| grovesmr | -- 12-13-2015 @ 3:56 PM |
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ill be turning 35 tomorrow so maybe im a kid around here, forgive me. ive spent my tinkering days on fox body mustangs and then imports much to the disgust of my grandpa. but i always had something for his 35 roadster. well i got ahold of my first old car a 35 pickup, but itseemed a little off because it has a master cylinder and hydro brakes all around. i can tell that its not original with its loose lines and such and it may be long before my time but i thought 39 was the first of hydro brakes on the fords. its missing fenders, doors, running boards, hood, grille, radiator, well everything in front of the firewall but what appears to be complete engine and accessories. the suspension and powertrain are intact, interior is gutted but has original gauges, radio tuner and speaker and a heater. has a flathead v8. well i started cleaning the many years of gunk and animal feces off and out of it when i realized that, beyond just a brake conversion in its service, the engine doesnt look right, i checked my grandpas 35 roadster and yep it doesnt look right. turn to google find that the bronze paint i found under all the grease and gunk along with 8ba cast on the heads point to a late '49 car engine. so now for the questions... 1)how can i determine this is for sure a late 49 flathead? for the sake of finding the right parts if i need to fix something itd be nice to know what exactly is in there. i know i should pull the heads and measure the stroke, or at least pull them to make sure a mouse didnt make its home there, but id like to have new gaskets ready to reinstall just incase everything looks ok or incase multiple flatheads have the same stroke 2)if the engine isnt original maybe the transmission isnt either, its equipped with a column shifter, two levers out the left side of the transmission, and is there a quick and relatively cheap way to convert this to a floor shift without trying to fab up something myself. i suppose i could make something work but not knowing these old cars i dont know if itd be worth my time if something is available 3) ive got some 35 front fenders and a what i think is a 36 grill(assume the grille is a pickup grille if what i know of model a grilles carries over, its primed and thought cars were stainless) and a couple hoods from various 35 and 36 cars, are these basically interchangable with a 35 pickup? the cowl looks identical to my grandpas roadster as far as the indentations go around where the hood meets the cowl. 4) anyone have an exploded view of the front end so i can really get a good idea of what exact parts im missing located just north of cincinnati ohio in case anyone gets really bored on a weekend and wants to come by and check out this old thing to push me in the right direction. or in case you have a 35 or 36 pickup i could come look at, especially if you have some personal experience on complete teardown and rebuild of the body so i can pick your brain This message was edited by grovesmr on 12-13-15 @ 6:25 PM
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| grovesmr | -- 12-13-2015 @ 4:13 PM |
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ill also note that what triggered my concern about the motor was that unlike the the model a's and 35 roadster grandpa had, this pickup, while it had manual choke and throttle rods the throttle rod was just floating aroudn the engine bay not attached to anything and i couldnt find what was missing on the carb. so thats when i checked grandpas 35 and saw some differences in the motor, but still wondering if i should have something to that other rod that should be going to the carb This message was edited by grovesmr on 12-13-15 @ 4:14 PM
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| grovesmr | -- 12-13-2015 @ 4:31 PM |
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ill also note that ive successfully fabricated a targa top into a car that never had one, converted it to right hand drive and also relocated a motor from the front of the car to the rear where the rear seat were. all done on a honda. only state all this to get it out there i have no problem making stuff work where it never had before been done. but also humbly say i really dont know anything about these old cars and what i should be looking for, they were new when my grandpa was a toddler and ive only worked on cars made since fuel injection and dual airbags were standard and even then mostly obdII and handheld computers did engine diagonsitics for you. its all just a little bit outside my experience. and my grandpa with Alzheimers cant help identify what he used to be able to. i just think itd be really cool if i could get this thing running safely to take grandpa around town in a old car i brought back to life like the many cars he had before i cant anymore. This message was edited by grovesmr on 12-13-15 @ 4:56 PM
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| CharlieStephens | -- 12-13-2015 @ 4:46 PM |
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Find a local Early Ford V8 Club and join it. Add your email and general location to your profile so if someone is close they can contact you. Be wary of hydraulic brake conversions. They can be great or dangerous. Charlie Stephens This message was edited by CharlieStephens on 12-13-15 @ 4:46 PM
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| grovesmr | -- 12-13-2015 @ 5:01 PM |
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yeah, ive heard the mechanical brakes were just fine on the old cars, its not like anyone was even going 70mph then. once i dove into cleaning everything to get an idea of what all i had on my plate is when i saw the conversion was half assed, no lines were mounted on the front end everything from the master cylinder to the drums was floating. master cylinder looks professionally mounted though, almost factory in appearance. regardless itd need a full twice over im sure, preferably a full modern setup with booster and discs one day, but for now ill replace the master and lines and mount the lines before taking it on the road. thats all easy stuff. its really the drivetrain im trying to get some info on and what year body parts are interchangeable between the cars and trucks. what would really be helpful is exploded views of the front ends of cars and trucks of both 35 and 36. i havent been able to find them, ive seen a few pics of different grilles and different radiator pans, im not sure what youd call them, grandpa called the parts he made for the model a that went under the radiator the radiator splash apron, so its that part but on the 35+ its under the grill. im just not sure how all its supposed to go together without all the pieces that go together here infront of me to try to throw together so i dont even know what to order or look for if it would help i can grab some pictures this week of some hoods and the grille and front fenders i have laying around to see what i can put together, other than the grille i think they are all from cars cause in the dozen pairs of 35-36 doors ive dug up not a one fits the pickup. im pretty sure ill need a radiator to start throwing the parts i have on, but without one laying around i cant visualize how its all supposed to go together. ill add my email and location to my profile, should have thought of that, especially since i could trade lots of parts for the parts i need for the truck This message was edited by grovesmr on 12-13-15 @ 6:21 PM
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| CharlieStephens | -- 12-13-2015 @ 6:26 PM |
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My advice if you want to keep the hydraulics go to the '40-'48 type Ford brakes (note pre and post war were slightly different). If you want a slightly better brake go with the reproduction Lincoln "Bendix" designed brakes. (see www.mtcarproducts.com ) Forget "full modern setup with booster and discs". Remember if you are running the original wire wheels with the later hydraulic drums you need an adapter (they just look like they fit right). See: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/40-ford-wheels-on-a-model-a.750368/#post-8330045 Charlie Stephens This message was edited by CharlieStephens on 12-15-15 @ 1:11 AM
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| grovesmr | -- 12-13-2015 @ 7:04 PM |
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thanks for those links on brakes it will help me identify what parts got swapped in there, truck had solid wheels but i didnt have a good look at the drums and your link points out some stuff to look for when i get back to the shop
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| CharlieStephens | -- 12-14-2015 @ 9:29 AM |
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Take some photos of the brakes. Be sure to get the 6 o'clock part of the backing plate from the outside. Take the photos at the low resolution of your camera (or reduce their size with post processing) so you can post them. Post them on fordbarn.com and ask what year they are. I say fordbarn because I still haven't figured out how to post more than one photo here. Please excuse the Model A picture. I thought I would try posting more than one photo but only the second one came out. Now I can't figure out how to delete it. Charlie Stephens This message was edited by CharlieStephens on 12-15-15 @ 1:16 AM
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| TomO | -- 12-14-2015 @ 10:32 AM |
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Here is a link to some 35 pick-up photos. As you can see it is a very sharp looking truck. It has a photo of the correct looking engine. http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item/1935-FORD-PICKUP-137967 Here is another with the 49-53 engine similar to the engine that you have. http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Archive/Event/Item/1935-FORD-PICKUP-117435 You will not need to know the exact year of your engine as the head gaskets for all of the 49-53 engine interchange. If you need to rebuild it, you will have to find out the year range, so you can order the correct parts. Tom
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