48 fire truck roadster

I have been picturing a hood - no sides.

I thought it would be funny to put the Mustang HO 302 air cleaner on it.

Loosing the tunnel ram is a practical thing - I'm sure the engine will be easier to get dialed in and running well with the intake and carb that are on it. Plus I'll be able to see out of the wind screen.

In reality, I still want the tunnel ram. I still think I can make it work. I have some mind games going on with spending $600 all at once for the 2 carbs. $300 twice is a lot less, right?

That's the way math works for me!

I finally got the master reservoir installed. I bench bled to master and everything seems to work so far.

The first photo is the adapters I made for the master. I ran 5/16 steel brake lines to the tank.

I bought some Wilwood caps and machined the threads on some pipe flanges I found in my asset pile. The stainless warped like crazy when I welded it, so the tank isn't real pretty.

I keep thinking there must have been an easier way to solve this problem.

I'm just seeing this for the first time.....awesome!....hope my skill level reaches yours one day!

Fire Truck

you have a nice build going , I'm digging your dually

DJ3100 said:

The stainless warped like crazy when I welded it, so the tank isn't real pretty.

I keep thinking there must have been an easier way to solve this problem.

Click to expand...

Your definition of pretty and mine must be significantly different. It think it is real pretty (and elegant), especially for a brake fluid reservoir.

Man, that's a full package. Wonderful quality of work on the truck.

Status report:

We got some cold here; when the shop dropped into the 20's I stayed in the house. I'm not much good until it hits about 45, which it finally did late this week.

I only put 1 quart of brake fluid in the reservoir and kept checking to see if any of the joints were going to leak, which they did. I have also been pumping the pedal looking for leaks in the brake lines. I think I have all the leaks taken care of and am ready to add more fluid and bleed the brakes.

The 700R4 is in the shop getting big block proofed. It turns out that one of the auto instructors at the college does at lot of 700R4's and I trust him, so I'm excited about getting that done.

I'm doing some swapping with my upholsterer and he has the Mustang seats and my dash, we'll see how long it takes him to get around to doing them.

I think you are misleading our friends from the north and the east. Those were the low temperatures (and the 20's were high 20's). We have been in the 70's for several days and will be for next week or two.

Good to get a progress report. Thought you would be at the blacksmith demo today?

20's! Thats hot! LOL it was 0 when I went to work yesterday and only hit a high of 22 and windy to boot. It is a balmy 30 today.

Nice work on the master cylinder resivior. Getting closer to driving it. [P

truckster said:

I think you are misleading our friends from the north and the east. Those were the low temperatures (and the 20's were high 20's). We have been in the 70's for several days and will be for next week or two.

Good to get a progress report. Thought you would be at the blacksmith demo today?

Click to expand...

The low temperature is pretty much the high temperature in my shop when the sun isn't shining. It takes a lot of BTU's to heat up 20,000 pounds (a rough calculation of the machines, platens and tables) of iron. And while we like to whine when it hits 110, we actually have more issues with anything below 40.

And a beautiful day today with highs approaching 80! Good weather to watch blacksmiths demo.

jfg455 said:

20's! Thats hot! LOL it was 0 when I went to work yesterday and only hit a high of 22 and windy to boot. It is a balmy 30 today.

Nice work on the master cylinder resivior. Getting closer to driving it. [P

Click to expand...

Thanks on the reservoir. I'm looking forward to getting the body back on at least to finish the floor and get the seats in. Driving it seems like a very distant future.

Relay Panel

My electronic guy neighbor planted the idea of a forward relay panel location. The high amp wires are shorter, which equals brighter lights and louder horn.

I located a couple steam table pans from a restaurant supply - 22 ga SS. I started by turning the edge down on the lid. Drilled holes in the corners and welded nuts to the bottom pan after the photo and will add a gasket to the lid. I made a bracket that bolts to the frame and holds it in place (not shown).

This will also serve as a terminal box for connecting the parking lights and I'll probably run a ground junction in here, as well.

Power will feed to the Maxi Fuse right from the starter post. Each circuit will be fused. I realized after I got everything mounted that I don't need a separate relay for hi and low beam since these are SPDT relays - so one will be a spare.

Here's the completed relay cover and wiring.

DJ3100 said:

Here's the completed relay cover and wiring.

Click to expand...

Very clean and neat!

[P[P[P

definitely diggin that cover, looks great!

looks good. What did you use for the heat sink top? Looks like an amp cover or something. [P

I bought an 18 pound block of aluminum and milled it into a 3 pound block. There's a recess on the inside to accommodate the foam tape and a lip to make sure any moisture runs off rather than in.

Painted it black to match the engine and sanded off to paint on the op of the fins.

Uh-oh I smell billet =) Seriously it does look really nice!

Dirtyrat said:

Uh-oh I smell billet =) Seriously it does look really nice!

Click to expand...

Got it in my head that it needed fins; couldn't shake that idea. So, at least I made some billet instead of check booking it.