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Hi Folks,
Officially and season wise, Summer has gone and here we are once again going into Fall. Likewise, this marks the end of certain endeavors, projects and maybe even some adventures for many of us. Although I personally have not had any adventures lately, recently I have all but finished one project and I have been getting set up for the launch of two others. Of course there has also been some of the typical things going on that we do to prepare for the colder months and that has been taking a fair amount of my time.
I was thinking that there are a lot of us that are probably in the same boat about this time of year. That probably accounts for at least part of why we are not seeing very much posting here at present. Maybe now is a good time to report in and tell us what you folks have been up to. I'm sure a lot of you have been working on projects and in some cases trying to beat the oncoming colder weather. I expect a lot of you have been to some interesting car shows and associated gatherings. So, don't be a hermit, let us in on your adventures and project progress as well as what new plans you have come up with.
Even though I know that the first liar never has a chance I'll start this off. OK, here goes...
It has been a good Spring and Fall here this year. Not too much rain in the Spring and it has been a mild Summer with just a few really hot days. Even though I decided it was time to get that damn SCOOBYGATOR finished and out of the way so I could start on my two '53 F-100s, I managed to get some other things accomplished although they were minor in scope. I started off in the Spring by by making my first trip to two Pull-A-Part yards in the Cleveland, Ohio area when my son Sean came up from Atlanta with his wife for a week long visit. he too has a '53 that he has yet to begin work on. The reason for the trip was to see what it was like to visit Pull-A-Part and to look for a complete Explorer das with all the instruments, controls and the heat and AC components. When we went to the second yard we found what I was looking for. Earlier in the year I found a '99 Exlorer that was pretty much gutted out that I bought for the rolling chassis. That is going to be the platform that my first '53 is going on. I am going to graft the floorpan and firewall into the '53 cab. I had seen this done with a '91 Explorer and it really turned out well. this is also a really cheap way of getting around buying all those overpriced after market pieces that never seem to fit just right. Anyway, the stripped out '99 I bought had most of the guts of the dash removed but they did leave the main structure intact and when I removed it I noticed that it was allmost a perfect fit to put in my '53 cab. The one I got form Pull-A-Part is in excellent shape with all the stuff in it. I also got the steering colunm and all the wiring haness including the stuff under the hood and the power boxes. Since I am using the '99's firwall all this stuff is a direct plug-in.
We spent the rest of the week's visit working in the shop stripping out three different donor vehicles, all of which are going to contribute to both of my '53 projects as well as my son's '53. It was a great time and I can't wait until we do it again. My son is an only child and we always have been quite close and have done garage type stuff since he was old enough to be out of diapers. That was 38 years ago. We talk on the phone just about every day and I really wish he lived closer than 600 miles away.
The balance of the Summer was spent working on getting the Scoobygator finished. I have no use for this thing and I really want to sell it. It was built because I just wanted to see if I could do it and because I could think of nothing else to do with the Subaru that a friend gave me. Save for a few minor adjustments it is finished and I have it up for sale. I have been driving it on little test drives every day while tweaking this and that. I want to get some video of it to put on YouTube. When I do I will let you folks know. It's a fun toy to play with but it would really be at home on a farm or ranch. I barely have a half acre here so I really don't need it. besides, I have my old '91 Explorer fort a yard mule to drag the stuff around I work on. You can see the SCOOBYGATOR by clicking on it here or by going to www.pvpmedia.com/SG1.htm .
I have also spent a good portion of my Summer time getting the shop in better order to accomodate my upcomiong projects. One thing I did was get that 1,400 pound monster set of pinch rolls inside and getting it in good operating order and putting a gear motor on it to replace that big old hand crank. It will do up to a 50" wide piece of 16GA sheet metal down to a to a 2 inch radius. It will be great to roll curved panels on and will do a lot thicker sheet if it is narrower. I bought the thing two years ago for $75.00. I also have to get my my bigger South Bend lathe back together.
In the last two weeks I have been making preperations fo the bad weather to come by getting a few of the dead vehicles moved in or near the shop so I can easily work on them. I am also just about ready to pull the '99 Explorer rolling chassis into position outside to do the pressure washing and sandblasting. I will pull the floorpan/firewall off of it first because the bottom side of it needs cleaned too. I also have the 351W with tranny and transfer case mounted on a trailer base that I am going to mount in the explorer chassis. I will also be pressure washing and samdblasting it. After that the first step will be getting it all mounted in the chassis and fitting the floor pan and firewall back on. Next will be fitting and grafting the cab to the floorpan and firewall. Luckily I have a very bad extra '53 cab that I will be using to practice cut on. It's not worth fixing or saving with exceptions of a few sections that I will end up using in my trucks. I first plan to brace it well to the correct dimensions and then I will cut away all the stuff in the way and test fit it to the Explorer floorpan/firewall. I have decide to wait until mow to do the start of this project because I have to get all suited up for the sandblasting and pressure washing wor which I hate doing in hot weather. This is just the right weather for this work, not to hot, not too cold.
My other '53 is going to be what I like to refer to as my "Chick Freindly" truck. This one is going to be for my wife. This is all part of my diabolical plan to get her involved and that way she will be doing the interior trim work for both trucks. {Devious ain't I???) It is also going to be a bit more economy minded to operate. I bought a complete '97 Aerostar with electronic all wheel drive. I plan on putting the entire drive train, suspension snd steering on a custom built box tube chassis which I will mount my other '53 cab on. While the primary emphasis is going to be on the above mentioned '53 I will also be doing some minor work on it at the same time.
As you can see, I have a full plate in front of me. The real trick is going to be getting it all done before I croak or get too damn old and infirm to do this stuff. Somewhere in all this I still need to get some work for others done in the shop and start doing more transport work. Somebody has to pay for all this nonsense. If all that isn't enough, I have to pull the VGT turbo off my '03 F-350 and get it reconditioned. That mainly amounts to a very tedius R&R and a thorough breakdown and cleaning job. Those VGT's get clogged up with crap on the exhaust side and the variable vanes get stuck in the max boost position. With no waste gate this is a real problem. It's hard to believe, but these things can make enough boost to rupture the intercooler.
OK, as it is plain to see, I have plenty to do and I still found time to write this. So, as I see it, there are no excuses. get to that keyboard and tell us what you have done this Summer and what your plans are for new projects. we need some participation here. I have read that there is nothing going on here. There won't be if you don't contribute. So, lets see some posts and pictures. if you need help with the pictures just PM or e-mail me. I can get then on for you if you can't.
Later Folks...
