1951 F16

kb426 · August 20, 2021, 07:23:31 PM

O&S got started with a little yard work and kind of a lazy day start. I fabbed up a bracket to hold the clutch cable away from the header and welded it on. Then I made a simple bracket for the roll over valve for the fuel tank. After that, it was time to strip the chassis and roll it over to finish the few places that I couldn't get to from the top. The end of the day has all the underside welded up. I will flip it and check the top to see if I missed anything and then it will be time to clean it for paint.

Crosley.In.AZ · August 21, 2021, 08:45:36 AM

yeah , that clutch cable is close to a heat source..

kb426 · August 21, 2021, 10:41:35 PM

^^^^
Yes it is. A heat shield or some of that DEI wrap will probably be used in the future.

kb426 · August 22, 2021, 05:29:30 PM

O&S started out with more yard work this morning. I finished going over the frame again.

There were a couple of welds that I didn't like the look of so I redid them. I had to slot the front cab mounts after drilling the original holes. I cut that area out of the 4 brackets and welded new plate in. When I put the cab back on, I will use the 2 rear mounts to line it up for drilling the fronts. The frame is ready for blasting. The wind has been blowing to hard to be blasting outside. I weighed the bare frame before putting it on the trailer. 287 lbs. I drilled the holes for the tail pipe hangers on the rear and welded a little on the underneath side of the front mounts. I radiused the square corners also. The robot had missed some areas on one side of the rear cradle so I ground that out and welded it up.

kb426 · August 23, 2021, 06:59:31 PM

O&S put in a pretty good day. I got started blasting the frame. I wanted to do more but it got to windy. I cleaned up the mess and moved on to the next item. I pulled the rear apart to install the posi trac. I had to machine a recess in the side gears for the axle retainer. Those were hardened.

I ended the day with the rear reassembled minus the seals that should be here tomorrow. That doesn't sound like much but it was a full day for O&S. LOL.

kb426 · August 24, 2021, 06:04:43 PM

O&S didn't get the correct seals so the irs didn't get finished. Next on the list was to paint the chassis. It finally warmed up enough to do that. 106 degrees and 11 % humidity. LOL. Yes, it has some dry spots. It is the same color and because it's all hidden when assembled, I'm not loosing any sleep over this.

Lacking a rotisserie means the underneath side may not be real good.

I get down on my knees and do as good as I can see. This thing was dry before I got my gun cleaned up when I was finished.

Ugly Olds used to ask me why I had the heater turned up so high.

RIP, Bob.

kb426 · August 25, 2021, 05:55:55 PM

O&S had a light day today. I loaded the frame on some carpet on the little trailer and wheeled it outside. I had some prep work to do on the rear end. I put all the parts on stands and painted them. I had planned on painting the bed frame the same color but I'm out of gray.

The bed frame is hidden for the most part so no telling what color it will be.

kb426 · August 26, 2021, 06:30:40 PM

Another light day for O&S. The engine is painted. It took longer to mask than paint.

The UPS man just left after dropping off the rear end seals. That's the latest that I've had freight delivery in a long time. Tomorrow will be a full day of reassembly. Hopefully without scratching everything up.

kb426 · August 26, 2021, 06:56:20 PM

I received my $100 refund on the 53 grille from ebay. I had to file a claim with paypal. That makes it look better.

idrivejunk · August 26, 2021, 08:18:11 PM

Frame and mill look primo.

If you stirred in enough upsidaisyum before spraying, them underneath spots ought to be just fine.

kb426 · August 27, 2021, 06:52:33 PM

O&S had a decent day. The 1st pic is where I started. I had to modify the lower spacers on the front shocks. I'm not laying blame on Ridetech for that. The a-arms maybe different and there is a chance someone changed out the front shocks before and left out a spacer and tightened it and collapsed the space. I put them in the lathe and removed 3/16" on all 4 spacers. I hadn't made spacers for the rear yet so that got done. I jumped on both ends and the frame moved up and down so I'm optimistic about the spring rates being acceptable. The calculation was done using weights from the white 51 and using Ridetechs on-line calculator. Several measurements and some guesstimates involved.

kb426 · August 28, 2021, 06:11:00 PM

O&S kept chugging along today. The engine and trans are in. The exhaust is on. The fuel tank is mounted. The suspension components are all torqued. The drive shaft is in and oil in the trans. The list is getting shorter.

idrivejunk · August 29, 2021, 06:28:30 AM

Man... you're bad fast.

Looks fantastic!

You got the distributor on the wrong end though.

jaybee · August 29, 2021, 04:17:42 PM

That's a very strong and tidy chassis. It's a shame to have it too low to see...almost.

kb426 · August 29, 2021, 06:31:55 PM

Thank you Matt and jaybee.
O&S is back to a crawl today. I put the bed frame on the chassis to make a table out of it.

I drug the sheet of 20 gauge out of the storage shed and laid it on the bed frame. Then I started on the front engine accessories. I bought a newer model alternator that has almost double of the output of a 87 mustang. I machined a simple offset adapter for the top mounting lug. The lower mount was the same as the original. I purchased a universal street rod style Sanden ac compressor. The original mustang had weird connections and the rear bracket was missing. I didn't get a compressor with the engine so there was nothing to start with. I used cad to layout a simple bracket. I thought I had it made in the shade but the offset for pulley line up was incorrect. I machined a hunk of 1/2" plate to correct the offset and take care of the front of the compressor. The rear will be more involved but the front sets the location so I can slot the mounting holes to allow for any fabrication issues.