Archive 2
Journal
Archived Journal from 2008 to 2010.
1/03/08 - Its a new year. 2007 once again was not a good year for the fish. She is not forgotten though. Yesterday I played with the 273 some. I still need a oil pump. I bolted on a bunch of small stuff from the factory intake and put on the headers. I will have to get a picture. I came upon one stopping point, what do you do for a throttle bracket when the factory one doesn't fit the aftermarket intake?
1/4/08 - After looking though this yesterday I was shocked. I know I have taken my sweet time on this, but 7 years and its not moved under its own power is just lame. My wife with a pep talk. Well, get ready for this... No I'm not selling it.... It will be on the road in April. It better be. I plan on taking it to the Lonestar round-up in April. You heard it here first. I have most everything I need, minus a back seat cover and carpet, but I don't need either. I’m thinking I will do some updating to the website as well to help keep me going. Wish me luck or a hand if you life near Austin.
1/06/08 - Not too much got done. I found a bunch of parts for the fish in my shop. I have been trying to clean up, so I can find stuff for a change. I didn't realize I left out a strut rod when I out the front end together. The right side will have to be torn down. No way around it. I cleaned up the windage tray. What’s the trick with these. It doesn't seem like it wants to fit within the oil pan.
2/25/08 - The poor girl gets no love. I contacted the guys running the Lonestar Round-up. The 65 is just too new, so she won’t be allowed into the show. I’m not the least upset. Since money has been so tight I get to focus my attention back to my shop and my 56 pickup. I found two reasons the 56 ran like crap. One was a cracked vacuum cap the other was its a 750cfm carb and it was flooding the 351W. Now I need to find another carb. for the truck.
4/21/08 - The shop clean up has been going well. You can check it out here. Still need to pour another ramp. I bought a 625 cfm carb for the 56, but have not installed it yet. The 69 Mustang may get sold this week to a friend. That will help a ton. The Lonestar Round-up was a blast! I didn't take a vehicle since I needed to unload more parts from the shop and make more space. I sold a hand full of stuff and it was worth booth fees.
7/13/08 - I actually worked on the Hellfish. The 273 now has an oil pump installed with a new pickup, the oil pan bolted on, studs for the valve covers and the intake bolted on. I may have to redo the intake. The end seals for the gasket were too tall, so I pitched them and tried a thick bead of silicone. The silicone may not have been thick enough. I need to buy a fuel pump and install a distributor and it will be done. I installed the new carburetor on the 56. I need a few large vacuum caps and a flat fixed. The Mustang did sell and is getting lots of body prep and getting primed in flat black waiting for paint. The 70 Swinger is officially no longer mine. My brother-in-law made the last payment and is now holding the title. Also the shop is coming together. As much junk as I have its going well. Lots of cabinets to store stuff in and I’m throwing lots of stuff away. About every time I “clean” I pitch about 4 boxes of stuff I can’t use and can’t figure a easy way to make a few bucks of it. That’s a great change in my outlook.
7/20/08 - A week later and still plugging along. I sanded on the interior passenger door, but used a rotary sanded this time. There is bondo, but its ready for prime and paint. I decided to bolt more stuff to the 273. I attached the A/C compressor and alternator and all the brackets. To my surprise, the thermostat house wont work on the Performer intake with a compressor attached. I now have to find a LD4B intake. It a vintage Edelbrock piece. Yeah!
9/20/08 - Still searching for the intake. Today I hit a swap meet in Roundtop today. No luck on the intake, but I scored a MSD 6a ignition box and got a free set of golf clubs with it.
9/23/08 - The Shop now has 2 ramps so a vehicle can go in or out as needed. The Hellfish will have a new home indoors in a couple weeks.
10/6/08 - The ramps work, just need better tires on the fish. If I have to push it, it has the be able to roll. I played with the 56 F-100 for a few. It no longer has a flat and all the beauty rings now match.
10/22/08 - I found a LD4B intake manifold! Big thanks to Franktiregod. I can't wait to try it out. I need to clean it up a little, but overall its in great shape. I already found a buyer for the Performer intake. This is working out well.
4/30/09 - Geocities is dead, or about to be, so Im in the slow process of moving the site here to Google. Also, the third ramp is complete and space is finally being made for the "Fish". It still has to wait for the Mustang to get finished. That should only be a couple months. The 273 is assembled and just waiting on the stand. The exhaust, window gaskets and drive shaft will be the next costly pieces.
Hope you enjoy the new site. I am moving it all over as I can and will do my best to create a overall better look and feel. Google sites is much easier to use, so updates should be more regular.
5/4/09 - After 3 years, my dads 56 Ford pickup is out of the weather. As a perfect birthday gift from my wife, I got time to play in the garage. My mother-in-law moved the rest of her stuff a few weeks ago, so with all that new found room I managed to make room for a 2nd vehicle. I wanted to move the mustang over and have the 56 in its place, but without keys, the Mustang isn't going anywhere. Since I couldn't let it stay outside another day, I squeezed it in. Really. About a foot on one side and 6 inches on the other. It was a tight fit.
5/5/09 - Still pluggin away at this internet thing. Check out the Cuda concept page. Pretty proud of that one. Sorry folks no 2010 concepts here 1975 and earlier.
5/18/09 - I spent some time with some yard art yesterday. I started striping a 76 Valiant 4 door before it heads to the crusher. My buddy Joe bought it for the engine and transmission. I started pulling anything I thought held value. I created a Parts for Sale page if you want to take a look.
5/21/09 - Ok, I'm stuck. The fish is out in the heat (Its Texas during the summer, we don't understand cold as a concept) while the garage is filled with my 56 pick-up and my friends (formally my..) 69 Mustang. I can't think of a project to work on with the barracuda outside. I need to install the engine, repair the floor and repaint. None of which I can do outside. I could weld outside, but outside over dry grass could be a fire hazard. I was repainting the interior with a “high end” custom match spray can, but it’s starting to fade. I tried to get something small done Tuesday to write about here. I Instead just looked at the car for 10 or 15 minutes. I couldn’t come up with anything I could do. I can remove paint because it will rust, I can’t lay carpet with holes in the floor, etc, etc. Seems she really needs to sleep inside before the next phase can begin. Truth be told, my friend has more motivation than I do and will be finished with the Mustang very soon. So, I got that going for me.
5/31/09 - Got a mini starter for the fish today. I traded a 318 block and crank for it. I think we both scored. The 318 was taking up room and I need a mini starter. Not much of a update, but its something.
6/20/09 - Today I tried something completely new, painting! My good friend Joe wanted help painting his Dodge pickup. Now, Im pretty good with a rattle can, but have never used a spray gun before. It wasn't so bad. We had a few little issues, but over all it looked good. I will be painting the Barracuda myself.
8/31/09 - No real updates. I have set a plan though. I measured the shop and Im 99% sure I can get the fish inside new weekend along with the 56 and my friends Mustang. It wont be easy, but hopefully we can pull it off.
12/3/09 - The Mustang is currently out of the shop and getting paint. In about a week or two it will be back and we will finish the assembly. I have currently held off moving the fish into the shop because we plan to have the Mustang together and on the road by January. At which it will go to its new home. After its out, we will shuffle cars around. The 56 F-100 will move over to a larger bay, the Barracuda with go where the truck used to sit and a new project will be moved it the spot I had cleaned out for the Cuda. A 1934 2 door Sedan(Tudor). The 34 will be a joint project with my Uncle. Original 34 frame, steel body, full hood, no fenders, 85 hp Ford flathead V8, chevy transmission and Ford 8" rearend.
3/27/10 - The Fish got a little TLC. I had two almost new tires from the Mustang and I had the rims swapped to a pair from the 76 Valiant. So, the rear is sporting new 14" shoes. The front rims are 15" cop rims with very bald tires that are holding air. Tomorrow, if everything goes right, the Barracuda will be inside the garage and some real work can begin. I bought a flip top gas cap adapter. Can't wait for it to show up.
3/28/10 - HAHAHA! Its inside! All the way inside. The fish rolled so smoothly. With only 3 of us, I wasn't sure it would happen, but it did. With it resting in its new home, we had time to kill until lunch was ready. We removed the hood, engine harness, A/C hoses, windshield, back glass, drive shaft, and transmission. I also removed the headlight rings and grill. Not sure if I want to keep the original rings or not. I have decided to upgrade the A/C system. If Im going to have a A/C it might as well not kill my horse power. Pictures to follow tomorrow.
3/29/10 - Pictures added here
4/1/10 - Got my flip top fuel cap adapter from 4mulaSvaliant of FABO.
4/2/10 - I sorted more of my many parts and started cleaning up the grill assembly. The turn signals now have good lenses. I found that the turn signals use 2 types of screws and that you can't use the shoulders screw on a housing that didn't come with them originally. I will be taking apart to grill completely to repaint to the metal mesh with new flat black. All the parts will get a good polish as well.
4/8/10 - I stopped by my grandparents old place and found a stash of Barracuda parts. A pair of perfect interior Barracuda script badges, a set of turn signal housing(unpitted, but the lenses are junk), a pair of remote exterior mirrors, and a floor shifter housing.
4/9/10 - I have spend the whole day with the fish. All the interior steel trim is removed, the dash, steering column, heater box, knee knocked A/C, all striped out. I found that the the windshield frame has some major cancer that was hidden by the dash. On the good side, the wiper pivots were in good shape. The engine compartment in almost bare as well. The dash and painted interior pieces will be going to a friend to get fresh paint.
4/11/10 - I got out the dash harness and since the dash was out, decided to install the aftermarket tach. This great tach is a one piece unit that looks just like the original. Since my 65 never came with one, it involved cutting and grinding. I also installed the 67 flip top fuel cap. Pictures added here
4/14/10 - Ordered a new blower motor and heater core from Rockauto and new LED bulbs for the instrument cluster.
4/17/10 - The heater core showed up the next day. Im still waiting on the blower motor. I got the LED's in on Thursday. I have some time today and tore apart the instrument cluster. I clean every thing and scotch brighted the contacts. Next is to build the solid state regulator. That should not be hard.
4/18/10 - I spend about a half hour masking off the instrument clusters lenses and spraying new silver. I had not planned on repainting, but after running the bezel through the dish washer, more paint flaked off than I had planned. The silver engine paint I had has a perfect match for the original.
4/19/10 - I was told that this page is way too long, so I archived the first 7 years.
4/20/10 - Started silver leafing the bezel. What a mess. I hope to have it done soon. We will see. Most likely, I will have Mr. G's rechrome a better bezel, but I want to see what this looks like once finished.
5/2/10 - Started pulling apart the steering column. Still not completely sure how it comes apart.
5/3/10 - Got the stupid squirrel cage off the old blower motor.
5/9/10 - Found a windshield locally. Just need to buy it.
5/11/10 - Still plugging along. I finally got around to pulling all the trim out of the car and putting all on a rack. Since the 69 Mustang is going back together, I have more storage for me. I ripped out the rest of the carpet and removed the rear window trim, the trunk divider, and the sub-floor. Found more rust under the sub-floor. POR should fix that. I also dropped the fuel tank to replace the filler tube. I broke the J nut.
5/15/10 - Starting really cleaning the cabin for a coating of POR-15. I also got a wild burr and started cutting out the rust in the drivers side floor board. I accidentally cut through the emergency cable.
5/23/10 - The front floor is completely cut out, and the metal around the hole is cleaned. I ended up not cutting the emergency cable, but did cut though the brake line. No biggy there since I have to replace those anyways.
6/18/10 - Scored a set of Bose speakers and a amp from a Caddy. Hope I can make it work with an IPod.
12/28/10 - The fish is sitting inside waiting for together time. I have gotten the hole in the floor completely cut out. It took some time, but is done. Now is just a matter of finding someone else to weld in the replacement. I may try it myself. I have a generator that may be enough to power my small welder. The real problem being the pinch weld at the firewall. Once the weather warms up a tad and I have some time off, I will start to POR the rear of the car and work up until I get to the drivers side pan.