Blown 34 Ford

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI, Gasser

Build Sheet (updated 11/13/2012)

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Radiator Refabrication – Part I

Remaking the aluminum tank from scratch out of 3003 grade, .060 aluminum.

(Left), The new Griffin aluminum radiator we started with had a false top and a hidden inner tank. We had to heavily fabricate the original Griffin tank (to clear the blower pulley and relocate the inlet tube) and as a result, a small pinhole leak formed during our test drive that didn’t show up during the original pressure test. Since the pinhole leak was on the inside and was covered by the false top, we had no way to repair it without ripping it all apart.  (Middle), A thick aluminum plate was welded on as a base to fasten an original 1934 Ford steel radiator stay rod bracket. Since using an original bracket wasn’t something I was focused on when we fabricated the first time, it was an afterthought and not a very clean solution. (Right), All the 1934 radiator “overhang” needed to be removed in order to clear the blower pulley. To be honest, we should have just started with an aluminum radiator core and made the entire thing ourselves.

An original 1934 Ford Radiator

Shearing and rolling the aluminum tank top

(left), A comparison of our previous tank, with the new one perched on top. (Middle), The tank components coming together. (Right), a good view of the 1-1/4″ aluminum radiator tubing.

(Left), The original (modified) steel radiator stay rod bracket in background. The new radiator stay rod bracket base will be mounted inside the tank this time. We mitered the edges to make it a little easier to weld. Once the sides come together, welding inside the tank will be tight.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI, Gasser

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

An older pic with the ’34 wearing the ’31 grill shell off my model A and the alternator facing frontwards (currently it faces backwards). It’s easy to spot a ’31 Model A shell because it was the only Model A year (1928-1931) that was painted on top.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Spring cleaning and “Sharks with friken laserbeams on their heads”

After taking some time off during the holidays, and more recently reorganizing the shop with some new tools and storage, it’s finally time to get back to the business of finishing this car. This weekend’s goal is fixing that internal radiator leak that sprung up during the test drive.

Scored an old 1950′s POWR-KRAFT lathe with all the tooling, and an old brass-handled cabinet from a gas station. The Baileigh 210M horizontal bandsaw wasn’t exactly a deal, but a much needed replacement for our abrasive saw.

And just to waste another day, I decided to fabricate a laser-line for the 210M to speed up some of the cutting jobs. I’ve seen industrial versions of these saw laser/mounts go for ridiculous prices! Using some .188 wall tubing and a $5.99 red line-laser 3 volt module (9mm)  scored off eBay, I think our total cost, including a battery box and a switch, was under $12. The trick is to calibrate the laser line against a saw mark when the saw arm is in the upright locked position. It’s unlikely you’ll get it to track perfectly on the downswing so don’t bother. The module is held in the tubing using a set screw; allowing for manual rotation to help with the calibration adjustment. The design of this laser was driven by the need to keep the water-based coolant dripping off the saw arm from reaching the laser.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Repost of a Blown 392 HEMI Nitro Gasser off THE H.A.M.B.

Hyder and Koulan 1934 Coupe, ca. 1966

I dig the black front cover and blower pulleys. It also looks like a fair amount of that motor-tranny is sitting in the front seat!

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Vintage Hot Rod Ad, 1934 Ford Gasser

FOR SALE: ’34 Ford. Chopped/channeled, candy apple paint. Four mag wheels, M & H’s, Quick-change. Less engine. $1450. Tandem trailer, $500. Complete. Chuck Buscher, 3906 S Street, Omaha, Neb.

Date published: unknown.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

A view inside shows the temporary wiring

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

I finally found this pair of K&N air filters from BDS that should come closer, anyway, in keeping up with the intake needs of this motor. I really dislike chrome, so I was happy to discover that the top covers are actually polished stainless. The filter elements are 3-inches tall as opposed to the old 2-inch ones I’ve been using as “carb dust covers.” But even for a normally aspirated motor, they’re still too small. Using the formula from K&N’s website: Assuming no supercharger and a max RPM of 5,500, in a perfect world I’d still need at least another 1/4-inch of filter height. They’ll work okay for mild street use until I find something better.

New 3-inch and old 2-inch K&Ns and a vintage Scott Scoop (right)

Maybe I will try my hand at fabricating a Scott SuperSlot scoop out of aluminum. I will try to keep it as low-profile as possible, which will probably require me to run something other than filters- maybe foam instead. Although foam does have a reputation of catching fire. I’m just not a fan of the Hillborn-style scoops and Velocity Stacks aren’t even an option.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Arline Hanson, Ford 1929 Model A Roadster

Photo of my Grandma Arline, taken in Madison Wisconsin sometime in the early 1930′s. I’m guessing she was in her early 20′s at the time…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Flight test #1

She took her first steps around the parking lot yesterday. Plagued by some last minute radiator Gremlins, it almost didn’t happen. Nothing too exciting- No stuck throttles, no gnarly burnouts… Just a mildly stressful test drive around the parking lot.

Damn Gremlins…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Fabricating 3/8-inch stainless radiator stay rods on an aluminum radiator, with an original 1934 ford steel radiator stay rod bracket

If the bracket and rod angles aren’t just right, the stay rods will bow. In my mock-up, you can see the errors- the washers should be flush with the nuts and the original bracket will need some fabrication.

TIG Welding an aluminum base for the radiator stay rod bracket.

Threading the stainless steel rod…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1930 Ford Model A grille shell emblem

I’m set on using a 1930 Model A grille shell and I finally found an original emblem for it. I do have a beautiful 1934 Ford grille shell, but I don’t think I’ll be using it. I know people will have strong opinions, but I think it’s just too much for this car. It sits way too far forward and looks awkward. The ’30 shell is polished stainless and is just large enough to completely cover the radiator.

It’s perfect. A masterpiece of understatement.

LOOK! Cover of Hot Rod magazine, December 1956: It’s a ’34 with a ’32 grille!

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Bakersfield, California – Hot Rod Reunion 2012

One of the few cars (besides the vintage funny cars!) that caught my eye. It’s pretty rough around the edges, but badass nonetheless. For the most part, this car used original parts. I really dig the 17″ wires. Once I start on the body work next spring, we’ll see if bare metal is even an option…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Alternator, Mounted Backwards

After struggling with the problem of mounting the alternator for months (page), it finally dawned on me to just mount it backwards. The photos above show both alternator mock-ups and the final design of the bracket. Once it was TIG welded, it proved to be extremely rigid (more pics soon) and required only the addition of a simple rod and heim as an adjuster. The only real disadvantages of mounting an alternator backwards, are cooling (the external or internal cooling fan blades will be running in reverse), and the possibility of loosening the pully bolt (they’re reverse threaded).

Mock-up of the alternator tucked in low, and tight. From the head-on view, it’s invisible.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1934 Ford Gas Pedal

A mock-up of an original 1934 Ford gas pedal fabricated to work with a rod and heim throttle linkage. The fabricated bracket shown is a bit too flexible and will have to be either gusseted or redesigned.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1934 Ford Brake Pedals

The pedal on the left was standard for 1934 Fords, but the one on the right has been a bit harder to identify- possibly military. I’ll post a shot of the full brake pedal fabrication shortly.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1939 Lincoln Drum Brake Install

With my steering issues fixed, I was able to spend a late night removing the SuperBell disc brakes and building the replacement brakes.

From what I understand, early production ’39 Lincoln backing plates had a water shield that encircled the perimeter. These are the late production version. The brakes and steering arms will either remain an oiled bare metal or get powder coated some version of black.

Looking a bit 60′s Gasser with a completed front-end, a strangely bluish-appearing axle (which is actually black), and wearing the grille off my 1931 Model A– the ’34 grill is sitting on the red cart to the right.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Front End Problems – PART III

Steering arms have been flattened, TIG welded and the Drag Link and Tie rod are correctly positioned. Now I can finish putting the front end together – finally.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Front End Problems – PART II

Flattening out the steering arms to fix the steering geometry. Now I’m not saying this is the best way to fix this, but it’s certainly the most fun…

Above left shows we’re back in business. The Drag Link is right where it should be.

The final two photos show the jig we built to keep things aligned, and of course filling in the V-notch with the TIG to insure things will be nice and strong down to the core of the steering arm.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Front End Problems – PART I

Dropped axles usually require dropped steering arms. In my case, since I’ve replaced the dropped axle with a stock (undropped) one, not only has it widened the front end, but it has also dramatically changed the steering geometry.

In this view, the effect is more obvious. The two long steering rods going into the photo from near to far (the Drag Link rod and the Tie Rod) should go between the Radius Rods (which go left to right). Both are much lower than they should be. The only way to bring the steering rods back up to the proper height, will be to flatten the steering arms out and remove their “drop.” I could try to buy some with the correct geometry, but it will be much more fun to fix these…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Radiator mounts in progress

Working on mounting the radiator and fabricating some radiator stay rods. The radiator stay rods are two straight support rods that go from the top sides of the firewall to the top center of the radiator. In my case, I have carbs and a blower in the way so I will need to get creative. In the above pic, the brakes are missing and the wheels are just leaning against the spindles, which is why it may look a little strange.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Better than a guard dog! A shot of our official shop spider. This Black Widow set up a shop of her own just outside our door

A gift from a neighbor- I wonder why it reminded him of this car??

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Fuel System Officially Installed and Tested

I’ve removed the temporary fuel system, and officially tightened the fittings on the actual fuel system. I’ve added fuel, checked for pin-hole leaks, fired her up and it works perfectly. Some things will eventually change (like the gas cap, filler neck seal and the hose clamps), but the foundation is solid.

It’s never fun unless you do something really stupid… In this case, forgetting to use anti-seize on stainless steel bolts into aluminum! Here’s a shot of a stainless bolt, which had galled and snapped while fabricating a temporary cover for the sending unit opening. After careful progressive drilling with larger and larger bits, I was finally able to run a tap through.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

I’ve been moving into a new house the past couple weeks, and haven’t had much time to spend at the shop. But here are a few updates: I decided to switch to 1939 Lincoln drum brakes in the front- pics as soon as they arrive. I do like the ’65 Buick finned drums (and it was a real pain to find a nice unchipped original set), but I realize now that the 39 Lincoln design is simpler and closer to the look I’m going for. Once I mount the front brakes and solve my draglink steering fabrication nightmare (pics on this too), I should be ready for a very short drive- probably to a gas station!

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Removing rust from wire wheels using electrolysis

I have some original Ford 1935 Wire Wheels that are fairly rusty. I thought I’d try my hand at removing the rust using electrolysis as an alternative to sandblasting. Unlike sandblasting or acid, one advantage of electrolysis is that no base metal is removed so details such as date and trademark stamps can be preserved. It’s also something that’s fairly easy to do at home.

Barn fresh from North Dakota

The solution is made using a mixture of water and Sodium Carbonate (called Washing Soda at the grocery store: pic)- 1 tbsp per gallon. The item to be cleaned, in this case the wheel, becomes the cathode and is connected to the Neg/ground (-) side of the battery charger. A sacrificial metal grid, which in this case is a bunch of welded up steel flat bar and tubing, becomes the anode and is connected to the Pos (+) side. In all reality, a piece of simple steel rebar will work just fine- just avoid stainless steel. The basic idea anyway is that the “rust” will migrate off the object to be cleaned toward the anode. The white bucket lid is preventing the wheel (-) from shorting out against the grid (+). A detailed explanation can be found here and here.

After about 2 hours on the 12 volt/ 20 amp setting, the system seemed to be drawing about 10 amps and a nice thick brownish-red scum had floated to the surface. Depending on how much rust we’re talking about, the process could take 2 hours or maybe 2 days. These wheels seem to be more on the 2 day end of the spectrum.

A shot of the “sacrificial anode” and its accumulation of rust after several hours in the soup. These can be scotch-brited clean and reused. The solution can be reused as well, since the Sodium Carbonate isn’t consumed. I’ll post more pics, some final results and more details on the times required when I put the wheel back in and let it finish up.

*** UPDATE *** 2013-02-07 My conclusion is that for what I’ve been trying to do, it’s a long and messy process. It may be good for small parts and tools- on a small scale, but for these large wheels it’s been nothing but a messy pain in the ass. These are heading to the sandblasters this week.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Advisability of using WW2 Radioactive Aircraft Toggle Switches in a Hot Rod build, Radium Toggle Switches, Radioluminescence.

Well they look harmless enough, but these switches contain a poison called Radium. Radium is a highly radioactive element that saw wide use in luminescent paints from 1913 through World War II. The luminescent glow of this paint made these aircraft switches visible to their operators at night.

The little glass bead at the tip of the toggle switch contains a mixture of Radium-226 (an isotope) and Zinc Sulfide (a phosphor). Initially it gives off a greenish glow, but as the Zinc Sulfide degrades over time, it leads to loss of brightness at a rate significantly faster than the depletion of Radium. And after 65+ years, you’re left with a switch that no longer glows yet is still 97% as radioactive.

These little switches are pretty awesome, and certainly historically significant, but I’d think twice about using them in a Hot Rod build. The radiation itself may be a concern, but say if the “glass bead” were to break?! Well… that could contaminate hands and fingers leading to ingestion or possibly worse: the Radium could atomize in the closed environment posing a serious inhalation risk to everyone in the vehicle. If Radium were ingested, our bodies would basically treat it the exact same way it treats Calcium– incorporating it right into our bones. Inhaled Radium?– well that’s not too fun either. Better start living your life to the fullest! Let’s just say that the results of a continual exposure to a source of ionizing radiation would be dire- just ask these chicks. With a half-life of 1601 years, your bones will be glowing long after you are gone. Fun stuff.

How radioactively “Hot” are these switches? From the photos above, you can see my rough background radiation is around 42 CPM (the detection rate of ionization events). Opening the flap at the bottom of the Radiation Alert Inspector allows for a more accurate reading, pushing the CPM to roughly 10,000 Counts Per Minute. Now if we were to combine several switches together in close proximity??… I think you get the idea. To help you visualize this, here’s a video showing alpha (the “fat”), beta (the “thin squiggles”) and gamma tracks produced by a radioactive toggle switch in a cloud chamber.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

A non-radioactive alternative…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Mid-1950′s Vintage Military Aircraft Seat Belts, Nylon

Since so many people have asked me what mid-1950′s nylon lap belts look like, I thought I’d post some pics for the curious. Here are two examples of mid-1950′s Vintage Military Aircraft Seat Belts I’ve found to match the post-WW2 aircraft harnesses available here. I was originally going to just pair the harnesses with cotton WWII USAAF Aircraft Seat Belts, but since the harnesses are made out of nylon, these are technically a better (and stronger) match. From what I can gather, they started making military seat belts out of nylon in the late 1940′s. Because cotton is a natural fiber, it is susceptible to fungal rot and breakdown over time- expecially if exposed to water. This of course will affect its strength. Cotton also tends to pick up stains more readily. Best place to find these? eBay of course. If your lucky enough, you can find a matching set.

Here are my examples of cotton Mid-1940′s WW2 Vintage Military Aircraft Seat Belts.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

The proper way to wear a vintage aircraft seat belt harness…

Vintage harnesses for sale and MORE PHOTOS here

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Oil and Fuel Pressure Sensors

These adjustable 0 – 50 psi pressure sensors from Pegasus Auto Racing are very well made and will allow me to keep a close eye on my oil and fuel pressures. Their signals will be fed into the dash controller I’ve been working on lately- more details on that design coming soon.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Creating a vintage Air Fuel Ratio Gauge (AFR Gauge) from an AEM 30-4100 UEGO

This AEM Air Fuel Ratio gauge has a wideband UEGO sensor and good electronics, but the case is plastic, very cheaply made and is certainly not period correct for the car and dash I’m designing. To build a vintage gauge, I started by removing the two circular epoxy circuit boards from the AEM gauge. Then I took a vintage 2-1/16″ voltmeter (this one is made out of Bakelite) and discarded the guts. (RADIATION INHALATION HAZARD! – Many vintage gauges are painted with Radium-226! and as a result, these devices are controlled by the U.S. NRC) Finally, since the inner diameter of the vintage gauge was slightly smaller, I very carefully filed down the edges of the circuit boards as much as possible (avoiding the circuit traces!) and repacked the components inside the vintage case.

The original gauge; converted gauge in operation; and gauge with back removed.

AEM circuit board untrimmed; cutting it close- watch the circuit traces!; the back of the case

All the required components; and a close up of the face.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Temporary Cooling System

So now the 392 starts, but with no mounted radiator (not to mention having aluminum heads) I really can’t run her without water for more than a few minutes before she’ll overheat. A quick trip to Home Depot’s plumbing section now saves me the hassle of mounting (then dismounting) the radiator every time I want to take a break from working on the front end and start her up. It also lets me have a little fun messing with the carbs. 

After 2 years sitting in a sealed engine crate, a small amount tap water left over from the engine’s “break-in” heavily rusted the water pump’s backing plate (above). With a little Scotch-Brite and a new set of gaskets it was good to go- but just temporarily. I’ll be looking for a higher quality replacement.

The 392 with the leaky Big Block Chevy water pump removed

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Successful Engine Test

It’s been about 2 years since we originally broke-in the motor. Here’s a short video showing today’s engine test. I do apologize for the sound. The open headers overwhelmed the camera’s audio input resulting in severe clipping and very poor sound quality. It’s almost better to mute it. I will refilm the sequence with the camera’s audio properly adjusted and hopefully it will sound as badass as it does in person. (Here’s a way better sound demo)

In the video, I first attach the fuel pump wire to the battery, set the Portable Ignition Box to “On,” prime the engine with fuel, start the engine, and then kill it. I’ve been prepping the engine and transmission for the past three days… Enjoy.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Preparing for an Engine Test – Portable Ignition System

To make my life a bit easier, I created a portable ignition system using some old war surplus parts and some odds and ends I had lying around the shop. It’s an entire ignition system in a box and contains all the basics: Coil, coil wire, and ballast resistor… a distributor quick connect… a starter selenoid trigger, and power. Who knows how long I will drag out actually wiring my dash, and with this I can hotwire the 392 in just a few minutes. And when I’m done, it goes right back on the shelf.

This is an old surplus electrical panel out of a WWII warbird.  It didn’t take much to bring it back to life. The middle switch labeled “Green” is the only one I actually use (pic, above left). Switching it into the “up” position turns the ignition system “ON.” It supplies power to the coil, distributor and the green panel light I’ve added (salvaged from a 1970′s Blackhawk helicopter). The momentary push button labeled “Keying switch” energizes the starter motor selenoid (to START the engine), and will also light up amber panel lamp (pic, above right).

A peek inside after I hacked it, and its very simple schematic.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Preparing for an Engine Test – Fuel Pressure/ Leak Check

To test the fuel system, we disconnected all the stainless carburetor lines and temporarily capped the 4 outputs of the regulator. After a bit of tweaking to the fuel pressure adjustment screw on top, the old 40′s military “Fuel Oil” gauge now reads a carb-friendly 7 pounds. 

Since I’m not ready to fill my aluminum fuel tank with gasoline yet, I just rigged up a temporary gas jug instead. With AN hose-to-barb  fittings, I was able to adapt in some rubber hoses. The red gas jug in the photo above has both the feed side line (red hose) and the return side line (blue hose) stuffed into the opening. The Optima battery is powering the fuel pump.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Here’s a set of Bendix Chin Turret Trigger Switches off a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. They electrically fired a pair of M2 Browning .50 Caliber Machines Guns mounted just below the Bombardier’s position at the nose of the plane. These are one of those rare items that you run across and wonder: “Damn, that’s cool — but what would I ever use one for?” So for now, I’m not quite sure…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

New shop truck – Early Bronco

My apologies for not posting any new pics these past two weeks. I think I got a little distracted with my new shop truck. I’ll be working on the 34 this weekend so I should have some pics by Sunday.

1966 Ford Bronco, 289 CID

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1965 Buick drum brakes, front

*** UPDATE 10-8-2012 — yeah, I’m no longer using these. 1939 Lincoln drums now…

I finally found a pair of original 45 fin 12″ Aluminum Buick drum brakes in excellent shape. They have no chipped fins and plenty of drum meat left- a little bead-blasting and they’ll clean up perfectly. Now I can get rid of those aftermarket Super Bell Super Stopper front disc brakes… they work, but hardly nostalgic.

The New Jersey 1965 Buick Riviera we pulled the drums from, and the Super Stoppers I will permanently remove (right).

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Tranny cooler lines, continued

Fortunately, the DEI Aluminized Sleeving is a bit forgiving and the 1/2″ size worked perfectly for the Aeroquip AN-6 braided hose (~9/16″).

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Tranny cooler lines **UPDATED**

AN-6 XRP Fittings and Aeroquip hose (left), and the built in transmission cooler in the Griffin Aluminum radiator (right).

The problem was finding a clean, reliable way to route the AN-6 cooling lines while avoiding the headers. I stared at the problem for hours and the cleanest, simplest solution I could come up with is illustrated in the photo, above right. I fabricated some basic “L” brackets out of stainless angle that utilize Adel clamps to support the stainless hose along the passenger side of the oil pan. Since the hoses are still fairly close to the headers, I’ll use something like DEI hose sleeves to shield them from the radiant heat. I really wanted to use stainless hard lines like I did for the carbs, but i just couldn’t find a clean path. I was also very concerned about the need for flexibility at the point the lines hop across from the engine to the chassis and radiator.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

A Tight Squeeze – A few hot spots around the headers

I’m not too worried about the oil filter (top), but I am concerned about overheating the Vega steering box (above) and the starter motor (below). To be on the safe side, I’ll wrap them in something like a Versa-Shield.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Connecting custom headers, exhaust pipes and mufflers with stainless V band clamps

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Checking the weights and balances.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to drop the 34 on a set of Intercomp SW scales and the results were a little surprising. As predicted, the dry weight was under 2500 lbs and with the temporary tires, it came in at 2401 lbs. I jumped in the back and sat down where the gas tank will be to simulate a “full tank.” With 190 lbs of fuel (31 gallon tank x 6.1 lbs/gal), the weight bias will be about 48% rear and 52% front- not bad. The left to right weights are nearly identical, with only an 11 pound difference between the driver and passenger sides. But when I checked the cross-weights, the left rear and right front were almost 100 pounds heavier than their counterparts (see table below). I’m sure it’s just a tweaked frame or a suspension thing. I’ll let our suspension guru figure it out…

Wheel Weights:

Current dry weight with no interior

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Jet-Hot Extreme 2000 Ceramic Coating (in dark grey), header install

Jet-Hot did a great job. The quality of the Jet-Hot Extreme 2000 and its application is impressive.  It’s coated inside and out, fully corrosion resistant (even in marine environments), can withstand temperatures up to 2000 degrees and has a lifetime warranty.

On the early Chrysler 392 HEMI, almost every bolt goes into a water jacket! The header bolts are no exception and they need to be sealed (left). A couple shots mounted on the heads. The Jet-Hot dark grey color is actually a bit darker than it appears in these pics.

[Click here to see the headers before they were coated]

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Ammeter Gauge

I’ve been collecting vintage auto and aircraft components for a while now with the intention of designing some of them into my dash. This gauge was used in the Pilot’s Side Control Panel of a B-17. It’s a fairly common gauge and was actually used in many different aircraft. I’ve had the gauge for a while, but I’ve been looking for an original Shunt Resistor to make it function. (You can’t actually put 300 amps directly into the gauge. A “Shunt” allows the gauge to indirectly read the current via the voltage drop across the shunt). If I want to change the fullscale reading to something more applicable to a car, I could use a shunt with a lower rating; as long as it matches the gauge’s actual fullscale rating (50 millivolts, in this case). I’m thinking a 300 amp fullscale reading might be a bit optimistic for my little alternator. In all honestly, I won’t be using this in my build. For this gauge to be useful, I’d have to mount it in the dash and run the cars full current through it- a fairly hazardous idea. A vintage DC voltmeter will give me all the alternator “Charging/discharging” information I’d need.

A full cockpit view of a B-17G showing the position of the panel (left), and a “restricted” page from an operations manual showing a ”pilot’s side control panel” closeup.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Sun Electric Corp RC-85 8500 RPM Football Tachometer and EB-9A Sun Tachometer Transmitter (late 1950′s)

Today at a Swap Meet, I finally found a beautiful Sun EB-9A transmitter to match the football tach I found a few months ago. Now I’ll mail everything off to John Wolf at Antique Instrument to convert the transmitter to solid state, and clean and tune the tach.

The “Football” style tach (large red oval on the face) was actually the earliest Sun tach design dating back to the late 1950′s. This one also has the “Pinch Cup,” which was the earliest of three cup designs as well. For those interested, here’s some history and a bunch of old ads…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1960′s Mickey Thompson M/T Finned Valve Covers

I wish these were still available for 70 bucks!

Because I wanted to run this exact valve cover (for old school nostalgic reasons), I had to place the engine several inches forward of the firewall to provide clearance and prevent the covers from hitting the sides of the cowl. I’m unwilling to cut into an original ford body cowl just to clear valve covers. The M/T covers are actually taller and more “boxy” than most of the other HEMI valve covers more commonly available. Of course moving the motor forward is sort of a double-edged sword. It definitely affects the weight distribution, weight transfer, and fit and position of about everything in or on the engine compartment. But we’re only talking about a couple inches. And fortunately this was a choice I made before I setup the drive train plus I’m not running a hood so in my case it was fairly simple to deal with.

This photo shows exactly where the valve covers would interfere with the side of the cowl if I tried to push the engine back any further.

On the upside, it’s a breeze to pull out my bellhousing bolts!

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Custom headers finally on their way to Jet-Hot to get coated with their Jet-Hot Extreme 2000 (in dark grey).

Chrysler 392 HEMI headers before getting a ceramic coating from Jet-Hot

**UPDATE 03-28-2012: Here’s a pic of the headers after getting coated:

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

1934 Ford Rear view mirror

It took me a while to figure out and confirm what an original 1934 Ford rear view mirror looks like. Very few 34′s out there actually have one! And Google returns basically no photographs (except mine!). So I finally just went out and stuck my head in a few original cars- I figured that was my best bet. I finally found this one at the Hot Rod Reunion, Famosa Raceway event a year ago. You can see where all the silvering has worn off the glass. I think I’ll just leave it as is…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

A few random pics from the build of the 1958 Chrysler 392 HEMI back in 2010

Still sorting through all the engine build pics. More info soon…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Working on mounting the Grille Shell

Theoretically on the ’34, the angle of the grille should match the angle of the windshield. But today I was less focused on the angle, and more focused on just getting it mounted.

The grille is basically dangling on the radiator so it’s a little crooked. A nice shot of the stock ’32 heavy axle…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Finishing the fuel lines, and the 1931 Ford Model A Sedan “Stinkbug”

Above, a current pic with the ’47 Merc hubcaps. The whitewalls are old, leaky and just temporary. I swapped wheels with the 1931 Ford Sedan (below) while I wait for a new set of Coker Firestones to show up for the ’34.

The ’31 above is all original except for the original 1940 Ford 16×4 wheels, upgraded brakes and the “Police” high compression 5.5:1 “B” head. We call it “The Stinkbug.” Notice the 1935 Balboa Park Ford building peaking between the trees in the photo, above right (pic).

Below, finally got around to finishing up the fuel lines…

The Aeroquip braided line is AN-10 on the feed side, and AN-8 on the return. And if you look closely, you can see that each line is supported by an Adel clamp off the tranny adapter.

I decided that I wanted to run some period-correct, vintage (1940′s-1950′s) military shoulder harnesses in the 34. I’ve seen plenty of newer racing harnesses (Crow, Deist, Simpson, Autopower, DJ), but I’ve seen very few vintage ones. With great effort, I was able to track down a small quantity.

The left pics showing clear original markings, right pic showing how they clip into an example 3″ military aircraft lap belt (not included).

Specs: These original shoulder harnesses are an early post-war design (late 1940′s – mid 1950′s). They fit right into any standard 2″ or 3″ wide quick-release style lap belt (see examples, above, or more examples of mid 1950′s lap belts here). They lengthen to over 70 inches, and shorten to under 24 inches. They have rare “hard ends” for permanent mounting- NOT the common hook-style troop ones that rattle around. They are period-correct, NOS (New Old Stock) and in the original boxes. The sewn on tags are perfect as well, with bold black lettering on white tags with the military manufacturer and date.

(A Browning .50 Cal machine gun, and two hand grenades)

LIMITED AVAILABILITY

Price is $85 per harness*

(Shipping and insurance for up to two harnesses to anywhere in the continental USA is $13.95)

To Order (1) Shoulder Harness click here:

To Order (2) Shoulder Harnesses click here:

I will ship internationally- but please contact me first for shipping options. Send me an email from the contact page if you have any questions. This is vintage military surplus and sold “AS-IS” and “WITH ALL FAULTS.”

*Shoulder harness only – Seat Belts not included but can be easily found on eBay. It’s the original vintage shoulder harnesses that are hard to find! But you’ll find that out…

Special thanks to Betty Jane, our pinup girl, for all her help. And yes, EVERYTHING you see on this page is “Original Equipment.”

Shoulder Harness (left pic), Two Harnesses, the one on right showing an example of matched olive-drab lap belt (middle pic), Rollcage mounting example (right pic)

—–

MILITARYAIRCRAFTSEATBELT.COM MILITARYAIRCRAFTSEATBELTS.COM VINTAGESEATBELT.COM

Vintage Aircraft Seat Belts, Vintage Seat Belts, Military Aircraft Harnesses, WWII Harness, 1940 Harness, 1950 Harness, Aircraft Seat Belt Harness, Military Aircraft Seat belt Harness, Vintage Seat Belt harness.

Several old “BEFORE” photos from late 2010

(Click photo above to view old firewall pics)

500 days and counting…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Mufflers

Since I’ll be fabricating custom exhaust cutouts anyway, I wanted the option of being able to make the exhaust as *quiet* as possible. Searching for a quiet, non-droning, high-flow, 3″ inlet diameter muffler with a shell that will fit within a 10″ wide space, is difficult. I finally settled on the Dynomax SuperTurbo design. They’re far from perfect but seem to be a descent compromise. The downside being they are NOT made stainless steel and the seams are only crimped- not welded. But the upside is they cost about 45 bucks each so they’re pretty much disposable if I don’t like them.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Showing off her new front axle and squatty stance.

Here’s a rough profile shot (missing the front grille, hubcaps and still covered in blue masking tape). It’s the same pic I used for the black “sketch” at the top of the website. I’ll have to post a shot with the Halibrand wheels as well.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Stock axle under a “Stock” spring. Front end back to a pre-war “Traditional” ride height.

Notice the slight positive camber in the axle (wheels flopped out)? Typically it’s somewhere between 0.5° and 1.5°. Looks a little strange, but that’s how Ford set them up. It was designed that way to make it easier to steer.

Original 1932 Ford Stock Axle Specs:

50-1/2″ Kingpin Center to Center, 36-1/2″ Spring perch Center to Center, 2″ Spring Perch Boss, 2″ to 2-1/4″ Factory Drop, .8125 dia. Kingpin, 2-3/8″ Kingpin Boss

34 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Mid-1940′s WW2 Vintage Military Aircraft Seat Belts, Cotton

Original WWII USAAF Aircraft Seat Belts: October 1944 (used), May 1945 (NOS). I finally got lucky and found a pair tucked away in an old warehouse. WWII era belts were made out of cotton. Belts from the 50′s and 60′s were typically nylon.

Above, check out the little sewn pocket on the ’44 containing the inspection tag from the former NAS Miami ! During World War II, NAS Miami was headquarters for operations of the U.S. Naval Air Training Command.

Above, the 1945

Here are my examples of nylon Mid-1950′s Vintage Military Aircraft Seat Belts.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Stock Ride Height - New front spring arrived.

Without realizing how many options there actually were, I tried to incorrectly build a “new” front end using a stock 1932 heavy axle and parts that came off my previous front end – a 29-1/2 inch aftermarket spring (with reversed eyes) and 2 inch shackles. Even fully compressed, the spring eye was still a half an inch away from matching up with the shackle pin. Needless to say, it didn’t work. But after a bit of research, I ordered the proper 31-1/2″ front spring and a pair of 1-1/2″ shackles to match the stock axle. This should give me the stock ride height I’m looking for.

(Above) Trying to fit the wrong spring and shackles to my stock axle before I finally took out a measuring tape!

The spring (above), made by Posie, is a heavy duty version of a stock spring (with stock downward eyes) and is designed to be used with a heavier engine. The Posie technician told me they only sell about 5 units of this style per year. Most people use a reverse eye spring. Just reversing the eyes on the spring (curled upward) will drop the front end about 2 inches.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Fabricating the Alternator Bracket

*** UPDATED HERE ***

Figuring out where to put an alternator (and which one to use) ended up being a serious challenge. I knew I needed at least 85 Amps, preferred a 1-Wire configuration and IT HAD TO BE MOUNTED LOW (for aesthetic reasons). But the depth of the alternator, huge chrysler heads  as well as the belt position in relation to the water pump intake, radiator etc. gave us very little room to work with. The opposite side of the engine was even worse. I’ve learned that if you stare at the problem long enough, eventually you’ll figure it out. I try to avoid taking the easy route. In the end, a combination of cutting away part of the alternator’s rear cover, and some pricey mandrel-bent 2″ aluminum tubing from Woolf Aircraft provided a possible solution but it still wasn’t ideal. We tig-welded some spacers onto the bracket and sent it to the powder coaters. More pics soon.

(2/9/2012)

Ignoring the incorrect fasteners for the moment, here’s the powdercoated alternator bracket.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Fabricating Stainless Exhaust

I’m still searching for a pair of mufflers, and we still need to fabricate the electrically-actuated cutouts.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Vintage 1950′s Aircraft Seatbelt Harnesses

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Running the Aeroquip AN-8 return line along the driver’s-side inside frame. The CNC master cylinder is on the left.

ARB compressor. Looks like I tightened the rubber washers a bit too much.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Strange Engineering 3″ Chromoly Driveshaft & 1350 Chromoly Yoke finally arrived.

Wiping it with a thin layer of Sharkhide protectant will prevent the bare metal from rusting. The stuff is expensive, but actually works really well.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Replacing the Front Axle, Front Spring, and Perches and putting the front end back to stock ride height.

(** UPDATED 9/12/2012 **)

Soon I’ll remove the dropped and filled 1932 Ford heavy axle (above left, beautifully dropped to 5″ by Jordan Graham) and replace it with a stock 1932 Ford heavy axle (above right) I just found.  Both are original Ford axles. The stock axle was first sent to Hansen’s Ford Garage to be straightened. It still needs to go to the powdercoater. I’m told that if the axle is an original, after 79 years it’s probably bent. Mine certainly was. Bill Hansen does a great job of straightening them.

It’s my understanding that when Henry Ford was designing the 1932 Ford, in anticipation of the heavier V8 engine he designed a much heavier axle than was present in the previous Model A’s and made it with a slight drop. These axles are often referred to as ’32 heavy axles. They are unique among early Ford axles in having a wider recess at the ends, and a slightly raised area on the front and back of the spring perch bosses in the shape of a fat letter ”I.” About half way through 1932 production, realizing that he had in fact over engineered the early 32 axles, he came out with a new lighter design that he would use until 1936.

The stock axle and spring will bring the front end back up to the stock ride height. I think I prefer that stance. It’s almost as if the straight-axled Gassers of the 1960′s were in rebellion to the dropped axles of the 40′s and 50′s. I do know there were technical advantages to the straight axles as well. Almost every rod I see these days has a dropped axle- it’s so overdone. As far as “Traditional” 1940 hot rods go, I’ve seen just as many photographs of cars with stock front axles back in the 1940′s as I have with dropped ones. Here’s a link of an amazing archive of 1940′s period correct hot rods over on THE H.A.M.B. forums and a bit of axle history over at Rod and Custom Magazine. Of course, Don Montgomery books are a great resource as well.

Above, a shot of the ’34 with the front axle jacked-up to get a rough idea of the ride height.

Above, a shot of one of the few 33/34 Fords I actually like… “The Alchemist.”

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Fabricating the 2 1/4″ headers.

(** Updated 2/9/2012 **)

With the starter motor and the steering box both on the same side, we barely had enough room to squeeze these large tubes inside the frame rails…

It wasn’t easy to find a header flange to fit the 2.25″ primary tubes. I could have modified the Hotheads 2″ flanges but I didn’t think they were all that nice to begin with. Don’t get me wrong- I think Hotheads makes nice early HEMI parts, it’s just that I wasn’t happy with these specific flanges. They’re made from hot rolled steel and appear to be flame-cut (bottom flange in pic).  I also thought about having www.spdexhaust.com make a pair, but theirs are CNC machined and a bit too nice (I’m building a hot rod- not a piece of jewelry!) In the end, we just ended up designing our own. We decided to water-jet rather than flame-cut, use a stronger cold rolled steel, and of course cut the necessary 2.25″ ports. The cold rolled steel gives them a nice smooth surface finish (top flange in pic).  If someone is interested in getting a set, you can get my email off the “Contact” page.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI, Arduino, Gas Tank, Fuel Tank, Custom, Sending Unit, Calibration

Custom backup digital gas gauge.

Below is a pic of my 1940′s Stewart Warner Crescent Gas Gauge being digitally emulated using an Atmel ATMEGA328P-PU/Arduino microcontroller and a 4Dsystems uLCD-144. It’s currently a work in progress.

I’ve designed this system to overcome several deficiencies in my fuel system: I really want to use my SW Crescent Gas Gauge in this build because I think it’s badass. But the problem is the old gauges can be quirky. Small amounts of corrosion built up over the past 70 years can make them undependable. And according to some experts, this style can’t be cracked open and cleaned without destroying the bezel (***UPDATE*** 1/24/2012: Someone is now making replacement bezels and curved glass and selling them on eBay here ***UPDATE*** 8/15/2012: I now know someone who can completely rebuild my SW Gas Gauge– but I’ll still need my digital design as both a backup and to compensate for the oddly-shaped tank). But whether it can or can’t, I don’t really care. I myself like the quirkyness (and the fact it’s all original), and as long as I have a reliable second method of getting an accurate reading, I’m happy. In dealing with the quirky gauge itself, through experimentation I’ve figured out a way to use certain voltage patterns to get it to read “properly”- but I need a computer (microcontroller) to do it. The other issue I have is that the fuel tank I’ve designed is purposely shaped like a “triangular coffin”

and of course, the sending unit (calibrated for a rectangular “cuboid” shape) doesn’t really understand triangles. This microcontroller fixes these issues and will act as an extremely accurate (hidden) backup gas gauge too.

(DEMO VIDEO COMING SOON)

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Fabricating a bracket for an original 1934 Ford gas pedal

The bracket will be rivetted to the firewall

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Custom stainless fuel lines – what a pain! But I refuse to run braided hose around the carbs. In the end, I think it was worth the AGONY.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Carb Linkage, fuel lines and regulator

An old Stewart Warner Military Fuel Oil Pressure gauge from the 40′s

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Testing the Isis Power computers prior to installation

Making an electrical mess on the left, and a shot of the fabricated, flip-down, Dzus-buttoned panel on the inner-firewall for the computer modules. The panel is about an inch deep allowing me to hide a bunch of wiring behind it. The modules will probably be spaced symmetrically.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Mounting shifter, Model A emergency brake, and linkage

We tossed the junky TH350 mounting brackets and fabricated our own mini bracket for the shifter and ebrake. The 350 one wouldn’t really have fit the 400 anyway. That’s also a 31 Ford steering wheel I’m using temporarily.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Fabricating the vacuum sync stainless hard line and the fuel regulator bracket

The 4 fuel hard lines from the regulator to the carbs will be much more challenging. The finished fuels lines are here.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Narrowed rearend installed (** UPDATED 2/15/2012 **)

Narrowing the rearend 4-1/2 inches made a huge difference (left pic, obviously)

The Holley 3310 carbs finally find a new home. (Demons may be way better, but a little too new for my taste.) Lastly, a shot with some vintage 1947/48 Mercury hubcaps — just for fun. After 300 days, it helps to hang some parts on the car to keep yourself motivated.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Headers

Trying to figure out if we’ll have enough room to stuff the 2-1/4″ primary header tubes on the driver’s side - we will, but just barely (right).

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Triangle Cover Plate.

A vintage Cragar triangle cover plate for the old GMC 6-71 blower- a little piece of hot rod history. I just like the old triangle cover plates. It seems that most of the newer blower designs have done away with them. As was common back then, someone drilled a hole in the cover (smack in the center of “CRAGAR” on this one!). Anyway, I pulled the 1/8″ pipe plug and replaced it with a pressure relief valve (right). I was at the Don Garlits museum in Florida back in 2010, when I asked one of the technicians in charge of maintaining all the dragsters if he knew where I could find one of these covers. He laughed and simply said “Good luck.” — Haha — They’re still around.

(Tri-Plate, Blower cover plate, 4-71, 6-71, 8-71)

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Steering installation

Original ’34 Ford steering wheel, original ’34 column drop, 1-1/2″ Limeworks stainless column (really nice), a modified Borgeson swivel floor mount and a CNC chassis-mounted brake lever that’s tapped for an original ’34 brake pedal (look closely-left pic). Since I’m running a Mullins Vega steering box (USA), trying to use an original steering column would have been a pain. The square access panel in the floor to the front of the brake pedal is for access to the brake fluid reservoirs. A good shot of the Wilcap 392/TH400 tranny adapter (right) – okay so I used something billet…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Final installation, motor and tranny

Wilcap tranny adapter (so nice), and the TH400

The firewall still needs some metal work, but it’s definitely not a priority right now. I’ll keep it bare-metal for a while…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Narrowing the 9″ rearend 4-1/2 inches.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Prepping to narrow the rearend

Ignoring the squatty stance, test fitting the early 1940 16×4 Ford wheels and the 1952 15×8 Halibrand wheels with a simulated 4-1/2″ cut down axle width. I had the axles flanges double-drilled to accommodate both bolts patterns.

PIC FROM THE ARCHIVE

Since I haven’t worked on the car in almost a month (as I moved my shop space), I thought I’d post a pic from Fall, 2010 – way back before I conquered replacing the floor…

(Above) circa October, 2010: A test fitting of the 92. You can see we are just beginning to fill holes in the chassis and it’s missing both the floor and the firewall. I’m guessing the motor mounts are just tacked in place as well…

I did a test-fitting of the Halibrands the other day and it looks like I may have to narrow the rearend ~2.5 inches per side to get the 15×8 Halibrands & Coker Cheater Slicks to sit in the correct position. The trick will be to find that perfect balance of axle width between the two different types of wheels, since I may *occasionally* change things up and run an original set of 1940 early Ford steel wheels (shown).

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Working on the Fuel Lines…

AN10 fuel feed across floor, and Aero 100 micron filter with shutoff.

Notice the AN8 return line bulkhead coming up from the floor in the middle pic (right). That’s the return line bung in the upper right area of tank. Internally on the other side of that fitting there is an arced piece of 1/2″ aluminum tubing that points over and down toward the side of the tank. This causes the returning fuel to sheet down the side of the tank, cooling it while keeping good separation from the fuel pickup at bottom.

Filler neck, sending unit base, and vent (top left)

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Bolting the Body Back on the Frame

The body is *finally* back on the frame but not without great effort. The undercoating created a predictably tight fit where the outside ”overhang” of the body comes down over the frame.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Electrical Conduit Through Hidden Body Passages

In an effort to avoid running power and data cables across the threshholds of the door,  beneath the seats, or otherwise exposed to the environment, I decided to utilize the hidden body channels. These run just to the inside of the rocker panels and beneath each of the doors (left pic). Since these passageways do have some rough spots and edges, I ran a length of 1/2-inch LFNC-B industrial-grade non-metallic conduit to insure the wires will be seriously protected. The 1/2-inch ID conduit was even large enough to fit the length of 1/0 highly stranded welding cable which will supply the starter with power from the battery in the trunk-section. I will eventually cut these conduits to length, secure with Adel Clamps, and hide behind aluminum interior panels.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Metal Prep, Primer and LIZARDSKIN Undercoating ** UPDATED 2/2/2012

Lots of metal prep… removing some previous undercoating, DA sanding etc…

Select areas were prepped with SEM Rust-Seal (insuring any overlooked rust on the original metal has been rendered inert), then everything was coated with  U-Pol #5 High Build Primer

The first of two coats of Lizardskin Sound Control

The final coat of Lizardskin Ceramic Insulation. Although the color seems grey (left pics), it’s actually more of a flat black (right pic).

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Aeromotive Fuel Pump, Fuel filters and Fuel Regulator

*** FUEL SYSTEM UPDATE *** The current fuel system is composed of an Aeromotive 12331 100-micron pre-pump filter (with integrated shutoff), an Aeromotive A1000 pump (wasn’t happy with the quality of the OEM Holley Black pump), an Aeromotive 12335 40-micron post-pump filter, and an Aeromotive 13224 regulator. Both filters have a cleanable stainless steel element. We also changed the fuel system from a “dead-head” type, to one based on a much more efficient return line. Using a return line reduces the load on the pump, keeps fuel temp down and helps maintain a more constant fuel pressure to the engine. Without it, a hard hit on the accelerator can cause a drop in fuel pressure (due to g-forces and fuel consumption at the carbs). Since this “drop in pressure” signal will propagate relatively slowly through the fuel line,  the regulator and pump will not be able to respond quickly enough resulting in fuel starvation and a lean condition.

 1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Bulkhead and floor electrical connectors

ITT Cannon Connectors (MIL-DTL-5015)

For electrical connections between the body and engine (firewall), the body and dash and the body and chassis (floor). And check out the old-school Zinc Chromate Green primer!

Here’s a shot of a WWII riveter working on a bomber wing. The ribs are coated with Zinc Chromate Green primer.

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Stewart Warner Crescent Gauges

Here’s a few of the parts I’ve collected that I may use in designing my dash:

Above, a rare 1940′s Stewart Warner Crescent gas gauge, an even more rare Stewart Warner Crescent 60A ammeter gauge, a 1950′s Stewart Warner Crescent vacuum gauge, a 1940′s Stewart Warner Crescent water temp gauge and a 1940′s Stewart Warner Crescent oil pressure gauge. It’s my understanding that the “cups” on the 1940′s ones were made of “Tin,” and those from the 1950′s were made of Brass.

Stewart Warner date stamp code reference

Above, a 1940′s Stewart Warner “Police Special” Speedometer.

Some additional info on SW Industrial Gauges can be found here: http://www.roadsters.com/sw/ and http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=341938&showall=1

I know this isn’t directly related to my project, but being a B-17 enthusiast and since I wasn’t able to find a decent closeup photo of a B-17 engine data plate, I decided to post one of an original data plate I own here. This one was found on a B-17 Flying Fortress Studebaker Wright-Cyclone, 9 Cyclinder, R-1820-97, 1200 hp engine. Anyway, for those interested…

1934 Ford, Blown 392 HEMI

Riveting the new Tranny Tunnel and Floor Stiffeners (** Updated 2/15/2012 **)

Today we began replacing all the rosette spot welds on the floor stiffeners with solid rivets. A few months back, the spot welds were done with a dying MIG welder resulting in several failed welds. Rather than try to fix the “bad” welds with our new MIG, we’ve decided to just drill them out with a spot weld cutter and use solid rivets instead. It’s not a perfect solution, but solid rivets are a pretty clean fix. Next time I’ll avoid the spot welds altogether.

Originally we spot welded the floor – Cool pic, but big mistake.

Above, a few of the welds replaced with rivets