welding the floors of that phat Phord's big bottom
here's the rewelded rearend painted in rustproofing red
putting in the gas tank - twice
after the first tank went BOOM - don't ever try and put heat near a tank!
try again - second tank from a German Ford Taunus P6
next in store: some serious sill surgery
more piles of vintage Oklahoma dirt
rotted out sills were replaced by 2x4 steel tube to get back some rigidity
endless welding of rockers and door sills - and, yes, I simply welded the running boards solid
the trunk lid handle was shaved, so a new opening mechanism had to be devised
click pic for a short Ford infomercial
Corona lockdown left me with time enough to even restore tiny dome light switch
mounted angel eyes running lights behind the turn signal grille bit
homemade long distance adapter was needed for booster to clear frame
here's how it's mounted underneath the floor
service hole now sits under the seat - shucks, guess I'll have a tilt bench seat
motor all dressed up but nowhere to go
...
and when it gets too cold outside, it's time for some indoor winter projects
like doing the interior - Tijuana style tuck'n'roll from burgundy leatherette
flap was attached on the seatcovers to pull them snug around the cushions
tricky armrests need baby bowl for grips
this way pulling the doors shut will be a snap
and yes, more LED stuff - ambient light armrests
...
another winter project is wiring the dash
taking apart the original instrument cluster
by installing modern 12V gauges
do some comfy planning and superglue it all together
the left gauge is Ford Taunus too to match the tank fuel sender (and get correct readings)
fitting some vintage instruments and some repop plastic parts
trying to get about 5 kg of rainbow colored wiring hooked up properly
...
more from last year
frenching the headlights old school style
one - remove the headlight buckets and grind away the lip (arrow), two - mount the buckets from behind, three - cut down the headlight rings (mine are Ford 12 m) to fit snugly to the lights, four - weld on the rings and fill as necessary
frenching taillights - although the original Ford tail lights really do look cool, I had only one
so to increase my night time visibility, I shopped for some high tech light-guide/LED lights
using the gaskets, I marked where to cut the holes
creating deep tunnels using a makeshift shaping tool and the wooden bucks I made (see above)
following a Youtube tutorial I built these ham cans to get the lights decently set straight
each side was measured, fit, marked, and cut to shape - with everything welded up it was time...
to sling on that green slime again
I like the way the shape of the oval rear window is reflected in the tail lights
lots more cool details as we go