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Thanks.


Always like to see how others build columns.

Horn wiring etc. is not part of one I've done so far....

Well done and clever it is.

What's the OD on the Ford column jacket?


What is the device in the first photo?

Lots of choices and most of them say, "Ultra."

I figured with all the new - to me - stuff out there I'd ask.


Now I see why the parts guy was blowing dust off the Fel-Pro box....



Many thanks guys.

Had a small leak in the rear axle cover area of my 2002 Ford SuperCrew F-150 with 5.4 liter.

It's the 12 bolt model similar to what the F-250's use.


Anyway, pulled the cover and see that Ford Motor Co. used some type of RTV in place of a gasket.

I have a Fel-Pro gasket for it and was wondering what some of you guys use for sealer?

Got CopperCoat, non-hardening Permatex and black RTV (fresh) in stock.

A difference in thread angle as noted, but I found I could use American bolts in many areas on my 1956 BSA Alloy Clipper (6 days trials bike).

Whitworth wrenches are marked differently than American wrenches.

They used bolt shaft size instead of hex size.
A wrench that looked like a 3/4" American size-wise would be marked 1/2" etc.

You may be able to find Whitworth bolts and nuts at a supply house that caters to restoring British bikes and cars.


Any chance the bolt is "home-made?"
Sometimes home machinists will make oddly threaded stuff.

I do once in a while.

Just got finished with a screw on aluminum gas cap that has 2.040 x 11 threads.

And a spare cap to carry along....

Stick the screws in a block of aluminum for support.

Have the powder coater spray them black.

The electrical charge doesn't go into the recess of the phillips very well.
They will get a light dusting of black in the recess though.

Black powdercoating is tough enough to withstand several uses of the screwdriver.


I have a few black powdered allen heads on my 32 roadster, the wrench fit fine and several removal cycles haven't scratched them up.


Powdering hex heads works pretty well too.
Wrenches don't seem to affect them either.

One caveat - let them cure for a couple of weeks before use.
Powder is a touch soft the first day or two out of the oven.

Expect about a 10% MPG loss.

There's a good article on the HAMB about re-casting your own steering wheel.

Ford did a recall about four years back.
Affected my 2002 F-150 SuperCrew.

The switch in question at the time was on the front of the M/C and signalled the cruise control to drop out when the brakes were applied.

They didn't have the parts to do all the vehicles at the time so the first part of the recall was to unhook the switch and tie it back with a nylon wire tie.

After a few weeks the switch came in and another visit to Ford got the new switch installed.

First trip in, it took the mechanic about two minutes and was done in the Service Managers line.

Next time around, took about a half hour.

True Value hardware has a beam style inch-pounds 3/8" torque wrench for under $20.

If you want a fairly small scale, you can find 1/4" inch pounds on E-Bay.

I got one last year, $12. plus maybe $3. for shipping.

Nice wrench, beam style, used in a government lab and like new.

By lock bezel you mean the threaded ring?


Do you have access to a lathe?

A small threaded ring ought to be quick to knock out.
Perhaps with knurled edges etc?

I may have been the one recommending the Ford late 70's (76-78 and probably other years) during the last discussion.

There's a couple of styles, one has a slightly smaller plug, but not by much.

You should be able to skip the Ford female plug and use the female spade terminals right onto the switch proper.

That would save some room.

The junkyard switch out of a 78 Ford pickup is still going strong after 15+ years and 51,000 miles.

Only change was the lock cylinder so I could run a different key.

I don't like to carry lots of keys and used to leave my Ranger keyring with a few other keys in the door pocket of the 32.  Then I found the roadster and the Ranger used the same ignition key.  I understand there are only 80 patterns on this switch....

Cooling down here in N/E Arizona.

Had to wear levis's and a sweatshirt in the garage yesterday morning and I waited a while to go out there.

Been wearing cutoff's and a T-shirt for the last bunch of months.

Cooler this morning, 42* F right now.

High yesterday was 75* with a cool wind.
Today, supposed to be 80*.

Not bragging or complaining, just the way it is.

Some good roadster weather though . . . as soon as I get the new battery installed in the 32.
Takes a bit of time, but not bad.
The battery is in a box under the body in front of the rear axle on the right side.
The weight down there probably helps and it doesn't take up room in the trunk.

Gonna put the battery in the same place in the 31 and and use a home-made battery box, but this time I'll be cutting an access hatch so I can pull the battery from the top.

Y'all probably wonder why I didn't just put either battery in the trunk, but there's not much room in the 32's rumble with the gas tank in there and I'm going for all the room I can get in the 31....

The Lockheed P-38, (the Fork Tailed Devil as the Germans called it), the Bell P-39 mid engine fighter and the Curtis P-40 all ran Allisons.

Lots of them made.


At one time Lockheed considered/wanted to put the Rolls Royce Merlin into the P-38, but Bunkie Knudson  (GM President and builder of the Allisons) had the ear of a congressman and pulled a few strings.)

The idea was that it was good to have a company manufacturing Allisons for the war effort and not such a good idea to scale back production or stop it altogether.


England even fooled with a mid-engine P51 Mustang running an RR Merlin.
Idea was to increase performance in the pitch region.

Dunno if it was covered, but England called the P-51 the Apache when they first got it - (B Models).

There was a dive bomber version of the P-51.
A B model was converted for dive bomber work and other than the bomb racks, sight etc., it had a non-retractable tail wheel.
It was the A-36 and called the invader.

There were a lot of C model P-51's built.
Basic difference between the B and the C was that the B was built in California and the C was built in Texas.

The British designed a 'canopy' setup they called the Malcom Hood and it was an improvement over the standard B & C 'canopies.'

When the bubble top D's came in they were without the dorsal fin seen in subsequent models.
The bubble top lacked the side pressure area required and the dorsal fin took care of that.

You-Tube has some good short films shot in WW2 showing lots of cockpit views, how to set up for specific flight regimes etc.
The P-38 film is especially interestng.

Geez . . . and I thought I was patient when I waited one year for the roll bar tubing to come in and another time when I waited one year for the 32 rear axle bumpers from Drake.

I think Drake advertised them before they had them in stock.
Otherwise an ok outfit to deal with.