1940 Ford Deluxe 2 Door Sedan Rebuild

[Dieselwrencher]

This morning I spent all morning fixing my upper link mounts. They are parallel to the ground now and it should be good to go now. I also got one bump stop mount made and installed. I started making the bracing I'm using to tie the bridge pieces together. I decided to put the car's name in the lower piece so you can see it from below. It's just cut out rough with the plaz. Boy I sure I had a water jet.

[gigamanx]

Looking good. Took me a while to get the triangulated 4 link working. I had to do it twice after reading up and using a 4 link calculator to figure out the angles. As I understand it, the bars level to the ground is a good cruising position. There are adjustments for track days or drag racers, but I knew my 1930 Ford would just be a cruiser.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work. That is sort of what I had planned to make for the 8.8 but the whole having to ut the floor out more was eating at me. I did set my bars to be level at ride height. Like you, I had to do the placing and setup a couple different times. But I want it to be right and ride nice. I'm still questioning why I didn't just leave the parallel leaf springs and keep it simple.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work. That is sort of what I had planned to make for the 8.8 but the whole having to ut the floor out more was eating at me. I did set my bars to be level at ride height. Like you, I had to do the placing and setup a couple different times. But I want it to be right and ride nice. I'm still questioning why I didn't just leave the parallel leaf springs and keep it simple.

oh, I feel ya there. I've lost almost the entire space behind the bucket seats just to fit suspension in. Alternatively, I could have made my car 18" off the ground and fit everything, but that wouldn't be cool. Considered a ladder bar setup. Someone else suggested a Watts link. Parallel 4 link was impossible as the upper links would end up right where the seats are.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

oh, I feel ya there. I've lost almost the entire space behind the bucket seats just to fit suspension in. Alternatively, I could have made my car 18" off the ground and fit everything, but that wouldn't be cool. Considered a ladder bar setup. Someone else suggested a Watts link. Parallel 4 link was impossible as the upper links would end up right where the seats are.

I understand that. I was trying to keep as much trunk and seat space as I could as well. I wanted this thing as low as I could go without building a tube chassis or channeling the body.

I ran out of welding wire this morning so I didn't get much accomplished. Plus I didn't have the extra time.

[cru_zn_29]

Hi
I just finished reading about your 40 ford looking good. You have put a lot of time in setting your suspension. I started working on my 40 delivery in 2005 But it has been put on hold too many times. I Hope to finish the paint this week so i can put the body back on the frame.
Kenny

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by cru_zn_29

Hi
I just finished reading about your 40 ford looking good. You have put a lot of time in setting your suspension. I started working on my 40 delivery in 2005 But it has been put on hold too many times. I Hope to finish the paint this week so i can put the body back on the frame.
Kenny

Kenny, that is a very nice 40 you have! Mine has been on hold many times as well. This year is the year. It's close but has so much that needs to be finished on it. I guess I'm due for an update here.

[Dieselwrencher]

I got a different pair of rotors and they showed up and they fit! I might have to have a shim made to help center them but I don't think that will be a big problem. I haven't had much free time to work on it but I got the LH shock mount in and started filling in the pieces. I wish I would have made it one piece now but I wanted to tie the seams into each bar behind it. No one will ever see it when the floor is over it any way so I don't know why I am worrying.

[Dieselwrencher]

I've been super busy lately with everything going on. I did manage to get some good progress made on the 40. The last few weeks winter appeared and that killed my progress.

I used 16ga to make the new back seat area. I was going to put beads in it but the bead roller I have wasn't up to the task. Instead I have some braces to put under the back seat. These are also going to be supports for seat belts to tie into.

I got all the rear suspension bridge done and I just have to finish weld things underneath. I also fixed my upper link mounts on the rear end housing. They were angled before and now are parallel with the rest of the joints.

[Dieselwrencher]

I was trying to get it to a point so I could take it to our town's car show but that didn't happen. I've been trying to get the body closed back up so I can put it back in storage as the customer work load is pretty high.

I still hadn't finished the toe board area from when I replaced the fire wall. I welded the inside of the firewall to the cowl on the inside and made some pieces to tie the floor and firewall back in. I also installed the body bushings I didn't have in and bolted them all down. I had to remove the front body bushings to install the floor pieces. Now I have the doors shutting like they were before I tore the car apart. Not great but they shut and latch. I think I'm going to have to cut the hinges off the a pillar to get them better as the hinges are welded to the a pillars.

Since home schooling is in session Clint has been coming out helping in the garage. First I had him work on cleaning up the engine some more because I was going to put some color on it. Then I showed him how to sand and he has been sanding where he can. I had him using blocks but they hurt his hands. I kept telling him it's character building.

[Dieselwrencher]

It was nice to see the front clip back on this thing. I've moved the fenders many times and it is nerve wracking each time trying not to tear them up. My oldest child, Izzy loves this car and was glad to finally be able to set in it again.

[Dieselwrencher]

I really can't wait to get this car operational again. It's starting to look like I was hoping it would. I ordered some fake plates while I wait for the personalized Iowa plates. Hopefully I get my first choice.

[Ironhorse]

Ryan, just read thru the three pages of this thread, VERY IMPRESSED with the back story and the work you have done. So great to have it back in the family I'm sure! I can see a lot of hours and head scratchin' over the time period. Keep it up, love the look of it.

[Dieselwrencher]

I had been searching for a while to figure out where Uncle Jerry's original license plates went. No one knew or remembered them the last 10 years. Last summer I ran into Aunt Nancy's son Mike and I drilled him about them. He claimed he didn't have them but I know they raided their house. That's how I got Uncle Jerry's gas pump.

One day I just decided to call Jerry's old friend Gene to ask him where the rear license plate was at on Sooner. Gene is the man who spear headed the "restoration" of Sooner in the late 90s. For some reason I remember it being above the tail light on the RH fender but Gene says it was always on the trunk lid. So I asked him if he knew where the original plates were and he said he couldn't remember who ended up with them. He called me back in a little while and said, "Did you mean the FSBS plates?" I said yes of course. He laughed and said he knew where 1 was but couldn't remember who had the other.

He told me back in the day Gene and 3 others started a club/group and they always cruised together etc. These 4 guys all had black sedans. One thing lead to another and they called themselves the FSBS gang. Friendly strangers in a black sedan. Not long after that my uncle joined and was always one of the main members. He was a long time member of the ISRA too. Gene said over the years the name got different meanings too. I knew of a couple of them. Full of *hit and bull *hit, Fat slob in a black sled, Fn stupid bastard in a laid out sled, and some others I don't remember. He said the group came up with the name from an old song and I can not remember the name of it or the artist.

Then he shut the door that led you into his paint booth. This door is never closed so I never knew Sooner's original plate was hiding there. He said he has a lot of sentimental value in that plate so you can have it when I kick the bucket. I'll put your name on it. Well, at least I got to see it and I know where it is at. Jerry's license plate frame is still with it too. I showed him pics of the car now and he loves it. I'm hoping that I can drive it over there next spring and maybe he'll feel bad enough to hand over the plate. :LOL:

Iowa recently came out with black and white plates that are special request. I put in for FSBS so hopefully I get it. Then at least it will be one more step to how it used to be.

Here are some pics Gene has on his shop wall of Sooner after they finished it in around 01. He said he wished they would have done some stuff differently. I thanked him for just doing it but then told him he could have saved me a lot of money and head ache if he wouldn't have. I could have just got it from my aunt and carried on. He just laughed. :LOL:

The next to last pic is Gene with his last project he says he's going to do. He did sell Later before Covid came about. He has a 40 standard project I'd like to buy for my daughter but I'm a little shy on the bank account for it. :LOL:

The last pic are the seats back in the 40. I made some quick brackets out of some 1x2 but might change them out for something else.

[Dieselwrencher]

Another thing I have been working on is the air cleaner. I originally made a lower but I didn't like how un even it was. I adopted a trick from Robert, but only half way the first time. I only used one buck before. This time I made 2 bucks and sandwiched the 16ga in between them. I also screwed it all together. This one is much nicer. It's more consistent, flat, and thicker.

I cut out the centers of 2 air cleaner lids. One is crowned and one is flat so it is eating at me to find another crowned or flat one to make them the same. OCD?

Currently I have the air cleaner centered with the body and some what centered over the engine. I'm still having bad thoughts of adapting that TA scoop to the top of it and have it go through the hood.....

Here is the song that gave the guys the FSBS theme song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0EL7fjfeE8

[Dieselwrencher]

This weekend I cleaned out my lawn shed (crap collector) so I could actually put stuff away and try to organize. I was trying to get the kids's mack power wheel out of the garage truth be told.

While rearranging, I found the TA scoop I got from my cousin last year. The bad ideas were flowing and I decided to set it on my air cleaner top. Hmmm.

At this point I thought, no the box the air filter would have to set in would have to be huge and it would look stupid. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to see how big this thing really would be. Saturday night at 11:30 I went out and got out the tape measure. By my measurements the air filter enclosure would only be about 5" tall and put the scoop just below the bottom of the hood. Now I'm thinking this wouldn't be so bad. I think it would look even more cool if the scoop was turned around facing forward. When I was a kid I had a lego car I made that was Uncle Jerry's car. It had a scoop through the hood as well. Now maybe it will become reality?
On Sunday I was working outside and I had a vision. Since I'm bringing back the whole FSBS thing with this car, how cool would it be to have the original members names painted on the air cleaner housing? Some of the guys are probably still around or at least their family members might be going to rod shows etc. That is my plan currently.

Last week I reached out to the Iowa Street Road Assoc. to see if I could get any info they may have on how long my Uncle was a member etc. I haven't heard anything back yet. We'll see. I might just have to ask Gene and see what he can remember. I found an ISRA member pin, and a couple of cups my Aunt gave me before she passed away a few years ago. I'm seriously thinking about epoxying them to the vintage cooler I got to make a battery box for the trunk. Make it like a display. Or maybe I'll get an old food serving tray and place it on the side window like an old burger joint would have done?

I picked up a used hood off of FB marketplace. I got the new to me hood scrubbed and got all the bird crap off it. I dropped it off to be media blasted so I can seal and prime it and begin it's demise. Here's another low 40 to help my inspiration. This one has a V butt windshield, which I wanted. I'm not sure now. I like that chrome divider but I like the crisp corner on the v butt too. His has louvers in the hood too. Nice touches IMO.

[Dieselwrencher]

I haven't heard anything on the hood yet, but in a few days I will have a big surprise for everyone on here! The 40 is getting a cool addition.

In the mean time, I finally got something back to the car that never should have left it. The license plates. It's legit now.

I also had a local pin striper/artist draw me a rendering of the car. I'm going to have him do another with no bumpers and change the flames a little. He sure does great work!!!

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Ryan, just read thru the three pages of this thread, VERY IMPRESSED with the back story and the work you have done. So great to have it back in the family I'm sure! I can see a lot of hours and head scratchin' over the time period. Keep it up, love the look of it.

Thank you sir! It definitely is great to have it back in the family! It'll be nice to get it to a point where I can remember the car the way it was and for the guy that owned it and loved it for many years.

[Dieselwrencher]

3 weeks ago I was following a Make it Run project Steve Darnell was doing on Instagram. I follow his cousin Merlin Johnson and Merlin said that he was heading to Steve's so they could run up to Utah and pick up this cool low mileage 67 C30 camper. Well I'm a sucker for 67-72 chevy trucks, and those truck campers. Then I found out they were going to give away prizes during their trip. I followed along when I could and the camper was pretty sweet too boot. So on the last day I entered a give away. You just had to tag 3 people and post it. The next day I had a notification from Welderup. I saw the notification and thought, "Huh, that's weird. Why would they want to talk to me?" It was because I won the Fitech fuel management system they gave away!!!! **):CRY:

At first I was thinking, nah, that was a fluke. I'll get a message later saying sorry there was a mistake. Nope, on Sunday Steve messaged me to get my info so the process could get started. Monday morning Fitech reached out to me and got my info so they could ship it out to me. Here's where it gets interesting. The kit was a retro LS kit that would allow you to bolt a throttle body on top of a carb manifold and run a LS with a 4L60/80E. I asked them if I could trade that for a dual quad setup and they agreed! I didn't push my luck and go for the power addder one because it was a big price gap. So now the 40 has dual quad EFI!!!!

My Tanks Inc tank will accept an electronic fuel pump so I need to get new fuel lines, and a fuel pump and the injection system will be ready to run.

[mongocanfly]

Wow...that's a lot of updating...this thing is gonna be so cool..!!

[MP&C]

That's awesome Ryan! Congrats!! Did you do the Ford script?

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Wow...that's a lot of updating...this thing is gonna be so cool..!!

Thanks Greg!

Originally Posted by MP&C

That's awesome Ryan! Congrats!! Did you do the Ford script?

Robert, thanks. No I didn't. An old friend of mine from clubhotrod actually made the panel and I just cut the panel and cut my firewall and welded it in. Sadly that man passed away last year. He was a great guy!

[youngrodder]

Great project. I'm the first to say that I'm not a Ford guy but I always liked the look of a fat fender Ford hammered on the ground...I almost bought a 48 Ford coupe for those same reasons.

Marc

[LockDoc]

-
Lookin' good Ryan. You didn't mention that you had been working on it the last time you were down.

I guess I need to update the '34 Coupe thread on here too.

Later,
LockDoc