It takes a little bit of work to break them things so somebody did something interesting..
What did you do to your non-G body project today? [2023]
- Thread starter Wraith
- Start date
Well, I've not posted much recently. Other than needing to replace the starter in my wagon last week, outside , in -3F temps, it has been toughing through another Northcoast winter.
I have been working on this project that I took delivery of over Thanksgiving weekend. It's a 1936 Ford ex-5 window coupe that my Dad bought as a completed stock-bodied street rod back in the late 70s. The underpinnings were always updated via a mid-70s truck Chevy 350, 350 trans and GM 10 bolt rear. More recently is has been updated with a crate 350, early 70s Nova front subframe grafted to the rest of the original frame, the same 350 trans and a Ford 9" rear with something like 2.41 highway gears. It has a tilt steering column, power steering, disc brakes, and remote-control power windows to allow access in and out.
Dad had been customizing this thing since the mid-80s. First major surgery was cutting off the roof and making it a roadster. The roof is now fiberglass and can be removed and clamped back on pretty quickly. Next was the adding of 49 Cadillac tailfins and lights. Front and rear bumpers are modified 50s Pontiac. Headlights are 50 Ford, Harley Davidson front turn signals and a 40 Willy's grill.
Over the years it has been a multiple of different colors because Dad would work on it all winter, then spray it a solid color, put it all back together, and then drive it all summer and repeat the process the following winter. He never officially finished it. But in this configuration, from our Northeast, Ohio location, this car has been as far east as Boston, as far south as the Florida Keys, as far west as California several times and even northwest to Spokane, Washington, always driven and never on a trailer until my brother delivered it to me in pieces and not running this past November.
About 10 years ago, he finally finished all the major customizing that he wanted to do, but was also showing signs of dementia setting in. He progressively got worse to where he wouldn't leave the couch so the car just sat in pieces. He passed away a little over a year ago and I now have the car. My long-term goal is to eventually finish it the way he envisioned it. Currently my short-term goal is to get it back on the road this Spring/Summer and get it sorted back out. Eventually I'll dismantle it all again and paint it the color Dad always wanted which is something along the lines of the "antifreeze green" that you see on the latest generation of Camaros, then get the interior done.
It's been a challenge because 90% of this car has been drastically changed. Most of that, only Dad knew how it went back together. Making matter worse, some parts have gotten misplaced over the years. So I've been trying to sort things out, and figuring out how things go back together. I've managed to get it running after going through the fuel system and freshening that up. I was able to drive it around the block with no lights, hood, bumpers, or even a seat. I've been updating some of the wiring as I go. Currently I'm going through the brake system and putting the body back together while I pay off some Christmas bills before I purchase some larger ticket items such as a custom bench seat to replace the outdated buckets leftover over from the Street Rod configuration.
I have a Lokar classic style shifter on order to replace the mid-60s Mustang shifter that has always been in there. The bench seat will need to be custom made to fit the floor that was severely modified to allow space for the tunneled driveshaft. It has a crude primitive style air ride system on the rear which I will update with fresh components. All of the really hard and time-consuming work has been done. It's just up to me to complete it and finish off the hundreds of details that were never addressed.
Here are some pics as I received it and as I've been putting it back together.
I have been working on this project that I took delivery of over Thanksgiving weekend. It's a 1936 Ford ex-5 window coupe that my Dad bought as a completed stock-bodied street rod back in the late 70s. The underpinnings were always updated via a mid-70s truck Chevy 350, 350 trans and GM 10 bolt rear. More recently is has been updated with a crate 350, early 70s Nova front subframe grafted to the rest of the original frame, the same 350 trans and a Ford 9" rear with something like 2.41 highway gears. It has a tilt steering column, power steering, disc brakes, and remote-control power windows to allow access in and out.
Dad had been customizing this thing since the mid-80s. First major surgery was cutting off the roof and making it a roadster. The roof is now fiberglass and can be removed and clamped back on pretty quickly. Next was the adding of 49 Cadillac tailfins and lights. Front and rear bumpers are modified 50s Pontiac. Headlights are 50 Ford, Harley Davidson front turn signals and a 40 Willy's grill.
Over the years it has been a multiple of different colors because Dad would work on it all winter, then spray it a solid color, put it all back together, and then drive it all summer and repeat the process the following winter. He never officially finished it. But in this configuration, from our Northeast, Ohio location, this car has been as far east as Boston, as far south as the Florida Keys, as far west as California several times and even northwest to Spokane, Washington, always driven and never on a trailer until my brother delivered it to me in pieces and not running this past November.
About 10 years ago, he finally finished all the major customizing that he wanted to do, but was also showing signs of dementia setting in. He progressively got worse to where he wouldn't leave the couch so the car just sat in pieces. He passed away a little over a year ago and I now have the car. My long-term goal is to eventually finish it the way he envisioned it. Currently my short-term goal is to get it back on the road this Spring/Summer and get it sorted back out. Eventually I'll dismantle it all again and paint it the color Dad always wanted which is something along the lines of the "antifreeze green" that you see on the latest generation of Camaros, then get the interior done.
It's been a challenge because 90% of this car has been drastically changed. Most of that, only Dad knew how it went back together. Making matter worse, some parts have gotten misplaced over the years. So I've been trying to sort things out, and figuring out how things go back together. I've managed to get it running after going through the fuel system and freshening that up. I was able to drive it around the block with no lights, hood, bumpers, or even a seat. I've been updating some of the wiring as I go. Currently I'm going through the brake system and putting the body back together while I pay off some Christmas bills before I purchase some larger ticket items such as a custom bench seat to replace the outdated buckets leftover over from the Street Rod configuration.
I have a Lokar classic style shifter on order to replace the mid-60s Mustang shifter that has always been in there. The bench seat will need to be custom made to fit the floor that was severely modified to allow space for the tunneled driveshaft. It has a crude primitive style air ride system on the rear which I will update with fresh components. All of the really hard and time-consuming work has been done. It's just up to me to complete it and finish off the hundreds of details that were never addressed.
Here are some pics as I received it and as I've been putting it back together.
Well had an adventure with my buddy that helped me with the motor on the Monte and currently has it sitting at his shop for the winter. So when he asked if I'd go for a trip to DC to drive back with him in a Jeep he was buying for the wife I was more than willing to go. So we flew out at almost 11 with one of the quickest flights I've been on, got to the dealer he was getting it at and dealt with the normal BS of attempted upsell and offer more financing. Which worked in my advantage cause they knew what they were doing and had 3 smoking hot finance "managers" that I got to see walking back and forth between customers. Once they had him jump through all the hoops even though he was already pre-approved from Capital One we were able to get on our way, the ride wasn't as bad as either of us were expecting and except for hitting a snow storm on the way back it was all pretty smooth sailing. Oh, and the reason for the trip is that even though he found better deals closer the wife wanted this color with the 6 speed
Ordered one of those super high power LED lights for the garage door, it wouldn't fit properly as it was so ended up buying an extension and now I got tons of light and able to make it so it doesn't blind me when pulling in
update:
so, finally got around to taking a look at the 07 Silverado truck since bringing it home 5 days ago. haven't turned it on or anything. average temp has been in the 40-50s with scattered rain and some fog. checking oil, which I hadn't done since driving home 5 days ago, I find what appears to be tiny moisture droplets/air-bubbles on the dipstick, specifically on the bottom quarter of the stick along the edge. I drove it home with that 1 qt low and it still reads 1 qt low so no changes there.
wiped it clean and scrubbed it dry, checked again, yep still got tiny droplets. added 3/4-qt of oil, checked 20 mins later, still have droplets, but not showing water on dipstick or milkshake. inside of oil fill cap shows a medium brown film residue.
I know the truck was towed a year ago and pretty much sat the whole time. mileage is unknown because the PRNDL display is out even though truck runs and gauges work, but known info indicates 200K+.
thoughts?
May just be condensation from temperature changes. Do a cheap oil change and give it a good drive to heat it up a couple times then change it again? Or do a pressure check on the cooling system cold see if it drops and then again when hot because of the aluminum heads and intake.
Intake is plastic on them Engines and it's dry, no coolant in it.
Added some washers to the lights to straighten them out, and found the torsion bars were nearly bottomed out on the low side. raised em up quite a bit, about a finger width from max, uh, insertion... and the plow mount hasn't bottomed out yet so I call that a win. Gained about 1.5" at least.
spoke with the Commercial Parts Salesman at parts store I work at, and showed him pics. he's thinking condensation too. add some engine flush, drive a few miles, oil change.
edit for clarification: for those who don't know, the Commercial Parts Pro sales people are those who have-been/are (experienced) mechanics but for one reason or another (family, money, tired of getting dirty, etc) have moved into the CPP role, getting/selling parts for automotive commercial customers.
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