March 19, 2006 -
NOW WHAT???!
Today we got back to the car, we did work on it last week, but we had a series of delays that added up to very little work happening. This weekend, it seemed that everything was working properly. We got the radiator installed, new crossmember placed and fan belt system figured out. That was before lunch. About 4 we tried to start the car with no luck and that is when things started to go bad...
First, last week,
Last week, I helped a friend look at and purchase a motorcycle. This was the first bike we looked at and it was the one for her. Unfortunately, she made negociations in price difficult for reasons that I will not mention here. She is in love with it and it matches her car. (only a girl will find a motorcycle as the perfect accessory for her MINI)
First issue we had to resolve was from when we installed the exhaust. When we started the car up, we noticed that there was an exhaust leak from the hole shown here. I have no idea why it is there but feel it is specific to only some ford cylinder heads. All of the other ones that I have do not have this hole this size or passage thru to the back side.
On the Passenger side, we had to get creative to put the bolt in. Our Alternator sits with in a 1/4 inch of the head and a bolt head would interfere with the bolt. Our solution was to manufacture a set screw in Ultra Copper to prevent it from leaking. All other 3 holes just received a very large bolt that will be visible in later shots.
The other issue we had is that our upper radiator hose was going to interfere with the path of our alternator. To fix this we decided to do a structural modification typicaly not recommended.
We cut the lower crossmember completely off.
In its place, we installed a 3/4 inch tube that we inserted bolts inside so it could be the lower crossmember. Unfortunately when we installed it with the bumper bolts as planned, it was still in the way of the radiator. To get the spacing correct for the cross member, I used washers to push the frame rails out to their proper location. This was planned so we could install the Steel plate on either side so it would prevent the frame rails from bending too bad.
This weekend, we started with the steel plates for the cross member. Here is our home made drill press. We used my drill with all of the material clamped to the plywood for strength.
After we installed the plates, we modified our alternator bracket so it would line up in a straight line since we located it back further than in some other cars.
Here I am making the final modifications to the cross member, we decided to make it also hold the radiator so it would then be out of the way.
Once we decided the final location and checked clearances with the radiator we installed the cross bar. We used some scrap angle iron to act as the support.
Once the support was installed on the bottom and we mounted the radiator, we used clamps to hold the brackets in place so we can tack them to the upper cross bar. There is still some work to do to this bar, but the radiator mount helps. After we installed the radiator, we had to clearance the hood so it would not interfere with the radiator. In a few weeks, we will start on the next modification for the hood.
I am now finishing up the welds for the tabs for the radiator. We will also weld nuts onto the back side of the flat portion for the radiator to bolt into.
Here is the radiator completely installed. We did manage to raise it up about 1-1/2 inches over what we had started with. It will still require some fabrication for the lower metal, but the grille and bumper fit with out any problems. Next week, we will work on installing the fans to help with cooling the engine. We have one out of a Honda CRX to supply the main cooling and one from a Mercedes 300 D to add cooling as needed.
From the top, you can see that the Radiator is less than 1/2 inch from the end of the water pump housing. It is tight, but should work well.
Toward the end of the day, we tried to start the car to get the water flowing thru the engine and radiator, however it would not start. I tried to bypass the starter solonid and it still would not turn over. That meant that the starter was no good. with that being said, we now had to get the starter replaced. Looking at the starter, it was in an area that it could not get out of easily. We ended up unhooking the exhaust and removing the motormount on the passenger side of the car to get it out.
Here is the home of the starter. In front, you can see the frame mount for the motor mount. Also in the way is the steering linkage. Before October, we will mosti likely pull the engine one last time so we can repaint the engine and engine bay since we have done a lot of modifications to the area. I only have a few partial days next week to work on it and then is the show that it must drive to if it is to be in the show. If it will not run, then we will go to the show and hang out with a few different people. My uncle should be there with his 54 Ford Victoria.
Wish us luck.
Today we got back to the car, we did work on it last week, but we had a series of delays that added up to very little work happening. This weekend, it seemed that everything was working properly. We got the radiator installed, new crossmember placed and fan belt system figured out. That was before lunch. About 4 we tried to start the car with no luck and that is when things started to go bad...
First, last week,
Last week, I helped a friend look at and purchase a motorcycle. This was the first bike we looked at and it was the one for her. Unfortunately, she made negociations in price difficult for reasons that I will not mention here. She is in love with it and it matches her car. (only a girl will find a motorcycle as the perfect accessory for her MINI)
First issue we had to resolve was from when we installed the exhaust. When we started the car up, we noticed that there was an exhaust leak from the hole shown here. I have no idea why it is there but feel it is specific to only some ford cylinder heads. All of the other ones that I have do not have this hole this size or passage thru to the back side.
On the Passenger side, we had to get creative to put the bolt in. Our Alternator sits with in a 1/4 inch of the head and a bolt head would interfere with the bolt. Our solution was to manufacture a set screw in Ultra Copper to prevent it from leaking. All other 3 holes just received a very large bolt that will be visible in later shots.
The other issue we had is that our upper radiator hose was going to interfere with the path of our alternator. To fix this we decided to do a structural modification typicaly not recommended.
We cut the lower crossmember completely off.
In its place, we installed a 3/4 inch tube that we inserted bolts inside so it could be the lower crossmember. Unfortunately when we installed it with the bumper bolts as planned, it was still in the way of the radiator. To get the spacing correct for the cross member, I used washers to push the frame rails out to their proper location. This was planned so we could install the Steel plate on either side so it would prevent the frame rails from bending too bad.
This weekend, we started with the steel plates for the cross member. Here is our home made drill press. We used my drill with all of the material clamped to the plywood for strength.
After we installed the plates, we modified our alternator bracket so it would line up in a straight line since we located it back further than in some other cars.
Here I am making the final modifications to the cross member, we decided to make it also hold the radiator so it would then be out of the way.
Once we decided the final location and checked clearances with the radiator we installed the cross bar. We used some scrap angle iron to act as the support.
Once the support was installed on the bottom and we mounted the radiator, we used clamps to hold the brackets in place so we can tack them to the upper cross bar. There is still some work to do to this bar, but the radiator mount helps. After we installed the radiator, we had to clearance the hood so it would not interfere with the radiator. In a few weeks, we will start on the next modification for the hood.
I am now finishing up the welds for the tabs for the radiator. We will also weld nuts onto the back side of the flat portion for the radiator to bolt into.
Here is the radiator completely installed. We did manage to raise it up about 1-1/2 inches over what we had started with. It will still require some fabrication for the lower metal, but the grille and bumper fit with out any problems. Next week, we will work on installing the fans to help with cooling the engine. We have one out of a Honda CRX to supply the main cooling and one from a Mercedes 300 D to add cooling as needed.
From the top, you can see that the Radiator is less than 1/2 inch from the end of the water pump housing. It is tight, but should work well.
Toward the end of the day, we tried to start the car to get the water flowing thru the engine and radiator, however it would not start. I tried to bypass the starter solonid and it still would not turn over. That meant that the starter was no good. with that being said, we now had to get the starter replaced. Looking at the starter, it was in an area that it could not get out of easily. We ended up unhooking the exhaust and removing the motormount on the passenger side of the car to get it out.
Here is the home of the starter. In front, you can see the frame mount for the motor mount. Also in the way is the steering linkage. Before October, we will mosti likely pull the engine one last time so we can repaint the engine and engine bay since we have done a lot of modifications to the area. I only have a few partial days next week to work on it and then is the show that it must drive to if it is to be in the show. If it will not run, then we will go to the show and hang out with a few different people. My uncle should be there with his 54 Ford Victoria.
Wish us luck.