I have a pair of frt reg's from my 40 rebuild, as far as I know they work ok. bought them on ebay but went pwr windows instead, gears are good, turn free...$50 for the pr plus shipping from Denver gears are good, turn free but need new rollers.....$50 plus shipping from Denver
Thanks for the offer. They look really good, but I don't have the rollers or the capability for mounting them. I'm going to go ahead and order up NOS. But thanks again for your offer.
That’s so cool you still have your high school hot rod! heres mine, that’s the stock 40 axle dropped 2” with a full leaf pack and reversed eyes. Rear is reversed eye with two leaves pulled. Front tires are 6.00x16 and it does rub the edge of the fender a bit but only when cranked hard during parking. I initially had 5.90x15 up front and that smaller wheel and tire did not rub. Jason is correct that you can get a slightly narrower track width using a 33-36 axle and I suspect he means his 36 axle was dropped to a total of 4” (2.25” over stock) as a 36 axle dropped 4” over stock would be relegated to wall hanger status. Also keep in mind the 37-41 axles have a little more “factory drop” than the 33-36 so a specified drop height means a different total drop depending on what era the axle is. A split wishbone will offer a bit more roll resistance than an unsplit one, the further the bones are spread apart at the back the more anti-roll characteristic you will see.
...........Excellent point. Just don't forget to re-align the front of the wishbones at the shackles to avoid any bind there.
Back in high-school, when I would be out and driving it around town, somebody (always older and sometimes with grey hair) would pull up to me at the light and with a big smile would say something like: "Wow! I had one of those!" I'd get excited and say: "Neat! Do you still have it?" At which point the smile would disappear and they would say "No, I sold it. And I wish I wouldn't have." Doesn't take too many of those experiences and you decide "I think I'm going to keep this." And I did!!
Slow day today. I emptied the trunk and tried to get things organized and stored; and I got the rear bumper off and started spraying PB Blaster on the body/frame bolts. I had a bunch of old stuff in the trunk that I'm going to have to put up for sale, not sure how the market for "old junk" is doing these days: And then there are these: Not sure where I got a GM 3-speed tranny: Some stuff I've got to store away for later use: And more stuff I have to store for when I put everything back together: And after much grunting I actually got some bolts loose. The air-hammer wouldn't do it. I finally got out my large breaker bar ratchet and made things happen.: I did a bunch more cleaning up and then got started spraying the body bolts. I'm trying to be very consistent about noting where each piece goes or what storage bin it goes into. Every time I think to myself "I'll remember putting it in here" I immediately think "No you won't!" and then write it down in my tear-down notebook. I need to order a wire brush for my 4.5" Milwaukee grinder so I can clean off the frame. Any recommendations for what to get? Also, the inside of the door panels and side panels look to have been sprayed with some kind of tar as part of the production process. Do you try to remove that, or just leave it in place? I plan to eventually line the interior surfaces with sound/heat reducing foil (or whatever the heck it is called).
Writing down is good but take pictures with your cell phone and keep it in a separate file in the phone or download to your computer. nothing like a picture! Good luck!
I had a discussion with a hot rod buddy this morning. He mentioned that he wished he didn't dispose of truck transmission he got when he picked up his flathead. Got rid of some needed bellhousing parts in the process. I told him, I keep everything until car is done. You never know, what is what, what can be modified to use. Don't get rid of the trunk contents until you're done, I guess is what I'm saying.
I spent most of the day underneath the 40 taking out the body to frame bolts. I also pulled the old wire loom out of the back part of the frame. There really aren't ways to take very good pictures of this process - it's just dirty and frustrating. Less than half came willingly, the rest I had to use my 4.5 inch grinder or my Dremel where the grinder couldn't reach. Afterward I rocked the body back and forth to get it loose. It took some shaking but it came loose, so I am pretty sure I got them all.
Oh-Oh, What's going on here? What's he doing with those 2x4s and 2x6s? And then, up in the attic space: I'm humming "chain-gang" Nice new ceiling feature: Hmmm, could look better, what can I find and modify from Home Depot? Taa-Daa
I cut two 2x4s to about 5 feet in length that will sit through the front and back windows and be used to lift the body. I also cut up a thick kneeling pad and glued the pieces onto short 2x4 pieces. After the glue dries I'll have to attach them crosswise to the ends of the 5 foot long 2x4s. They will protect the window frame from damage when I lift the car. I also bought some steel saw horses that carry 1100 lbs each so they should be able to carry the load
I guess the main event for the day was that Mark brought my flathead back from Frank, the engine builder. They had gotten it running and now I can sell it to get some $$s to get a real motor. We had some fun getting the hoist over the lip of the garage floor. You can see the 2x4 in my hand that I was doing the Yosemite Sam "Hah Mule!" thing with. Most of the day was spent putting these things together. The come-a-long cable will run under the board from end to end, through the U-Bolts. and up the notch to the ceiling chain hoist points. That light blue thing you can see between the wood and the door frame is the kneeling pad I cut up. It is really quite hard foam and should give the door metal good protection. Rube Goldberg, anyone?
I wouldn't pull on the doors. They have a gap between the body and door, and the weight will bend something and close up that gap. Maybe it will stay bent, maybe not. I wouldn't risk it.
My brother noted that the come-a-long cable would likely dig into the wood at the end of my lift bar. So, here is the fix. You are looking up in this picture and this shows the bottom of the lift bar. You can see that I have the shaft of a spike across the gap and the come-a-long cable will slide (hopefully) across this and not be able to dig into the wood. The shaft is braced against the U-bolt so it won't be going anywhere. Here's a picture from a more normal perspective: The lift bar is resting on the bottom of the window opening. Once I rig up the come-a-long the lift bar cushion will be against the top of the window opening. We'll see if the come-a-longs work as conjectured
I also think you may damage your doors. If you were to put something in the gap between the door and body you might have less of a chance of causing damage. You have probably already pulled the body by now anyway.
I don't like the idea that the cable needs to move across your lifting 2x4's in order to keep the body level. If you really want to lift from 4 points to balance the body, I suggest you use 4 come alongs...or chain lifts. I've lifted bodies using 2 chain lifts and a board, steel bar or lifting strap across the door openings (with doors off or open) and my engine hoist at the rear.
I raised mine with brackets that I made to fit the hinge mounts on the cowl and a bar under the center of the rear wheel openings. I used 4 come along’s worked great on a sedan delivery.
Good looking car! I have a 40 deluxe sedan myself. I don't mean to be rude, but if you plan on selling that (what looks to be) chrome stock chevy air cleaner, let me know. Been looking for one for the 283 in my car
Thanks for the compliment! I started out by putting a 283 in this car many years ago. Later on, I started to restore it and got rid of the 283. Biggest mistake I ever made. Now I have to find another 283 or maybe something a bit more modern. So, at least for now, I need to keep that air-cleaner. It's pretty cool isn't it?
Very nice! I had my 283 in front of the stock tranny and rear-end and managed to break an axle and a transmission mount. Just a little too much power for the old equipment!
It can be, especially with a high schooler driving it Thousands and thousands of 40 Fords (or any fat fender Ford) got early chevs installed in them. I don't run this car hard, it's just a family cruiser
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