Body Assembly

Reminder: I have no plans to enter this car in a concours orginal class but have used orginal part numbers on engine block,water pump,master cylinder ect.I am using stainless bolts and other minor alterations that can be easily changed in the future if so desired.The car can be entered in other concours classes.Do not use these illistrations for an orginal car but as a guide to solve problems. Check a concours or Gill's restoration manual for orginality.

After countless hours of sanding and buffing I finally have the body ready for the next step.Before setting the body on the frame I'm going to attach as many parts as possible.

Restoring the dash will be the biggest challenge in the body assembly.The dash pad had been replaced before and was in good condition but it was a blue color, dyed red and the color match was not very good.I removed it,sand blasted the dash and primed it to install a new red pad.

I dry fitted the pad to the dash and put it in the sun to make it easier to streach and fit.

When dry fitting the pad I was splitting the right corner and didn't have this problem on other dashes I installed.Here is a picture of a dash I took at a car show.I needed to be careful as to not have this problem.

After applying glue to the pad and dash, I started on the right corner and the bottom of the dash first, fitting and clamping as I went across.I than pulled the front down appling pressure and clamps.Two people are best for this application.

I took the clamps off after 24 hours and I could lift the pad off as if no glue was applied.I used 3-M in a spray can the first time.The blue pad dyed red had a thin foam backing while the red pad had a black vinal backing.I went to Lowes and purchased a quart of Weldwood counter top glue ($10) and re-glued the pad.The difference in the backing must have been the problem.

The clock doesn't work so we'll start there.I never have trouble tearing things apart, it's getting them back together that's the problem but I couldn't figure out how to get the clock apart.After deciding not to take the plastic off the case I read to bend the tabs, but I can't see any tabs.I finally figured out they ment to straighten out the crimps.

I closed the points and with a meter checked for continuity,nothing.I took 400 sand paper and dressed the points.Another check and current was going thru.I used an electrical spray,blew the windings clean with air and oiled the pivit points with a light oil dripping from a small screw driver.Put current to the winding,bumped the fly wheel and it started running.

The plastic face was scratched so I went to the hardware and got a piece of flex a glass.Straighten the crimps and using the old face for a pattern marked the plex a glass with a pen.Leaving the protective covering on I cut the new face with a sabre saw,drilled holes for the stems and put the new face in the clock housing.The hardest part was re crimping the face holder.The new face has to be precise in order to get it back together so some filing may be necessary.

I touched up the guage hands,cleaned and waxed all the dash parts and put them back together.The odometer shows 18K. Since I believe the car may have been a drag car is the mileage right,did it go around once or has the unit been replaced?Who knows so I turned it back to zero to document the rebuild.

The old wiring harness was not safe so I'm installing a NOS harness. As the wiring concept is hard for me to understand this makes it easier.The glove box door arms were bent (adjusted) so they slide thru the rubber gromets easier and glued on the back side.

A courtesy light installed in a new glove box.The installation of the light looks factory but must be an after market item.It has a door switch which activates it when the lid is opened.It works and looks good so I installed it.

The gauges,brite work,ash tray were installed in the dash.All the bulbs were tested but would not light with the switch so a new one was ordered.

When putting the radio in I started with the speaker first,radio and the electrical hook ups and the grill last.( Important) I should have dry fitted the grill when aplying the pad to the dash because it was a very tight fit and I had to re-drill some of the grill holes in the
dash.The new head light switch fixed the gage light problem and were ready to install the dash in the body.

Before puting the dash in, the fire wall pad and all the componets will need to be installed.Pictured are the steering column seal,overdrive kick down switch and the tail light wiring harness.

Following the instruction with the new pad I cut out all the knock outs pertaining to the cars configeration.I than clamped the pad, lining up the cut outs.

I than went in the engine compartment and found the locations for the fasten pins and drilled with a small bit to mark and make the pins easier to push thru the cardboard covering. I only pushed the pins thru 3/8" as to not compress the heat barrier.

I had a problem figuring out the wiper operation.Go to Restoration Pictures on the side bar and scroll to picture 12 & 13. I put some caster oil in the side inlet,left it set a few days and after operating the wiper I coul hear the cam flip to change rotation.

If your heat-defrost lever becomes hard to operate there is a good chance the rubber guide that opperates the flapper in the heater is worn out which causes the flapper to rub the sides.The end that hooks to the cable is usually the one with the problem.In the catalogs they cost less than $2 but the problem is the heater has to come out to replace it, so if you have your dash out check.In the picture it's the white bushing in the upper left corner.I didn't have a rubber bushing so I used a plastic plug,drilled out the shaft size, cut the end off and inserted it in the opening and it should wear better than rubber.The heater was mounted in the frame.

Having done some major body work to the to the air duct conections I dry fitted the duct work before painting the car.This was time well spent as everything went together nicely.The powder coated air ducts look nice.

The original hydraulic brake light switch is not too reliable and since the brake assembley is out of the car, now is the time for a manual switch.Leaving the wiring to the original switch in tack I added a Wells DR496 switch from NAPA for $10 as shown in the picture.I drilled a hole 3" down and 1-1/4" over from the end of the bracket the size of the switch.I plugged the hydraulic switch and wired the new switch into the system.I've done this upgrade on other cars and it works well. The assembley needs to be installed before the dash (Important).

I'm going to use the two way switch in the photo that was installed on the car in the early 60's. It is easy to convert back to the original as the knob just screws on the shaft and it's part of the car's history.With John S. help we decided the easy hook up was to cut the white wire coming off the gov. and splice the two wires from the shifter knob switch into each end. The rest of the wiring follows chapter 3, pg.22 of the shop manual.

Because of the location of the kick down switch Ford put a wax type covering over the terminals.We have a small crock pot we use to melt scented candles in our home and I just dipped the switch into the hot candle pot and the covering turned out nice.

I layed the doors on foam and put the weather strip on because it's a lot easier than after the door is hung. I tried putting the glass in also but with no sucess so I waited untill after the door was hung.The glass is almost impossible to slides in the guides laying flat.

I moved the pin to have more window movement.You can get instructions from Gill's garage.It was an easy modification.

Before you chrome plate the front guide post make sure it's straight.Turn in the top screw on the rear guide.Follow the Ford manual for the steps to install. Make sure the glass slides freely in the guides before lubricating and snapping in the rollers. Each window is a challange and I spent 3 days on this process. The white material in the picture is buffing compound.

I use a presure oil can and 2 parts Anti-Zezse and 1 part light oil mixed together to lube the side windows and bolts. It stays fresh,no mess and no waste.My tip of the week.