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

I went down to CarQuest and picked up another quart of black "etching primer" to get after some of the metal parts I had stripped and sandblasted last spring ... since I live in Las Vegas this stuff stays pretty good, as long as you keep it out of the water.

Today I repaired a break in the sheet metal on the driver side fender which was causing the metal to flex (and hinge) causing a vertical crack from the bottom on the curve between the running board and the wheel well opening.

I'll be getting the remaining finish body work done on the inner fender skirts, get them painted and get the fender well surfaces primed painted and undercoated.

I need to do some "reworking" of the "Frenched In" antenna on the passenger side fender ... I let a couple of my buddies work on that and I'm not so sure I like how it turned out 100%. I think it needs some help.

Then I'll have to figure out what to do about the front roll pan, I have been working with the original factory front valance til now, but considering I'm doing a full "Billit Grill" (which I have never seen on an Effie) that old valance will need a ton of work to get it to where I want it. I need to "get rid of/smooth out" all the old factory signal light areas, reshape the area where the billit grill will meet up with it ... and French in some "running lights". The headlights and turn signals will reside behind the billit grill and are already implanted into the side panels beside the core support.

Sometimes this project starts seeming too massive for me to to keep my confidence pointed in the right direction.

Everything I need to do ... I've either done or seen done first hand, but this is a ton of work ... sometimes it doesn't seem to move the project along very quickly considering all the time and effort expended [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

Then, every now and then, I look back and can't help but realize how far it has come along.

My current focus is getting the front sheet metal all repaired as needed, primed and assembled to the point I can finish off all fabrication to all of the body up front ... having it all pretty much done and ready for paint.

I'll have some new PICs available hopefully tomorrow showing the truck with the cab and bed on the frame.
_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MonsterMach on 12/29/04 8:04am ]</font>

Phantom Grill eh? Can't wait to see the finished product.. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img] Keep the faith[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
[addsig]

... I'm out in the garage bolting on some of the front end body panels I've been working on.

It's looking like I will need to do some additional work on the radiator core support ... the top needs to tilt back about half an inch (in order to get the front panels to line up correctly with the fenders) and that additional tilt will affect the top radiator mounting bracket placement [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

This is all just stuff you can't plan perfectly for on the first run, you have no way to know until you get to bolting front end panels onto the frame work you have fabricated.

20 minutes later [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

I discovered the fender needed to come forward on the cab ... This adjustment all but cured the positioning issue up front ... any modifications (if any are needed at all) will be minimal[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_spin.gif[/img]

_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 12/7/03 11:58pm ]</font>

It's OK ... I talk to myself out in my own garage too[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

I got to work on that "frenched in" antenna tonight. tested out the new welder and everything seems to be good ... both the antenna fix ... and the welder.

I added some bracing to the tube and welded the helk out of the whole attachement to the fender. Now the Question is, do I own enough bondo and primer to clean it all up [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

I expect it will be just dandy ... and I'm willing to bet the ranch that I have it in there securely enough now so it won't bust loose in a couple of years.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]



_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 12/8/03 9:23am ]</font>

do-ta do-ta do

Well I didn't runout of bondo ... got the fender line looking just fine around the frenched in antenna.

Now, I'll get that drain in the bottom and I'll be able to install the other fender assembly.

_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 12/14/03 5:24am ]</font>

Drain hole/tube is in. I primed the area and seam sealed all my welds and got it all primed.

I can now paint the inner side of the fender well and get the passenger side fender and skirt installed.

I need these pieces on the truck so I can fabricate the rod supports (for the front end) back on the truck. When we replaced the factory firewall the bracket anchors on the firewall (for the rods) went away and something new needs to be fabricated on the firewall.

However, I'm held up a bit on painting since the paint shop at Car Quest is closed on Saturday. I ran out of the Phantom Grey paint I have been using on all the under carraige and frame ... It's not a big deal though, I have plenty of other issues to work on, so I'll carry on and pick up the paint on Monday.

_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 12/14/03 7:22am ]</font>

Quick story on why these projects take so long.

I was swapping out rockers on the 460 in the old Effie ....

I lost a pushrod down the hole under the intake .... In my infinate wisdom I figured I'd go after it with a Magnet ...

Guess what? I also lost the magnet down the hole [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

So .... I had to pull the intake and reset it just to fetch the damn pushhrod and magnet out of the motor [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_cry.gif[/img]

As of tonight, that project is complete and I got my second can of Phantom Grey paint, so I'm set to get back into action of the "real" project.

Dang ... I do some dumb **** every now and then[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lame.gif[/img]

_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 12/18/03 10:34am ]</font>

Today I believe I resolved (what seemed to be) my biggest obsticle on the 460 motor and the Pontiac Trans Am front clip.

Problem is this ... the lower radiator hose comes out right above the GM steering box and real, real close to the power steering pump ... trying to get out of the radiator and turn quickly enough to miss the PS pump and at the same time avoid the steering box just below and still get under the belt on that side ... was seeming ... well ... possible, but non-the-less a very un-nerving project.

I got a factory lower hose for a 72 LTD w/429 from the parts store and obviously that gets me a ways, but it won't work completely, because the hose can't make the turn under the belt with the GM steering box way out front (compared to the normal routing of the Ford situation, where the steering box is to the rear.)

I was in the attic and stumbled onto the old upper radiator hose from my 351C/Mach1 and realized that its abrupt curve and then straight length with a slight curve, looked prerfect to go from the lower radiator nipple out and down to below the belt ... I took it and sized it up to the old Effie and it was indeed perfect.

Now all I needed was a metal "U" to connect the two ends and get me under the belt and back up. What I ended up doing was taking two 90 degree 1.5" copper pipe fittings and "off set" the ends so they lined up correctly to the angles of the two hoses ... sweated the fittings together and there it is ... DONE DEAL!

I'll paint the copper "black" and clamp it all together[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 10:03am ]</font>

Larry

I just took a cruse on your web site and I must say I am very impressed with your work, nice job.

[addsig]

Thanks 393Clevor

They (the car projects) are a lot of fun and I'm eager to get the old Effie done to a reasonable degree of completion ... I say it that way, because it seems to me they are never, ever really "DONE."

This remedy on the lower hose situation has cleared the way for some speedy progress on the motor ... I had been a little discouraged about working on the big 460 because I knew that no matter what else I got hooked up and finished off on the motor, I couldn't think about firing it up til I got this lower hose issue resolved, so this was in deed a major hurdle for me to clear.

Now I can hook up the fuel line and get the vacuum hooked to the power booster under the floor do some wiring and begin to see "the light at the end of the tunnel" on getting the old girl under her own power.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

The exhaust system will be another biggie, but I'll have that done over at the local exhaust shop. We need this truck to run real quiet, so I plan to do 2.5" from the manifolds back to a single muffler and then a single 3" on out the rear passenger side ... Chopo down at the shop says that will be the best bet on making the effie run as silent as possible.

If anyone has any input on exhaust system and how to make it "QUIET", I'll be happy to hear it.

_________________

Larry Madsen
Las Vegas Nevada


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: monstermach on 12/30/03 10:10am ]</font>