VIDEO

Short Video from the Vegas Strip...

Upholstery Done

Upholstery Done, 3-days, $350 and exactly how I described I wanted it...
Beautiful. By O&R Auto Upholstery, El Sobrante Ca. 510-724-0233

Hands On

Now that most of the big mechanical stuff is done care of 'Classic Hot-Rod Performance' , gettin' down to some of the items I can get my hands on...installed sound insulation, carpet kit, went thru almost 3 cans of spray on adhesive and was 'high as a kite' from the fumes...still peeling off glue from my hands...but my favorite quote of the day had to be from the guy at OSH when I was buying more adhesive. 'Did you spray it on your hand, smells like glue'...umm duh well it was all over my hands but it wasn't like I was testing it out in the store or something...Did some bolting/screwing interior pieces, glove box trim etc., windshield wiper parts, prep / cleaned parts for painting and even did some random painting - chose to make the back of the rear-view mirror the Ford red to go with the engine red.

Look 'Nameless' Gets a New Pair of Shoes

The Rims / Tires took a lot of thought on my part. Wanted to go back to the original 'rat-rod red rims' that were on the car when I bought it. But literally after a dream I decided to go black with red pin stripping accents.

But it took much longer to decide to go 'Coker' thick white walls or regular 'white walls' (also considered the red walls).

After much discussion with various car people, I decided against the consensus who preferred 'Coker'. Considering the price of the 'Coker Tires' against one's I can buy off the shelf, get insured, replace the same day I decided to stick with regular 'white walls'. Plus, I think the tires become too much of a focal point with the 'Coker's' and I am still looking to define the 'point' elsewhere on the car.

So 'Nameless' got a new pair of shoes for Christmas with hand-painted, pin stripping by Mike Taylor, Gemini Motorworks



That's my kitten 'EPIC' that I rescued, peeking thru the rim...

The Truth on the Engine

When the engine was pulled the numbers on the engine were ran and it is a 1954 - 239 engine and some of the parts are from a 292. Explains why some of the tune-up parts wouldn't fit...More to come on this...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Y-block engine is an overhead valve V8 automobile piston engine from Ford Motor Company. It was introduced in 1954 to replace the side-valved Ford Flathead engine and was replaced by the Ford FE engine (on larger cars) and the Ford Windsor engine (on smaller cars) in 1962, and lasted until 1964 in Ford trucks

The first Y-block was the 1954 239 in³ (3.9 L) Ford engine; known for its deep skirting which causes the engine resemble a Y. Rated at 130 hp (97 kW), it replaced the 239 in³ (3.9 L) Flathead which was rated at 106 hp (79 kW). The Y-block was considered a major advancement over the flathead. Known for having oiling problems in the rocker shafts due to the fact the oil first went to the crankshaft bearing, then the camshaft bearings, then to the rocker shafts. This problem plagued the entire Y-block family and could be remedied by running a copper line from the oil pump and then to the rocker shafts. This series of engines also lacked the breathing abilities compared to the Chevrolet 265 small block, thus could not develop the same power.

The oiling problem was caused by the passage from the center cam bearing to the cylinder head being offset by an inch and too small. The motor oils available at that time were low in detergents but high in coke which when combined with short trips and infrequent oil changes led to this passage blocking up. This left the lower end with ample oil while the rocker shaft assemblies literally burned up. The external oiler kit essentially provided oil to the rocker shafts from the oil pressure port on the outside of the engine.

A quick reference of the engine specifications for 1955-57 will show the Ford V-8s ahead of the Chevrolet counterpart in displacement, horsepower and torque. The Y-block head provided excellent air flow, superior to the Chevrolet. The real enemy of the Y-block was its displacement limit. The original architecture was very small and tight. Even with the benefit of today's technology, (aftermarket rods and stroker cranks) the real limit of a Y-block is about 348 cubic inches while the Chevrolet could go well past the factory limit of 400. Simply put, the ever increasing size and weight of the standard passenger car, the added parasitic losses for accessories like power steering, power brakes and air conditioning, cheap gasoline and the horsepower race all conspired to outgrow the first Ford OHV V-8 engine. It is interesting to note that both Ford and Chevrolet went to optional "big block" engines for 1958, 352 in³ (5.8 L) at Ford compared to 348 in³ (5.7 L) at Chevrolet.