Bread & Butter 27 Ford Project

Good news! I got the stuff I needed today. Granted I didn't get all of it but at least I got what I wanted. I figured I'd sell the axle or put it in stock. He kept telling me he could not ship it because of the size. I told him to cut it. He sent me the two ends with about 3 or 4 inches of the cut axle. At least I have what I needed most.

I broke down the front end for a rebuild. I've never messed with king pins and heard all the horror stories about getting them loose. I guess I got lucky 'cause it was no big deal.


You can see where that yahoo cut the axle. What a goof.


Took me a few minutes to figure out how to get the drum loose but I got it. The scary thing was when I took the cap off it was full of water. I poured it out and took it apart but there was nothing rusted inside. The bearings and spindle all looked bright and shiny. Not sure how they would look good with water sitting on them. The thought came to mind that the guy may have pour the water into the hub and screwed the cap back on but I hope he wouldn't be that dirty. The grease was clean and thick so I guessed it save all the bare metal parts.

at least u got it

RebStew wrote:He kept telling me he could not ship it because of the size.

So how does this jackhole reckon that axles get from place to place? Teleporter? Ugh. Anyhow, glad you got your stuff. Just an FYI - Midwest Early Ford in Springfield is having a one day 10% off sale this Saturday, so if you were thinking about buying brake parts, bearings and such now would be a good time to do it, especially if you were going to be in the neighborhood for the Springfield Swap Meet anyways. This is the first time I have EVER heard of them having a sale!

Some things have changed since I started this project. I wasn't digging the S10 frame so I found a set of fully boxed rails with a sweep in the front. I mounted the cowl and used tubing to brace it.


Then I started on the frame work for the body.



I sat a block down in it to see where I wanted the front cross member.
I also used the plazma cutter to get rid of those ugly brackets on the rails. See above pic


The stock front cross member was right on but it was a little thin so off it came.

I cleaned up the rails. I was going to use a 2X4 laying flat but I didn't like the look. I flipped it on it's end . It's stronger that way and it will give me another inch or more of a drop with it this way.


The sweep messed me up a bit. The frame went up, leveled out and before cross member started back down. This left me with about 4 degrees the wrong way for my perch. I set the 2x4 at 7 degrees but the lean looked funny to me. I set it at 3 and will take the other 4 from my spring perch. Totle of 7 all togther. With the 2x4 laid back some I had to make a pie cut in the bottom and pull it shut.



Added a small gusset. Mostly for looks but it will help hold a little. The little hole will get welded shut but for now it's a great spot to ground the plazma or the welder.

I found this for sale on the HAMB. I had to have it.

I'm going to run scooter style fender on the front. Alot of the older rodders used spare tire covers for fenders and I love the beadwork in the early 50's style covers. I snatched this one from the Nash and will be cutting it up.

Oh man, cutting that up is a shame. It'd look alot better on the back of my Merc. The license plate mount and light that we used on it came from an old Nash like yours. :cry:

I have my front engine mounts almost done. A little more shaping and metal finishing and they will be ready to paint.
Used some paper to get the style I wanted.


At least the broken jack came in handy for something.

Transfer shape to metal.

Alot of grinding



Tossed them on the drill press and shot a few holes through them.

Moving on to the front perch. I may not run a grill shell so I wanted the front to be real clean. I welded the perch on then ground the weld down smooth.

I don't grind my welds and after I did it I was a little worried about how good the weld is with it ground down. I let it cool and then rewelded it. Fighting with looks verses form and function I still didn't like the look and ground it smooth again. I then went to the inside and put a nice bead all the way around the inside. It's not going any place now.
I added some gussets to it for looks more than strength but I'm sure they help hold some too.

I don't like a spring over perch setup because your u bolts is what is holding the weight. I didn't want the perch sitting way up off the cross member either. I thought about it long and hard and figured I'd do the spring over. That will get the front end lower without the tall front perch..

I've been wondering what to do with the a pillars.(windshield)
It looked like it was reaching for the sky. It was tall.


It took 7" out of the A pillars and dropped the winshield down to give it a smoother flow.

After looking at the pics and looking at the car between welding I may pie cut the post and lean them back. The flat windshield doesn't look very ??sweeping. So if I don't change my mind I will lean the A pillars back to let the look flow better.

3 days ago I headed down to Olive Hill, Ky to hang out with The Carter County Cruisers. John had a S10 rearend in his Chevy and wanted an F body rearend to swap. I needed the S10 and I had some other parts for the club so I loaded up the parts chaser and took off for the day.


F body rear

S10 rear end loaded up.

The next day I went out and bought some perches for the rearend and made a temporary 4" block to lower the rearend. I wanted to get the rear low so I could to start getting the ride height figured out.
With the s10 rearend in place I toss on the cheater slicks too.

I got the front end mocked up to see what I had to work with.

Templates again were made and that old jack came in handy again.