At 64, as of yesterday, I’ve owned 54 motorcycles, a few vans, jeeps, Peterbilts and a pick up truck but this is my first ever car. My buddy with a ’40 Ford Humpback always told me that if I wanted a hot rod to buy a finished one , it’s cheaper that way. But I really liked working on my ’53 PU (avatar), maybe more so than driving it. So I looked for a ‘project car’ and found one close by. A ’39 Chevy Coupe, about 1/3 done. Was so cool to see it come down our driveway. was like Christmas morning going thru all the extra parts piled into the cab and trunk. I couldn't wait to tear into it. Storing the tin in the rec room.
I hung the body from the ceiling joist , removed the rear wheels and rolled the chassis out on the floor jack. The PO tacked in a new floor pan but didn't seal/paint it, so it rusted up some. so, after some welding and grinding I de-rusted , POR15 and paint.
the underside was a lot worse. but I got it done with what I have . now I can put the body in the barn and not worry about it rusting up more while I work on the chassis in the garage.
So, now the body is tucked away in the barn, (have to leave room in the garage for the Queens car during Winter). I'm very impressed with some of the 'shops' and equipment I see on this site. I have a small house garage. First I made a frame extension thing so I can tow the chassis around with my tractor. Being anxious to hear the motor run , I thought I Would bolt the carb on and start it up. Checked the fluids, the trans is empty. Put 4 qts in , pull the dipstick and the end is broke off. Crap!. Drop the pan, can't find the dipstick tip. Turns out it was still in the tube. Might as well put a new filter in and disconnect the kick down linkage while the pan is off. Welded the tip back on (dumb?) Fluid back in, noticed the selector shaft was a little wet. On the advice from some HAMBers, replaced all the outer seals. Saw that the tail shaft bushing was well worn so renewed that too. Was supposed to have been a ''rebuilt trans''. No leaks for now.
Cool project. My first old car (I had a '56 ford BBW at the time but it was only as old as me) was a '39 Buick Opera coupe. Wish I still had it. I have a '38 Ford humpback sedan, I don't think Ford made one in '40.
The carb needed to be rebuilt. Got more advise from HAMB https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/holley-carb-missing-a-vacuum-fitting.1127116/ Did the carb and got the engine running but the carb was leaking. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/another-holley-question-leak.1127868/ Plugged the holes with JBWeld, for now. No leaks, engine runs.
Great project..nice progress being made. Thanks for posting the pic of the '40 Ford, as I was curious what you were referring to as a '40 Ford Humpback.
Welded some 90* elbows to flanges and bolted onto the headers, started right up, trans isn't pumping fluid, no drive. Find out the TC wasn't bolted to the motor and also, the flexplate was on backwards (thanks again to another HAMBer). https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/th350-need-more-help.1128020/ Trans back on, engine won't fire. No spark. I recalled reading here about HEI and ign. modules going bad with some frequency. Some guys even carry spares with them. Got new module, fired right up. Ordered another right away for a spare. Now the trans is pumping fluid and the yoke ( no driveshaft yet) spins, 3 gears forward, one back.
The DS was in the trunk when I got the car, well a quick look-see and I know why. It's about 10'' too long. OK, read up on shortening a DS, dig out my old pipe cutter, still cuts clean. But the weld on the end yoke seemed kinda 'fat', not like a factory weld. Had a hell of a time with the cut off wheel. Didn't think I could reuse the yoke. New yokes are cheap enough. Measure up for new U-joints and discover the other yoke is bent slightly. 2 new yokes ,might as well get a new tube , add in balancing and I decide to just order a new DS. Will wait and measure once the body is back on.
Since I removed the pinion yoke while figuring out the DS , I thought I should put a new seal in. Ordered one. Then I read about crush sleeves. Ordered one, then pulled the pinion out and find some worn brgs, even a small divot in the race. Order new pinion brgs. 2 steps forward , 1 step back is still progress, right? I ASSumed since the rear was all nice & clean & painted that it was rebuilt or at least gone over. And as I've never worked on one didn't want to mess with it, but figured if those brgs were worn I better check the carrier. Sure enough, sloppy , no pre-load and worn brgs. more parts orderd. BTW, it's a Ford 8'', 3.00 ratio. There was gobs of silicone seal, and plain steel washers, I've been told to use copper washers . In hindsight I should have checked everything first and then ordered a complete rear kit. Wish UPS delivered on Sundays.
Cool coupe. I wondered how your trans issues came out, glad to see you got it going. Are you going to post your rear axle rebuild results here?
Watched your engine-start video. Sounds like it runs good. Healthy cam. You built a nice truck. Have fun with this one!
In my haste to see the trans working, I reinstalled it with the old front seal ( it looked good) and grade 5 bolts in the TC. So, I pulled it again, it's easier now that I did once . New seal and grade 8 bolts and back on. Been watching this vid on Ford rears DIA=youtube]8w4VL1zmTEQ[/M The rear parts finally came , new pinion brgs, set the crush washer, that's done. got the new carrier brgs,. pre-load set, check the back lash, got it to .008'' , turn ring gear 1/4 turn = .015'', half a turn = .020''. CRAP! Check the carrier and it's out of true . Remove ring gear and file carrier and gear surface. Didn't help. Jegs & Summit sell new Yukon carriers for about $500, but ''Ron's Machining'' has the same carrier WITH new R&P and install kit for the same price. Anybody ever deal with them? Hard to pass that up, So I'm thinking of going to a 3.80 ratio ( from 3.00) It's on 28'' tires.. Will be nice to have all new parts. But that will have to wait till next year since tomorrow I'm getting a new hip installed in me. Looking forward to get back at it as soon as I can.
Also I hope the hip op goes well. I had a double replacement 8 years ago, mine have been great (once you get past the first few weeks after the op). Russell
Here's mine that was built by Mike Wiley in Roanoke Rapids, NC. I've happily been the custodian of Mike's car since 1986. Chopped 5 inches and SHORTENED 4 inches. BBC w/ tunnel ram and 750 Edlebrock. TH400.
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