1940 Ford Tudor Build Thread

[40FordDeluxe]

I'm not sure why wheel stands didn't register with me before....... Most you pull its use them and it really is a great idea for them. They have lots of junk wheels to choose from.

[shine]

i had a car fall on me once many years ago. if it had not been raised up to clear big tires i would likely not be here. i even had a block of cedar that always went under with me. thicker than me .

[firebird77clone]

I cracked a cinder block once. I'll still use them (last resort) but i'm more careful. I cushion the cinder block with plywood on top and bottom, with the block positioned for best strength.

[Rrumbler]

When I was in high school, I helped in the rescue of a guy who had been trapped by a fallen car; he survived, but was basically an invalid after that. That taught me a sound lesson where raising and getting under cars and trucks was concerned. In the small town we lived in, the car guys had a sharing system where we shared stuff around as needed, and "wheel stands" were one of the items we shared. One of the guys owned the wrecking yard, so we had easy access to scrap wheels to use for stands. In later years, I had access to a lot of scrap packing lumber from heavy cable reels and other stuff in the power industry, and made up a bunch of wooden "plates" from 2 x 6 boards, three of them going across in one direction, and three in the other, screwed together; they came out to about sixteen inches square and three and a half to four inches thick. I just stacked as many as I needed where I needed them; they were very stable and versatile, and they stacked in the corner behind the garage door spring and hinge, which is often dead space, when I didn't need them. I had enough to stack almost to the joists for the floor above.

[40FordDeluxe]

Life has sure been eating up my spare time but I am still working on it. I almost have my lower trans mount all wrapped up. Hopefully I can get to air bag mounting this weekend. This pic is the start of the lower mount. I used 1/4" so I can remove some material around the mount to reduce weight but keep strength. I had to poke the mount through the plate as I'm trying to keep things as high up as I can to avoid collisions with drive way approaches and speed bumps.

[34_40]

Getting close to a fire-up I'm thinking! LOL..

[40FordDeluxe]

Getting close to a fire-up I'm thinking! LOL..

I wish.......



There's still a lot before that can happen. Since Chrysler was so kind to use the torque converter to mount the ring gear to, I won't be able to fire the engine until the trans is rebuilt. I decided to have my Dad do that for me. I wanted to do it myself but time is running out. Once I get the rear air bag mounts installed and the drive shaft made, the trans will come out and go to the shop.

I also still need to place a large $$$ small quantity order with Hot Heads before I can do the stuff to the engine I want to. But hey, I guess it is getting closer.

[34_40]

Buzz Killer!

[Matthyj]

I wish.......
I also still need to place a large $$$ small quantity order with Hot Heads before I can do the stuff to the engine I want to. But hey, I guess it is getting closer.

That is the story of a Hemi! I must say you get great parts that fit and USA made though there is nothing cheap, which you can't always say with other motors, I don't think it would be near as easy if we didn't have Hot Heads, thank goodness they are around

[40FordDeluxe]

I finally got the X brace center done which serves as the cross member/trans mount. I still have to drill 2 holes in it once I cut off my braces under the frame that I put on when I cut out all of the old stuff. I'll get an installed pic tomorrow.

[Hotrod46]

40, you're probably already finished with this, but I have a suggestion. When I build a transmission crossmember, I will add a couple of shims under the rubber mount. This way, if I need to adjust driveline angle, I can remove a shim or two. You can always add shims to go up, but sometimes it's hard to go down.

[40FordDeluxe]

40, you're probably already finished with this, but I have a suggestion. When I build a transmission crossmember, I will add a couple of shims under the rubber mount. This way, if I need to adjust driveline angle, I can remove a shim or two. You can always add shims to go up, but sometimes it's hard to go down.

Yeah, it is already done and that is a good idea. In the future I might incorporate that into the build.

It is bolted on and the trans is bolted to the frame. This is the first time in 6 years an engine and trans have been bolted to the car without anything supporting one or the other. Next I think I'll tackle a brake pedal and exhaust trying to occupy the same area.

[40FordDeluxe]

It's starting to feel like I'm making progress now. I got my brake pedal bracket made and tacked on the frame. I will have to add gussets to it later. Due to my X member, I couldn't put it in the factory area. This doesn't bother me. With the recessed firewall the throttle pedal would be farther back so moving the pedals over to the left gains me some foot room. I may still have to modify the brake pedal to get enough room in there. I'll deal wit that when I have a seat in it again.

I also got my cross braces cut off so now I can finish drilling my holes for my X member center plate. I started routing my exhaust. Ideally i didn't want to go under the the front portion of the X member. I wanted to cut the tubes and put a round pipe in there then run the exhaust through the pipe. Due to time constraints, I'm doing it this way. The exhaust is a little lower than the front cross member any way due to the length of the headers. Maybe a 1/4". So I'm living with it. Hopefully by next week I can have the exhaust ran and figure out if I want to use my vac booster or go with the hydraboost.

[Mike P]

Nice progress. A lot of people just don't realize the amount of time it take to get all the little details done.


.

[Hotrod46]

Looking very good.

Those dang Ford X-members sure get in the way, don't they. The 46 is bigger, but still tight. My exhaust is under the chassis too. I didn't have the ability at the time to run it myself and couldn't find a shop that would run it the way I wanted. Been on there for 20 years, but I intend to change that when the Healey is done.

A lot of people just don't realize the amount of time it take to get all the little details done.

Absolutely right! It really doesn't take long to get one up on wheels, but turning it into a real driveable car seems to take forever.