A Gu i d e To... Chapter 7 A ny time you build a street rod, there will be a number of changes along the way and a host of last-minute details to attend to. That s what this chapter is all about. Switching to A Power Rack With the car under construction, the decision was made to switch to a power rack from Flaming River. Fortunately it s a simple bolt-in procedure. Flaming River offers power and manual rack-and-pinion units for both front- and rear-steer applications. We used the Mustang II-style with four turns lock-to-lock. 92 CHAPTER 7
Building A 1935-40 Ford As we added power steering, a pump was required. It s important that the pump be matched to the requirements of the steering gear. Flaming River also offers a variety of steering columns. If you want to keep things simple, their roadster column is what you re after. If you want more bells and whistles, Flaming River offers tilt, telescoping columns with and without shifters. Along with pumps, Flaming River offers billet pulleys. For those who want power-everything, Flaming River offers a telescoping column that operates electronically. 93
A Gu i d e To... LIGHTS FORE AND AFT To lower the lights, J.B. Donaldson channeled the fiberglass buckets. First the mounting surface was cut away. The front of our Ford doesn t lack for illumination. Note that the J.B. Donaldson bullnose lights up. Next the headlight was slipped over the pedestal for a trial fit. With the headlight positioned properly, a new bottom was formed for the light. One of this car s features that makes people look twice are the lowered headlights. On a 36, the headlights mount to pedestals on the fenders. Once the new bottoms were glassed into the buckets, the headlights were installed. 94 CHAPTER 7
The lowered lights are so subtle most people can t figure out what happened to the front of the 36 they just like it. Building A 1935-40 Ford Below the headlights are two round grilles that the horns normally fit behind. The plastic light and the rubber grommet are an almostperfect fit for the horn grille. In our case those holes will hide turn signals made from truck clearance lights. The rubber grommet holds them in place. Up front, our lighting consists of lowered stock lights housing halogen bulbs and turn signals behind the horn grilles. 95
A Gu i d e To... THE CLASSIC NERF BAr Out back we wanted something clean and simple, like 39 Ford taillights. But we wanted something that could be seen by other motorists. We didn t want to run the stock bumpers on the 36, but we still wanted to offer some protection to both ends of the coupe. What better way to do that than with a classic pair of nerfs? For good-looking lights that could also be seen, we used J.B. Donaldson s interpretation of the venerable teardrop. Up front, the nerf bar is a simple, single loop that fits under the fenders and protects the grille. The mounting pads bolt to the framerails. Installing the nerf bar in the rear was a little more complicated. First two openings were made in the body with a hole saw. Donaldson s lights not only look good, but with a bunch of LEDs, they re bright enough to be seen by those following. 96 CHAPTER 7
For some applications the holes could be used to slip the bars through. Building A 1935-40 Ford We mocked up several variations of the rear nerfs. Like the front, it began as a simple loop. However, in our case we chose to make the holes slots. A cutoff wheel made quick work of that task. Back from the chrome shop, the final design included a loop and a mounting point for the license plate. The finished slot. By cutting the body this way, installing the nerf bar, with it s substantial mounting plate, is simplified. Bolted in place, the nerf adds a nostalgic element to the back of the coupe, not to mention some practical protection. 97
A Gu i d e To... SHIFTER AND PARKING BRAKE Another safety item is a parking brake. This floor-mount model is from Lokar. Topping off our Flaming River steering column is a beautiful banjo steering wheel by J.B. Donaldson. To select gears we chose a Lokar shifter. Lokar also supplied the parking brake cables. Note the adjustable ends. An often-overlooked item is the neutral switch, shown here on our Lokar shifter. The car should never be able to start in gear; that s a sure invitation to an accident. 98 When using rear disc brakes, a separate parking brake caliper is often required. On the left is SSBC s version. CHAPTER 7
INSTALLING A WIPER Building A 1935-40 Ford Most wiper motors mount by the shaft and have a small bracket that attaches to the header to keep the housing from moving in operation. Something that is often forgotten is a windshield wiper. For our 36, we decided on a single wiper in the stock location. For a clean installation, the shafts on most motors can be shortened. It requires the shaft and housing be removed from the motor. The wiper motor, with the shaft shortened, is put in place. A nut and bezel secures it to the body from the outside. The most nerve-racking part of the installation is locating and drilling the hole for the shaft. Not much room for error, and fixing a mistake is serious work. To provide power, a hot wire is run up the windshield post. With the upholstery panel modified and put back in place, the installation is complete. 99
A Gu i d e To... FENDER BRACES On a 35-40 Ford, the fenders are rather large and subject to vibration, so braces are required to prevent cracks from developing. RUNNING BOARDS In some cases stock fender brackets are available. However, we didn t have any, so a set was fabricated from U-shaped steel. To stay consistent with the traditional styling theme of our coupe, we elected to cloak the Donaldson smooth running boards in original rubber covers. Up front, the braces attach to the frame then curve down and attach to the bottom of the fender at the back of the wheel opening. More than adequate built-in reinforcing means the Donaldson running boards can be made functional. The rear braces also run from the frame to the bottom of the fender, behind the wheel opening. However, these braces are shaped differently and positioned so as not to be visible from the rear. When it comes to attaching the running board rubber, much of the integrity will come from the adhesive. Proper preparation of the surface is a must. 100 CHAPTER 7
Building A 1935-40 Ford Once the surface of the running board is smooth and flat, the ends can be trimmed with a razor blade. With the cover in place, the outside edge is wrapped around the running board. Lots of spring clamps help with this operation. It seems as though there is more rubber than running board, as this fold shows. To secure the rubber where the board fits under the body, a few pop rivets can be used. The cure is to make a to make a slit in the rubber so it will form itself to the rounded corner of the running board. The finished running board. The rubber covers give the car a much more traditional look that smoothie type. 101