1940 Ford Tudor Build Thread

[bluestang67]

Yeah the clock looks in the 3 inch range would bet the gauges are 5 inch easy . I have the pic of mine applied to a section of brain who can remember LOL .

b

[40FordDeluxe]

Well guys, no progress to report yet. I've been working on a 1988 suburban that I'm swapping a 5.9 cummins in. Also my wife's daily driver crapped out so I had to try and get our 90 burb running that I just got a couple of weeks ago. Too much fun!

[40FordDeluxe]

Still no progress other than getting parts in and trying to figure out where to spend the money. :lol: I was going to order a speedway motors trans cross member until they said they wanted $110 to ship it. By the time I purchase a new MII cross member and that cross member, I'll be in the $1200 range. I think I will repair mine for now, and then later on purchase a fat man chassis or similar. Who knows. Today I power washed my 46rh and am getting ready to order a fire wall. The tranny should be getting rebuilt in the next couple of weeks. I have a couple customer trucks to get done and then I plan on getting at this thing. I want to drive this thing this year!

[40FordDeluxe]

I ordered some parts today for the old girl. It's amazing what these projects will soak up. LOL I got a 5" recessed fire wall, front boxing plates, chrome valve covers for the 354, a fuel pump block off plate for it, and that's about it.

[40FordDeluxe]

Ok guys, finally a little progress. I removed the RH front fender and grill the other day. I wanted to see what kind of brakes were on the front end for sure. They are just stockers as I figured. I ordered 5/8" narrowed tubular control arms and 2" drop spindles for the front end. My chrome valve covers and fire wall arrived. They look sweet! Now to remove the LH fender and find time to start reworking the crappy welds on the boxing plates on the frame. Then I'll remove the SBC mounting points, and think about starting on my fire wall.

A couple of questions for you guys.

1. I'm assuming the whole dash will unbolt from the body? I haven't looked into it yet. I might try it this weekend.

2. What is a good big brake kit for a budget type project? I don't want to be spending $500 on front rotors and brackets. Do you guys have any suggestions?

I'll get some pics taken tomorrow and post them up.

[40FordDeluxe]

Have any of you guys seen these installed or used them before? I'm thinking abou getting one for my dash. It looks like it'll be a good thing to install now while the dash will be out for the fire wall install.

INTRO - Hot Rods by Dean

[randyr]

Ok guys, finally a little progress. I removed the RH front fender and grill the other day. I wanted to see what kind of brakes were on the front end for sure. They are just stockers as I figured. I ordered 5/8" narrowed tubular control arms and 2" drop spindles for the front end. My chrome valve covers and fire wall arrived. They look sweet! Now to remove the LH fender and find time to start reworking the crappy welds on the boxing plates on the frame. Then I'll remove the SBC mounting points, and think about starting on my fire wall.

A couple of questions for you guys.

1. I'm assuming the whole dash will unbolt from the body? I haven't looked into it yet. I might try it this weekend.

2. What is a good big brake kit for a budget type project? I don't want to be spending $500 on front rotors and brackets. Do you guys have any suggestions?

I'll get some pics taken tomorrow and post them up.

Yes, the dash unbolts.
I got one of these disc brake kits on ebay. MUSTANG II ~ 2 11" ROTOR FORD CAR TRUCK DISC BRAKE CONVERSION KIT - NO SPINDLE | eBay
At the time, they also had a "Make Offer" button. It was $240 Buy It Now. I offered $200 and they accepted. The only downside that I've found is it doesn't come with dust shields.

Where did you order your tubular control arms from?

[40FordDeluxe]

Yes, the dash unbolts.
I got one of these disc brake kits on ebay. At the time, they also had a "Make Offer" button. It was $240 Buy It Now. I offered $200 and they accepted. The only downside that I've found is it doesn't come with dust shields.

Where did you order your tubular control arms from?

Thanks Randy. I got the control arms from here:
Ford Mustang 2 II Tubular Control Arms Lower And Narrow Upper Coil Springs Black | eBay

I was going to get them from Gear Heads, but they wanted me to wait out the auction, and I would have had to pay tax. So I went with these guys. I got my spindles from CPP. I hope that wasn't a bad idea. I've heard many horror stories about their poor customer service.

[randyr]

Thanks Randy. I got the control arms from here:
Ford Mustang 2 II Tubular Control Arms Lower And Narrow Upper Coil Springs Black | eBay

I was going to get them from Gear Heads, but they wanted me to wait out the auction, and I would have had to pay tax. So I went with these guys. I got my spindles from CPP. I hope that wasn't a bad idea. I've heard many horror stories about their poor customer service.

Doesn't your car also have an OEM Mustang II crossmember like mine? If so, do you think it's strong enough to support that style of lower control arm without a strut rod? I always assumed if I went tubular on the bottom I would have to go with something like this that still uses the strut rod. Heidts Lower Tubular Control Arms, Mustang II Coilover | eBay

As for CPP, I went to an open house/car show/tour of their facility a few months ago. I've never bought anything from them but was impressed with their operation. Many of the parts (mostly Chevy) they design & make themselves. They also carry parts from TCI and various other vendors, rather than try to make their own version of everything that's already saturated in the market.

[40FordDeluxe]

Doesn't your car also have an OEM Mustang II crossmember like mine? If so, do you think it's strong enough to support that style of lower control arm without a strut rod? I always assumed if I went tubular on the bottom I would have to go with something like this that still uses the strut rod. As for CPP, I went to an open house/car show/tour of their facility a few months ago. I've never bought anything from them but was impressed with their operation. Many of the parts (mostly Chevy) they design & make themselves. They also carry parts from TCI and various other vendors, rather than try to make their own version of everything that's already saturated in the market.

The Gear heads arms come with a triangular shape gusset that you must weld in. My plan is to weld in a couple of gussets on each side of the cross member to try and help strengthen it up. I also thought about retaining the strut rods, but I don't think I'll need them. Some places say you don't need the gussets, but I'm not going to chance it.

[randyr]

The Gear heads arms come with a triangular shape gusset that you must weld in. My plan is to weld in a couple of gussets on each side of the cross member to try and help strengthen it up. I also thought about retaining the strut rods, but I don't think I'll need them. Some places say you don't need the gussets, but I'm not going to chance it.

Yes, I'm aware of the gusset but the metal used on the factory crossmember is a lot thinner than most of the aftermarket crossmembers. I've just never been that confident it could handle the new stresses put on it in that location, especially if you're going with a heavier engine. When mine was initially installed back in the day, I even had problems with the strut rods cracking the frame. A guy beefed it up with some re-enforcement plate, which is not pretty but hasn't been a problem since.

At any rate, I'm not saying it won't work. I hope it does! But I'm just suggesting some things to look out for that you may or may not have thought of.
Looking forward to some more pics!

[40FordDeluxe]

Yes, I'm aware of the gusset but the metal used on the factory crossmember is a lot thinner than most of the aftermarket crossmembers. I've just never been that confident it could handle the new stresses put on it in that location, especially if you're going with a heavier engine. When mine was initially installed back in the day, I even had problems with the strut rods cracking the frame. A guy beefed it up with some re-enforcement plate, which is not pretty but hasn't been a problem since.

At any rate, I'm not saying it won't work. I hope it does! But I'm just suggesting some things to look out for that you may or may not have thought of.
Looking forward to some more pics!

Randy, no hurt feelings here. Any info or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I definitely do not know it all and some of this is grey area to me. You're probably right about the thinner metal and cracking. I wonder if it would help if I plated the front and rear of the cross member? Or I guess if I have to do that, install a new MII cross member.

[randyr]

Randy, no hurt feelings here. Any info or suggestions are greatly appreciated. I definitely do not know it all and some of this is grey area to me. You're probably right about the thinner metal and cracking. I wonder if it would help if I plated the front and rear of the cross member? Or I guess if I have to do that, install a new MII cross member.

Definitely a quandry! One thing always leads to 1000 more!!!

To be honest, I don't know enough about suspension engineering to tell what kind of stress these original crossmembers can take in that area. If you went with a re-enforcement plate across the whole thing between the A-arm shafts, would that be good? I don't know. But there is a point where the amount of labor required to make the old thing work sure makes the new thing look pretty good!

Unfortunately, because if the way mine was installed, cutting the old one out wouldn't be so easy. I would have to do some rehab on the frame rails before installing a new aftermarket crossmember.

[40FordDeluxe]

Definitely a quandry! One thing always leads to 1000 more!!!

To be honest, I don't know enough about suspension engineering to tell what kind of stress these original crossmembers can take in that area. If you went with a re-enforcement plate across the whole thing between the A-arm shafts, would that be good? I don't know. But there is a point where the amount of labor required to make the old thing work sure makes the new thing look pretty good!

Unfortunately, because if the way mine was installed, cutting the old one out wouldn't be so easy. I would have to do some rehab on the frame rails before installing a new aftermarket crossmember.

That's the problem with mine too. I'm going to try to get a hold of a chassis guy I know and see what he thinks. It's always some thing.

[stovens]

I've had good luck with CPP. My truck came with a new unused front disc brake conversion kit from them. After calling the help line, and firing digital photos back and forth, they were able to figure out the wrong brackets were in the kit. They exchanged them for free, even though I didn't buy the kit from them. I've bought gas tanks, engine and tranny mounts from them all with great service. Check Ebay out before buying online from them, as they often sell the same thing for less, with reduced shipping, if your lucky. Their phone lines are often busy, so I guess from that standpoint their customer service could be a problem, but I have always got great help, once connecting with a real person. I drove to their store in So Cal once, it's got a tiny showroom, with about 2-3 people manning the phones, which never stopped ringing while I was there. They're just busy!
Sacramento Vintage Ford is even better for getting help! Been there too, the store looks like a FORD lover's museum! Even has a coffee shop/soda fountain! They also might have what you need.