Ranchero build

[KYBlueOval]

Uni-Strut

THANK YOU!
John

[Ford Blue blood]

Got to love it when a plan comes together!  Engine is nearly ready to fire, brake lines, gas lines, exhaust to the axle, and drive shaft all back in the car.  Have finalized the dash board plans.  It, the radiator mount (just got the new Champion 3 row aluminum ), gas tank, and transmission cooling lines are next....then the looooong body work process!

[Lucky'57]

Nothing technical to add here Sir, but Jeepers Kreepers, that is an awesome mill. This is for sure another top 10, if not, TOPS when you get her fired up. Very, very well done. You guys are nuts. LOL

[RICH MUISE]

Wow, Bill...I totally missed the posts with all the powder coated parts. That's looking awesome. Wished I had looked into that stuff before I finished putting mine together....or maybe not, lol.
So, the ceramic coating on the manifolds is just air dry, but the rest is normal powder coat/oven?
You seem to be moving along at speed on the build, bill.
John...also didn't see your follow up question on the Uni-Strut...sorry. Thanks BW for posting that info. The Uni strut Is usually in the electrical department...it's a heavy channel...about 6 foot lengths if I remember..maybe 8',  with lots of cheap, hd hardware. Used by electricians and plumbers to mount/hang commercial  units.

[Ford Blue blood]

Yes the ceramic is air dry.  We'll see how it performs when the engine gets them heated up.  Use the old electric oven I took out of this house when I put a gas range in for the powder coating.  Put wheels on it so it is very mobile, makes good storage place as well.

My routine for the week allows me 4 - 6 hours a day in the shop.  The build is really going slower then I had hoped.  Life needs to be attended to and I have three other "old" cars to keep running.  Seam to have this problem with selling.....

I love the powder coating.  Prep is pretty much the same as painting and after the 20 minute bake time it is done.  Much more durable then paint, resist chipping and gouges from fasteners.  If I have a large part it is done in the oven with the door open and a heavy quilt thrown over the frame I hang parts on to coat.  Has done a good job so far.

[KYBlueOval]

Yes the ceramic is air dry.  We'll see how it performs when the engine gets them heated up.  Use the old electric oven I took out of this house when I put a gas range in for the powder coating.  Put wheels on it so it is very mobile, makes good storage place as well.

My routine for the week allows me 4 - 6 hours a day in the shop.  The build is really going slower then I had hoped.  Life needs to be attended to and I have three other "old" cars to keep running.  Seam to have this problem with selling.....

I love the powder coating.  Prep is pretty much the same as painting and after the 20 minute bake time it is done.  Much more durable then paint, resist chipping and gouges from fasteners.  If I have a large part it is done in the oven with the door open and a heavy quilt thrown over the frame I hang parts on to coat.  Has done a good job so far.

Looks really nice sir. Can tell us what color is the Air Dried Ceramic paint? I've gone to the Columbia Coatings website and there are several Air Dry colors that have a "Silver" color. Their pricing starts at 2 ozs.. Do you thin it.........or is it sprayable right out of the can?How much did it take to do the exhaust manifolds?
Thanks
John

[Ford Blue blood]

"Glacier Silver Ceramic" is what is on the bottle.  It is sprayed right out of the bottle.  Used my touch up gun.  It took one 2 oz bottle to put two wet coats on each manifold.

Their instructions are a PITA.....in that they want you to clean them really good, bake at 250, use 100 - 80 grit aluminum oxide to blast, bake again after blowing any dust off them all while wearing rubber gloves, then spray using a support system so nothing "bumps" into them for 24 hours.  They dry to the touch in a very short period of time.  Only after painting instructions are, first cure at 24 hours, full cure after five days.  I did do all they asked.  We'll see how good it is!

[RICH MUISE]

Good info...thanks. Could you clarify the "It took one 2 oz bottle to put two wet coats on each manifold"......is that 2oz per manifold for a total of 4?

[Ford Blue blood]

2 oz did both.  They are stock 351C 2bbl cast iron manifolds.  They do not recommend thinning or using any solvent other then theirs.  Acetone to clean up the gun.

[KYBlueOval]

"Glacier Silver Ceramic" is what is on the bottle.  It is sprayed right out of the bottle.  Used my touch up gun.  It took one 2 oz bottle to put two wet coats on each manifold.

Their instructions are a PITA.....in that they want you to clean them really good, bake at 250, use 100 - 80 grit aluminum oxide to blast, bake again after blowing any dust off them all while wearing rubber gloves, then spray using a support system so nothing "bumps" into them for 24 hours.  They dry to the touch in a very short period of time.  Only after painting instructions are, first cure at 24 hours, full cure after five days.  I did do all they asked.  We'll see how good it is!

Thank you.
John

[Ford Blue blood]

Solved a little issue I was having.  Wanted the turn and high beam lights to be small and un intrusive.  Doing a little belly button pondering and six pack engineering found that the 57 dash lights plug into a 1/2" conduit.  Next was colors.  Found colored LEDs on ebay that plug into the socket.  Problem solved, green for the turns and red for the high beams!

[RICH MUISE]

Thinking outside the box again, Bill?
Pretty clever.
Ron Francis, jfyi, has led lights in both bright and dim in a variety of sizes and bulb colors. However, I think I used a wrong one for my high beams. My turn signal leds are a perfect brightness, but the hi beam burns a hole in your forhead.

[Ford Blue blood]

Got the radiator support modified.  I did not feel comfortable with only 3/8" clearance between the radiator and the fan.  I sectioned the mount flanges 3/4" and trimmed about 1/2" off the pinch weld.  Test fitting went well, sanding for paint...finger prints are gone!

Forgot, radiator is a Champion aluminum, 3 core.  Friend has used them in two cars and gave rave reviews.  $208 to the house.

[Ford Blue blood]

Got the inner fenders in primer ready for their first blocking.  Welded up all the holes that will not be used, welded studs on the back side to support the wires and hoses that will be run in the fender well rather then in the engine bay.  Put paint on the radiator support and the little brackets that mount the inner panels.  The shot of the one bracket kinda shows how the paint will look in the sun.  Really hard to capture the flash of the red pearl.

[RICH MUISE]

Nice job!
In the art framing world we'd call that a grey violet...I like it, gonna look sharp with the red metalics. I assume that's an exterior color as well?