Thread: 40 ford gets a new mill!

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Perhaps you already know this, but the "trick" to getting the front sheet metal to line up well on a '39/40 is to hang the hood first and then bring the other pieces up to proper alignment around it.

It seems the way of all improvement projects, in order to do the original idea, you end up having to do a handful of other niggling things. My bride calls it "...the project, before the project, before the project....". In the end, if done well, it improves the whole experience, even with the occasional exasperation.

Bob is right, the '40 is very difficult to get right as the sheetmetal is kinda daisy-chained out from the cowl. The big problem with that is every time somebody stuffs a different engine in it they whack out more of the inner fender sheetmetal and that screws the core support location. By doing what Bob suggests the hood will locate the core support and you then work back to the cowl.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Perhaps you already know this, but the "trick" to getting the front sheet metal to line up well on a '39/40 is to hang the hood first and then bring the other pieces up to proper alignment around it.

It seems the way of all improvement projects, in order to do the original idea, you end up having to do a handful of other niggling things. My bride calls it "...the project, before the project, before the project....". In the end, if done well, it improves the whole experience, even with the occasional exasperation.

Thanks for the tip and info. My 40 is missing the v shaped cross bar, and the front end sheet metal was fitted very poor. I'm going to do my best to get it right. I hate to steer this thread off, but do you have any thoughts on why you see a lot of 39/40 sedan LH doors sticking out at the bottom?