dishwasher

Ok this is for all the gearhead readers out of the fortunate 32,
that are wondering what the heck is going on with all the talk of stereos,
kids and what-not.
I'll admit it's tricky to write one of these blogs if you are too focused.
Since I'm basically screaming into the wind here,
you guys get an unfiltered look into any shiny thing that catches my eye!

1940 ford coupe -  project june bug

Last week I wrote about my epic progress with the steering u-joint.
A truly incredible task on its own in terms of feebleness.
It made me realize I'd better get my a$$ in gear!

modifying motor mount

The problem I whined about last week
was the amount of unexciting projects.
It's like washing silverware when doing the dishes,
lots of them but they don't take up enough space,
so it doesn't look like much was actually done,
although it takes more time to fill the sink,
than it does one big ole pot.

On a side note that brings up an interesting tangent.
I'm the head dishwasher of the family,
as that is what keeps my hands so soft.
Yeah.
Well I noticed that even when our sink is totally full,
like it is every day,
I'll usually start with the utensils.
(the exact opposite of what I like to do on the car projects!)
and I'll use that rinse water to soften up all the dried egg
or whatever it is that is on the plates and bowls.
Usually I'll leave the big pot or mixing bowl,
as I use that to hold all the soapy water.
However,
when the wife does the dishes,
she'll do the exact opposite,
and leave all the silverware in the sink.
I guess that's why I'm the dishwasher!

302 oil filter notch

Wow now wasn't that a tangent!
Well one of the things on my STD list was to notch the engine mount,
as the oil filter didn't quite fit.
A couple passes with the grinder and now the engine can be filled with oil.

early ford starter wiring

Next on the list was figuring out how to wire up the newer starter.
There is a solenoid attached to the 5.0 starter,
unlike the flathead starter which needs a remote solenoid.

newer starter with older ford solenoid

At first I thought there was no need for the original starter solenoid.
With the help of the internet the correct wiring diagram was found,
but I'm not going to rip it off and post it on here,
instead I'll replace it with words...

Only one new wire was needed,
going from the temporary hot side to the new starter solenoid.
The big hot actually goes to the permanent hot side of the old solenoid,
so the starter is always hot.
This made the wiring easy as all the hot jumpers didn't have to be moved.
I'll be cleaning this up with some zip ties later on!
It was a big relief when the engine actually turned over with the push of the button,
and didn't continue turning after I let it off.

vintage soldering set

Next thing was to button up the wiring.
This was like hitting the brick wall on the STD list.
There's only 7 wires or 14 ends left,
but it took ridiculously long to visualize.
One of the issues was using this scrap boat multi-wire,
instead of running separate strands.
As you can see I had a habit of running only black wire,
so it's impossible to tell which wire is which later on.
The new white wire made it so simple,
my mind was trying to make it more confusing than it really was.
All the ends were soldered and heat shrinked,
and I'll zip tie everything once I know it works.

90% finished

The only wire I need now,
is the hot that joins the ignition, red coil wire, and voltage regulator.
I've got a series of toggle switches instead of a key ignition,
so that will give me a chance to clean up the dash wiring.

radiator hose scraps

Another exciting thing on my list was the radiator hoses.
I piled up all the old hoses,
and found some copper reducers to do some cut and paste.

flathead radiator hoses

The reducers make it easy to fit hard to find hoses.
This method has worked on the RPU flathead without a hitch.

1940 ford 302

It's tough to see but the hoses are all fit without the hose clamps.
I got lucky having that donor pile.
I'll still need to plug the extra radiator holes.

If you look closely,
there is now a fuel line to the carburetor!
I originally planned to u-turn it to go to the back of the engine,
and again I over-thought that layout.
A scrap tube I had saved from the chief rebuild (2 years ago!)
was bent in about 5 minutes,
and now I'm not sure why I was thinking doing it any other way.
There still needs to be some hose to connect the existing line.

transmission cooler & fan mock up

Tonight I started on the fan and transmission cooler bracketry.
I want them independently mounted so the radiator will be easier to remove,
without having to cut the zip tie mounts which make holes in the radiator fins.
A little preplanning in case I have problems.

If I'm lucky this will be finished tomorrow.
I'd love to fill it with fluids and start it up!

TP