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Old 01-12-2016, 10:34 PM   #161
Hot Rod Reverend
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Default Re: 1955 Ford Club Sedan Refresh Blog

Got home tonight and what was this?



My order from Online Metals was already here! It is a steel tube 36 inches long, 3/4" OD and little bit less than 5/8" ID.



Ok, so what to do here? I need to get the ID to match up to the stud on the bottom of the steering column cup (5/8" OD exactly). I happen to have a 5/8" drill bit so into the vise goes the steel tube. I wanted to use my drill press but this tube needs to be at least 29" long so I could not find a way to use it. Back to the handheld drill...



I made a mark to let me know how far I needed to go into the steel tube to give me 5/8" ID to slide over the stud.



I watched the drill a good bit during the process to make sure I was getting deep enough, but the label on the tube told the story as the further I went the more burnt the label became - easy breezy! After the ID was widened a little bit the tube was slid over the stud to check fitment.



Next, we went to the lower portion where the shift levers were located and the end cap fits to the steering column tube. At that point we eyeballed the location to give us a cutting reference for length. No need to be so precise here - this is not a service part and will not function. This is solely for aesthetics.



Back to the vise and a cut off wheel and we were in business. The tube fits extremely well and when it is primed, prepped, and painted no one will tell the difference. It will resemble a factory part.



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Old 02-20-2016, 06:17 PM   #162
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Been a long time since my last post ---- my thread is starting to get buried on the forum!

The situation with the steering column bearing and bushing was resolved. A few friends here on the site gave some direction as to what bushing should be used, spring, placement, etc.



The second photo shows the bushing surrounding the shaft and resting in the bearing. This will keep the wobble out of it for sure. For some reason, this was missing in my parts lot I got some time ago when I bought a 56 Ford steering column, shifter, z bar, and manual transmission car parts. I think we have this sewn up now.

I did prime and prep the fake shifter shaft that I am going to install to replace the original since we put a Hurst Syncro Loc in the floor. I have only shifted on jackstands, but with the wheels and transmission moving we liked the way she shifted.... smooth.




Now to start putting the front end sheet metal back together. But first we needed to assess what we have and take inventory of the clips, hardware, and original rubber seals. I hung the inner fenders and deflectors up in the air and stripped, bagged, and tagged the parts that came off. The air deflectors took a trip to the bead blast cabinet (barely fit in there) and then we set about a plan to work on that nasty driver's side rot.

You can follow along in the photos to see what I did. It is certainly no professional repair, but I liked the results. I need to purchase some sheet metal forming tools - that would help lol.







I also had to weld a tab on the passenger side inner splash pan, just a photo here to double check weld penetration.

Next we were off to paint since the weather was so good...



And since we were feeling froggy today and looking for a challenge, I decided to attack the steering wheel with a dremel tool to open up the gaps - I also took 120 grit sandpaper to it (not shown). I am going to get some PC7 Epoxy and start working on it next week in the basement. I did a 55 wheel for someone in California about 5 years ago ---- yes, this is work.

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Old 02-20-2016, 07:47 PM   #163
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nice work "rev" the sheet metal looks good and I have been down the steering wheel road I would rather fix rot keep up the good work summer's just around the corner
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Old 02-22-2016, 04:22 PM   #164
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I filled in all the cracks in my '55 wheel. Did everything right. beveled the cracks and drilled holes for the epoxy to seep into and used the proper type of epoxy, good coat of primer and enamel overcoat.
In the end it looked like brand new and I loved it for about a month. My car sits outside where the sunlight beams through the windshield and heats up the wheel. Apparently, the thermal properties of the epoxy differ enough from the original material that the two materials expand and contract at different rates causing cracks to open up again. And where old cracks are not affected, a new crack appears.
Moral of the story is, don't allow direct sunlight (or maybe even sudden temperature changes) to be exposed to your wheel after it is fixed. This might be just one of those things that can never be restored (at least for very long).
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Old 02-25-2016, 08:20 PM   #165
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Default Re: 1955 Ford Club Sedan Refresh Blog

Thanks Dave I will keep that in mind. Lots to do on this thing when I get back in town. I am liking the ideas on the vent tubes I am getting from Mark T on the jalopy journal social forum for fords too.
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Old 03-01-2016, 08:41 PM   #166
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I have been out of town for a few weekends but during some of the weeknights I have been able to get a few things done. I did take steering wheel and fill all of the cracks with epoxy as you can see. The cracks around the base, or inner circle where the spokes meet, were very bad and there was much to fill. I am beginning to see why NOS steering wheels are so pricey. I wonder when a company will start casting OEM Steering Wheels for our cars? I think the tri-5 shebbies have a few companies that offer them.





I am going to let the epoxy cure in the basement tomorrow, so I just hung it from the rafters.... along with the panel that holds down the hood. Would you believe it fit in my blast cabinet? After blasting I brushed it with a new metal prep and primer. I will scuff sand it later after it cures and plan to paint it gloss black.



On to those pesky vent tubes that let in the fresh air or heated air depending on which way you turn the flaps...



The one above is for the passenger side "magicaire" heating system that doubles up the passenger side vent tubes for fresh air, heated air, etc. Both sides actually need new rubber seals. I was planning to blast these pieces and repaint anyway so no big deal. However, drilling out the spot welds can be very tricky when the seal plates are attached the pivot inside the tube. (NOTE: another helpful car guy said that I could have pulled the pivots straight out of the door seals without drilling any spot welds and simply drilled out the plates on the vise - DUH... can anyone else speak to that?)

Anyway, I guess trying to make things hard on myself, the plan was to drill out all spot welds WHILE THE PLATES WERE STILL IN THE TUBE. How could one accomplish this feat of unneeded skill and expertise? well.... check out the 2x4 cut for the purpose of keeping the plate at a good angle of access.





That was all good and well for the passenger side tube. Since access could be gained from 4" hole on the side of the tube, I guess a monkey could have done that with one arm tied behind his back. Ok, so what to do with the other side?

I could only drill out a weld or two, and as you can see there were six a SIDE. So, I got the Dremel out and wallowed out the spot welds only on one side of the pivot. This made it easy to push the "opened" side past the pivot and then remove the plate assembly from the tube. I could then put the plates on a vise and drill out the spot welds pretty easily.







I also took the "insulated" sheet metal tubes that are made to connect the 90 degree elbows off the firewall to these tubes and cleaned them up pretty good. Another member, Mark T, gave some really good advice on using something called Armaflex and then a picture of some material to make a homemade cabin filter for each side.

We will keep you "posted"
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Old 03-01-2016, 11:37 PM   #167
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One helpful hint on the epoxy filler; I used a piece of masking tape wide enough to reach beyond the beveled area of the crack and long enough to reach a little more than halfway around the wheel or spoke. Then lay the wheel so that the masking tape is down on the workbench so that it will catch and collect the epoxy as you trowel it in from above the masked area. After it dries when you remove the tape, you can see that the epoxy filled the masked area quite well with no need for touch up. Gotta work the epoxy in though for it to come out okay. Cuts down on filing and sanding.
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Old 03-01-2016, 11:42 PM   #168
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Not sure what you were referring to about the MagicAire valves, but the way I did it was to first make a sketch of the relationship between the crank (at the top) and the position of the valve (so that I would not put back together backwards). Then get a little hammer and tap the pivot pin out from the bottom of the valve. The pin has a flat part in the middle that holds the valve plate halves in the proper position. Once the pin has been loosened it can be pulled all the way out by hand. Then let the valve fall out of the housing. Then you can drill out the rivets in the plates while it is clamped in a vice.
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Old 03-07-2016, 07:48 PM   #169
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan View Post
Not sure what you were referring to about the MagicAire valves, but the way I did it was to first make a sketch of the relationship between the crank (at the top) and the position of the valve (so that I would not put back together backwards). Then get a little hammer and tap the pivot pin out from the bottom of the valve. The pin has a flat part in the middle that holds the valve plate halves in the proper position. Once the pin has been loosened it can be pulled all the way out by hand. Then let the valve fall out of the housing. Then you can drill out the rivets in the plates while it is clamped in a vice.
Wish I would have that information before I went to town the hard way - Over the river and through the woods!

But they are out and I am a little wiser!!
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Old 03-07-2016, 07:56 PM   #170
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The son and I had a good afternoon together. We did not get too much down on the car or any Y block parts, but we did get to use our brains, hands, and a little math to put together a 2x4 shelving unit in the basement. My garage is just too full of parts, tools, and the like to be able to move around there without my fat rear end knocking something over, getting grease all over me, etc. It is like working in a can of sardines. You guys that have smaller workshops I don't know how you do it!

Anyway, I enjoyed the time with my 13 year old boy, EJ.





We just made it from scrap lumber and all as you can see. The measurements are 72" high by 29" deep and 48" wide. She is straight and true on the level. We started putting some boxes and totes on the shelves before I had a chance to grab the camera. She will sit in the basement for a good while - pretty heavy shelving here.

The kits for the vent seal replacement came in while I was out of town...





Whereas the originals were in two pieces (I am pretty sure the originals were installed as a two piece assembly in each tube) the new seals are one piece. Also, there are a good number of machine screws and nuts to put the flappers back together. However, methinks I have one too many holes and will need some more hardware! Ouch.
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Old 03-07-2016, 10:51 PM   #171
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HRR, when you are constantly doing stuff like we do, you can never have a big enough garage/workshop for all our machining tools, metalworking, welding, woodworking and gardening projects, not to mention car parts and tools. My garage is 17 ft x 34 ft less than 600 square feet. No matter what you try to do in there you need to move something such as a lawnmower, roto-tiller, engine block, or the grinder stand. There is a giant workbench, a sawmill, and 2 sets of tin shelving units plus a very large shelving unit made from scrap lumber 30 inches deep, 6 ft wide, 60 inches tall and it has all car parts in it from floor to ceiling. There's another shelving unit wall mounted that has mostly tools. The workbench has storage underneath for the mig welder, socket toolbox and all kind of tools. No matter how well you are organized, you still need to move something to gain access to something else when you are trying to work in such a small space.
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Old 03-07-2016, 10:57 PM   #172
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HRR, don't go too crazy with all the holes in the valve damper plates. The four holes on each side of the centerline where the shaft goes should be sufficient. If you have a hole that's real close to the center, just leave it without hardware. There needs to be a little give at the center so that when you insert the assembled valve damper in the duct, the shaft will go in easily.
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Old 05-07-2016, 02:47 PM   #173
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Here it is May 7th and I feel like I've got nothing done! My air compressor (the heart beat of the shop) went down and I chase the problem for a week or so. It ended up being the start capacitor. No biggie, get it ordered, be here in 4 days, etc. Capacitor shows up - wrong one. Right box, right label, wrong capacitor in the box! Aaarrrrrggghhhh, another 4 days and we have what we need.

Pressure washer went crazy blowing water everywhere. Seems Karcher uses a lot of molded, high density pvc in their units - this one had a cracked elbow. 5 days and replaced that.

My wife drove through some truckers' explosion and she says the smoke and debris made it where she could not see a thing, van covered in all kinds of good, plastic?, black dots, and I don't know what all. 10 hours of a buff job and we are all shiny again - just in time for Mother's Day.

I did get those vents squared away. They look good. The seals went into the units without much fanfare, and I put a tick of white lithium grease on the pivots.




I also got a chance to mount an electric fan and plumbed a thermostatic switch after a visit to Lowe's and the plumbing section. You can see the tee I put in right there behind the thermostat housing on the intake. I could not figure a way to get a good tee and still have good access if I used the original sending unit location on the head at the rear (there is already a sending unit there for the mechanical gauge.)





The electric fan went in without too much trouble as well. It is a pretty good unit that I had been using on my portable engine run stand. Would you believe you can get a very good mounting kit on ebay shipped to you for $1? that's right, that's what it cost me - and it looked pretty healthy too and held up that fan nice and tight.

And then we have everyone's favorite job - the dreaded steering wheel!

I used PC7 epoxy to fill in those cracks and crevices after opening them up and then took a dremel tool to the thing to sand it as level as I dared...ended up using a drum roll. (queue stupid joke )





After I knocked down every bulge I took 120 grit sandpaper to it. Once I got down with the whole hour and a half job (man this is tedious work!) I was a dusty mess! Good thing I used a dual cartridge filter mask. I need to paint the wheel with some primer/surfacer after wiping it down with Acetone. After that I will probably have to fill in some low spots here or there with some glaze. I am not going to spend a whole lot of time on it - it is a driver after all not a show car.

Plan to see my father-in-law soon, but it looks like it will still be a little while before the 55 is back on the road...
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Old 05-07-2016, 10:05 PM   #174
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HRR, in your picture showing the carb and the fuel pressure regulator, I notice you
have the regulator with the round dial that you turn to the pressure number you want.

The chrome regulator with the round dial, that goes from 1# to 6# pressure, is JUNK,
throw it in the garbage as fast as you can.

When the diaphragm cracked in mine, it sprayed gas all over the place. Luckily
for me, I was just looking at the engine idling, when it started spraying gas out of the
regulator. If I would have been driving down the road, it would have been disastrous.

Summit told me that a new diaphragm for those was NOT available, (I'm glad they wern't)
so I got a small (low pressure 1-4 #) Holley regulator, which has a replaceable diaphragm.
I placed a small threaded tube, (10/32 thread) into the weep hole, and a small hose
from the tube, pointed away from the engine, towards the ground, so incase of a leaky
diaphragm in the future, it won't spray gas all over the place.













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Old 05-08-2016, 12:57 PM   #175
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Hi Mr HRR,I need to paint my 56 steering column.How does the column come out?Thanks.
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Old 05-08-2016, 06:52 PM   #176
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1. Remove the shift rods that connect the transmission arms to the arms on the end of your column. While you are at it also either disconnect the horn wire and/or remove it from the tube entirely.
2. Remove the firewall plate that holds the seal for your column (unscrew from both the engine compartment and the interior). This is a two piece unit.
3. Remove the steering wheel. (some guys like to keep it attached to have something to grip. If you do just be advised that you will be tight on space taking it up to your headliner.)
4. Remove the shift indicator plate from the dash.
5. Remove the turn signal bracket/disconnect the wiring harness.
6. Remove the two machined screws that hold the column bracket to the bottom of the dash.
7. Go back into the engine compartment and loosen up the clamp at the end of the steering column tube (resting on top of the steering gear assembly).

That should be it to get the unit to slide off of the steering gear shaft. Sometimes this little booger can be tight... (referring to the white bushing)

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Old 05-08-2016, 11:23 PM   #177
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Quote:
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The chrome regulator with the round dial, that goes from 1# to 6# pressure, is JUNK,
throw it in the garbage as fast as you can.
Summit told me that a new diaphragm for those was NOT available.
Lanny is 100% correct about this. If you absolutely must have a regulator, go with something of quality and has replacement diaphragms available.
At the time I was investigating all this with much, headache, Holley also would not supply replacement parts for their regulators. Also the holley reg is big and mounts on a two hole bracket that you would need to bolt on to something.
There is an alternative to having a regulator. Run a bypass line back to the gastank. It is tricky, because you must install enough orifice ahead of the carb to cause backpressure in the supply line to force fuel to start running into the bypass. If you decide to do that instead, let me know and I can give you much more detail.
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Old 05-08-2016, 11:32 PM   #178
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I noticed that you also sandblasted the hardware for the cabin vent tubes, leaving them totally susceptible to the atmosphere. Unless you are in a very dry climate, that stuff will rust in no time at all.
If I recall correctly, I painted the cable clamp bracket with cheap rustoleum black. I electroplated the mounting nuts with zinc when I redid mine like that back in 1984.
The black paint still looks like new, unfortunately my zinc plating has failed to protect against rain, road-grime and winter salt over these past several decades, but I guess that is to be expected.
Looks like a real good job.
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Old 05-09-2016, 06:13 AM   #179
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I will consider a different regulator ...thanks fellas. I really don't want to have run another line back to the gas tank, but I will look at all the options here.

The hardware has been painted and the finish deceives everyone! No problems with rust on the hardware and it looks pretty clean.
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Old 05-09-2016, 01:36 PM   #180
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THANKS,MR HRR.I thought I had to unbolt the steering box!
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