Stark State College '29 Ford Resto-Mod

[idriveafordranger94]

Hey everyone! I have some really exciting news! I know going to school is generally not much fun, especially during the summer. However, this summer is going to be a milestone for Stark State College. (I'm going to call it SSC, for short)

I just finished my first year of college at Stark State College majoring in Automotive Technologies. I absolutely loved school. It is amazing what your grades look like when you enjoy what you are learning about. I especially enjoyed my instructor, David Weary. At the end of the school year, Mr. Weary told us about his plans to have a summer class that consisted of SSC's 10 best Automotive Technologies students building a hot rod as a name plate for the school. He was willing to sponsor everything...the car, the chassis, engine, transmission, everything. The school approved his decision. I was very, very fortunate to be one of the students chosen to work on this new and exciting projects.

Starting Monday, June 13th 2011, Mr. Weary, myself, and 9 other students will start this awesome new class. (Imagine that, a class where you get to build a hot rod; I thought this kind of thing only happened in the movies!). For the next six weeks (possibly even 10 weeks) we will be working on this project.

A few months prior, Mr. Weary had located a '29 Ford Tudor in "restorable" shape in Carrollton, Ohio and purchased it. Soon after, he called a company (right now I cannot recall the name...I'll get back to you on that later) and ordered a chassis to be custom built to his specs.

Today I came to the Automotive Technologies building to mount and balance some tires and rims for my brother's Ranger and I saw Mr. Weary. We had talked earlier in the week about how the chassis and car had arrived at SSC. Immediately, he showed me a bunch of different parts - some parts custom, some from 80-something years ago, some from an S-10...etc, etc... Each of them, (except the glorious chassis) were covered in dirt, grime and grease - they were all the necessary "ingredients" for one bad, bad, '29 Ford Tudor resto-mod.

I know this isn't a Ford Ranger, but I am so extremely excited for this class, and eager to be a part of this history-making class at SSC. I will try my best to get as many pictures and updates as I can throughout this build. I really hope everyone enjoys this thread. Comments, please!!!

Here are some pictures of the chassis, car, engine, and trans. This is before the class has actually started.

The '29 Ford

6.0L LS Motor

4L60 automatic transmission out of an '01 S10

 

[4.0B2]

nice. subscribed!

 

[3.0ranger1227]

Does that rear end remind anyone of the GT-12 one?

This should be awesome though!

 

[TastySloth]

That's a ton of chrome. I am gonna follow this, especially since Gwaii is gone fishin'. I've always liked that body, no homo.

 

[JoshT]

Only got two problems with it.

First is the chevy parts, though I understand that they are cheaper to buy and build which makes them perfect for a project like this. Given the circumstances I'll let it slide. It might even be a good thing. Most of the automotive tech students around here are come out of school only knowing how to remove an existing part and install an identical one. They aren't taught things like what y'all are about to learn.

The second is that he bought a chassis. You are a automotive tech class, shouldn't you build your own frame? You obviously have a shop that is equipped to handle it. I understand him gathering all of the parts ahead of time there just isn't time there to plan, buy and build. But a complete frame and prefabbed/assembled CHROME suspension? Ten best students in the program, and working it as a class, seems like more than enough time to build it all from the ground up.

Regardless of what I think, it'll be a cool class project! Will be subscribing and watching.

 

[idriveafordranger94]

Sorry about the wait guys, I've been busy with work and trying to find a car for my sister. Here are some updates.

Monday - 6/13/11

Today we disassembled the trans only to find it had a cracked case. Luckly, my teacher had purchased a warranty with the trans and the salvage yard took it back and gave us a new one with no questions asked. The rest of class disassembled most of the car including the interior, fenders, grille, radiator, etc. I's amazing that these 80+ year old bolts come off with ease and I still manage to break bolts on my '94 Ranger! The engine team got the 6.0L stripped down to the block and pistons.

 

[idriveafordranger94]

Tuesday 6/14/11

Yesterday, we got the "new" trans completely disassembled. Absolutely amazing. I have never had an automatic trans apart before. Luckily we had the transmission instructor guide my partner and I through the whole process. The body was further disassembled and cleaning of the engine block and trans was started.

 

[idriveafordranger94]

Wednesday - 6/15/11

We got a lot done today. The engine is almost ready for paint, the trans is almost ready to be polished and the body is now sitting on the frame. (Not bolted down yet). We trimmed the sides of the inner body to fit the contour of the frame. We discovered, even with rims with a large offset, we will have to tub the body just a bit. The body is now stripped down to bare metal with the help of some aircraft stripper!

 

[JoshT]

Any more progress to share yet?

 

[kris97ranger]

i wanna see progress! ive been itching to take my vacation pay and go get a 56 f100 outta the states to do up but i dont have anywhere to put one yet..

 

[doorgunner]

I think I'll P.M. the OP to see what's up.....

 

[idriveafordranger94]

Hey everyone. Yes, I know it has been way too long since I updated the thread. I’ve been pretty busy with school, work and my side projects. My sister was in need of a car for her last two years of high school, so I found a ’96 Grand Cherokee Limited with 250,000 miles and a bad 4.0L. We bought it, found a used engine and well, under the hood of that Jeep is where I spent nearly all of my free time after work. Needless to say, I didn’t have the energy to stay up late to update the thread. I apologize for keeping everyone on their toes for so long!

That’s enough about me…now on to the car! There are a TON of pictures from this class. Most of them were out of order, out of place, etc. I took some pictures here and there, but kudos to Kelly, who took pictures every moment she was able to!

I’m going to split up the pictures, 10 per post. It may take a few days, mostly because my computer is so slow, but I’ll get them all up. Well, here goes..

Early stages of polishing the trans

Engine block primed and ready for paint

Dodge Viper red

Paint complete

Paint stripper

Sanding...

Exhaust fabbing

 

[idriveafordranger94]

Quick class picture

Intake before paint

Intake primed

Dodge Viper red

Trans all back together

New cam

Lokar shifter

 

[JoshT]

Any new updates you can share?