Projects Rosie The Red 40

Good looking little car. Stick with your plans and you will be good to go.

-Abone.

 

By the way, if you make it to the HAMB Drags next year, I'll buy you a cold beer.

-Abone.

 

I have been doing 40's (and other fat fendered Ford) chassis stuff for a long time. If you have any questions or need any help, give me a shout. That is a good looking sedan. Talk to Big Mac 48 about what we did for his 40 Tudor.

 

I'm kinda partial to red 40s! Nice car! Congratulations!

 

Nice...and welcome to the sedan side !

 

Yep , that's about where mine started ,like the changes ,upgrades Dale, Weedburner 40 did for me . Here's a couple red ones and mine from start to now , enjoy that 40 very nice and great story .

 

Drive it for a while first so you can enjoy it and get a handle on what it may need.

 

Ok, I gotta know what tipped you off as an "early" 40? Yes, it has the flip up ashtrays, but what was interesting to me is that the window bugs said 3/40 which seems too be later than the Decemberish timeframe that I had always heard was when they changed the ashtray design.

 

I'm with 19Fordy, good advice , drive and enjoy ,it'yours now !!!

 

Congrats! I have a 39 Deluxe and built a 40 standard tudor a few years ago. And yes, I'd also love to know how to spot an early 40 other than the ashtrays.. @olscrounger

 

Nice car, I like the tudor for the room for the family. Enjoy it.

 

Here's some good info. and photos of early and later 1940 Ford louvered side grille panel differences.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=282252&highlight=1940+grille+differences
and more info. on early and late 40's ID. Keep in mind that grilles may have been replaced due to accidents repairs.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1940-ford-deluxe-grille-question.471930/

 

Thanks for that.. I learned something today!

 

Could tell by looking at the grille side panels as 19Fordy mentioned unless they had been changed. Don't think they wasted anything. Early coupes have a trunk inner structure like a 39 but have seen orig ones that were later with this style decklid-we have had two coupes with the early decklid-have a dlx now like that and the early side panels as well--think it's maybe nov/dec 39 . Just saw an old orig one with this style of decklid but some features of the later designs too.

 

Thanks everybody for the compliments and advice! I finally made it over to the shop this evening for the first time since I got the car home to check a few things and take some photos for you all. Of course, my phone died as soon as I got there. The car fired right up so I let it warm up and idle for awhile, I love to listen to the old flatty. It is so quiet and smooth. It has a decent puddle of gear oil under the banjo that needs to be addressed at some point, but I expected something like that. I double checked the coolant to make sure it was actually coolant and not water and was happy to see a green liquid in the radiator. I've got the front drop axle and spindles on order as well as some rear suspension parts, as well as wheels and tires to change the look up a bit. My plan is to pick a weekend in January and gather a couple buddies to help get the suspension parts installed. I'm looking forward to making some changes as well as learning more about this old car. Thank you all for following along, and stayed tuned for some progress updates!

 

Thanks to you and 19Fordy for teaching me something new about '40 Fords. That was a detail I hadn't learned before.

 

Very nice. Congratulations.

 

Sounds like a good plan and plenty of help . Enjoy .

 

Be sure and fix that banjo oil leak right away as it's a ton of
work and $$ to repair or replace a 40 rear. When you remove the bolts that secure the torque tube
to the banjo make sure they go back in the same holes and DO NOT use a tap or die to "chase" or clean the threads as those bolts have a special class fit. Just wash them off with carb cleaner. There is a gasket that will need replacing. I made my own gasket. You can replace gasket without removing the rear end but, you have to cut the gasket at the top and install it with the cut at the top so it won't leak.. Use non hardening Permatex to reinstall the gasket. 2nd photo shows original factory safety wire. 1st photo is 2017 redo.

 

The torque tube gasket is just a thin gasket, but be aware the side housing gaskets are also special thickness shims. If replacing make sure to install the exact same thickness.

 

Alchemy's info. about the side gaskets is solid gold. Don't unbolt the side housings
if you don't need to. The thickness of those gaskets controls rear end tolerances. It's not just a matter of remove and replace.
Read all the "banjo related rear end" threads here.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/search.php?searchid=26036729

 

Thanks for the info on the banjo gaskets. I need to get under there with some brake cleaner and figure out exactly where it’s leaking from. Hopefully it is something simple!

I did get to put about 20 miles on the car today just cruising around town. The car did great! I’m still learning all the quirks it has and I did have a funny run in with a highway patrol who didn’t seem to mind that I had no license plates and no brake lights lol he just smiled and waved me on. I’ve got a good list of parts ordered that I am anxious to get started on. One place I am stumped at the moment is tube shocks. We’ve got the front upper brackets but I am struggling the find the 2” shackles with a shock stud built in. I’m also struggling to decide on what kind of mounts I want to do on the rear. I’m not a huge fan of the shock angle that comes with the brackets that bolt onto the brake backing plate. What have you guys done with your tube shock setups??

Also, I did snag one new photo of the car today while it was warming up to head to breakfast.

 

Here ya go. This is what I have on my 39. You can buy direct from Pete & Jakes but this is the first link I found.

For the rear, the bolt on brackets work fine. You have to drill the holes for the upper stud so you could adjust the angle some.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...MIhuScl4fv9AIV3xvUAR2wTghIEAQYAiABEgIc1fD_BwE

or you can get the whole shebang from P&J.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/paj-5001?rrec=true

 

Perfect, thanks man!

 

Lakeside, 1940 Ford DELUXE cars came with a front sway bar. If your 40 still has the sway bar make sure the tube shock kit you use will bolt up and not interfere with your sway bar. The sway bar also uses a different perch bolt.
Call Pete and Jakes and make sure their set up will fit a 1940 Ford with a sway bar. Here's a bunch of photos of an early tube shock kit made during the 1960's. You might want to consider leaving the OEM shocks on the rear as the OEM leaf spring is so stiff that you won't notice much a difference with tube shocks. Drive it for a while and make that rear tube shock decision later. You may be better off adjusting your rear shocks or having them rebuilt. I know there was a fellow on Fordbarn who did rebuild the OEM shocks. As a side note: 1940 Ford Deluxe cars came with springs that were wrapped in thin metal galvanized covers. Standards had no covers. Also, start buying some 1940 Ford reference books for your library. Good luck.

 

The other biggest improvement to mine, (something for you to ponder) is upgrading the front brakes to Lincoln or 50's-60's F100. They are self energizing drum brakes. You can also get them in self adjusting as well. I'm sure there are multiple places to get these, but here's one. Brian Bass @Bass can set you up. https://www.instagram.com/wilson.welding/?hl=en

The conversion is bolt-on, except you'll have to grind the tops of the spindles to clear the backing plate. My car stops really good for non-power drum brakes.

One more thing: they make an adapter to install a more modern two pot master cylinder to your pedals. Do that too. Most guys use a late 60's mustang drum-drum MC, but I believe there's also an AMC version that's basically the same MC except the ports are on the other side which makes routing the brake lines easier in your application. I found this out AFTER I ran the brake lines on mine. The Mustang MC ports are inboard and you have close clearance to the X member in the frame.

 

I would recommend doing all your lowering operations before you install any different shocks. Clearances and angles will be drastically different after reveresed eye springs and dropped axles are in there.

 

Good looking sedan. Enjoy.

 

Lakeside, Dan's Bendix brake install is a great idea. It's not cheap. If you do decide to use the aftermarket Bendix kits now available be very wary of the aftermarket rear wheel bearings as they have been reported to be of inferior quality and literally break apart. REUSE you Ford OEM bearings. Also, read all you can find on Fordbarn and HAMB about both the Wilson welding kits and the the Bolling Bros. Bendix conversion kits. Start here:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/search.php?searchid=26043799
One last thought. Slow down and find out what your 40 may need BEFORE you begin massive suspension changes.
Drive your car and then start making changes, if needed. One change leads to another and then another and then another that can spiral out of control and quickly empty your wallet.
Follow Alchemy's suggestion. It makes sense.

 

This is all fantastic information and I can’t thank you all enough for wanting to share it with me! You’re helping the next generation carry this passion on. I drove the car some more again this morning, and there are two simple things that need to be addressed. The car is dying when rolling to a stop, and I am having to pull the choke just a bit to keep it running until I take off again. I know the carb needs rebuilt and this will be addressed once my rebuild kit from stromberg arrives. The second issue is the blow by smoke coming from the rear oil fill/breather tube that is filling up the cab with smoke and fumes. It doesn’t bother me too bad but I would like to do something about it. I plan to try a little seafoam in the next tank of gas to try and free up some rings, but there is really no telling what shape the internals are in with this being the original motor. I heard rumors about a cap for the oil fill tube that had a flexible hose that would run down underneath the car to exhaust these blow by gases away from the cab, but I couldn’t find anything readily available from my short research time. Can anyone confirm something like that is available?