Heat

Yesterday, I spent a few hours getting the heater plumbed up and the ventilation controls installed and working.   I decided not to replace the original vacuum operated water control valve on the engine, and thermostatic vacuum control "cricket" valve under the dash.  While this "automatic" temperature control system is kind of cool, these valves are expensive and have a reputation for being unreliable.  From a purely functional perspective, an aftermarket cable operated water valve is simpler and more intuitive.  I installed the control valve out of sight under the blower.

I then drained the radiator into a bucket, installed the fittings on the intake manifold and water pump,  and connected the heater hoses.

My son helped me refill the radiator with the distilled water and corrosion inhibitor I had drained.  I had expected it to take much more water to fill up the new hose and heater core, but I added less than a pint!  I took the car for a brief ride, and amazingly discovered no leaks!

I was also able to sort out the controls for the heat and ventilation, including installing a new face plate.

 I haven't wired up the blower switch yet, but I did connect up the dash lighting.  Now the dash at least looks fully functional!  By the way, the heater works fine when the car is moving!

As a side note, I had to relocate the sender unit for the aftermarket mechanical temperature gauge.  The heater water supply fitting takes up the hole I was using for it.  I decided to splice a new fitting into the thermostat bypass hose.  This seems to work well, and gives accurate readings.

Today, I installed the door window pillars to check how they fit.  I noted in a previous post that the window pillars were slightly bent, which I noticed after I had them re-chromed.  Oops! 

A shot of the door pillars before I installed the glass runners.

 I talked to a 50's Ford restoration specialist last week about installing the window mechanisms.   The driver side glass was cracked, so I got a replacement but need help installing it. "Ford Guy" mentioned that the door pillars are made of pot metal and are notorious for bending, and they won't seal to the windshield correctly if they are too badly bent.  New reproductions are about $350, so I don't want to buy them unless I really need them!

After installing the door pillars, and my admittedly amateur attempt at aligning them , I think there is a good chance that these will work fine.  The gaps are nice and even, and I can get the angles to match with the windshield trim.

You can see the slight bend in this view.  No glass or mechanism in the driver's side.

I'm looking forward to having Ford Guy install the windows and power mechanisms, because then I can install the door panels & trim, and the interior will look finished!  I'm also looking forward to having him replace the windshield & fix the speedometer.  Then maybe "Nell" will be at a stable point to simply be enjoyed with friends and family!

Yesterday I also reached another milestone... Nell's first oil change!  500 miles,  5 quarts of Valvoline VR1 20w50 racing oil (with plenty of zinc for the old style flat tappets), tighten the fan belt and re-set the valve lash.    It's almost like owning a real car!  I'll probably even need to wash her soon!

Thanksgiving

I just got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my family... my adult boys, my Wife, my Sister and her family, and my Dad.  It has been an amazing year, and I have been extremely blessed! 

I am less anxious about some of the challenges I'm facing with the car since I talked to a local 50's Ford restoration expert.  Not only is he quite knowledgeable, he's willing to install my new windshield, install and align the side windows, and even fix the speedometer!  What a relief!

This morning I wanted "Nell" to be ready for the 100 mile trip to my Sister's house and back,  just in case one of my boys wanted to ride with me.   The car is in pretty good shape overall, but now that the top is on I was concerned about hot air in the cabin.  I hadn't installed the heater or blower, so there was just a thin, leaky piece of cardboard in the large heater hole between the engine compartment and the passenger's toes.  I had a few free hours this morning, so I thought it might be a good idea to install the heater box and blower piping to plug this hole.

My first challenge was installing the heater box on the passenger side of the firewall.  I carefully cut and removed the cardboard punch-out panel in the firewall insulation, then slid the heater box in place.  This required lining it up with the tube from the right defroster vent, while simultaneously pushing it through the rather tight cutout in the firewall insulation cardboard.  It took a lot of shoving, but the rim of the heater box eventually lined up with the lip in the firewall, and three long #12 sheet metal screws held the box firmly in place.  Sorry, I did this before I thought to grab the camera!

My next challenge was to install the heater core and box from the engine compartment side.  I glued a fresh foam gasket to the box, and started the installation.  This was challenging because the right hood latch obscures one of the screw holes, and also requires tilting the heater core/box to install it, which in turn causes the bottom of the heater core to catch on the lip of the firewall hole. Again, it took a little careful shoving, but I got it to fit, and the screw holes lined up nicely.

By the time I thought to grab the camera, I had already started installing the vent ducting on the blower housing.  This seemed very simple, but actually required some careful work with a screwdriver to stretch the flexible canvas duct over the round metal shroud.  I started by installing the duct on the blower side, then reaching through and installing it on the fender duct side.

 Once the blower housing was installed, it was easy to install the rest of the duct work and a temporary blower motor.  I have a better one, but it still needs to be assembled.  This one is there just to plug the hole.

 The metal strip that goes between the blower housing and the fender duct is actually pretty important.  I found out that this prevents the blower housing from bending back and forth

 I only had a few hours to work on the car, then I felt it was ready for the drive to my Sister's.  My wife was willing to drive the "chase car" with food and beverages for dinner.  As it turns out, each of my sons wanted to ride with me!   One rode with me on the 50 mile drive there, and the other rode back with me in the evening.  I felt very affirmed, and I'm still basking in the glow of time spent with them. 

It has been a very good day! 

At the dinner table, I was able to share my gratitude for my story of  redemption, and how God has revealed to me something about myself through this car.  Yes, I have suffered neglect and pain, but God sees something beautiful in me below the layers of rust and patina.  He is redeeming that beauty, bit by bit, as I let him deeper into my life.  And, like the car, he's not done with me yet... but even in my unfinished state, I can become a source of joy to other people!

Oh, there was a very heavy dew on the car when it was time to come home.  I really need to get the heater and defroster working!

Ready for the Night

The car hasn't had a working license plate light, so it hasn't technically been legal to drive it at night.  I'll confess that hasn't stopped me, but I have been eager to remedy the situation.

I had a few hours today that I could spend on the car, so I spent them refurbishing the license plate light.  It was more involved than I thought, since I had to drill out a rivet holding the lamp socket together, and carefully wire brush the parts before putting it back together.  I didn't have a reference for this so I was ad-libbing.  I soldered up new connectors and replaced a section of wire, then fished it through the convoluted path through voids in the trunk lid.  I tied a string to the old wire before I pulled it out, which made it rather easy to fish the new wire back in.  Here are a few victory shots:

 When I was screwing in the light assembly,  the sheet metal screws I used were too long.  I found out the hard way when they bottomed out but the light still wasn't tight.  What would you do?  Like anyone else, my first thought was to tighten just a little harder.  Now the car bears new marks of my impatience:

I replaced the screws with shorter ones and used a couple of washers. Now the light is tight, and I have a very small, subtle reminder to back off when things aren't going quite right.   Overall, I'm OK with that.

#2 Son flew back from college to spend Thanksgiving with the family.  I am delighted to see him, and am looking forward to enjoying his company this week.

Finishing the Hardtop & Hubcaps

The hardtop on the t-bird is original, but it has an interesting story.  The car didn't come with a soft top, so the hard top was on the car for it's first 18 years or so.  Then, the top was stolen off the car while it was sitting in my parent's back yard.  I walked out the back door on my way to high school, and noticed it was gone.  I spent a half-hour on the phone to the police, and got a ride to school.  I was devastated.  A great many other expensive parts had also gone missing.  I had pulled the engine, and I wasn't too tidy about putting parts in a secure location.  While I still treasured the car, I was beginning to suspect that getting it back together and running might be a lot harder than I had first thought. 

Several months after the top disappeared, the left exhaust manifold was also stolen.  Why only the left one?  Well, I soon found out that the left exhaust manifold is unique for early t-birds, not interchangeable with other Ford cars, and as a result they are pretty expensive.  The thief pilfering parts from my car knew exactly what he was doing!

I was visiting a famous local t-bird restoration & supply shop looking for a replacement exhaust manifold, when I saw a rather suspicious looking hardtop propped against the wall!  How did I know it was mine?  Well,  I had painted it the ugliest shade of bright lime green, and I had been in the process of sanding it, so it was a patchy mess.  Here's a pic of it going to the body shop last year, unchanged from the condition in which it was stolen.  Pretty distinctive, huh?

I left the shop quietly and called the police.  I met them at the shop 20 minutes later, and had no problem proving to them that it was indeed my hardtop.  The shop was in the process of restoring it... they had painted the inside trim black and replaced the headliner.  The shop owner seemed a little irked that he wasn't going to be paid for the work he had done on the top!   I was in no mood to compensate him!  I also confess that I have a little trouble letting go of my resentment toward the shop, which is still in business.  This was the only stolen part I ever recovered, and several months later I had my first experience on the witness stand in a courtroom.  The value of the hardtop was enough to qualify for grand theft auto, and the thief was convicted.  I sometimes wonder what happened to him.  After this whole ordeal, the grille and the seat were stolen off the car.  That's when my spirit was finally broken, and I looked for ways to sell the car.  God was still with me, however, because I ended up selling it to my Uncle Toronado.  I never would have foreseen that 30 years later I would be given another opportunity to restore it!

Now the top has been painted white, but I didn't like the black interior trim. I decided to paint the inside edges the same dark green color as the dash board and the steering wheel.  I didn't photograph the masking process, but it was very routine.  I used the same base/clear paint that I used for the steering wheel.  I think it turned out very well!  The color, even in these small areas, matches well and looks as if it belongs on the car.  I'll take an interior shot once I get the doors done.

I cleaned, installed, and adjusted the latches to fit the hardtop to the car.  I learned a few tricks in the process, but that is another story.  I will say that the car is much quieter and less windy going down the road with the hard top snugly latched in place!

I may have mentioned earlier that I got a very good deal on a set of driver quality "dog dish" hubcaps.  I prefer these to the full wheelcovers that came on the car,  because the smaller hubcaps show off more of the wheel color.  The set I got on eBay are pretty rough, but my son has been keen to repaint the centers and get them on the car.  A car just doesn't look finished without hubcaps.

Stock dog dish or "poverty" hubcaps had red painted centers in 1955.  In 1956, the same hubcaps came with white centers.  Neither of those colors seemed appropriate to me.  I have a lot of body color paint left over, so why not use that?  My son did the hard work of masking the inner and outer sections of the hubcaps, leaving just the ring to be painted.

I mixed a tiny amount of paint with hardener and reducer, and sprayed it with a detail gun.  After a few minutes for the paint to get tacky, my son and I used lacquer thinner and q-tips to wipe the paint off the Ford lettering, revealing the chrome underneath.  We went through a lot of q-tips!

The results look pretty handsome... at least from a distance.  I did say that the hub caps were pretty rough!  Well, the dents and pitted chrome give them character...

 Of course, here are a few victory shots of the car with the hubcaps on. 

Broken Speedo

The speedometer stopped working about half way to Dad's last Monday.  No big deal, I figured.  I can look at the tachometer to tell how fast I'm going, at least on level ground.  The sun set on the ride home, and the dash lights seemed to be working fine.  Then they started to flicker.  So I wiggled the headlight switch, and they flickered more.  Well, by the time I got them to stay on, the tachometer lightbulb had burned out.  Luckily, I had a GPS speedometer app on my iPad, and I used that to monitor my speed on the long drive home.

Broken speedometer?  There's an app for that.

A few days ago, my Son and I pulled out what was left of the speedometer cable core.  I had to crawl under the dash and remove the four bolts that hold the instrument housing to the dash, lift it out, then unscrewed the cable housing from the back of the speedo.  I easily pulled out most of the cable core... sure enough, it had broken in two, right at a tight bend in the cable!  I next had to go under the car, and disconnect the other end of the cable from the transmission.  This is not an easy task, because the speedo drive is in the tightest part of the tunnel above the frame x-member.

Yes, it's hard to get to that speedo cable.

 I could barely squeeze my hand into the spot, and left some skin behind, but I did unscrew the housing.  I easily pulled out the remaining stubby end of the core. The housing looked OK, so I smoothed out the bend and reconnected it.  Then, I lubed up the spare cable core I got on eBay, and inserted it into the housing from the top.  Naturally, it didn't fit... it was 3" too long!  I went under the car and removed the bottom of the cable housing again (ouch), and confirmed that the housing was clear.  The cable core was indeed too long.

Yesterday, my Son went to a speedometer shop and got a new cable core made.  We were sure this would fix the problem, and confidently went for a drive after we installed it.  The speedometer didn't move.  Nothing.  I removed the gauge cluster again, and disconnected the cable at the top.  Driving very slowly, it was clear that the core was not turning... but I could feel it engage with the lower gear?  What was wrong?

Well, looks like I need a new speedo drive gear.  Worse, I'm not sure how to get it out.  Perhaps if I remove the shifter... but not today.  That's a bigger task than I can handle today, and I want to consult with Transmission Guy first.

An inoperative speedometer is a little disappointing, but it won't keep me from enjoying the car.  I'm limiting the engine to 2500 rpm anyway, as part of the break in procedure.  This gives me a top speed of about 65 mph.  Besides, I can always take my iPad!

This afternoon was more encouraging.  My Son and I cleaned out all our remaining t-bird parts from Uncle Packard's garage, including the hard top.  We had to install the front weatherstripping and the rear latch hardware in order to get it on the car.  I used a layer of cardboard to protect the paint, at least until I can completely check the weather stripping and properly adjust the latches.

In the late afternoon light, my Son took a few glam shots.  He says the top makes it look more "cute", and less aggressive.  Either way, Nell is a very pretty car.

Looking at the car, it seems that she is trying to tell me something.   In an urgent whisper, she is telling me something rather profound.  Something about grace, something about a deeper beauty, something about enjoying God's blessing in new and exciting ways.  And perhaps even accepting life with a sense of style.

The speedometer suddenly seems much less important.

Reflections on Glory

This picture was taken by my sister, just outside the oncologist's office.  I gave him the hat.  The suspenders were his idea.

Yesterday I drove "Nell" 200 miles round trip to visit Dad, and to give him a ride to the oncologist.  I now have a sense of closure.

This is a significant personal and spiritual milestone for me... taking Dad for a ride in the Thunderbird that his Mother had owned, the same car that I struggled with as a teenager, and more recently the car that has become the symbol of my own redemption!  While it hurt me to fail in my teenage attempt at restoration, it has only recently occurred to me that that it hurt Dad, too.  If I were him, I would feel like a failure as a Father and provider, unable to support my son. 

I have been restoring this car for the last 17 months.  Thanks to help from my Son and my Uncles, I have been blessed with remarkable progress.  The car isn't done, but it is street legal and safe.

Dad's condition, on the other hand, has been in a gradual decline over the same period, and I have harbored serious doubts that this milestone would ever be accomplished.  By God's grace, we were able to take that ride together!

The weather was glorious yesterday.  I drove to Dad's by myself, getting familiar with the car, and enjoying the sound of the engine.  The break in procedure forced me to keep the speed down, but I got plenty of thumbs up and complimentary toots as folks passed.  Nell was a lady, and didn't overheat in traffic.  The speedometer cable broke en route, but I have a spare.  Overall, it was a delightful drive, and I had about 4 hours to think and absorb the reality of the situation.  That is a rare gift.

The four mile ride to the doctor's office was glorious.  My Sister and my Uncle Cord were there to listen to what the doctor had to say.  It wasn't good news, but not unexpected.  Afterwards, Dad and I got back in Nell and went off to get a bite to eat, and then I took him home.

Dad and I were both delighted to share the experience of his first ride in the restored car.   Dad kept repeating "Rick, it's just gorgeous"!  Somehow, I think he was referring to something much greater than the car.

Ready for Another Milestone?

Dad sees the oncologist tomorrow.  The reality of his mortality seems to be weighing on him.  On the phone today, he mentioned that his trusted family doctor and friend told him that "the end of the road is coming".  This time it sunk into Dad's consciousness.

I've decided to take the day off work and drive Nell a hundred miles to Dad's apartment, then drive him to the oncologist.  He's been looking forward to a ride in this car for over a year.  He's getting frail, and he's loosing both weight and energy.

It's time to take him for a ride.  Tomorrow.  Without delay.

There may be other rides, but I'm not willing to put off this first one.  I'm also not willing to put off the critical conversations.  I want to be ready for whatever he has to tell me, and I think it's only appropriate to have that conversation in the presence of this historical vehicle that has had a significant role in both our lives.

#1 son and I spend yesterday doing our best to get the car ready for this 4-hour round trip excursion.  This included...

• flushing the coolant system, installing a new high-flow thermostat, and refilling with distilled water & radiator treatment.  Sorry, I got so busy that I didn't take any pics. I mounted the mechanical temperature gauge sensor in the hole for the heater supply, at the front of the intake manifold.  I'll need to move it when I get around to installing the heater, but it's OK there for now.

• removing the seat so I could work under the dash.  I then installed the refurbished clock (which runs great! yay!), and wiring up the backup lights.  I connected the backup lights to the main circuit (the one that powers the brake lights) so that they come on any time the ignition is on and the car is in reverse.  Originally, they only worked when the lights were on and the car was in reverse.  I figured that backup lights are more for letting people know you are backing up than they are for lighting up the road behind the car, so they need to work in the daytime.

• installing & fitting the cabin insulation, jute padding, carpeting, and re-installing the seat

• I installed the front grille trim and bumper guards, while #1 son installed the door handles and driver side hard top latch bracket.  The bracket required a lot of finesse, and some careful filing before the door would close properly.

• I also installed the carpeting in the trunk.  It's nice to see the car gradually looking more finished.

Today my son and I went on a long shakedown ride.   Nell minded her manners... no leaks, and she didn't overheat.   The weather was spectacular, and the engine sounded marvelous! The gas gauge is a little pessimistic, and varies widely when going up or down hill.   I tend to use a stick when I really want to know the level in the tank.  There it is, under the jack in the trunk. 

 I'll adjust the gauge after I get a better feel for it.

Nell is ready for the long drive tomorrow.  She has performed reliably.  The fire extinguisher and tool bag are in the car.  Everything is set...

The real question is ... am I ready for my ride with Dad?  Am I ready for the road before us?