Greetings from Germany !!!

Some have seen it already, but other may not. Please take a look at my web site at http://www.ford.gmxhome.de and let me know what you think. Just added another pic showing you that I do always work on the truck, no matter what weather we have.

Thanx for L@@King !!!

 

Kai... I'm not the only one impressed! I was demonstrating "other uses" for computers with a small class of 4th graders, using the FTE as an example. We looked at your site after the kids had seen your signature in another post and found out that you live in Germany. We looked at the fender bracket pics I had sent in an earlier post and how measurements were added as we are studying the metric system. They had any number of questions... like, where's the engine?, is that like yours (my '54), how come your paint is so orange? They are all anxious to see some more progress! I forecast that you will be driving it before they leave elementary school after 6th grade. Hope you can stand up to the pressure! best. himmelberg

 

Hey Kai,

Just curious about where the truck was and what it was doing from 1987 to 2002? Did you have it stored in Germany?

 

Looking real good Kai, nice job!

 

@All, ... thanx for the kind words.

@'berg, ... cool, my site gets some attention. Why is it so orange ? Hmm, ... guess because I had no other color on hand. Progress ? Hmm, ... hope to have it basically running mid of this year and all ready for work in spring 04.

@George, ... the first couple of years (when I did the disassembly and completed the frame) I shared a shop with a couple of guys who worked on British cars. We then bought a house with a four car garage and a barn. I then moved the truck and it was parked there for many years until I restarted the project (which I did a couple of times during the years). Hope this is the last time I restart as I am confident that I will now finish it without taking any major break in between. Right now I work on it for a few hours every week (sometimes every day). Sometimes I make real progress in just a day and sometimes I hit a major road block which makes me reverse and take another route.

 

The British make cars?

 

Kai,
Very impressive!!

He paints... he solders...he welds...he writes html!!! Where do the talents end?

Keep up the good work!

 

@George, .... no, the Brits don't really had cars until recently when Rolls Royce and Bentley were taken over by BMW and VW. In fact, my buddies were working on Austin Healeys, MGs and Triumphs. I was always picking on them saying that there's a stone age chassis (not any better than a 50s style truck) with a slick body and then they call it a sports car ??? Give me a break !!!

@Kent, .... I just report back with a L@@K thread when I make good progress. I keep it for me and whine in the corner when things just all go wrong. .... like they did yesterday. I pulled the water pump (passenger side inlet) off my 289 and tried to put another pump in place which has the inlet on the driver side in order to match my radiator. Guess what, it did not fit my timing cover ?!??! I then pulled the harmonic balancer (with a pump inlet on the other side you also need a balancer which has the marks on the otherside as your pointer is on the other side). My plan was to use the one I had on the 351W. I took the pulley of that one and saw that it mounted with four bolts while the one on my 289 mounted with just three. Another NO FIT !!! .... ah, yes, forgot to mention that when I wrenched on my 289's balancer the engine was slowly turning and I heard a scratching noise. This was my flywheel which had contact with my bellhousing. Oh well. Tonite I will take the timing cover off my 351W hoping that that would fit my 289. The my new (used) water pump fit and I just have two problems left. The balancer and the scratching flywheel. However, would not be surprised if I find something else. Welding up the exhaust was more fun, but nobody said it would all be that much fun.

... and yes, my site is programmed in html. Not using any of these fancy tools which do everything for you and you later wonder how that code comes together. I have about six pages from a magacine which explains the most important functions. That's it. Adding a photo, some text and a new date in my header takes no more than 2 minutes. Cool.

 

Nice site, Kai. I was wondering, is there much restoring of older German cars and trucks there?

 

Jeffh, ... I would say restoring old cars is not as big as it is over there in the US. One reason being that people typically don't have the space to store old car(s) or to even work on them. Another issue is that most older cars left the country before they became classics. You don't see many junk yards either. You now see people re importing cars such as VW Bugs. GUess we had Millions and Millions and they're all gone now. I had a Bug one day and could have never imagined that I ever would want one again. Right now I would take one, but they are expensive. Too bad.

 

kai, i look farward to see your progress. i love looking through your site for ideas and inspiration! keep it up!