1940 Ford Tudor Build Thread

[Dave Severson]

Position of the lower arm looks good so far, Ryan. That crossmember looks weak, going to take some good reinforcement and gusseting to make it work right! Just keep that upper arm centered in it's range of travel on the slots! Did you put an angle finder or caster/camber gauge (preferred) on the spindle to get the 5 to 7 degrees cranked into it?

I would also suggest some gussets from the crossmember to the frame as well as from the lower shaft tube to the crossmember. With the proper structuring and some good welds, it should do fine, Ryan....

[40FordDeluxe]

Position of the lower arm looks good so far, Ryan. That crossmember looks weak, going to take some good reinforcement and gusseting to make it work right! Just keep that upper arm centered in it's range of travel on the slots! Did you put an angle finder or caster/camber gauge (preferred) on the spindle to get the 5 to 7 degrees cranked into it?

I would also suggest some gussets from the crossmember to the frame as well as from the lower shaft tube to the crossmember. With the proper structuring and some good welds, it should do fine, Ryan....

Yes I did Dave. Now the other issue that was brought to my attention. Look at the top pic in post 143...... The front part of the frame is above the rear part of the cross member by a good bit. Hopefully the LH rail is the same, or maybe that is a bad pic. I'm heading over there now to look at it. I think I know why it's hacked, I mean done like that...... Instead of notching the lower portion of the frame so the rack would fit, they raised the front of the frame to make clearance. Oh, this just gets better and better..... I do plan on adding gussets every where I can. I think I'm going to make the gussets and tack them in place, then get the engine sat in position so I can try to make sure everything can fit. Then remove the engine and weld everything with the engine out.

On the bright side, I ordered a 2 1/2" exhaust kit from summit, and a new Tank Inc 16 gal gas tank. My brake kit and front brake lines are on the way too. I got my first installment from Hot Heads as well. They back ordered my carb adapter for 2 weeks. It should work out ok. I have plenty of work to do until then.

[Dave Severson]

Yes I did Dave. Now the other issue that was brought to my attention. Look at the top pic in post 143...... The front part of the frame is above the rear part of the cross member by a good bit. Hopefully the LH rail is the same, or maybe that is a bad pic. I'm heading over there now to look at it. I think I know why it's hacked, I mean done like that...... Instead of notching the lower portion of the frame so the rack would fit, they raised the front of the frame to make clearance.

Yup, the front part of the frame is way too high, puts the spring tower up too high and the anti-dive angle for the upper A-Arm is way off!!!! Going to have to do something there, too. Missed seeing that when I looked at your pics.

Hopefully this pic comes through, it's the correct set up for anti-dive angle on the upper arm. The angle of the upper arm should be about 7-10 degrees with the front of the arm higher. As long as this angle is not less then your caster angle, it works out ok.

[40FordDeluxe]

Yup, the front part of the frame is way too high, puts the spring tower up too high and the anti-dive angle for the upper A-Arm is way off!!!! Going to have to do something there, too. Missed seeing that when I looked at your pics.

I missed it too. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. I honestly am thinkng of just strengthening it and running it. Because either I: A cut the cross member out and buy a new one and try to scab the old front frame horns back on, or B start with a different/new frame. Well, this thing drove surprisingly well for all the bad crap it had going on. I think I might be able to live with the anti-dive being screwed up. The biggest complaint I had before was the bump steer. So as long as it doesn't drive worse than it did, I will probably leave it. It isn't pretty or ideal, but I think it would be a major project to correct that without at least a frame jig.................

[40FordDeluxe]

Yup, the front part of the frame is way too high, puts the spring tower up too high and the anti-dive angle for the upper A-Arm is way off!!!! Going to have to do something there, too. Missed seeing that when I looked at your pics.

Hopefully this pic comes through, it's the correct set up for anti-dive angle on the upper arm. The angle of the upper arm should be about 7-10 degrees with the front of the arm higher. As long as this angle is not less then your caster angle, it works out ok.

Thanks Dave! That helps a lot! I think I have an idea how to bring the angle down too. I can cut the upper part and cut a pie shape out of it. Bring it down to a correct angle, and weld it all up. The only way this thing has survived is the boxing plates they put on the inside are one piece. This thing may not be ideal but it'll have to work for now. I can't imagine how bad it really is if we compared stock frame measurements to what it is now. Poor dang car.

I did check the LH rail and it's the same way. So when they installed the MII, they just cut the frame off and then stuck the cross member and scabbed from there. How this car survived all this is beyond me. I bet that front end has 100,000 miles or more on it like that. I put 8000 miles on it, and my uncle drove the car daily when I was a lad.

[40FordDeluxe]

Yup, the front part of the frame is way too high, puts the spring tower up too high and the anti-dive angle for the upper A-Arm is way off!!!! Going to have to do something there, too. Missed seeing that when I looked at your pics.

Hopefully this pic comes through, it's the correct set up for anti-dive angle on the upper arm. The angle of the upper arm should be about 7-10 degrees with the front of the arm higher. As long as this angle is not less then your caster angle, it works out ok.

Dave, do you remember where you got this pic from? Thanks Ryan.

Post #146 Page 10 of this thread.

[randyr]

Yikes, Ryan, that's kinda wacky!! Sure you don't wanna consider one of these??
35 40 Ford Chassis Rat Rod Rat Rods Ford Other New Frame Custom | eBay

[40FordDeluxe]

Yikes, Ryan, that's kinda wacky!! Sure you don't wanna consider one of these??
35 40 Ford Chassis Rat Rod Rat Rods Ford Other New Frame Custom | eBay

Randy, that is the exact frame I want to buy. This fall/winter...... There's no budget for it now.......

[Mike P]

If you ordered the thin aluminum timing cover from HH you’ll end up with plenty of room between the timing cover and water pump (although you’ll lose the mounting boss for the fuel pump). The HH timing cover is designed to use with the short BB Chevy water pump and it looks like you have the long pump on the engine. It’s no big deal except the lower pulleys they sell to go with short pump and are too far in to work with LWP.

I had to use the short water pump, cover and pulleys on the 57 Plymouth to get fan clearance. On the 37 Dodge, I’m using the stock cover, factory BB LWP (which just clears the stock timing cover), and a stock BB MOPAR 4 grove lower pulley. I’ve still got to get around and figure out PS brackets for the 37.

[40FordDeluxe]

Mike, I've taken your advice and used the BBC LWP, stock timing cover, and BB Mopar 4 groove pulley. I still need to source an upper pulley, and figure PS pump and mount. Alt mounting, I'll probably do what you did too. I'll see how it fits in the car, once I get there.

[40FordDeluxe]

Today I started cleaning up the LH frame rail. I will have to live with the anti-dive angle situation. My idea to cut it and move the front down wasn't looking to be a good idea. So I decided to leave it and strengthen it every where I can. I also got the lower control arm on. I'm having the spacers cut down today, and I'll weld them in tomorrow.

[40FordDeluxe]

Today I removed the running boards and started removing the toe boards. I'm getting ready to remove the fire wall. My gas tank and exhaust showed up today too.

[34_40]

(rubbing my hands together) Woo Hoo!! Here we go!!

[rspears]

Going to have to schedule a road trip to Manhattan, KS (the Little Apple!!) so you can cruise the K-State campus with the sedan. They'll love that color in Manhattan!! Might have the college girls lined up for rides...

[40FordDeluxe]

Going to have to schedule a road trip to Manhattan, KS (the Little Apple!!) so you can cruise the K-State campus with the sedan. They'll love that color in Manhattan!! Might have the college girls lined up for rides...

Enjoy the purple, for now. It's going satin black or Gloss black before Des moines Good Guys. I'm so tired of looking at the purple now that it is fading so bad.