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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[40FordDeluxe]

Stovens, thanks for the insight on CPP. I ordered my drop spindles from them off ebay. They were the cheapest hands down.

[40FordDeluxe]

I can't get my pics to load because they're too big I think. Dang photobucket. I'll take different ones and try tomorrow.

[40FordDeluxe]

I haven't had any issues until recently. I don't know if photobucket is changing stuff but their site has been wacked recently. I was able to get a few pics to load. They aren't the best, but pics are progress. Right?

Front clip off


Bad welds on frame boxing plates



A view of the x member, what's left.


My new valve covers!


My firewall. This was the cheapest I could find and it is really nice!


I got email confirmation that my control arms and the spindles have shipped. I put some stuff on ebay to help fund more parts for the hemi. Hopefully they bring good money.

[randyr]

Thanks for the pics, Ryan!
Looks like you might be able to clean those welds up a little with your grinder and make them look decent. That big engine is probably going to block them from view anyway!

I used one of the trans mounting kits from these guys to clean up that center section a bit. I had to modify it after I decided to go with a T5 five speed instead of the C4 automatic. page 54

They also have a replacement center x page 60 It's not tubular like the one from Summit but it's less expensive if you wanna go that route.

Hope you get your photobucket issues figured out.