Projects Tony Miller's Custom 40 Ford Convertible

Im sure you will pick the right color -the car is terrific. I'm a fan of the stock type colors but that's just me. The CMG convert above is my old car-like my coupe. Looking forward to your color choice. Am gonna do another 40 coupe soon and color is always a challenge-have done several CMG and Folkstone 40's-one which we tuned up to a little more cocoa color--next one I don't know yet.

 

Rik liked the idea of chopping it in coupe form, too, and did this little fantasy:

OK for somebody else, maybe, but it's not the car I'd want.

Great tip, thanks. I like that color a lot. It's a bit too similar in character to the color on my '56, I think.

Thanks. We did sell the severed top panel to somebody repairing a damaged coupe, so nothing went to waste.

 

Sorry that we haven't anything new to show. Don is building the side window frames and associated tracks, and there really isn't anything interesting to see.

I have found a color that suits me, and I think will work very well on the car. I'm gonna keep quiet about it until it happens, though, 'cause I don't want to start another lengthy dialogue on color.

 

Sorry 50Fraud but I have to disagree. I am probably not the only guy that would be interested in seeing how Don builds those window frames and tracks.

 

I understand and agree, but there really isn't anything to see yet. I hope that within a few days, that will change.

 

Love this build! Just checking in. I just love where it's at right now. I seriously don't know how you can deal with this not being in your possession! I would go nuts!

 

I was able to score a set of aluminum 46 Ford convertible window frames a while back. These are saving a bunch of work over using real 46 Ford frames as they are steel with a thin stainless cladding which would be difficult if not impossible for me to modify. I did find some solid stainless frames that could have been modified to work but the aluminum pieces are very close to the right size and shape and the aluminum is much easier to work with than stainless.

This is a challenging task for me so, It's taking longer than I'd like. I'll report on the tracks and regulators as soon as I get it all figured out.

 

Thanks Don I look forward to you future progress reports on the window frames.

 

Progress picture:

 

Windows Bee like hard yaknow

 

The car has been thinking it was a roadster. Windows are painful.

 

Delbert Proudfit from Vancouver,Wash made a hardtop out of a 40 mercury, coupe and painted Cloud Mist Grey. And IT IS beautiful...

 

From what I have seen, YOU can do it! And thanks for continuing to share the road to success.
Keep workin'
Al

 

So, I guess we won't be seeing it at 40 Ford day tomorrow.

 

Coming along well Tony. You've got the right man on the case.

 

Sadly, no. I'm not going to go tomorrow; my interest is low at the moment.

 

I sure do. This project would not have turned out as well as it's going, if anybody else had been on the task. Kudos to Don above all, along with Ethan, Chris, Tom, Jimmy, and any others I may have missed at Hwy 99!

 

Man, thats like taking the best elements of the El Matador, shake well, and skimming off the early sixties excess. Its a completely different direction than what you went, less elegant, and much more "hot rod", but I love it. I can see it with a 6x2 olds or cad.

 

Those windows look killer!

 

Found it. That is a nice looking Merc; it undoes most of the awkwardness of the stock coupe top. I wonder how he handled the quarter windows; roll-up or slide-in:

...or a little like the Doug Rice '39, with a stance that is more hot rod than custom.

 

Yes, exactly. Not "better" or "worse" than what you did, but a totally different direction. Thats normally the case, you change just one element of a well thought out set of mods, and it changes the entire feel of the car, and takes you off in another direction. Gotta love this stuff.
And yes, that merc from WA is a knockout, I have seen that car in person.

 

Good point, there are many ways to go with the build of any car, that is what fuels my fires and makes me want to go to all of the shows I can to see what someone else has built and learn from them. If you look close at many of them you can find something that you like and a few ideas someone came up with that you hadn't thought of before.

 

Fantastic build! Keep it up!

 

Don got the top structure to this point in August, but our upholsterer asked for a number of changes. It'll be a while before we're back to this point again. You can see what we're going for, though:

 

Love it !

 

It looks amazing with its current top shape. I hope that does not really change noticeably. Getting it all right with the upholstery guy is a must.

My top hardware took a lot of time to get the fit to where I wanted it to be, and mine is almost stock. My upholstery guy is OK with the fitting I have, hope it stays that way.

 

Thanks, Russ. The top is very close in overall shape; Sid's comments had to do with perfect surfacing and edges. He said, "Make it like you're gonna paint it."

 

Tony,I like the contours of the top as is, glad to here you don't have to change the contours. So this looks like a lift off top. If so was that your plan from the beginning of the project?

 

A Carson-type top always seemed like the path of least resistance. For a while, Don was lobbying for a proper folding top, which I agree would have been very cool. Then a customer brought him a '48 convertible and asked him to chop it (preserving the folding function), and once that project was done, Don got very silent on the idea of a folding top for my car.

 

nothing wrong with a lift off top looking good cant wait to see more.