update on Rich's build

[lalessi1]

That looks great Rich, I bet you must be getting excited about being so close to the "end"!!!

[djfordmanjack]

I love bolting in new/fresh parts knowing that for the most part, that is the last time I will have to touch them.

absolutely true! I just love that. Things are looking great Rich !

[BWhitmore]

Rich - is it my imagination or is the right side inboard U bolt slightly out of alignment? 

[RICH MUISE]

I noticed that also....on both sides actually. I think it's the wide angle setting on the camera lens kinda tipping things, but I'll make sure. I'm hoping to use a friend's lift next week so I can check out a bunch of things under there. It's been a real pain trying to crawl under the car to get things like that done...gettin' old!
I actually got it out this afternoon and drove around the neighborhood for an hour.
No back brakes.....which wasn't a problem. The car stopped quickly and straight doing a few hard brake tests.
No shocks.....well, I was bouncing up and down quite a bit.
Mufflers sorta in place... back end of the mufflers is held up with wires. I think they're too quiet outside and too loud inside, but right now it's just the mufflers ending in front of the axle...no pipes after that. I'm sure the inside noise will diminish quite a bit after everything is routed out to the back.
Steering wasn't all that smooth, but I'm going to bring it to a local alignment shop here in town. The guy is an old school alignment guru...does all the hot roders and body shops in town.
I'm probably going to have it alighned twice, because I want to put a few hundred miles on it before I change the front coils. He's going to go thru and set the rack correctly as well as the normal wheel alignment.I'm still not sure I got all the air out of the PS lines, so that could be contributing to the "not-to-smooth", but the gm rack is suppose to be self bleeeding, so that issue should improve if it's there.

[Ford Blue blood]

Really lookin good!  Very nice work!  When you get the rest of the pipes on it will make all the difference in the world with inside and outside sounds!

[robhaerr]

Rich...

I would really like to see/hear those mufflers when you get the pipes completed! I have Magnflow XL mufflers that are a chambered turbo muffler. I am leaning towards changing to the 11266 that you have to quiet it down a tad and get rid of the "thwapping" if possible.

A reminder of what mine sounds like...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-5odSvX7E

Looking forward to video!
Rob

[gasman826]

Now that your car is on its wheels and the body has settled, you might want to tweak the steering shaft support bearing.

[RICH MUISE]

Something to definetly keep in mind if the alighnment/rack adjustment doesn't smooth it out. Thanks for the reminder.
Drove it some more today, definetly need some shocks and exhaust and alighnment before I put too many more miles on it. With the noise/banging around of the wired on mufflers and all the bouncing up and down, it's kinda hard figuring out what needs fine tuning/tweeking, lol. I'm sure getting a lot of looks though...kinda neat. This afternoon I passed a friend going the other way in his 4.6 powered '56 'Bird. He waved...but I'm not sure he knew who he was waving at. He hasn't seen my car since before glass, front end, etc.
Brought the car over to a lube shop to get the ball joints, ujoints, etc lubed. Everyone of the grease monkeys there stopped and came over for a look. Not one of them had a clue what it was, they were all guessing it must be some Chevy.

[57 imposter]

I was stopped at a light, several years ago, in my 50 ford club coupe when a car pulled up next to me with people in it not all that much younger than me and asked "is that a Hudson?" It which I said "yes it is" Everyone drove off happy.

[RICH MUISE]

Got the car tucked back in the garage Tuesday, just in time for today's ice storm. After repairing a leaky brake fitting, and rebleeding the front brakes, I took it out for a few runs around the neighborhood. The engine seems to run smoother everytime I start it up...really happy with that now. No issues with bleeding this time, and the car actually stops much better than it did.
After many hours on the 'net trying to figure out what brake kit to order for the back, I finally found what I wanted. I liked the kit Bob/57AGIN put on the back of his with the '88 T-Bird calipers. His kit was from ABS, and runs 540. + delivery. I finally found a Summit Racing kit that uses the same caliper, has drilled rotors, etc. On sale for 432. w/ free shipping. I ordered the kit this morning. Like Bob said...nice to keep it all Ford.
For others interested, Summit has 3 kits available for the 9" rears..... for the small bearing, large old w/31 spline axels(?), and large new style.....that all use the Ford T-Bird caliper.
I'll of course let you guys know how the assembly goes.

[RICH MUISE]

The pn for the Summit disc kit is bk-1327-99904, btw. That's the # for the big bearing, old style bolt pattern. The info says it only fits 31 spline axels...first time I've seen a axle spline requirement on a disc brake kit...don't know what that's about, but mine are now 31 spline anyways.The other two kits are BK1326-99904 and BK1328-99904.
I also ordered my shocks today..front  KYB's KG4515 and rear Monroe31125. Total for the 4 shocks, w/ shipping is 106. from Rockauto. After road testing the shocks to insure they fit my application, I'll search for an upgraded shock to replace the rear Monroes with the same or similar dimensions.

My modified rear end....in researching disc brake kits, I've learned that the offsets you normally see referenced as requirements, those being 2.36 to 2.50, are usually paired up to a specific bolt pattern. The 2.36 dimension is normally paired to the old style big bearing, and the 2.50 dimension is normally paired to the new (Torino) style. I'm not sure how those offsets are arrived at, but mine is "mismatched" for lack of a better term. My old style has the 2.5 offset. Some brake kits, that wouldn't matter as spacers are supplied to adapt/shim thru a range. Other kits, like the one I just ordered, are made for a specific offset, or at least have only the spacers for that one offset.. I"m going to call the shop that did my rear end and find out what the deal is on mine, and if it can be changed. I wouldn't bother with doing that, and probably only need different spacers, but I've also found out the registration hub on my axles is a larger dia than any rotors or drums have (3.060). I suspect that happened because the shop that did the work is more racing oriented, and maybe the high dollar racing brakes are a different hub range than what street rods are normally found with. So, long story short, I could have the rotors bored out to fit, but that would have to be done every time the rotors are changed, so I'm thinking I'll have him turn the hub to match the rotors, and maybe change the offset to 2.36 at the same time?? The offset may just be the result of additional/thicker spacers??
I'll call him on Monday and let you guys know what I find out about that.

Like alot of forum members...it's cold and icy here today..lots of accidents. We're just stayin' inside today....no black friday shopping.

[RICH MUISE]

I've had guys ask how close I am to finishing up...well, to get to drive it normally...

1. install rear brakes and e-brake
2. install shocks
3. alignment shop
4. A/C shop to charge and check out system
5. exhaust shop

Hopefully next week the roads will clear and I can drive it to the alignment shop. Terry is an old school alignment guy, and aside from alignment, is going to check out everything underneath for me to make sure everything looks ok and is tightened down!
A/C shop...yeah, I know it's winter, but I want to make sure that compressor has the proper amount of oil when charged even though it hasn't been turned on. At least the shop probably won't be busy. The A/C shop I use is owned by a father/son team, both hotroders.
Exhaust shop will have to wait for another payday..or early xmas gift from the wife, lol. I thought about rear/side exits behind the wheels, but I'll probably go straight back and use oval tips.
Anyway, that's the short list to get to drive it!! I've still got lot's of unfinished stuff like passenger door and trunk seals, etc. but that kinda stuff won't keep it off the road. Now, if the winter isn't as bad as predicted...

[Ford Blue blood]

Rich glad you got it moved back under cover!  That light you're seeing at the end of the tunnel is NOT an on coming train....:<).....keep plugging awayat it!

[hiball3985]

Getting that close you must be getting anxious. Did you resolve the problem with the front springs or did I miss a post?

[RICH MUISE]

Yep, glad it's back in my shed. Feeling much better about everything with the car after my last trips around the neighborhood. Even the steering felt better after snugging up some of the steering links, and as I said, the engine is running so much smoother..not surging up and down on idle like it was doing.
Jim...you didn't miss anything, just put it on the back burner as the ride height wasn't affecting being able to drive it. I do want to drive it a few hundred miles to let everything with the suspension settle in so I know exactly what I've got....only want to do this twice. I know I'll  have to have the alignment tweeked after I change the springs to whatever I need, but that's ok.
I'm hoping to get the garage warmed up enough today to work out there a little later. The car really needs a good cleaning after sitting outside in the dust/rain for a week. Besides, I'm going stircrazy sitting in the house..everything is covered with ice outside..watching cars slide all over, so no way we're going to leave the house for another day or two. We're hoping it warms up enough tommorrow for the roads to clear...don't want my wife driving 28 miles to work Monday on icy roads at 5:30 am.
BTW, the Momnoe shock number I posted above are the '55 shocks Jim Nolan figured out gave us more tire changing room.