Projects Street rodded ‘40 Ford pickup freshening

LOL. $4k on juice brakes? Would have been cheaper to have a shop do it.

 

I also wonder how you could spend $4k on brakes unless they were some high dollar race stuff.

 

I exaggerated true prices=Boiling Bros. 4 new Lincoln drums, $550 New faceplate assy’s $1000, Speedway pair of front spindles $300, Early Ford Garage Mech to juice conversion bracket & master $550, portioning valve $100, Speedway 4 hubs $600

 

Not sure where I got pissy but guess some R more sensitive than others? Having said that, while this will be the first shot @ this combo it ain’t my first rodeo either. I’m 68 & a certified Tool & Die Maker Machinist. Been building / fabricating Rides for 50 plus yrs. 23 as I’m counting. Not feeling pissy but if I have an opinion not afraid to state. Also admit if I’m wrong. I will try to lower this one, 3” to 4” I believe is possible. I will report progress with pic’s & if wrong & can’t get there from here will say . As an old metal cutter I believe it’s possible but we’ll see

 

Thx

 

Lowering a 48 Frame shouldn't be a problem, with a 48 body but the 40 Ford cab is narrower than the 48 but even if you do get it lower you will need narrower wheels & tires. HRP

 

Agreed, wheel tire combo is atrocious!! It’s what was on it. Way to much offset for starters & too wide as well. Current wheels & tires will go in the dumpster unless someone wants them free.

 

Not street rodder build, just a poor build.

 

I would recommend putting the wheels on Craigslist or a similar site for sale. They look like they may be able to be polished by someone and have value to someone building a low rider or 80s style truck. And even if you get $20 for em, that’s money for beer to drink while you browse for your next set of wheels.

 

Maybe I read into, came across as pissy to me, if not then great! Hang around and there are some great minds here to help. Did i mention I'm a fan of the engine. Good luck with it.

 

Your later frame has different dimensions from the '40 - the frame rails are farther apart, yes? I don't think the cab and bed will fit the later frame "correctly". Using a '40 frame will prevent needless butcher-y....

 

Looking at this 52 F 1 frame I bought for the steering, crossmember and front brakes and shock brackets last spring my guess is that they used the 3 inch spacer blocks the 40 cab and bed would sit right on the rather straight F1 frame without hacking up the front end sheet metal and core support. 40 frame in the net snagged photo below to show the difference.
A dropped axle and some reworked springs might get it down where you want it and get away from the 4x look.

 

BTW I think you can download a '40 frame drawing at Westcott's website

 

No harm no fowl, I’m with U on “great minds here” been a member for s while. As ur a Mopar fan I got it fired up. Put some special sauce in the cylinders 2 weeks ago & she turned over no prob. Changed oil & plugs hit the key with fresh gas first try she started. Great feeling when the start after so many yrs! Sounded nice with the headers & packs. Smoked for a minute, probably my special cocktail to free up. 2nd start no smoke at all

 

I’m not where it is right now but it seems I remember the Cab seems to line up pretty well on the frame rails side to side. The cab to frame mounts line up on the rails with the hardwood mounts in between? Just assumed it was an F1 frame because of the parallel leafs front & rear & how high Truck sat on it. ‘47 Frame has parallel leafs too but is the right width rails for the ‘32 -‘47 cab & clip I think. I’ll check again and get back to U.
Thx

 

I’m familiar with the 2nd pic on the fabrication table. That frame was basically the same Model A frame for passenger cars & pickups from 1932 to 1941 & longer for just passenger cars, I think til ‘’46 or ‘48. My ‘35 Tudor has basically the same frame under it. In 1942 to 1947 Ford changed the pickup chassis but I think the ‘40 design Cab was used till ‘47 but with the jail bar front clip. I was familiar with it by research only as I was going to build a jail bar style until this ‘40 came up. Wasn’t familiar at all on the ‘48 - ‘53 F1 frame which I thought is under it but after ur post & now that I’m looking at the F1 frame dimensions vs the 1947 series pickup frame I’m starting to think it might be a ‘47 frame as the ‘40 Cab mounting features line up centered longitudinally on frame rails as shown on tech drwg’s. While I didn’t check I believe the same’s true for front clip to rail mounts. Now that I have the ‘47 vs ‘48 drawing dimensions I’ll check it more precisely. I’ll get some pic’s & post the mounting features.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of a stock 1940 pickup chassis from when I was building mine.

 

Thx & yes pretty much exactly the same as the stock chassis on my ‘35 Tudor but without the wood mounting spacers. All 1/2 ton pickups & passenger Ford’s from 1932 to 1941 utilized that chassis, after that the 1/2 ton pickup chassis changed til 1948 when it changed again for the F1.
Thx for the pix

 

Going back and forth on these pics, and those on the internet, I don't believe this is on an F-1 frame. It appears to be a '42-47 ford p/u on a stock frame with a 40/41 front clip added. I think the blocks were added as a redneck lift kit, either for looks, to clear the pumpkin tires, or give the engine/trans more clearance(or a combo of all 3). I think step 1 should be to get smaller wheels and tires and see if its even possible to lower w/o losing all your suspension. Then look at losing the "lift kit".

 

Forgot to mention in my post with the chassis pictures, the pickup chassis is identical to the car chassis EXCEPT the truck chassis does not have the 2 "boxes" on the outside of each frame rail. To use a car chassis for your p/u just remove the 4 boxes.

 

I have had well over 400 hp, a muncie 4sp, and 9" ford rear axle in my Forty Ford 2dr with a stock frame and suspension for over 30 years and have never had a problem. And I hammer the hell out of it! The stock 35-40 frames are a lot stronger than you give them credit for. Over the years I have done a number of these cars the same way with the same results...no problems!

 

^^^^This!

 

That’s cool. Not gonna argue with what’s worked. I Built several mid ’30’s chevy’s & a ‘40 dodge & per old timers I worked with when an apprentice Tool Maker about a hundred yrs ago, they convinced me the frames needed 2 B boxed / supported to handle the increased HP & torque when perfing them up. Hey what ever works.

On the ‘40 front clip on a ‘42-‘47 frame u could be right. But on the wood mounts they’re almost exactly like stock ones for a Forty pickup wood mounts ad shown in Drake’s & Mac’s & Cpldale’s besutiful pic’s of his ‘40 frame.

 

Again, I'm not 100%, but from everything I'm reading online, there should be no wood between frame & body on a 42-47. Also, the hood is a '41, and the tailgate is 42-47.

 

That’s cool. Not gonna argue with what’s worked. I Built several mid ’30’s chevy’s & a ‘40 dodge & per old timers I worked with when an apprentice Tool Maker about a hundred yrs ago, they convinced me the frames needed 2 B boxed / supported to handle the increased HP & torque when perfing them up. Hey what ever works.

On the ‘40 front clip on a ‘42-‘47 frame u could be right. But on the wood mounts they’re almost exactly like stock ones for a Forty pickup wood mounts ad shown in Drake’s & Mac’s & Cpldale’s besutiful pic’s of his ‘40 frame.

u could be right ‘42 to ‘47 frame makes sense as I checked F1 side to side rail centers @ cab mounts & they R centered on the rail. ‘42 /‘47 Stock height looks higher than a ‘40? Wood mounting pieces appear to be the same as what’s pictured in cpldale’s beautiful rolling ‘40 frame above Post @ 4:36 am.

 

I heard an explanation from one of the faithful the other day that most, if not all, of the oak that Ford used on these trucks and model As and such were the packing materials from the crates from parts that were shipped in to the factory from other Ford plants. Nothing wasted.

Which might explain why my buddy's new F150 smells like Styrofoam packing peanuts.

 

The 1940-1946 cabs are basically the same. They do not list the wood kit for 1942-46 and the frame is flatter. Makes me wonder if the cab connects to 42-46 frame directly. The beds 38-41 and 42-46 are different the 42-46 are wider and have an arch shaped in the bed sides. A picture of the inside of the bed would help determine what you have.

 

Think a '42 to '47 bed is 48" wide that’s what this one is. See pics.
Mac lists wood mounting kit for Cabs '32 to '47 https://www.macsautoparts.com/early...sK3r3QIVA2SGCh0jpwX-EAQYASABEgJQbfD_BwE#close

 

Well. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
If that was my truck (yes, I have one) I would be beating the bushes for a 35-40 car frame (I did. $200) as mine had some strange parallel leaf rear half grafted on. I don't see any way to get yours lowered enough to get away from the 4WD look. With the increasing popularity of these trucks, you will be hard pressed to ever please anyone but yourself. If the sheet metal is as nice as it appears, it deserves the frame swap, IMHO. But it IS your truck. Good luck!

 

No, 35 to 41.