
I'll be finish welding it with the old standby helmet.
1940 ford tool bag
The new secret stash spot was made for a specific purpose,
holding an original 1940 tool bag -
including the jack, tire iron, and a slew of FORD tools.
In a stock car,
there is a wood door that covers the area.
secret stash spot
This may also be a good spot for moonshine as well.
Make sure not to tell anyone.
I had a little bit of a scare yesterday.
My 2 year old phone took a crap on me,
and for part of the day I thought I'd lost my picture stash.
Fortunately my wife had not ditched her old same phone
when I found a craigslist Iphone 4 for her,
so now I've got a nice clean working phone again,
and access to all the pictures I haven't posted up here.
Exciting huh!
chromed 1958+ oldsmobile rear end
I'm actually past due for a phone upgrade,
but am a little wary of the 2 year trap that Verizon sets along with the phone deals.
After looking at the new phones,
I've got to really think if it is even worth the swap up.
The smartphones are so ginormous and fragile looking.
It's taken all my effort to not ruin my current LG Ally phone,
which I already failed at.
chromed olds rear end
This only matters to you guys cause the majority of my pictures are with the cell phone.
I'm sure you can tell.
Hey it gets a little ridiculous carrying a digital camera, a cell phone, and an ipod!
chromed olds rearend
Plus,
why would I want to get into debt when there are old speed parts to scrounge up?
The wife's replacement will suit me for now.
All I need is internet access during my down time.
1958-1962 oldsmobile pumpkin
That is how I scrounged up this badass piece of hot rod history.
Amazing what people would do back in the day.
Chrome everything.
The guy even chromed the brake drums,
which look to be brand new inside.
oldsmobile brakes
When a Ford 8 inch, 9 inch and the 50's oldsmobile are together,
it is obvious why this rear end was so desireable for drag racing.
The olds is comparable to a 9 3/4 inch.
ford vs oldsmobile rear ends
Sadly the overall width was too wide for either of the 40's.
The 5x5" bolt pattern didn't help as well.
It's going up north to a friend Ricky who has a better home for it,
a 56 chevy gasser.
Even though it's a one legger its a perfect period piece for his project.
Double bummer is I didn't get any pictures of Danny when he picked it up with his friend!
See,
that's the reason the phone story matters to you.
