Thread: 1940 Ford Pickup

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Started to make parts for the hood latch.

POOR hood fit

Navy,
Not to belabor the point, but it seems to me that the flat latch portion that has the cable release would normally be on the fixed body panel, not the moving hood. Seems to me that every latch assembly like that has the pin portion on the hood, not on the body.

Roger your right about the normal orientation, but its a mechanical thing and doesn't care where its put. I have looked at this for some time and to install it the normal way I would have to cut up the fender cross brace and do to much fabbing. It all so wouldn't allow the use of the original hood release. I also didn't want to have the release cable running in the engine bay and no handle in the cab.

Just don't forget where you put it, when you are under the hood. Could end up with a nasty goose egg.

I think that's why a lot of people use the old VW style latch unit for the compact size:
hood latch.jpg
Sounds like you've thought it through and have the fab work well planned! It'll work either way, and you've got to be aware of the pin portion either way. Looking forward to the fab process, and seeing the truck another step toward driving!

Thanks for the input Roger. I had bought an after market latch that was smaller but it was to weak IMHO. I'm using an junk yard part. Trying to get the hood and fenders and grill to line up is really a pain in the #$%#. I don't know how these truck ever rolled off the assembly line.
Have a great weekend everybody !

One step closer to ?? I got the hood cross member welded in and put the hood on the truck. Fitment is a bit better than I thought it would be, but its still way off from where it needs to be.
I need to bend the cross member in at the bottom so the hood doesn't come down on the fenders. Thinking a bit of heat on the member to aid this.

Navy, I've never done it, but seems to me that I read somewhere (likely on here....) that you set the body, mount the front clip and hood for the right fit at the cowl, then mount the fenders to match up with the hood? Bet Uncle Bob can offer some experience in the proper order to retain sanity.

Roger, I've seen it explained a few times on the HAMB as how you just described it.

More hood /front end work. Here's a couple pic's of the safety latch and hood plate/brace thingy.
I wanted to use the original safety latch because of its small size and its a 40 part.
Here's the results so far.

Looking good!

I don't envy you, Navy. I read through two different descriptions of the trials, tribulations and step-by step process of aligning the '40 front fenders and it's a chore, for sure!

Originally Posted by rspears

I don't envy you, Navy. I read through two different descriptions of the trials, tribulations and step-by step process of aligning the '40 front fenders and it's a chore, for sure!

Aligning the '37 is no cakewalk either!!!

I've had many rod builders tell me the 37-40 ford cars, and 39-42 ford trucks were nearly the hardest of any old vintage auto, to get the sheet metal fitting nice.

I read through three links on descriptions of the process, and the common thread in all of them is that you 1) align the hood with the cowl, paying attention to all the gaps, and measuring carefully to ensure that it's straight & centered; 2) align the hood to body lines, including the trim, as that's what draws the eye; and 3) then align the front fenders to the hood. One guy says that he doesn't even think about starting the hood/fenders until the door gaps are finished. I expect that a truck is a bit different from a coupe or sedan where that rear fenders are more fixed, and I've not done one before, but it seems to me that it would be pretty easy to get into a real tangle trying to align the hood to the fenders & grille, when there are so many parts of the hood alignment that are critical. Just my $0.02, and here's the links -

Street Rodder Tech Article - 1940 Ford Sheet Metal | The H.A.M.B.
1940 Ford Hood Alignment - The Ford Barn
https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/vi...=14&Topic=1512

Good luck on the process, I know you'll nail it eventually, and I'll not bother you again about the process.