My 1955 Ford project...new pics 9/8/09

[bodaver32]

Hello all,

I have lurked here for years and thought I would share. My father has a 1955 Ford conversion that he converted in the early 1960's and took it all over the US and Canada hunting and fishing. In the 1980's it was parked and just sat. About two years ago we decided to restore it, I mainly got involved with it because it allows us to spend quality time together. Below is one before picture and three pictures from this weekend. We have the luxury of working in a pole barn so I hope to have the exterior finished this winter and start on the interior this Spring. The interior was finished, but we gutted it as the floor needed new metal.

The lighting is not the best and the bus looks white, but it actually has a white top and light grey sides. The hood and front end are now being worked on and I will paint the same style flames on the hood and front fenders.

Greg

[crazycal]

WOW! COOL!

[swinada]

wow, she looks very nice!!!!
Whats under the hood? or are you going to do some upgrading there too?

Please post more pictures as you keep going.

[Griff]

WOW, Greg! That was a mighty grand entrance for a first post! That bus is looking SWEET! Please keep us posted on the progress, and welcome to the asylum!

[DizzyIzzy]

Drool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[crazycal]

That's 3 wow's and a drool. I think that means they like it.

[bodaver32]

Thanks for the kind words. Progress is slow as I only get one day on the weekends to work on it.

It is powered by a small block Chevy 350 with a 5 speed overdrive manual transmission. My dad is a small block Chevy guy, so that's what it got.....

It currently has manual steering, on Monday I found a few old buses in a local junk yard with power steering. I am thinking of snagging one and fitting the bus with one. Last summer we put a completely new brake system on it that included a new master cylinder, wheel cylinders, and lines.

Greg

[pete c]

Man, is that thing sweet.

What's the compartment on the back? you might wanna consider lopping it off as it disrupts the beautiful lines of that thing. Need extra space? Get a trailer.

somebody splain to me why a 1955 bus has manual steering aka powerful steering and a 2007 chevy aveo needs power steering? We really are pussies, nowadays.

You should leave the steering alone. You'll look like popeye after a few miles!!!

[DizzyIzzy]

Wow I am still drooling. A 350 small block is easy to fix and has enough power for that ol gal. I like the black and white flames. Very cool bus.

Drool.........

[Demonknight]

DAMN...had to look at the before and afters several times...I would almost swear they are not the same beast Being a Ford fan it loses points for the chevy motor though.

[bodaver32]

Originally Posted by Chuck Webb

It's cool, like old school cool

Chuck, I've named the beast "old school" and at some time am going to paint it on it when I find a good location.

[the_experience03]

That 5 speed overdrive tranny wouldn't happen to be an NV4500, would it? If so you get UBER points on top of the regular SUPER points you already get from me.

[davido]

Sweet rig. I would love to see more pictures and get more build-up details. It's a Wayne right? Did you find a new windshield for it? The reason I ask is because I have a '58 with a busted out front windshield.

If you ever decide to do a Ford PS drivetrain, this buildup has a guy who did one. It's in his homemade hummer. Being a auto junkie, you'll probably enjoy the thread anyway: http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25748 He did quite a buid also.

[bodaver32]

Yes the body is a Wayne. The windshield is the original. I am extremely careful working around the glass as one mishap and we are screwed. I added a few more photos of the exterior reconstruction.

The bus originally had crank out windows and a weird aluminum on the upper sides. The below photo is of my dad grinding out the rivets and removing the aluminum.



This is of the entry door side, before the interior has been gutted.



This photo is of the entry door side. I welding in 1" square tubing to make the frames for the windows and provide backing to pop rivet the new metal to.



This photo is again of the entry door side, after the interior was stripped and new metal put into the floor. The floor behind the rear wheels was rusted through in places and needed replaced. The roof was completely stripped down to bare metal. I counted at least at least 6 coats of paint on the roof.

[bodaver32]

Work has been slow but we are progressing. We decided to pull the 350 Chevy small block as I was not happy with some of the cylinder compression readings and it needed a valve job. The engine has since been completed and installed and runs sweet. We are now wrapping up wiring/installing the running lights. We hope to have the front end put together by the end of the month.

This photo is of the engine bay after pulling the engine.



This is of the progress on the rebuild. A couple of the cylinders were pitted with rust. I had it bored out and got new pistons. The exhaust valves needed replacing. All the internal components are new. It should run good and strong for a while.



and this is just after installing the engine. It has since been completed, I just don't have an updated photo. I will get some soon. Although the bus is a Ford, the engine is a Chevy and I had to have the Chevy orange. It brightens things up a bit from all the black, white and gray.

[James P]

Absolutely Beautiful. come do my engine like that!

[Hex]

That is ... a pleasure to look upon!

[timbuk]

i totally love that chevy plant in that bus i love the oldys and know how much work goes into them its not like getting a bus say from the 80s or 90s im keeping the armstrong steering in my oldy nice to see this bus updated on the forum keep it up and keep us posted! NICE WORK! old skool is kool skool

[bodaver32]

This is where we are as of today. I have to secure some running light wires and get the mirrors installed, wipers and door glass. Then we can finally move to the interior.

[bus-bro]

N0, I thinkk it looks way cool.

Now how are the rest of us going to convert our buses with all these top notch jobs?