after busting my ass and being completely broke for 5 years the shop is finally starting to come into its on right. I have a good crew of guys working hard and the wife is pitching in with some of the office duties. Customers are coming in the door and we are getting getting our projects done. I guess I've been a good boy for awhile cause it seems that the Big Man upstairs has parted the clouds, shone some light, and blessed me with some free time and a little bit of money to boot. While it's there I'm gonna run with it as hard and as fast as I can and for once be able to build one for myself and the shop. I've been mulling over in my head about what to build and I orginally wanted to go with a 36-37 pontiac coupe. Really anything with the art deco styling would do and I was drawn to the custom/taildragger side of things. But, the more I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that building a truck would go faster, cost less in parts, and in my opinion be more fun to build. Now with a 40 ford I could have all the styling that is early ford and still be in a truck. The search was on.... I guess things just seem to click in place cause no sooner had I started looking, this 40 popped up on CL. I immediatly dropped everything and hit the road with the trailer behind.. This is what she looked like when we got her back to the shop. The truck was pretty much just the sheet metal and was sitting on a chevy frame. Within the next few days we had the truck apart and sent it through the blasting booth to remove all the rust and see exactly what I would be working with.
After blasting everything was coated in PPG epoxy primer. I could see that the fenders were in great shape! the hood needed only a small patch and a few pinholes filled. I wish I could say the same about the cab, running boards, and bed but oh well its just metal
Congratulations on having your shop doing good business, and having the time and $ to work on your new toy. Rarely do those two happen at the same time. I also like the idea of a cool shop truck better than a car..... Nice CL find!! That truck is CHERRY by Michigan standards, and alot of other places I bet too! I'd love to own it. James
Since the truck didn't come with a frame I made a road trip to Kansas to see PJGarst here on the HAMB and picked up a couple of 36-40 frames. If you're looking to buy anything off of him I can give you my word that he's a stand up guy. When we got there (much later than planned) he had the frames stacked and wired together on the forklift. I stripped the better of the two frames down and fixed a few spots. I also had to cut off a few brackets since the frame was a trailer at one time in its life. Into the blasting room it went and when it came out we put a coat of PPG industrial line paint on it. It's a real light cool gray with a slight blue tint. It's gonna look tits under the body. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic... This is the block I'm planning on running. 52 8ba...RK Design is going to build the motor with plenty of umph and goodies bolted on. Ron is a flathead guru and if you need a motor put together in Texas I'd highly recommend him. I went to Pate Swap meet and meet Joe (Joe's Speed Shop) and Sid (Nostalgia Sid's). I bought a 33-36 drop axle and 42-47 drop spindels from them. As always top notch stuff. I felt like a kid in heaven as I bolted the front end up. I know that this one won't drive off this time. So I have a 4'' drop 36 axle 42-47 dropped spindels 56 F100 brakes stock spring with 4 leaves removed Since I removed the top most leaf of the spring pack (it just seemed like it only added height) I had to round out the leaf that was now on top to fit all the way flush with the cross member of the frame. You can just barely see the gap. I took apart the spring and had the leaves blasted, ground smooth, and liner installed. New clamps were used and pete and jakes shackle kit keeps it bolted to the perches.
James, the shop goes up and down, but in the long run things work out. Sometimes you just got to jump out there.
Ok lets do some sheet metal work. Now the cab needed just about everything on the bottom end and some one in its life cut the floor and fire wall out. The dash has holes along with the header/visor and the pillars are peppered with pinholes also. The cabs are the same from 40 to 47 so there's plenty of them out there. I could go get another one, but what fun would that be? Here's a shot of the rust around the window visor area And another. Let's make a patch panel. I start with a paper pattern. In this case I made the paper for one side of the visor from the top to the bead line, center point ( the center crease in the pic above) to where the panel curves up to meet the pillar. I transferred this to the same gauge of metal and cut out the piece. I wheeled some crown into it, then it was to the bead roller. I cut off the excess beyond the bead and tightened the bead with a t dolly and hammer. Which gave me this... X2 and you get this... Now make some bottom edges with window lip and... Now put them together for a test fit... I'll post more tomorrow of the finished panel and of the floors, rockers, and cab corners. One step at a time!
typical cab corner rust through rust cut out inner cab patchs made installed outer cab corners installed
thats really nice work and a sweet choice of truck. i built one a year or two ago. You have my hotrod blessing!!!!! keep on truckin'
Thanks guys for the nice words! 40fordpu your avatar looks exactly like where I'm heading with the motor, except for one more carb.
I meant to ask what you were going to run for a power plant. Great choice, looking forward to your progress (and mine).
Praise thee for given her a new lease on life ! I had noticed her on c/l aways back ! One things for sure i say she went to the right owner! Damn sure caught my attention . Id have to say great work ,,well deserved,,,and keep it up , keep knocking that one outta the park !
Nice truck. Haven't seen early Ford dropped spindles before, how about a picture or explanation of the modification done to them?
Thanks for the feedback guys! 40 Joecool if you decide to sell your truck let me know. 40fordpu-I like the standard front end also, I think that the wider chrome noses don't look right on the hood. I have the grill, mirrors, hood pieces, latch, headlight bezels, and handels at the chrome shop now...
here's the completed header panel test fit and ready for final trim and welding I had to make the rockers which were very basic panels. The floor under the seat was wasted so we made it... That's about were I'm at now. I'll post more as I move along...I hope to have the truck running and finished within a few months, but we'll see how that goes. Stay tuned....
Kool Project, I'm doing one as well. Mine will be my daily driver (when there's no snow). I will be watching this thread. Here's what mine looked like a month ago, I'm getting close to being able to paint the frame now. Later Eric
anybody have pics of the mods they made to their frame for a t5? I searched and found plenty of good info but no pics, just looking for some ideas. I really wanted to keep the truck trad but I also want to be able to ride down the highway too.
Great project - subscribed! I have a very rotten 40 cab (doors are almost pristine though!!)and figured it's time to get started. Have a line on some front sheetmetal - The rest I'll make up. No frame either so I'm looking around for options - may need to go late model This thread is the final motivation needed to make a start on it! Keep those detail pics of the patches coming please - I'm going to be doing plenty of the same Thanks Barry
Hey Barry, go check out wescottsauto.com for full frame dimensions for a 35-40 frame if you would like to take a hand at making your own. If you plan to run anything other than stock you could then easily make your own center section to match...
The Jalopy Journal
