Thread: going to look at a 39 and 40 ford

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Anything can be saved with enough dedication. Based on the pictures and your list of stuff, the price isn't real bad with a valid title, but if you can bargain it down do it. A few things: '39 body, but the wheels/brakes are later. The front wheels seem a little wide in the fenders, wonder if it's a '42-8 front axle? That cancer at the bottom of the drip rails isn't uncommon, but if you haven't done them before, drip rail replacement is a chore. Does it have all the trim; side, grille, hood etc.? That stuff adds up in a hurry. Which is the real problem with a torn apart car like this. If you haven't worked on them before, you don't know what to look for, it's the accumulation of the little stuff that kills ya. And it's hard to communicate years of learning in a few sentences, or even paragraphs. Like Ken and I said, the price isn't too bad considering it's a coupe (if a 4 door it wouldn't be a good deal at free), but it's not a screamin' deal either. It's kind of like one of those deals where you need two cars to make one good one the way it looks in these pictures.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Anything can be saved with enough dedication. Based on the pictures and your list of stuff, the price isn't real bad with a valid title, but if you can bargain it down do it. A few things: '39 body, but the wheels/brakes are later. The front wheels seem a little wide in the fenders, wonder if it's a '42-8 front axle? That cancer at the bottom of the drip rails isn't uncommon, but if you haven't done them before, drip rail replacement is a chore. Does it have all the trim; side, grille, hood etc.? That stuff adds up in a hurry. Which is the real problem with a torn apart car like this. If you haven't worked on them before, you don't know what to look for, it's the accumulation of the little stuff that kills ya. And it's hard to communicate years of learning in a few sentences, or even paragraphs. Like Ken and I said, the price isn't too bad considering it's a coupe (if a 4 door it wouldn't be a good deal at free), but it's not a screamin' deal either. It's kind of like one of those deals where you need two cars to make one good one the way it looks in these pictures.

Bob

I dont know how i missed this the first time. I was just looking over the post and saw it. I actually have a guy in town that all he does is work on older cars. He would be the one to fix the cancer by the drip rails. I knew the wheels were not original. The front wheels seemed a little wide to me also. I am not sure if its a different front axle or not but i will probably buy a Bolt On IFS kit. I want to keep some original aspect to it but i do not plan to build back original