Gonna need some wheelie bars

 

Since the engine is away at the rebuilders, I've been continuing on the trans and the hump. I figured it was time to locate the shifter before I built something that will have to be modified later. With that in mind, I spent the day modifying the plastic around the shift lever. The B&M ratchet shifter is pretty large so I had to cut into the area that says "HHR" between the window switches. The window switches are moving to the doors (where the should have been all along) so those 2 holes are getting filled as is the flat top area that is on the sides of the shifter. I used a cut-off tool and heat gun to soften the plastic to bend it around. Monday I will begin with the 3M stuff to adhere the new parts that will be added. Parts like these take a very long time to complete. I expect 20 hours or more in this plastic part by the time it is painted and finished

 

Back when I got my first legal to drive on the road car it was a '65 Ford Fairlane. I bought it then let the fellow who sold it use it for one last date with his girl. He was planning to ask her to marry him and thought his nearly new F-150 pickup was not the right vehicle to do that in.

He ended up rolling the Fairlane. I got the car anyway. It had been a three on the tree but when it rolled he hit the shifter with his knee and broke the cup the shift stick rode on.

This didn't bother me all that much because I had a Fox Craft {20 dollar at the time} floor shifter on hand that I figured I'd put in.

After much measuring and contemplating I finally drilled a hole about where I thought the shifter should come through the floor. I was wrong. I ended up cutting a very large hole and mounting the shifter from inside the car then had to patch it up.

Its a good thing I could braze pretty well. I tried using my dads electric Marquette farm welder but all I could get it to do was blow holes in the thin steel of the floor even with the thinnest rod and lowest setting on the welder.

 

So jealous. this things gonna be a monster. if you dont mind me asking, how much have you put into this project? You can PM me if you dont want to put it out there.

 

The actual cash outlay of this project is minimal for a hand-built car such as this one. The part that would be astronomical would be the labor. The ONLY way this conversion is possible it to be able to do almost everything yourself. That includes a full machine and fabrication shop. There is no way this car would be worth what it would cost to have it built. A good example is the $56k price tag on the YearOne V8 Panel. It's been for sale for years with no takers at that price. And in reality that is a bargain for that car. I would estimate the labor alone at a rod shop to be in the $70k range. And in the end you have a car that has questionable safety and liability issues. Like I said, you really need to be able to build this car yourself and not worry about the money, if that's what you want to do......and I really want to do this.

 

Well so far the engine looks good. The cylinders will only need a 10 thousands hone to get them right, the crank has minimal wear and only needs a polish and the rods look good. Of course everything needs to be magnafluxed to know for sure. The rods may get replaced anyway. I hope to send it to the machine shop soon. Cam selection will come soon, it depends what happens to the heads.

 

Now that the engine is in the shop I'm back to the trans hump fabrication. To get the interior parts to fit the new trans hump I have modified the plastic shifter hump area and I will build the hump up with sheet metal. This is going to take quite alot of work but it will look almost factory when it's done.

 

Keep up the good work, just don't bust your hump!

 

Spent the day building the drive shaft hump. I started out with cardboard for the template, transferred it to 19 ga. sheet and cut it out with a stomp and a Beverly shear. Bent it up with a bead roller and after about 20 trial fittings it's in! Tomorrow I'll fab up the rear section of the trans hump and begin welding. I hope to get this part almost complete over the Labor Day weekend. Here is what I have so far.