Queenie's 55 Effie ... Diary of an F100 Project

Well, I got those front end "Support Rods" I was mentioning (about five posts back) installed today.

These are the support rods that span the engine bay from firewall to the front corners of the bay to steady the front fenders and core support. The installation of the new BB firewall to accomodate the Big 460 took out the factory brackets for these rods.

I devised a way to get them back in position without fabricating any bracket on the fire wall at all ... just a simple hole in the "roof" of the engine recess and a reinforcing plate on the other side (under the dash inside the truck.)

I'll still need to clear the joint sealant and primer off the surface they mate up to so I can weld the reinforcing plates in posiition for added strength and stress load distribution, but in the end this will look cleaner than what Ford did when they made the truck in the first place and it should serve the purpose plenty well. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]

_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 12/30/03 7:11am ]</font>

http://hometown.aol.com/queenies55f100/bedcover.html

Above is a link to PICs of a portion of the project that came along almost by accident. I need some opinions and some help determining the best way to finish this off and make it durable ... [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]

Check the PICs see what you think[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/7/04 3:09am ]</font>

Thanks Greg,

I'll go the "paint finish" route.

I never expected this thing to turn out to be anything more than a "temporary" fix to a storage problem ...

Point being ... there are plenty of screws and stuff visible in the plywood which you don't see in the PICs, so I'll need to camiflage it all with the sealing and finishing process.

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/6/04 6:54am ]</font>

I now have my Fuel Deliver system all set to go from the tank to the electric pump then on up to the carb on the engine.

I also have the Vacuum supply all set from the intake vacuum port down to the power booster (for the four wheel power disc brakes) which resides under the cab ... in the factory position.

Currently focused on the lower inner fender supports (which stabalize the fender skirts to the firewall) down low in the engine bay.

Mundane Progress ... but progress non-the-less [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/7/04 8:23am ]</font>

I got the inner fender anchors in place ...

I realize as well that my engine compartment is in a bit of a diamond shape.

Some diagonal measuring shows a longer measurement from the passenger side firewall corner to the driver side front corner than measuring the opposite diagonal.

I'm sure there is still some degree of adjustment in the "slop" of the assembly, but It looks like I will need to try to nudge the cab a little toward the driver side of the frame and slot the core support bolt holes (out front) to to allow for some movement of the nose of the front end body assembly toward the passenger side.

The diagnal measurements are off by about a half an inch so I won't need a boat load of movement to square things up, but it's a sure thing the hood won't sit right if things aren't square underneath it.

I push the old girl out of the garage to do little cleaning and realize as well ... I'm getting very, very close to redirecting my attention toward firing the Effie up and getting her "Mobile under her own power" ...

What a long awaited piece of progress that will be.

I'm excited just thinking abut it[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/8/04 5:26am ]</font>

Well ... Darrell came over and we "jimmied" the cab all we could toward the driver side ... the engine bay improved a lot (on "squareness"[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img].

I made a couple of JunkYard runs ... mostly focused on the Mach1 and the rear disc brake conversion ...

I made some progress there,

BUT, I also picked up some trans cooler lines off the same 78 Lincoln Continental 460/C6 combo to use on Queenie's Effie 460/C6 combo. Those are now installed and I need to get the connections to the trans cooler core done. It is a secondary cooler since I am using a "Griffin Aluminum" universal Ford radiator with no trans cooler provision. I'll need to fabricate a mounting bracket for the trans cooler core.

Then I'll be moving to the transmission shifter linkage for the "Ididit" column shift I have installed in front of the driver seat [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

This old girl is headed toward "START UP" on the new 466 BB

Gotta-Love-It [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_spin.gif[/img]

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/14/04 9:37am ]</font>

I got the Trans Cooler all fabricated in the old effie tonight.

I made a "frame" style bracket that utilizes two existing factory holes in the bottom of the core support to mount the trans cooler core right in the center of the core support/radiator.

I have a fairly clean trans cooler line set-up leading up to the cooler core with just a 90* fitting and a barb fitting coming of the end of the metal "double flair" lines and just about an inch or less of rubber between.

Darrell recommended I run a filter on the line and it would be a fairly easy piece to add, so I may go ahead and do that before the old girl goes into full duty.

Now it's time to get that transmission shifting off the column ...

Most automatic transmissions I see at the JY have a pivot arm ... sort of a "Z-bar" midway (mounted between the trans and the frame) ... I'll have to do some looking and figuring to decide how exactly I want to go about this[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]

If anyone has some thoughts on the best way to set this up ... I'd love to hear about it[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/14/04 9:35am ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/15/04 9:52am ]</font>

I picked up the "Z-bar" piece today for the automatic transmission shifter linkage.

The rod is too long because my transmission in the Effie sits closer to the frame than it did in the big 71 passenger car Ford I snagged the piece from. Easy fix though, I'll cut two inches out of the middle and sleeve the thing back together. I figure I needed to adjust the offset angle of the two arms anyway so this bit of fabrication would most likely have occurred whether I needed to shorten it or not.

I also need to tighten it up closer to the frame so the brake pedal will miss the mechanism, but that will be an easy fix as well.

This "Z-bar" will make getting around the brake pedal in general a much simpler deal than trying to run the shift rod straight from the colum to the trans ... not to mention the fact that the way this "Z-bar" is designed it creates a type of Slack that make engine/trans vibrations NOT get transferred to the frame or column. It's amazing to see how "Crude, But Effective" some of the engineering is that went into different aspects of cars.

The only problem I have is a fabrication of the brake return spring anchor that I did earlier ... the spring will have to attach to the frame somewhere lower on the frame rail, It's pretty much "in the way" where I welded it on ... I guess that's just some the issues you deal with when you are doing a "built from nearly scratch" highly customized project.

More mundane progress [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/15/04 9:55am ]</font>

I just ran a rod directly from the column to the trans on all of mine. I didn't like all the extra linkage.
[addsig]

That had been my original intention, straight from end of column to the trans lever, however the old 55 style brake pedal is a bit of an obsticle (not insurmountable), but it's definately in-the-way a bit.

This "Z-Bar" piece will actually be an easy install ... by my standards anyway ... after looking things over closely and sizing things up under the truck, it will make things a little better in the end, or so it seems to me.

_________________
Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

55 Ford F100 project (Queenie's Truck)
67 Camaro SS350 (also Queenie's)
01 Ford F150 Lariet 4X4 (mostly Queenie's)
73 Mach1 351C, 4 speed, 4.11:1 (This one's mine, Queenie is scared of it [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 1/24/04 9:43am ]</font>