Coupe into Speedster Conversion

[JTR70]

Hey Frank, I recall seeing that you worked for Ford on FB. Yeah, some shots of the tooling or production would really be interesting see if it doesn't get you in trouble of course. What exactly do you do there? Justin

[Rusty Tubs]

The pics of the NOS noses is great. I see ours, third one from the top of the stack.





NOS wheels do a nice job supporting the nose.

[JTR70]

That is one mouth-watering and rare NOS item! Big money I'm sure but I'd want it for my car if it needed a new nose...

4/29/13
T1 drain cover detail for box floor.

Like my coupe project before I'm adding the drain hole cover detail to this car. Cutting out my blank here. This is about my 8th one so it comes to life alot quicker than my earlier attempts.

Basic part now complete; just have to add the hole.

Hole was drilled both in the floor and this new cap. Plug-welded and in position tight against the flange as was done originally.

Grinding down plug-weld heads now Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[JTR70]

4/30/13
Other than some minor cosmetic welding, the battery box is finally a set unit. With that I began to address the lower perimeter of the chassis.

Began with the most foward section of the frame right where I had removed the reinforcement strut earlier. The final cut line was a balance to get past the rotted and pitted areas while still remaining under any embossment detials.

Most of it cut free here. I also established an initial cut on the splash pan to get it up and out of my way.

Inital cuts complete. Amazing how instantaniously the outlook improves once the cancered out sections are removed.

Will spend tomorrow contouring this new piece to follow the chassis. I ordered two perimter kits but may need another maybe two more before its all over. BTW my inital plan was to get the battery box built so I could get this thing mounted on the hoist to tackle the longs. and floor. On second thought with delicate condition this unit is in at the moment I think I am better off rebuilding the longs with it right here relaxed on the floor. Meaning no leverage forces transfering through like it would have being mounted on the rotisserie. Its still light enough for me to move and flip-over etc. so I've decided to rebuid the longitudinals on the floor then install the floor pans with it on the hoist once integrity is back. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[merbesfield]

[quote="Rad-Ride" post=6840]I like seeing the old stamping/assembly photos from back in the day. I should walk around my plant and take pictures from body shop to final assembly of the F-150 trucks that we build.



Rad, what is the gauge metal you build Fords with compared to what Porsche used? Modern vehicles are so thin they are like tin foil.

[JTR70]

Hey Mark,

Correct, the skins of new vehicle are most certainly thinner guage but the carbon content in the steel is also higher than in our old cars to allow these new panels to be both lighter and tougher. However, they do not like being worked or repaired after a crash. Always the trade off.. Justin

[Rad-Ride]

[quote="JTR70" post=6864]Hey Frank, I recall seeing that you worked for Ford on FB. Yeah, some shots of the tooling or production would really be interesting see if it doesn't get you in trouble of course. What exactly do you do there? Justin

I install tonneau covers, box steps and rear well liners on the F-150 trucks now. These were done at the dealers but Ford decided to start doing them in plant now. No longer do I bust my rear on the frame line where I worked for 20 years. Now I work at a nice pace doing anywhere from 30 to 60 trucks a day instead of 500 or more on the line.

[JTR70]

20 years huh?? By the photos I've seen you look way too young to have that kind of time in already. You must have started directly out of H.S. Yes, going from 500 to 60 units sounds like a very liesurely pace. Interesting, thanks! Justin

[JTR70]

5/7/13



Began shaping the new lower frontal flange for the frame runner. As it progressed I soon realized that now would be the best time to repair the lower toe-board bulk-head wall since it is sort of layered under or inside the frame flanges.

With that in mind I started planning on where to make the cut.


As I was planning this repair it became appearent that the lower flange mounts for the diagonal forward tunnel braces should be repaired before any of the other two repairs I was working on. The parking brake tube mount flange will also need to be fix first. This is the tricky thing about these cars. Do one repair slightly out of order and you make the other repairs harder and more painful than they need to be.

Started with a paper template then flanged a piece of 20 guage and got a rough basic part pictured here.

Getting the punched hole details in now and deciding on where I'll make the break to join them. Continuing on tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[Restomod]

Its comin along great Justin, one question does the floor go under or over the center "bump" on the toe board? I think I may have got mine wrong...not that it matters much to me.

[JTR70]

Thanks Brock! The floor pan mounts to the inside of the toe board mating flange. Justin

[Restomod]

Cool, I did get it right! Thanks!

[roy mawbey]

Very nice way of working that out Justin. I looked at the remains of the originla panel and wondered how I would attempt that till I saw your next photos. You are so right, easy to make a repair and then find out it needed to be done later.

I guess its like engine or gearbox work once you have fallen into a trap you don't go there again. More and more I think you should write a book

Roy

[JTR70]

Thank you Roy! Yes, I like to think Ive learned a few my lessons but somehow I still manage to repeat several of them. Thanks but This is about as close as I'll ever get to writing a book I'll leave that to guys like Bruce Baker who have decades of experience and have actually finished a car(s). I can't even claim that title yet. Yet! I hope Thanks again Roy! Justin

[JTR70]

6/4/13

forward Tunnel flange repairs completed.

Right side mount flange repair along with the parking brake mount flange completed. Addressing the left side here. Slightly more involved than the right due to that embossment around the knock-out hole. Just have to peck that relief in my repair part. It is these tiny hidden repairs that can really grind on your patience. Its much more fun to install the big stuff.

Fresh metal does change the outlook quickly.

All flanges now repaired. They weren't very big but a pain in the ass before it was all settled.

With that complete I was now ready for the front Bulk head wall repair panel. Decided to save the entire pocket on the frame so I am drilling spot-welds here to remove this one.

Very rough inital trial fitments now.

Slow and fine trimming to both frame and this new panel are creating the fitment needed. Maybe I can actually get it tacked in there tomorrow; Would be nice.
Thanks for reading this!
Justin