Projects 1940 Chevy Sedan big block project

Those are the pads you need, you already have the brackets that they fit onto.

 

A part number would be great. Really appreciate it.


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When you say the suspension is off by an inch or so what exactly do you mean? I have the stock core support.
Along with pretty much everything else that got cut off the car other than the frame and front suspension.


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the modern version of those mounts, with the safety interlock

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ani-2283

 

Thanks. Safety and interlock sound like good things where this much engine is concerned.



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Oh I see what Brigrat means. They're too fare back in the front wheel well. Looks like the motor is coming out anyway so I'll push the car out of the garage and get a better look at the wheel position.


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so here's a close up of the front wheel and fender. Hub center is 1.5" rearward of the center of the wheel well. Wheels are little 14" mags with 60 series tires. My understanding is that in order to upgrade to disc breaks I'll need to go up to 15" anyway and I wonder if the wheel issue will be as visible.



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the center of the wheel is not in the center of the opening in the fender. I would notice it. Most folks won't.

You can use stock type disc brakes with 14" wheels. (make sure they're "disc brake" type wheels, they have more clearance back there for the caliper than early non-disc type wheels)

 

Thanks Squirrel. I definitely think something looks off about the front wheel / gender area but the whole front fender assembly is only held on by 3 bolts so I'm going hold of on the hand wringing and such until the motors out and I can stand back and look at it. I'll check the wheels as well if I can just run them for a while. If not the scrap yard always has 15" steel wheels for next to nothing. I appreciate everyone's input. This is most major automotive project I've undertaken so any guidance from those with more experience or a better eye is very helpful.


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After you get the front relocated we'll talk about the rear, it's a lot easier to correct!

 

So here's an interesting question. The paint number on the body tag says paint no. 279. According to everything I can find including an original 1940 chevy paint color list I bought, there's no such color for that year.


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Disregard I'm an idiot. There's a second page to this paint list.


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Original color was Kingston Gray. Looks like primer grey to me. I think we've got a winner. Cars getting resprayed grey.


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I wanted to run this by the board. I've discovered that 68 and 69 motor mounts are different. 69 frame mounts are shorter and the motor mounts are taller. In pre 69 ones it's reversed. So looks like I have 69 frame mounts and later model (mid 70s based on the part number 0334605) motor mounts. And then that weird ass chunk of plate welded in between. I think I'm just going to cut this stuff out, clean up the crossmember and start from scratch with a pair of motor mounts and frame stands that are designed to work together.

 

If you make your own motor mounts, you might want to wait on that until you get a lot of other things figured out. Putting a big engine in a smallish car means that everything has to fit just so. There are a lot of parts that want to occupy the same spots, such as exhaust/steering, fan/radiator, distributor/firewall, etc. If you get ALL the parts sitting where they belong, BEFORE you mount the engine, then you can jiggle the engine location around as needed, to make it all fit.

just a little thing I've learned the hard way, and I continue to see others learning it the hard way here on the HAMB

 

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.


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Made some more progress today. Thanks to my neighbor who loaned me his hoist. I pulled the motor and front fenders. Looks like I have more welding work than anticipated. Some bonds and fiber glass was used to repair the lower front corners behind the fenders. No biggie. Just more time in the torch. The third image shows how I had to remove the casters on the hood and make use of my garages fault lines to get it all done. 2 hours well spent.


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be careful with that engine stand...you want a heavy duty 4 wheel stand to hold up a big block.

But hey, you're making progress

 

Yeah it seems a little wimpy But it's what I have. I'll take it easy. It's listed as holding 750lbs which is more than the motor by a fair margin.


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It will hold the motor.... But it will top over super easy.

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Now that the motor and fenders are off I'm considering pulling the whole body off. The point of which would be to check/improve/redo the welds holding the nova subframe on and to paint the frame, run lines etc. but it seems like repairing/replacing the floor and firewall will be easier to do sitting on the frame. Thoughts?


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Of course space is the limiting factor and I'm basically out of that so I may not.


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Did you see if there was going to be room for a radiator? Not sure that flat firewall will let the motor sit back far enough. The firewall they make for the BBC in those is set back like 4" .....

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If you're going to re weld the subframe, then you probably ought to put it where it belongs. Which means having the fenders installed where they belong (so the hood fits correctly), and spending some time looking things over and measuring, to get the front wheels right where they belong.

working room is a good thing, but it's a scarce commodity

 

It would have to be a very narrow radiator. I'm thinking I'll see what shape this 454 is in before I start cutting the firewall out. The firewall is not original but it could be relieved a lot more to move the motor further back


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not sure if this looks like the original location for the firewall or not.



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Good point. Man I have a lot to learn. So maybe I'll settle on and finish the motor and re install the fenders and hood then see where I'm at.


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Here's a few pic of my 1940 chevy with a 1974 nova sub frame welded on.
I have disc brakes on the front & I have 14" wheels

 

That's a great looking car. Out of curiosity what's your wheelbase? There's been some debate about the location of my front wheels. What motor are you running? Any pics of the engine bay?


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