Bread & Butter 27 Ford Project

Thanks to Doug I got a dash out of a 55 Merc. I still need the speedo for it if anyone knows where one is.

Theres one at Stark's and I think over in Modoc. It's really a 56 dash.

FalconEddie1964 wrote:Theres one at Stark's and I think over in Modoc. It's really a 56 dash.

55 and 56 are different? I need to hit starks soon. Hopefully there is one there that is not waisted.

They look the same except one is 12 volt and the other is 6 volt. Jeff and I were out there yesterday. Not too many of those old Mercs around in the yards. Is the pony keg going to fit? Did ya figure out what those pistons are for? Is it one of those early Chevy V9's? LOL

Progress has slowed some. I'm at the point where there are alot of small time consuming things I need to do. As it happens some times I took one step forward and two steps back.
Remember I cut the winshield post down? Well I was going to make a windshield frame and have some glass cut for it. Jim brought down that windshield frame and no one knows what it fits but it's close to what I needed. I thought about it and I figured the best way to do it would be to keep this winshield frame and shape the car around it.
Too nice of a windshield to not use it.



As you can see it's too narrow, too tall and the arch on the bottom is off.

I had to take the windshield and the top post in a use the kitchen table to mark the many bolt holes across the hinge. There must be 40 of them. That is fine. I know it won't come off at speed.



The hardest part of this is for me to get the arch right on the bottom. That is one reason I wanted another dash from a 40's or 50's car. Doug came through with a 55 56 Merc dash. The dash work and windshield work is all being done at the same time. It all has to form together.
The dash was a little too big.

13" was hacked out of the middle.

These little welding clamps come in handy.

These look like the same pic but what I was doing was trimming top of the dash as much as I could to get it as close to the contour of the winshield. Better to trim a few time than to cut too much off.

Amy came out and talked to me for a while when I was trying to get the dash right.

I may have been better off finding a 40's dash to work better but I like the idea of using stuff I get off my friends. The dash is a cool dash too. I like the idea of the sides rapping around the inner door panel and on top of truck. It was a little harder than I thought to get the corners the way I wanted them. The Merc dash had the ends up and out and every which way but the way it needed to be. Lots! of pie cuts.

This was a pain. Getting the arch right was a big deal so I had to keep the windshield in the truck so I could see how close I was. Remember sparks and welding will screw up glass faster than a 5 year old with dress shoes standing on ice holding it.
Measure, wrap the glass in the welding blacket and raise it up as hi as I could. Doesn't sound that bad but do it 30 times having to wrap and unwrap every time.
Getting the shape close.


You can see how wavy it is. Putting the first spot weld in a spot where it goes will hold it so you can work the metal as you tack it on.

I wasn't going to post any of this until it was done but I was getting loaded up on pics. Just remember there is alot more metal shaping to do, The top will be rounded off so it's not so square and alot more welding and trimming.

It's really coming together! Love your vision. And thanks again for sharing. It's has caused me to put a project like this on my list.

Its looking really good.






Posted from droid

I was going to take a few days off but I was bored late at night and was wondering how to smooth out the pits in the cowl. I loaded up the primer and started playing around and sanding and sanding and ..............................

Extra primer I had left over I was shooting on the frame. One thing to another and I got the frame pretty close to where I wanted it. Few more coats and I was ready for the black paint.
Firewall pits won't be an issue either. I have most of them blocked out and I bought some glaze today. First time I have bought any. Some people swear by it. I'll see....

I wanted some visual impact with this car so I wanted some really cool headers. No hood with some really wild pipes that go up and over the frame without them being the usual lakes or t bucket style headers. tri fives where close but if anyone has ever seen a set from an early Nova you know why I bought these. I've been looking for a while and these came up on ebay. I don't have them here yet but hopefully soon the UPS man will be making me a happy camper.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270479944414&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I got my headers today and wanted to see how they looked and if the steering rod was going to get past them. While I was at it I tossed on a couple intakes.
Which one do you guys think I should run???
Low profile 2X4 set up. You have to look over the one breather.

cross ram set up.

Or the tunnel ram.

Steering looks like it will clear too.

I like the low profile 2x4 set up! I think it will run better with this set up. The cross ram and tunnel ram look cool but they don't work on the street.

Just from looks, I like the cross ram intake. Not something you see too often.

Cratethis wrote:Just from looks, I like the cross ram intake. Not something you see too often.

I agree. I don't think ive ever seen one like that.

Headers are pretty cool lookin'

DEMONSPEED wrote:Headers are pretty cool lookin'

yes...not what I was expecting. But in a good way! I really like them!