1940 Ford Tudor Build Thread

[M.T.]

Hey at least they didn't try to hide it with Bondo... Personally I don't think it is the arc welding machines that were the problem... It's the lack of skill by the yahoo that held the stinger in his hand and called himself a welder. I've seen some really nice repairs with nothing but old school stick welders...

[40FordDeluxe]

Hey at least they didn't try to hide it with Bondo... Personally I don't think it is the arc welding machines that were the problem... It's the lack of skill by the yahoo that held the stinger in his hand and called himself a welder. I've seen some really nice repairs with nothing but old school stick welders...

Ya just had to go there didn't you? I haven't started any paint removal on the body yet. But, because of what you just said, I will probably just repair what little needs done to make it a nice driver, and worry about the rest later. I'm hoping the guys who did the body actually did nice work. It's been roughly 15 years since it was painted and it still looks pretty good. Here's to positive thinking.

[M.T.]

I know of guys that have had their body wok done in Mexico. They are just flat beautiful for the first 6 Months or so it takes abou that long for all the body panels to settle in and start moving around. I know a guy who had his 30 tudor sedan done there and every body seam i n the roof and down the back has actually cracked and it flexes as he drives it. But he did save about $2000.00 I'm sure yours will be just fine. Put it together and and enjoy the darn thing. Wish I would of about 20 years ago! LOL

[40FordDeluxe]

I got some more work done on the frame. I pretty much have the rear third of the bottom of the RH rail done. I have the side to finish on it. I welded the bottom of the LH rail and need to finish a few more places and then grind it, then finish grind it all.




Here's the repair of the bottom frame flange where some one notched the outer rail but left the inner? So odd.



It's starting to look like more than a hacked erector set now.

[34_40]

Looking good there Ryan.. You're on your way now.

[40FordDeluxe]

I managed to get more done on the frame on Saturday morning. I only have a small area of the bottom of the RH frame rail to finish welding. I ran out of gas for the welder or I would have finished it up. Either way I will have to finish the spots under my braces after I cut them off.




My youngest brother helped me flip the frame over. You can see his arm and thumb in the above pic. Next step is to hack the leaf spring perches off the 9", and get the frame at ride height. Then mock up the triangulated 4 link at tack it in place.






Once the rear suspension is in place, we'll set the body back on the frame and I will have to cut off the hacked MII and rebuild the front frame rails. Then it will be time for the new cross member. My new front wheels and cross member have arrived too. Now I need to decide on a front tire so I can try to have 2 front tires to use in mocking up the front end.

[40FordDeluxe]

Time for shiny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided on some 205/65R15's for mock up. I scored these off CL and we'll see how they look on the car fitment wise when some bigger pieces are back on the chassis.

[40FordDeluxe]

Today I drilled my frame and bolted the running boards back on. We set the frame on the floor just because.



I also got the old leaf spring perches cut off. I have to go get more grinding wheels and I can clean the slag off and start mock up on the rear suspension.

[vara4]

Well at least your welding seems to be a lot better then the guy who was welding on it before you got it.
HE! HE! HE!
Kurt

[cffisher]

Don't take much to get better than what they did. Looks like he missed some too.
LOL

[40FordDeluxe]

They for sure missed areas. I'd hate to see if any of them actually built an entire car.

[40FordDeluxe]

I'm getting excited. This car might start looking like a car again instead of a heap of scattered pieces.

Today I got the frame leveled out at a height I feel should be okay to drive around in. I keep thinking it needs to be lower, but I want to set it at a conservative level so I'm not ripping off parts. The front crossmember right now is 5 3/8" off the ground. The front of the running board is 4.5" and the rear is 6.5". These may not be perfect measurements because my fenders and body aren't on to help support the ends of the boards. It is a starting point though.




Rear of frame



Front of frame



Trying to give different angles to capture the height. My shop floor is low on the RH side of the car.





Now on to rear end mock up.





Now I have to install my old rear wheels and tires to see where the rear axle height is so I can see how far I will have to notch the frame to give plenty of clearance.

I'm trying to get an idea of how much upstroke the rear suspension will have. Does 3-4" of clearance sound like plenty?

[Scooting]

Ryan, you got me curious. I measured from the floor to the front and rear of the running boards - both about 7". The chin under the grille is around 5.5-6 (I did not have room to crawl under for a good measurement). My 40's chin has a lot of scratch marks from kissing parking curbs. It is an awful feeling to pull in somewhere and hear this screech and grinding sound. As low as you have the front set, you are going to have to be real careful of even the slow-down bumps in the roads and heaven help you on the wrong driveway. I suggest you talk to a few other 40 owners and see what they measure out. (photo taken in Mid Colorado with hail storm and flooding in Aug.) I have a lot more clearance than you are considering. You are tilting the front down a lot with those measurements.

[40FordDeluxe]

Scooting, thanks. Yeah, I wish I would have measured this stuff before I removed my small block out. My car sat nose down severly before. I mean why wouldn't it? It had original MII or Pinto coil springs with 2 sets of spacers in them per side. My grill chin got smashed in Cedar Rapids Iowa in a severly high crowned intersecton. Not to mention I scraped some curbs or parking spot markers with it on occasion. From what I remember of my car, it sat like yours does except maybe a little higher in the rear. For now I'm just going to tack my brackets to the frame so if I have to reposition them after the front suspension is on, I can. My front cross member height is unknown at this point too. The welder series one I got, I can place the cross member at any height I want. My base line is no where and it is a little nerve racking. And I guess if worst comes to worst, I can add a little more air to the front bags to bring it up. I can't believe it's almost been 3yrs since I tore this car apart!

[40FordDeluxe]

I've been doing some research trying to make sure I can set up my triangulated 4 link and have it work and drive as nice as I can the first time. I think I'm going to raise my frame a little bit to help keep from destroying the front sheet metal and then get everything set in place and tack it all.

I have the uppers in an area I believe that is close right now. The RH upper mount on the axle housing needs to be taller to match the LH side. I will have to make new tabs for this. The RH lower bar can't go on right now because I need to cut off my brace and put another on so I can get the suspension bracket on. This is just mocking up trying to get an idea and make sure everything is correct. There seems to be so many diferent opinions on which angles for which bars work the best. It can be very difficult to wade through it. My buddy has a very good suspension book and I have been reading the sections on it about triangulated rear suspensions and I think I've got it figured out now.