Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Old Car Mecca

Finding an old car Mecca in my back yard

After church today I came home and went to work on my test stand. I had some square tubing laying about and some wheels left over from some scaffolding when I took one set and added a second story. I already have one test stand with a completed engine and I used that for a model.

The problem with the stand I currently have is that it is too small to include the transmission. It would seem to me that in readying the engine for an old car or truck that is being refurbished one should not only get the engine to going but should have it mated to the transmission to see if that works as well. It is easier to check out the transmission on the stand with the engine that wait until it is installed in the car or truck to find out there are problems.

In this 40 Ford Sedan I am working on there was no engine or transmission and the front cluster out of the differential was also missing. I have been searching the net to try and find a bell housing for a three speed overdrive transmission I have but to no avail. Then on Friday at a salvage yard less than ten miles from here I found one…also a nine inch ford rear end and axle. Talk about luck. How often to we spin our wheels looking the other side of the fence just to find what we’re looking for under our noses.

This salvage yard I stumbled onto is a gold mine for old cars….I can’t believe I have been living here for over fifteen years and just now found it.

Anyway I measured out the lengths of the tubing and cut it. Then I welded it square and put on the wheels. I also cut the pieces for the radiator which will go on the front. I have an old four hole radiator that will be used to cool the engine down. This Engine stand will be longer and capable of holding both engine and transmission.

Sometime soon I plan to take the bolts off (Six) that hold the body of the ‘40 Ford to the frame, raising it on some 55 gallon drums and then rolling the frame from underneath. A major milestone will be putting the drive components into the frame, not to mention the steering column. Then I can set the body back down on it, but not before I get the part beneath the floor cleaned and undercoated.

Meanwhile there will be several days spent making sure I have the wiring diagram from the test stand engine duly recorded and clearly in mind. I am sure glad I am in no hurry to finish. It used to be I could work eighteen hours a day. Those days are past but I still have four quality hours in the morning and four for drudge