Sharps40

Dad, At this point the gauge cluster is essentially done. Just have to make up a pair of horseshoe clips for the two hi beam indicator backlights, install the blue covers on the hi beam backlight bulbs and make a gasket to go between the cluster and the back side of the dash. The Ford/GM 1972 to 1995 license plate/side marker sockets work nicely for the high beam backlights on the top of the cluster and will locate behind the dash. Once I put the blue covers on them, they will be ready to wire together into the hi beam side of the selector switch. Both will glow on hi beam and will reflect blue light off the tops of the gauge bezels and lend an overall blue cast to the entire cluster in the evenings. I've run incandescent bulbs on everything. No sense messing with led's, don't know nothing about them and in any event, the incandescent will work with about any dimmer switch on the market...not all the led's will do that. I've installed a common buss for grounding and routed all lamp and gauge grounds through it to a master ground wire. We won't have poor conductivity due to multiple joints between gauge bucket/dash and frame. I have all the electronic senders and a fuel tank sender. All we'll need is the standard GM pulse generator that should come with the overdrive transmission....if not, a pulse generator is only $35 or so and I'll get one later. I also have all the wiring diagrams/identifications for the gauge harnesses for Eddie when we get to wiring. Finally, since the speedometer is programmable, it has a one touch selector button, we'll have Eddie place it in a small hole under the dash so this little but glaring red button is out of sight but still accessible. Speedometer goes to 140 MPH. GoodWife says I'm not allowed to try to burry the needle.....so, that'll be your job on its first run. Please see if Jim can arrange to clear off a nice straight stretch in front of the shop so we can give it a whirl. Rich.

No. Tank should be vented at the cap

About 8 coats of wiping poly were rubbed into the burl and the edges to seal the wood, each cut back to the surface with 0000 steel wool. Then 6 coats of clear acrylic enamel were sprayed and about every second coat leveled with 0000 steel wool. Final workout was to bring the shine back up and level the surface with terry and fff gunstock finishing compound. Gauges and turn signal indicators went in easy peasy along with the FLOATING POWER badge up top. Once the brackets holding the gauges in place were snugged down a bit of additional clearance on the rear of the bucket was needed to make room for them and here finally, they slid home for the next 80 years. Here the grounding buss is installed, the gauge panel secured to the bucket with brass screws and I'm starting the process of folding the chromed brass face trim back over the lip of the bucket. In the next photos you can see the upper window that will allow for the blue lights I'll be installing as hi beam indicators above the gauge panel to reflect off the tops of the chrome gauge bezels. Might go shopping for the sockets today. Small bulbs will do I'm sure. Almost done......some wiring, blue lights and a gauge cluster to dash gasket to make up yet.

Old cars have terrible grounding pathways. Rust and now new paint and multiple joints from body to frame, etc. So, a piece of dovetail stock from the rifle bench. Just mild steel but its better quality than cold rolled, drills cleaner and takes a smooth strong thread. These will be the grounding points to connect gauge and instrument cluster lamps directly to the electrical system without going through the many old fasteners that route from gauge bucket to dash to body to frame. Should make for a long lived and low maintenance connection. I'll mount this to the back of the gauge bucket later....for now, first leveling of the finish on the burl was accomplished this morning and waiting for the 40eleventh coat to dry for more leveling and perhaps final rub out back to satin gloss.

More work on the gauge cluster today. The backer is fastened to the burl panel and its sitting with several coats of clear on it hardening overnight. Will sand and do some more filling and finishing of the burl tomorrow. Think I'll go to the range too....bout time to get back into muzzleloading, deer season is coming. But the paint and clear is on the gauge bucket and inner trim panel. Looking good and I just need to measure and go light socket shopping now. Maybe get to final assembly on Sat or Sun.

Well, if this is the dash gauge cluster that Ol Bessy is to live with for the next 80 years.....I think she'll be happy. Its coming together. Couldn't wait for a 3 3/8 hole saw to arrive and was concerned the torque would crack or break the burl, so scribed the lines in pencil and found the centers and drilled and used the scroll saw. Next steps will be to final sand the finish back to the surface to shave off the whiskers and then really get busy with the final finish. But for now...... The face of the dash insert and the pattern now hollowed out to serve as the back spacer bring the insert to the final thickness and just right for the depth of the bucket. The first parts installed are in tribute to the old. "FLOATING POWER" up top and NOS Case IH green bulb directional turn signal lamps. And for the 21st Century, programmable electronic speedometer and gauge/warning cluster. About half way done with this project now, so a first look at where the entire project is going. Now, to locate upper dash light sockets and blue light bulbs for the high beam indicator and backlight this dash in soft blue when the brights are on.

Just playing with the rough in. Might have to move the left gauge a touch more left but....... The turn signals could mount horizontal with Floating Power up top or vertical with Floating Power at the bottom. I'll play with it while I check to see if the local hardware store has a good hole cutter or fly cutter.

Gauges arrived.....tan and chrome and domed lenses. Looks great. One touch programmable electronic speedometer to work with standard ford or GM Pulse Generators. And lots of extra features beyond just mileage, including an over speed alert. Have to figger it out but in the bottom of the box....all the senders and wiring I'll need including a fuel tank sender that can be adjusted for depth of the tank. Just checking some lay out possibilities. Snug but enough room for the gauges, signal lights (perhaps put them in vertically since they have directional arrows) and the Floating Power moniker . But for now, time to break out the trusty range and explosive safety compasses and get to measuring and drawing some well placed circles on the pattern board.

I recently found out that none of the door latch wedges remained on the B Pillars on the car or the spares up in Dads attic. I couldn't get into the parts boxes at the shop since a lovely Ford hot rod was sitting under the shelf and couldn't be moved. So....I did locate replacement door wedges at a decent price....but I was still lacking the fine thread screws and cone washers that fastened them to the B Pillar. Nothing was turning up on the interweb and I didn't have a B Pillar handy here in NC to check thread pitch..... The 37 Plymouth Sedan parts I purchased continues to be my gold mine. Looking over the box of small items I received with everything else, I noted I had a full set of door dovetails....and 8 screws with 4 cone washers! Happy joy, I am positive they are exactly the same length and pitch as the screws for the door wedges. So.....next trip up, I'll take em along and double check, but for now, quite happy!

I found a 40s Philco UN6-450 radio in the attic....already gutted it! (Nobody wanted it so......) And, I'm thinking that something like this (Touchscreen DVD Player Receiver GPS Navigation, Bluetooth, Wireless Remote and Rear camera included) needs to go in the modified case and placed somewhere convenient under the dash......prolly a job for after the car gets down here and I can see what the visibility areas are for driver and passenger.

Gauges are on the way..... Decided to go with the chrome/stainless trim theme instead of the gold rims....so tan/beige face, stainless bezel in the Quad gauge instead of the 5 gauge cluster.

Pattern is used to find the part of the wood I like and its traced out in pencil. The burl sammich plus the pattern bring the face of the burl to the right height inside the bucket.....top edge of the burl just at the edge of the light window. (Originally, this window left in light for the dash bulbs in the sockets just above. Later, I'll likely install small blue bulbs and when the high beams are on, the dash will have a soft blue glow. I think it'll be better than a glaring blue light in the middle of the face of the burl.) With the freshly blackened mid piece and the chrome trim set on top, it starts to shape up. After the gauges are installed, I can finish blacking out the inside and outside of the gauge bucket. And....I found half of what I need to shut all four doors, four new door striker plates....now to find 8 screws to fasten them to the B pillar.

Still a good bit of wire brush work, filing and final fitting to do, but, good for now, till the gauges come in and I can see just where to tweek the bucket and put in attachment screws.....

Flat blacking the middle piece. Establishing a drill and shaping pattern for the burl and its backer after the glue sets in 24 hours. Establishing center lines and margins on the pattern for test drilling when the gauges arrive.

Slowly coming together. The burl. The backer to be glued to the burl. Titebond, best there is .... burl sammich.... Paint and rust wire wheeled off the middle piece and the gauge bucket. Priming the middle piece.

Webers are the best carbs in the world and most tunable and will wake up any six. But if you're not willing to do the jet and road work to tune it for peak performance, (especially jetting in the transition from small primary to larger secondary) it ain't the carb for you. The 32/36 progressive is near perfect in size, flow and tune ablility for the little flat heads. Its 15 minutes tuning/jetting and 30 minutes driving for each change and sometimes you get it right right off, sometimes, especially on the progressive 32/36 you need to spend several hours/trips at it. Lots of folks complain the 32/36 won't transition smoothly from primary to secondary.....usually because they don't understand jetting in a weber. There are at least 4 jets to work with, and up to 4 or 6 more if ya want to race it. So, little changes in jetting and adjustment screws make very large changes. Its no Stromberg or Carter B&B. Like I said, best carb in the world, bar none. Ultimately, with a 32/36 it'll start and run like fuel injection, idle like glass and make more power and better mileage all the way from idle to broken crank! But. You'll have to earn it to get the most from it and that means investing the time in the first months to bring the engine and carb together at idle, cruise, transition and wide open throttle. The same set up is available for much less from Tom Langdon, Stovebolt Engine Company....along with a good 12v HEI dizzy for the flat heads.

Chrome plated brass....79 years of oxidation and soft and bendy. A ticklish polishing job. Can't bring it to a new shine without cutting through the chrome to the brass, but.....before the clean up.... And after.... Now to get the paint and rust off the mid piece and the gauge bucket in preparation for an interior coat of matt black.

The burl walnut is not flat. Lots of movement in the grain and the thin sections do not dry flat. So, for starters, careful work (not overheating the wood) with the belt and palm sanders to level the face and back of the panel selected for the dash cluster. Once there and through very worn 120 grit for a polished finish, the face grain is frozen for further sanding and polishing later using a deeply penetrating urethane finish. Next step will be to laminate the burl to a 1/4" thick section of oak plywood for strength and potentially to decorate the edges of the cluster face with stainless steel screws, not sure on that but for now plenty of work to do to get ready for gauges and lights and grounding bar. I'll use the face frame to help decide where to make the final cuts on the perimeter to fit the gauge face down in the base of the cluster.

Thanks. Should have burl and gauges soon. Meantime I have some polish and paint work to do on the base and trim.

The face separated from the base. Removing the inner glass. Good for a restorer. all the numbers and lines are engraved, fill em with new paint and Viola! Perfect new dash face. Removing the outer glass. Clear, probably won't reuse it as the new gauges are domed glass faced and the turn lamps are also glass....so, perhaps black out the inside of the base and reassemble the trim bezel over the burl walnut insert I'll be making up. This is what I'm left with for the dash cluster. Base, middle and outer bezel. All the rest of the old is out and the new will go inside. When done, it'll fit nicely back into the dash on its original mounting tabs. And....NO POLISHED BILLET ALUMINUM! YEAH!!!!

First step in getting the gauge cluster into the 21st Century....break out My First Craftsman and get busy carefully releasing the crimps that hold the front chromed brass bezel to the rear mounting case. Three crimps top and bottom and one crimp on each end. Once those are loose, I flip it over and start to remove what is left of the gauges, speedo, amp and fuel. Fuel gauge is out, packed for now but i'll put a lightbulb on it for a load later and if it reads 1/3 to 1/2 it should be good to go to somebody that wants to restore their original gauge cluster. Amp gauge is out....I'll have to get some low current running through it and see if I get a deflection to positive...if so, another potentially good gauge a restorer! On the old 37 D5, a single 30 amp fuze here kept it all going. Soup to nuts, one fuze. Speedo is out....Floating Power, be recreating that on the new dash face in brass. For now, this speedo needs at least swarfed out an lubed, perhaps rebuilt. But also good for somebody restoring. Not good for me. Its out with the old here too. http://i.imgur.com/XuOcoun.jpg http://i.imgur.com/sM5lYxV.jpg

Some of the other work in the shop this weekend.... http://i.imgur.com/CrEipb6.jpg

Found the gauge cluster from the Raleigh parts car. Havn't found the original one yet but we keep digging....a Ford was in the way, didn't want to dig much and risk dropping a part on someone elses car! But....can start the new gauge pack soon. Found the original running board mounts so won't need these aftermarket universal fit jobbies. Front spindles, backing plates, steering arms, shock mounts and spring perches I won't be needing....

Some drip rail work Window mechanism tested and functional....good tape and crank. Capturing some pics of my old work on woodgraining the steel dash to help with the burl walnut dash insert to be made up. The completed nose, stashed out of harms way. Fenders and other sheet metal, completed and stashed out of harms way.