Work on My F8, No. 11

[Jim Price]

Mike:
My engine came with the "diver's bell" distributor which needed to be replaced. I considered going to a "crab" style but the location of the distributor led me to decide to install an electronic 12 volt system. The ease of adjustment as well as the efficiency with which this Mallory system performs was the deciding factor. By the way, it looks quite similar to the "crab" style.

As for the 12 volt system, it's just easier to get electical parts!

I do plan to drive it at night to and from and during WWII reenactments and parades but will not install halogen lights. As far as other aftermarket goodies are concerned, I have no plans whatsoever to install any thing of that nature. I fully intend that the outward appearance of the F 8 will remain the same as it was originally.

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

Continued on the things-to-do list and completed the following over the past three days:

Cleaned the transmission housing in preparation for painting it.

Riveted the double-row beaded material on the frame that supports the windshield. See the picture. The material was a bit narrower than the original but turned out ok.

Finished cleaning the engine and painted it with the Ford engine green paint applicable to a 1940 engine. Bob did a great job on it! See the picture.

Finished restoring the steering wheel. Although there were many cracks it turned out to be a nicely done job! See the picture.

Put a coat of paint on the wheel rim sides that bolt to each other; the painter had left them unpainted. We got lucky on two missing studs; Bob found replacements for the two and welded them in place on the rims affected. The new ones were a bit different and needed some good tacking to stay in place.

Received the starter, electronic ignition system, carburetor, sparkplug wiring, coil, alternator and pulley for mounting the fan on the alternator. Am going to go with that type of mounting as the truck will not be a daily driver.

Dug out the emergency/parking brake parts from the parts removed box and cleaned them. Will be replacing the cables but the rest of the parts are good to go.

Sealed the fuel tank with a sealant made by the same company that made the steering wheel repair kit, POR-15, Inc. See the picture. It's a plastic-like material with silver coloring in it. Dries to a really nice, hard finish!

Finished sanding the plywood seat inserts. See the picture. As I'm fairly handy with a sewing machine I'll probably restore the seats myself. We have several upholstery materials shops in the area and I should be able to get some suitable period material for the seats and seat backs. I'd earlier picked up some springs of the appropriate size and length to replace some of the ones that had failed or were missing from the seat backs. I do have an original seat back to use as a pattern. I did check out Dirk's store and he has some really nice sets but decided to go it on my own.

That's all for this report!

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

The past week has been a transitional one with Dylan, my college student returning to college, and Loren, my new guy, coming on board. We did accomplish the following:

Took last weekend off!

Picked up the springs from the painter on Monday and installed them and the axles today. Had to have the spring shop fabricate the front springs' rear brackets; the originals were trashed beyond belief!

Installed the steering wheel and column.

Finished cleaning the transmission and painted it.

Painted a number of small parts too numerous to take to the painter.

That's it for now!

Regards,
Jim

[Bob Carriere]

..... I took 5 long agonizing years to get were you are at today.....

What do you take...... Geritol ......or what do you smoke.....???

What ever keep it up!!!!!

You are an inspiration.

Boob

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

..... I took 5 long agonizing years to get were you are at today.....

What do you take...... Geritol ......or what do you smoke.....???

What ever keep it up!!!!!

You are an inspiration.

Boob

I have to agree . Took me 8 years to get the C8 on the road - even then it was in a semi finished state. I only ever took it on 2 club outings - on very old, perished and cracked Dunlop 'S' pattern bar tread 900-13 tyres.

Mike

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

I have to agree . Took me 8 years to get the C8 on the road - even then it was in a semi finished state. I only ever took it on 2 club outings - on very old, perished and cracked Dunlop 'S' pattern bar tread 900-13 tyres.

Mike

And what's it doing next March? Hopefully ready for another outing

You can always trailer it there.

[Jim Price]

Bob and Mike:
Thanks for your kind words! I'll have to admit that this is my third restoration project so I had some experience to base my planning on when starting the F8 project. As a result of these previous projects I developed a list of suppliers and contacts which also has been very helpful.

However, the help I've received from my two friends, Bob and Dylan, has proven to the most important aspect of the success so far. I've paid them both a minimum wage for the 15 to 20 hours a week they've both spent on the project. Bob has brought numerous tools and equipment as well as his skills as a welder and mechanic to the project. Dylan, the college student, brought the enthusasim of the youth and a desire to learn. Together they've been invaluable.

My decision to have the cleaning and painting done by someone else has been a big help and has given us all time to work on other tasks.

And, I'm a retired Certified Public Accountant, (Chartered Accountant to the Commonwealth countries) and a bit compulsive when it comes to organizing a project.......

Last but not least, has been the help and wealth of ideas I've either read or directly received from you MLU site members. My hat's off to you, Geoff, for hosting this great site!

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

The person who observed, "It's easier to take something apart than it is to put it back together." sure was right on the money! It seems than this past week every time we turned around we were missing a bolt, had the wrong size fitting or incorrect part! We did, however, accomplish the following:

Re-mounted the tires on the rims. (Found that one of the tubes has a short stem so will need to replace that one.)

Installed all the brake backing plates.

Installed the front brakes. (We're replacing the entire brake system with all new parts. See the picture.)

Installed the front bumper brackets. (They needed to be straightened out flat. See the picture.)

Installed the front wheel spindles and the new king pins.

Installed the steering tie rod and assembled all the steering parts together.

Did some more work on straightening out the major dings in the fenders. (Will leave what's left to do on them to the tender mercies of the body shop.)

Installed one of the rear brakes lines. (The original lines were copper and am replacing them with steel. See the picture.)

Started the upholstery work and finished both seat back covers. (See the picture.)

Disassembled the instrument cluster. Found some push-pull, three position switches to replace those present. Was able to save all of the knobs. They've all got age cracks and I haven't decided whether to replace them or not.

That's it for this report!

Regards,
Jim