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(Tommy)>> You're watching Powernation!
[ engine revving ] [ Music ]
(Katie)>> Welcome to Powernation Builds. Now if you're anything like me and like old school hot rods then I know just the place that you can find a sweet treat. Here's Detroit Muscle.
(Joe)>> Over the years the clean lines of the '49 Ford inspired customizers and triggered a new ongoing trend of sheet metal manipulation. It put Ford on the road to post war prosperity. Well here's what's in our future some 65 plus years later. It's a two door '49 sedan that we picked up for a heck of a deal, and it runs and stops most of the time. Here's what happened. The previous owner prepped it, got it in primer, and then decided to dump his plans for restoration. So he decided to let it go.
(Tommy)>> We jumped on board to offer this iconic old Ford a makeover. Now this thing isn't going to be like our normal build. We're gonna get a little bit creative and build us a custom ride.
(Joe)>> You old hot rodders might remember the feel we're going for. So breeze up your pompadour and grabbed you best gal cause Project Banana Split is officially underway heading to a drive in near you really soon.
(Tommy)>> Our first modification is a pretty serious undertaking. We're gonna be doing a suicide door conversion. Now people have been doing this modification for years on all type of vehicles for one reason and one reason only. It's just plain cool.
(Joe)>> Most of these panels are pretty easy to remove. You just unscrew a few fasteners and you're in business. There's no need to keep this old latch around. We won't be using it on the front side of the door or the spider webs either.
(Tommy)>> Alright, now we're gonna set this thing into place, kinda figure out exactly where we want it. Keeping those inside the quarter. I'll use our body saw to cut out the sections of the door jamb where the new hinges are going to go. [ saw buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> Alright guys, we've got our holes cut. Now we have to do a little bit more trimming here of the inner structure of the door post. It's no big deal, but what we're trying to do is make room for this bar. Then we'll slide the door hinges in, tack them into place, and once we get the door opening and closing, we'll come back and brace all this stuff up. [ saw buzzing ]
(Joe)>> The primer has to be ground off the hinges so they can be tacked in. Then we'll tack the bottom hinge just a little bit, but we still want to be able to move the top for placement.
(Tommy)>> Now we're only leveling up one axis of our door hinges, and there's a reason why. It's because this door's so thick we had to lay this upper hinge back just a bit. When I put this thing up there, you can see we're probably about three quarters of an inch or so in. No big deal, it's like I mentioned earlier. Sometimes you've just gotta do what you gotta do to get what you gotta get. [ welder crackling ] [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Alright guys, we're ready to install the pockets that are gonna hold the door in place. Now with these things they generally just kinda bolt up here and it's got a plate that goes in the back. A little tip for you is to put in some aluminum shims in between this pocket and the hinge because just in case you needed to move the door in, you can take the shims out. Without them, once that thing's welded up, there's really no adjustment. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> With the door closed, we can mark it where we'll have to cut for the pockets to go in. [ saw buzzing ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> With a quick check we can tell if it's going to work or not, and then prep it for welding. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Joe)>> When you shut the door to weld it make sure to check the door gap so that it fits well before you burn it in. Then it's time to weld. [ welder crackling ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> Now that we're certain that the pockets are well placed it's time for some reinforcement to keep them well placed. This will also prevent the door from flexing under its own weight. After all it wasn't originally designed to bear that load from this side. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> Well now you've got an idea what it takes to convert your conventional door to a sexy suicide door. Not much money in materials, less than $300 bucks, but a whole lot of patience and hard work.
(Katie)>> Coming up, there is still plenty of work to be done, custom work at that, on this blue oval transformation.
(Tommy)>> Well alright guys, we're continuing the customization of our old Ford. The next thing we're gonna do, we're gonna french the antenna. Now originally our antenna was located on the front fender but we're gonna move it back here to the quarter panel. We'll start with a pilot hole from an eighth inch drill bit, and then we'll bust out a hole saw gradually work it into a more vertical position as the cut is made. We'll use a carbide bit to shape the fitment of the tube for what we're going for. Then prep it for tacking. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> A cutting wheel is what we'll use to lob off the extra tube at the top, and then we'll grind off the extra material down flat with the panel. With it flush we can burn the tube all the way around. A little dressing up will finish it and make it look nice on our quarter panel. Well it's that simple, and it really doesn't take all that long to make this conversion. Now we do have to address the drain, but that's simple. Drill a hole in the trunk floor and run a hose. You guys might give it a shot.
(Joe)>> Since the old days, even before my time, hot rodders have been customizing and frenching headlights with all kinds of treatments to make a smoother look. Here's what we've got in store.
(Tommy)>> Our plan is to install a set of headlight bezels out of a '55 Olds, and this is a very popular conversion with the lead sled guys. Now installing this thing, well it all depends on what you're trying to put it into. Could be simple or it could be quite the task.
(Joe)>> One way to go is to go ahead install the bezel and build the body out to it, creating a bug eyed look. However, we think it'll look a lot better if we recess this bucket so that the light is flush with the body here. To make that happen we're gonna take this metal strip we just cut, actually make a ring to go around the bucket so we can move it further in. So, I'm gonna take this thing first and make a 90-degree bend before we move over to the shrinker. [ Music ] The metal shrinker takes a little bit of pressure at a time in small sections. You move down the length of the metal to create a curve as you go.
(Tommy)>> After you get tired of smashing and shrinking, you've got do it a little bit more. Then you'll have you a ring a lot like this one. You just simply put it on top of the bucket. You see here we've got to trim this piece off cause it's in the way of letting it sit down nice and flush. [ Music ] A little grinding is in order to clean up the welds, and then we can move on. With our ring attached to our bucket, you can see what we were trying to accomplish. Now it looks like we could build a tab similar to this one on the stock fender and weld it to our ring, and that'll keep the orientation of the headlight in the exact location we need it and still allow us to adjust if need be. We have to build up the top of the fender out just a little bit to meet the bezel. So, some tape will protect it from any sparks. I'll use a straight edge to figure out where the new metal needs to go to make the fender meet the bezel. Then a cardboard template can be whittled up for the piece that goes in here. I'll replicate the template onto some eighteen gauge steel and cut it out. [ saw buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> Then we can begin shaping it to make the seamless transition to the bezel. Once it's good to go I'll grind down the primer so that we can weld it in place. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> I need to make a relief cut on the top to help it fit better, and then I'll weld it back together once the pieces are better attached. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> Once we dressed up the welds, well we'll put our new bezel in place. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> And dang! Originally this old Ford had a piece of trim that runs all the way down the middle of the hood. Now we're wanting to shave that thing off, fill this in, and take quarter inch piece of solid stock and weld it all the way down the middle from the front to the back. You'll want to position the strip, then make a tack. Work your way down tacking both sides evenly so the welds don't pull the strip over. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> Now we can burn the whole thing in, moving around frequently so we don't warp up the hood by generating too much heat in one place. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> With the center of the hood all ground down, we're ready to start doing the peaking, and to do that we're gonna use a piece of quarter inch solid stock that we picked up from a hardware store. Now if you slide the rod back just a bit instead of bringing it all the way to the edge of the hood this'll allow you to kinda grind it down a bit after the weld is done to have a nice flowing taper. There we go! Now just having that one tack there on the end will allow you to be able to slide and adjust this rod however you need it to be. Have it perfectly lined up at your peak.
(Joe)>> Now the rest of it can be welded. Just like on the strips, you want not to spend very much time on one spot so you don't warp the hood. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> Now with a grinding rock roughing it all in, we're gonna come back and use this blending disc to smooth it all out.
(Katie)>> Up next, Project Banana Split is starting to look like one heck of a sweet hot rod!
(Joe)>> Okay, so much for the decorative details. Now it's time to give this '49 Ford some proper power and performance.
(Tommy)>> We just removed our factory flathead V-8, making way for something new, kinda. We're sticking with that tradition that started back in '32.
(Joe)>> It's a good idea to keep a couple of fingers crossed while you clean the block. That's because flatties were notorious for overheating, which led to nasty cracks. In fact, this one had a couple of small cracks that required some machine shop surgery before they could freshen it up.
(Tommy)>> Back home they filled the block with new aftermarket parts while keeping everything old school, like the Edelbrock heads and one of their vintage tri-power intakes. On the engine dyno, with 26 degrees of timing, the ole girl made 159 horsepower and 253 foot pounds of torque. That's a far cry from the 100 horsepower of our stock 239 flatty.
(Joe)>> And the best part is they're gonna let us put it to good use powering up our '49 Ford.
(Tommy)>> Well we got our car all sealed up and we're ready to start applying some color. The first thing we're gonna do is spray on some of this milk white that we got from Summit Racing, and then we're gonna spray on some yellow, but that is going on the side. [ spray gun hissing ]
(Tommy)>> Well our base coat is plenty dry enough so that we can do some taping. This old Ford, it's gonna get a pretty simple two tone. I'm gonna break it right here on this factory body line, that simple. [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Well we're ready to start mixing up some yellow. Summit offers this awesome color called "Go Banana", but it's a little bit too intense for what we're looking for. We're wanting something a little bit more like banana pudding if you will. Now what our plan is, is to take some of this yellow, mix it with some white over here, and then we'll have us that awesome color. [ spray gun hissing ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> After three coats of base, we're ready to unmask it and reveal the two tone. [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Alright guys, we've got our yellow sprayed on, our white sprayed on, the car unmasked, and we're ready to spray on some clear. [ Music ] This two stage paint system is a far cry from the stoving enamel paint method that we're common in the year the Ford was manufactured, which was a sprayed on coating that had to be cured at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Manufacturers were still experimenting with base coat clear coat systems well into the '70s.
(Joe)>> With the body sprayed and pulled out, the last bit of wet sanding will prep the rest of the panels for their trip to the spray booth, the doors, fenders, hood, and deck lid. [ Music ] [ spray gun hissing ]
(Tommy)>> We've pretty much got all the sheet metal bolted to the front side of our Ford. Now we're ready to move on to the bright work. Now we dropped off all our chrome at Advanced Plating to have it redone and them boys knocked it out of the park like they always do. [ Music ] This grill was originally riveted together but we're light years from a factory restoration and these bolts will do the job just fine and dandy. We'll use some nylon locking nuts and flat washers to keep everything in place. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> With the center section assembled it's easier to put the rest of the grill together on the car itself. You can definitely see how designs of this era were heavily inspired by aviation aesthetics. With it all bolted up we've got ourselves a nice, big, shiny grill on our hot rod Ford. [ Music ] Our old hot rod has come a long way from when we first puttered it into the shop. From its humble rusty primer gray origins to an attention grabbing yellow street machine with oceans of chrome, and lots of classy custom mods to make it our own. It's a true vision of the kind of hot rods that the first speed demons were mod'ing up in the early days of the hobby.
(Katie)>> Finally, from the inside out our flathead Ford gets fired up for a real hot rod show.
(Joe)>> We hung the now yellow colored sheet metal back on our '49 Ford last time and bolted on the chrome plated shiny stuff. After giving the wheels some red paint and retro hub caps, the exterior of our Project Banana Split is looking far out and fab man. Our Ford's retro red interior is coming to life thanks to the guys at Hudson Rod and Customs. Homer and Mike are laying down a piece of custom carpet we got from RockAuto dot com. This will pave the way for the rest of our inside job. The rest of the interior of our '49 Ford comes together equally fast, including a simple package tray, sail panels, and rear side panels. We've been dying to use this old car to try out a hot rod trick that always gets eye grabbing attention. I mean anybody can stand out in a crowd of cars with this kind of firepower. [ engine cackling ]
(Joe)>> Well today we're gonna get a little wild and turn this Ford into a flame thrower. The way it works is you hit the switch inside the car and the 12-volt spark, instead of going to the engine, goes to that module. It pushes unburned fuel through the exhaust and when it hits this you've got flames.
(Marc)>> So the first step is to install the bungs into the tail pipes. We're gonna measure it out, make a mark, and drill our holes.
(Joe)>> Like we said, anywhere from 8 to 10 inches is the sweet spot for mounting those plugs. We'll drill a pilot hole to get things started. Then come in with the big boy to make room for that bung. [ drill humming ]
(Joe)>> A little filing will clean up the burrs.
(Tommy)>> The next thing we're gonna do is weld in this nut or the little bung that holds the spark plug.
(Marc)>> Well I guess I'll go grab the modules.
(Tommy)>> I think I got the wrong end of the stick on this deal. Overhead welding is always fun.
(Marc)>> Not too much to be said here. Just make sure you seat it well but don't get it too hot and mess up the threads.
(Tommy)>> Next we'll mount the modules. These little things are really cool because they act like a purpose built coil that fires those spark plugs and makes the cool stuff happen. The kit comes with some self tappers but since we're going into the frame we'll drill and use some machine screws. Then run those wires. We've got our wires ran inside the cab that come from our ignition modules, and they're gonna connect right here on this middle post of the switch. Now we've got to make two more circuit connections that's gonna interrupt our signal that actually let's our engine run. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> So we'll get our coil hooked up to that switch and then install the switch itself. [ Music ] [ engine starting and revving ] [ Music ] [ engine revving ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> Well the old banana's ready to split, so to speak. [ Music ]
(Marc)>> It's certainly not as peppy as that g-t-o but it's cool in its own right you know? [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Like they said, it might not run with the pavement pounders of the muscle era, but this yellow machine would have been one bad momma jomma during the dawn of the hot rod era. [ Music ]
(Marc)>> And since it's got a pile of custom mods thrown at it to improve the looks and fun factor, we think that the true old school hot rodders would be proud.
(Tommy)>> It definitely doesn't drive like no sports car, but I'll bet this one's gonna stick out a lot better than some of those sports cars.
(Joe)>> Indeed it will. Yeah, you won't see yourself coming down the road in this. Overall we're gonna call this build a success. Fonzi would probably drive it anyway, and James Dean would too.
(Marc)>> Woo!
(Joe)>> Well the old girl runs good, she rides good, stops good, gotta couple of crazy passengers I'm afraid. She really looks good. The old Banana Split is finally finished, and you know what? She makes fire, I've got marshmallows, time for a farewell party.
(Tommy)>> We're gonna have the fire department here, continue melting.
(Joe)>> That's got it. I don't know if I'd eat that.
(Katie)>> Project Banana Split is a sweet custom hot rod that redefines custom cool. Remember, you can always watch our other projects here on Powernation Builds.
Show Full Transcript
[ engine revving ] [ Music ]
(Katie)>> Welcome to Powernation Builds. Now if you're anything like me and like old school hot rods then I know just the place that you can find a sweet treat. Here's Detroit Muscle.
(Joe)>> Over the years the clean lines of the '49 Ford inspired customizers and triggered a new ongoing trend of sheet metal manipulation. It put Ford on the road to post war prosperity. Well here's what's in our future some 65 plus years later. It's a two door '49 sedan that we picked up for a heck of a deal, and it runs and stops most of the time. Here's what happened. The previous owner prepped it, got it in primer, and then decided to dump his plans for restoration. So he decided to let it go.
(Tommy)>> We jumped on board to offer this iconic old Ford a makeover. Now this thing isn't going to be like our normal build. We're gonna get a little bit creative and build us a custom ride.
(Joe)>> You old hot rodders might remember the feel we're going for. So breeze up your pompadour and grabbed you best gal cause Project Banana Split is officially underway heading to a drive in near you really soon.
(Tommy)>> Our first modification is a pretty serious undertaking. We're gonna be doing a suicide door conversion. Now people have been doing this modification for years on all type of vehicles for one reason and one reason only. It's just plain cool.
(Joe)>> Most of these panels are pretty easy to remove. You just unscrew a few fasteners and you're in business. There's no need to keep this old latch around. We won't be using it on the front side of the door or the spider webs either.
(Tommy)>> Alright, now we're gonna set this thing into place, kinda figure out exactly where we want it. Keeping those inside the quarter. I'll use our body saw to cut out the sections of the door jamb where the new hinges are going to go. [ saw buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> Alright guys, we've got our holes cut. Now we have to do a little bit more trimming here of the inner structure of the door post. It's no big deal, but what we're trying to do is make room for this bar. Then we'll slide the door hinges in, tack them into place, and once we get the door opening and closing, we'll come back and brace all this stuff up. [ saw buzzing ]
(Joe)>> The primer has to be ground off the hinges so they can be tacked in. Then we'll tack the bottom hinge just a little bit, but we still want to be able to move the top for placement.
(Tommy)>> Now we're only leveling up one axis of our door hinges, and there's a reason why. It's because this door's so thick we had to lay this upper hinge back just a bit. When I put this thing up there, you can see we're probably about three quarters of an inch or so in. No big deal, it's like I mentioned earlier. Sometimes you've just gotta do what you gotta do to get what you gotta get. [ welder crackling ] [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Alright guys, we're ready to install the pockets that are gonna hold the door in place. Now with these things they generally just kinda bolt up here and it's got a plate that goes in the back. A little tip for you is to put in some aluminum shims in between this pocket and the hinge because just in case you needed to move the door in, you can take the shims out. Without them, once that thing's welded up, there's really no adjustment. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> With the door closed, we can mark it where we'll have to cut for the pockets to go in. [ saw buzzing ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> With a quick check we can tell if it's going to work or not, and then prep it for welding. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Joe)>> When you shut the door to weld it make sure to check the door gap so that it fits well before you burn it in. Then it's time to weld. [ welder crackling ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> Now that we're certain that the pockets are well placed it's time for some reinforcement to keep them well placed. This will also prevent the door from flexing under its own weight. After all it wasn't originally designed to bear that load from this side. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> Well now you've got an idea what it takes to convert your conventional door to a sexy suicide door. Not much money in materials, less than $300 bucks, but a whole lot of patience and hard work.
(Katie)>> Coming up, there is still plenty of work to be done, custom work at that, on this blue oval transformation.
(Tommy)>> Well alright guys, we're continuing the customization of our old Ford. The next thing we're gonna do, we're gonna french the antenna. Now originally our antenna was located on the front fender but we're gonna move it back here to the quarter panel. We'll start with a pilot hole from an eighth inch drill bit, and then we'll bust out a hole saw gradually work it into a more vertical position as the cut is made. We'll use a carbide bit to shape the fitment of the tube for what we're going for. Then prep it for tacking. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> A cutting wheel is what we'll use to lob off the extra tube at the top, and then we'll grind off the extra material down flat with the panel. With it flush we can burn the tube all the way around. A little dressing up will finish it and make it look nice on our quarter panel. Well it's that simple, and it really doesn't take all that long to make this conversion. Now we do have to address the drain, but that's simple. Drill a hole in the trunk floor and run a hose. You guys might give it a shot.
(Joe)>> Since the old days, even before my time, hot rodders have been customizing and frenching headlights with all kinds of treatments to make a smoother look. Here's what we've got in store.
(Tommy)>> Our plan is to install a set of headlight bezels out of a '55 Olds, and this is a very popular conversion with the lead sled guys. Now installing this thing, well it all depends on what you're trying to put it into. Could be simple or it could be quite the task.
(Joe)>> One way to go is to go ahead install the bezel and build the body out to it, creating a bug eyed look. However, we think it'll look a lot better if we recess this bucket so that the light is flush with the body here. To make that happen we're gonna take this metal strip we just cut, actually make a ring to go around the bucket so we can move it further in. So, I'm gonna take this thing first and make a 90-degree bend before we move over to the shrinker. [ Music ] The metal shrinker takes a little bit of pressure at a time in small sections. You move down the length of the metal to create a curve as you go.
(Tommy)>> After you get tired of smashing and shrinking, you've got do it a little bit more. Then you'll have you a ring a lot like this one. You just simply put it on top of the bucket. You see here we've got to trim this piece off cause it's in the way of letting it sit down nice and flush. [ Music ] A little grinding is in order to clean up the welds, and then we can move on. With our ring attached to our bucket, you can see what we were trying to accomplish. Now it looks like we could build a tab similar to this one on the stock fender and weld it to our ring, and that'll keep the orientation of the headlight in the exact location we need it and still allow us to adjust if need be. We have to build up the top of the fender out just a little bit to meet the bezel. So, some tape will protect it from any sparks. I'll use a straight edge to figure out where the new metal needs to go to make the fender meet the bezel. Then a cardboard template can be whittled up for the piece that goes in here. I'll replicate the template onto some eighteen gauge steel and cut it out. [ saw buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> Then we can begin shaping it to make the seamless transition to the bezel. Once it's good to go I'll grind down the primer so that we can weld it in place. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> I need to make a relief cut on the top to help it fit better, and then I'll weld it back together once the pieces are better attached. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> Once we dressed up the welds, well we'll put our new bezel in place. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> And dang! Originally this old Ford had a piece of trim that runs all the way down the middle of the hood. Now we're wanting to shave that thing off, fill this in, and take quarter inch piece of solid stock and weld it all the way down the middle from the front to the back. You'll want to position the strip, then make a tack. Work your way down tacking both sides evenly so the welds don't pull the strip over. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> Now we can burn the whole thing in, moving around frequently so we don't warp up the hood by generating too much heat in one place. [ welder crackling ]
(Tommy)>> With the center of the hood all ground down, we're ready to start doing the peaking, and to do that we're gonna use a piece of quarter inch solid stock that we picked up from a hardware store. Now if you slide the rod back just a bit instead of bringing it all the way to the edge of the hood this'll allow you to kinda grind it down a bit after the weld is done to have a nice flowing taper. There we go! Now just having that one tack there on the end will allow you to be able to slide and adjust this rod however you need it to be. Have it perfectly lined up at your peak.
(Joe)>> Now the rest of it can be welded. Just like on the strips, you want not to spend very much time on one spot so you don't warp the hood. [ grinder buzzing ]
(Tommy)>> Now with a grinding rock roughing it all in, we're gonna come back and use this blending disc to smooth it all out.
(Katie)>> Up next, Project Banana Split is starting to look like one heck of a sweet hot rod!
(Joe)>> Okay, so much for the decorative details. Now it's time to give this '49 Ford some proper power and performance.
(Tommy)>> We just removed our factory flathead V-8, making way for something new, kinda. We're sticking with that tradition that started back in '32.
(Joe)>> It's a good idea to keep a couple of fingers crossed while you clean the block. That's because flatties were notorious for overheating, which led to nasty cracks. In fact, this one had a couple of small cracks that required some machine shop surgery before they could freshen it up.
(Tommy)>> Back home they filled the block with new aftermarket parts while keeping everything old school, like the Edelbrock heads and one of their vintage tri-power intakes. On the engine dyno, with 26 degrees of timing, the ole girl made 159 horsepower and 253 foot pounds of torque. That's a far cry from the 100 horsepower of our stock 239 flatty.
(Joe)>> And the best part is they're gonna let us put it to good use powering up our '49 Ford.
(Tommy)>> Well we got our car all sealed up and we're ready to start applying some color. The first thing we're gonna do is spray on some of this milk white that we got from Summit Racing, and then we're gonna spray on some yellow, but that is going on the side. [ spray gun hissing ]
(Tommy)>> Well our base coat is plenty dry enough so that we can do some taping. This old Ford, it's gonna get a pretty simple two tone. I'm gonna break it right here on this factory body line, that simple. [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Well we're ready to start mixing up some yellow. Summit offers this awesome color called "Go Banana", but it's a little bit too intense for what we're looking for. We're wanting something a little bit more like banana pudding if you will. Now what our plan is, is to take some of this yellow, mix it with some white over here, and then we'll have us that awesome color. [ spray gun hissing ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> After three coats of base, we're ready to unmask it and reveal the two tone. [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Alright guys, we've got our yellow sprayed on, our white sprayed on, the car unmasked, and we're ready to spray on some clear. [ Music ] This two stage paint system is a far cry from the stoving enamel paint method that we're common in the year the Ford was manufactured, which was a sprayed on coating that had to be cured at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Manufacturers were still experimenting with base coat clear coat systems well into the '70s.
(Joe)>> With the body sprayed and pulled out, the last bit of wet sanding will prep the rest of the panels for their trip to the spray booth, the doors, fenders, hood, and deck lid. [ Music ] [ spray gun hissing ]
(Tommy)>> We've pretty much got all the sheet metal bolted to the front side of our Ford. Now we're ready to move on to the bright work. Now we dropped off all our chrome at Advanced Plating to have it redone and them boys knocked it out of the park like they always do. [ Music ] This grill was originally riveted together but we're light years from a factory restoration and these bolts will do the job just fine and dandy. We'll use some nylon locking nuts and flat washers to keep everything in place. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> With the center section assembled it's easier to put the rest of the grill together on the car itself. You can definitely see how designs of this era were heavily inspired by aviation aesthetics. With it all bolted up we've got ourselves a nice, big, shiny grill on our hot rod Ford. [ Music ] Our old hot rod has come a long way from when we first puttered it into the shop. From its humble rusty primer gray origins to an attention grabbing yellow street machine with oceans of chrome, and lots of classy custom mods to make it our own. It's a true vision of the kind of hot rods that the first speed demons were mod'ing up in the early days of the hobby.
(Katie)>> Finally, from the inside out our flathead Ford gets fired up for a real hot rod show.
(Joe)>> We hung the now yellow colored sheet metal back on our '49 Ford last time and bolted on the chrome plated shiny stuff. After giving the wheels some red paint and retro hub caps, the exterior of our Project Banana Split is looking far out and fab man. Our Ford's retro red interior is coming to life thanks to the guys at Hudson Rod and Customs. Homer and Mike are laying down a piece of custom carpet we got from RockAuto dot com. This will pave the way for the rest of our inside job. The rest of the interior of our '49 Ford comes together equally fast, including a simple package tray, sail panels, and rear side panels. We've been dying to use this old car to try out a hot rod trick that always gets eye grabbing attention. I mean anybody can stand out in a crowd of cars with this kind of firepower. [ engine cackling ]
(Joe)>> Well today we're gonna get a little wild and turn this Ford into a flame thrower. The way it works is you hit the switch inside the car and the 12-volt spark, instead of going to the engine, goes to that module. It pushes unburned fuel through the exhaust and when it hits this you've got flames.
(Marc)>> So the first step is to install the bungs into the tail pipes. We're gonna measure it out, make a mark, and drill our holes.
(Joe)>> Like we said, anywhere from 8 to 10 inches is the sweet spot for mounting those plugs. We'll drill a pilot hole to get things started. Then come in with the big boy to make room for that bung. [ drill humming ]
(Joe)>> A little filing will clean up the burrs.
(Tommy)>> The next thing we're gonna do is weld in this nut or the little bung that holds the spark plug.
(Marc)>> Well I guess I'll go grab the modules.
(Tommy)>> I think I got the wrong end of the stick on this deal. Overhead welding is always fun.
(Marc)>> Not too much to be said here. Just make sure you seat it well but don't get it too hot and mess up the threads.
(Tommy)>> Next we'll mount the modules. These little things are really cool because they act like a purpose built coil that fires those spark plugs and makes the cool stuff happen. The kit comes with some self tappers but since we're going into the frame we'll drill and use some machine screws. Then run those wires. We've got our wires ran inside the cab that come from our ignition modules, and they're gonna connect right here on this middle post of the switch. Now we've got to make two more circuit connections that's gonna interrupt our signal that actually let's our engine run. [ Music ]
(Joe)>> So we'll get our coil hooked up to that switch and then install the switch itself. [ Music ] [ engine starting and revving ] [ Music ] [ engine revving ] [ Music ]
(Joe)>> Well the old banana's ready to split, so to speak. [ Music ]
(Marc)>> It's certainly not as peppy as that g-t-o but it's cool in its own right you know? [ Music ]
(Tommy)>> Like they said, it might not run with the pavement pounders of the muscle era, but this yellow machine would have been one bad momma jomma during the dawn of the hot rod era. [ Music ]
(Marc)>> And since it's got a pile of custom mods thrown at it to improve the looks and fun factor, we think that the true old school hot rodders would be proud.
(Tommy)>> It definitely doesn't drive like no sports car, but I'll bet this one's gonna stick out a lot better than some of those sports cars.
(Joe)>> Indeed it will. Yeah, you won't see yourself coming down the road in this. Overall we're gonna call this build a success. Fonzi would probably drive it anyway, and James Dean would too.
(Marc)>> Woo!
(Joe)>> Well the old girl runs good, she rides good, stops good, gotta couple of crazy passengers I'm afraid. She really looks good. The old Banana Split is finally finished, and you know what? She makes fire, I've got marshmallows, time for a farewell party.
(Tommy)>> We're gonna have the fire department here, continue melting.
(Joe)>> That's got it. I don't know if I'd eat that.
(Katie)>> Project Banana Split is a sweet custom hot rod that redefines custom cool. Remember, you can always watch our other projects here on Powernation Builds.
