Ironmightys Americana 1952, 58,59, 73 & 85

Addressing the hose issue today, whilst the little hose was the problem for water loss, glad I made call to change them all. Both main hoses showing signs of misshapen/bulging.. didn't get finished as didn't have enough new hose clips and every factor in town doesn't open Sundays😔


Did manage a little trip out in the sunshine in the Plymouth yesterday, last time before I rebuild the front suspension and upgrade brakes/steering.

Nice. Looks like they've got a different offset to the ones on there, or is that just my eyes/the camera angle?

Cool.  

I was trying, politely, to say "they look like they won't stick out as much as the current ones", but I didn't want my own personal aesthetics to be weeing on your fireworks if that wasn't the case!   

Will be good to see them fitted, I imagine they'll be a big improvement all round. 

Like a kiddie at Xmas I couldn't leave the wheels in the lounge....and its an easy job to do at night if light got the better of me....



Slight stumbling block encountered... rear wheel studs are OE 9/16UNF....the fronts however are 1/2UNF with it being a 4WD front...enthusiastically scuttle to the garage as got some US long Lug nuts, but turns out they're metric, so hopefully right ones here for Saturday🤞
With the rears on, and the spacers removed the rims sit just about right in the arches to avoid incurring unnecessary legal scrutiny🙂

That'll do, don't bother wrapping it, just drop it in my drive.

1/2 UNF nuts didn't land on Saturday so front wheels are still in the living room(have mounted 1 of 2 spares in the van... second to go on swingaway spare wheel when I decide to how to fabricate it.

Decided to take down to the local Cars & Coffee event, only small but 10-15 mins from home...arrived to find a leak(suspected that last weekend but too wet to find it). Tracked to the bottom hose, a borrowed screwdriver and approx 3/4 of a turn later and no more leaks finally😊...










With the cooling system now sorted(including quite a functional heater), wheels to sort next week, its time to address the leaky roof and grotty rain channel/gutter.
Think I'm subbing out painting the Plymouth tailgate/spare wheel cover, before stripping the front suspension for rebuild now.

Definitely an improvement 👍👍👍

Amidst the various jobs on the ole American trio bits of body work(specifically paint) was needed on the big Plymouth. Without the room to fit it anywhere indoors at home I made the decision to sub it out..... ironically the most impressive bit is the least visible... The twisted Valance now lovely and straight🙂




Also whilst keeping the patina on the main body the roof and gutters needed a refresh...

So from this...

To this....


Best crack on with the Transmission change on the Chevy before I rebuild the Plymouth front suspension🫣

Taking the opportunity to do some work on the assorted projects(and consider adding another😳)

Not necessarily the most productive weekend, the HEI distributor swap on the Plymouth didn't work, clearly for a later 318 so going for a PerTronix unit now... more delays and hassle waiting for spares.

Since it was now partially stripped decided to start the Servo upgrade... knew the bracket would need modifying but trial fit(bulkhead reinforcement bracket is being refitted but trialled on the existing mounts) confirmed it fits... but couple of challenges. Firstly needs bracket needs sectioning to create a more upward angle(presently pointing about 10° downwards) , and the clevis to the pedal is offset to one side so a tweak needed there.

It's close to the rocker cover, without catching and will make accessing the spark plug awkward isn't impossible but more confident brakes are worth if. Looks like there's a balance valve mounted on the chassis rail somebody fitted as part of original disc conversion.



Then onto the Ford, MoT upcoming and a couple of the ball joint boots look a little sketchy...and here's the run... an obscure 4wd conversion means trying to ID drag links and track rod ends is steeped with risk of the wrong parts... it "might" be early non-IFS F250 front end, or they "might" be original E350 buts.. so educated guess and a Rock Auto order is on the way(but forgot the replacement steering damper)


And finally, the vision for the panel truck is taking shape.. M57 conversion to happen(donor sat at a different location), so will build it as a patina model for this year but have a colour scheme in mind for 2024 as cool as patina is it's a pain to maintain.