1940 Ford Tudor Build Thread

[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.

[34_40]

Well it's looking great from here!

I wasn't around while you were working on it last week but I would've also suggested getting more air under the frame. So I was glad to read that you already made that decision.

[40FordDeluxe]

Yeah, I decided that once it's set, going up will be harder than adjusting for a lower ride height.

[jerry clayton]

You are going to raise the upper left bar at the rear so the end is level with housing?????

[40FordDeluxe]

You are going to raise the upper left bar at the rear so the end is level with housing?????

Jerry, with the way it was in the pics, I'd have to raise the mount on the H side of the center of the rear end so it would be the same height as the LH mount. I can't put the mounts in the same spot of the housing due to the offset in the housing for the carrier center section.


I didn't get anything major done on it this weekend. I purchased a straight truck box for storage, so work on the 40 is on a stand still for now. I'm picking up the pieces and putting it in storage for now. I have some out side work I need to get done and I'm hoping to add another bay on before the white stuff flies. Then work on the 40 can start back up.

[40FordDeluxe]

I haven't made any progress on the car. But I did move the frame on Sunday, and I figured I need to start pricing things to rebuild the engine. That led me to re-evaluating my entire game plan. Every fall for the past 2 at least, I've been saying, "I'll get the car done enough to drive by summer." Every winter I buy parts and things come up. Well, this spring we are going to start the first house buying process. I have a big plan to get all the vehicles I have mobile on their own before this if possible. I've been buying all the fancy things I think my 72 needs and now I've came to a realization. If I continue dumping boat loads of cash in the 72, nothing else will et done. Right now, my mind set is to forget puting turbos on the 40. I won't rebuild the engine this year. I'll reseal it and put the oil system parts it needs to run the new filter set up, get an aluminum intake, and just get what it needs to run and drive. It's still a big list, but nearly as bad with a hemi rebuild. That will save $3000 minimum for now. I can concentrate on that if an issue arises in the engine, or I just do it. Well, there is the grand plan today. We'll see how it plays out. Haha

[Scooting]

Ryan, I agree with you on getting the Hemi in and just running. The effort you use on getting it mounted, body back on frame, and it running is not a duplicate of effort if you elect to rebuild the motor. It sure is inspiring if you can just drive the car around some and get that good old hot rod feeling back in your shoes. Go for it, you can always make more power. If you do, you will also have a good solid car to compare the power change and output to. Rooting for you!

[40FordDeluxe]

Thanks sir. A few of my buddies are trying to get me to just cram an LS in it. For the cost it is intriguing. But, I have all this invested in the Hemi. And the Hemi trumps an LS in cool factor.

[34_40]

Not that it matters but I agree with your decisions. Getting the car driveable will be a milestone in itself after all the frame fixing that you've already done. And then there's the corvette and I think you had 2 or 3 other projects going on at the same time.?.?.?

Simple and achievable will work bet for now. imho.. 8-)

[40FordDeluxe]

Yeah, there are a bunch of projects going on. That doesn't help. Someday maybe I can control that? I don't know. This winter I want to concentrate on the 72, and 40. I was going to build a 72 Suburban for a DD but I think that may wait. I will at some point do some body work to the 95 and it will be my DD hopefully sooner than later.