So lets get on with some updates... this might take a while...
I dragged my trailer up to Boston in Lincolnshire to go and collect my front axle and leaf springs. There have been times where I can be pretty patient, but, having waited since before Christmas for the axle to get bought down to my place, I decided to go get it myself. It turns out that with the best intentions, my cousin just didn't have the time to bring it down here, but he didn't want to let me down, he's a good guy like that. I thought it best to ease the burden and drove up there to pick it up myself. The journey, as usual, was pretty uneventful, which I guess is a good thing all in all. We had some minor trailer light issues before leaving, that reared their ugly head during the trip, but with no tools to rectify the issue, I just stuck on my high level fogs and kept on trucking. The following day a couple of friends popped over and pulled it out of the trailer and stuck it away in the big shed out of the way for now.
I finally managed to find my thread cutting sets and determined the thread of the wheel studs on my back axle to order up some new wheel nuts to get the Rocket Racing Strikes fitted, it turns out that they are 7/16" UNF thread which is used on many UK Fords so the choice was plentiful and I managed to bag a set of 10 for just £15.50 to my door
I had a friend, Soph, accompany me to a local swap meet, over here in the UK its one of a few hot rod specific swap meets, most of the others consisting of old UK built car and motorcycle parts, with the obligatory, awful market stall, snap in one use type tool stands.
I hadn't attended the NSRA Southern Swap meet for around eight years and man has it got big, I'm sure there were twice as many people as my last visit and a lot more stalls, yet after talking with some local rodders I'm told it was quieter than last year, I can't possibly imagine how busy it must have been. I was a little upset that I wasn't intending on running a blown small bock Chevy because there were thousands of SBC parts all over the place, but sadly that's just not going to keep me in budget.
Luckily I did manage to come across a rather reasonably priced Offy inlet manifold and a little 390 Holley carb for my Rover lump, picking it up as a package deal for just £175. Granted I'll have to shot blast the manifold and rebuild the carb, but seeing as Holley Trick Kits are only around £40 and I have some media for blasting aluminium I think that was a bargain.
Soph has also assisted me in removing the rad shroud and that awful brass winged fake temperature gauge thing that sat on top of it, along with fitting my new wheels... that have been sitting around in the tool shed since the tire dude came round and fit and balanced the tires for me.
While we were having a bit of a tidy up I came across a handle bar mirror from the very first motorcycle I built back when I was just seventeen, eighteen, I couldn't help but replace the useless botched up 3" peep mirror that was fitted on the T. With a quick re-thread (from the newly found tap and die sets) and enlarging the hole in the mirror bracket, I have a good use-able mirror. What's more it's one that I don't have to angle by hand every time I want to see what's behind me, and the added bonus of a little bit of personal history for good measure. Sure that may be a little sad to some but that's the reason that I keep all my old junk laying around, the bike I built is long gone, as I sold it to a friend who promptly blew the motor beyond economical repair. But, I still have a little piece of it to remember and keep with me now, and I like that.
I ordered a few mundane things, a new vernier calliper, some welding magnets, new chuck key for my pillar drill etc. but nothing too interesting.
I found a cool little steering box/column to use with the F100 axle. I'm keeping the car right hand drive, it's a UK built car using mainly UK spec parts so I figure it's the right thing to do. The box/column is from an old 30's Austin 7, I choose it mainly because it's tiny, and it was cheap, should I choose to build it in a cowl steering type set-up it will take up very little room, and if I go for a regular side steer design it's size will be a great help seeing as there isn't much room down near the starter motor. I can't go into great detail, it was advertised as being in good use-able condition, but I haven't even got round to opening the box to find out for myself, but parts are readily available, and there is a lot of adjustment in these boxes so it shouldn't be an issue anyway.
Finally I found some lever arm shocks on-line, which should be arriving today, they were originally removed from a Ford Anglia 105e I believe they were manufactured by Girling and fitted to numerous vehicles over the years. They look to be in great condition with no pitting or excess oil all over them, and I'm told they have good resistance so in theory they should be as described by the seller and in a, pretty much, ready to fit condition, they even come with the drop links, which is a bonus. If all goes well they should just need a light clean and maybe a splash of paint and will be ready to be incorporated in the design.
That little lot should bring you up to speed, I apologise for the lack of updates Soph and I have been very busy sorting out my mountain of tools, scrap metal, parts and trash trying to get me straight again for when the time comes to start really getting into the build.
Next stop wheels for the F100 axle and some sheet steel to collect from a local rodder...
