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Hot Rods The wedding hotrod - 40 Ford Convertible

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by tomkelly88, Oct 29, 2012.

  1. The 39 guy
    Joined: Nov 5, 2010
    Posts: 3,524

    The 39 guy
    Member

    Tom, I am happy that you found the links useful. I was unable to do anything else of value today so you made my day!
    Sam
     
  2. p__moore
    Joined: May 14, 2015
    Posts: 126

    p__moore
    Member

    Excellent car Tom, you`re doing a great job.
     
  3. neilswheels
    Joined: Aug 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,213

    neilswheels
    Member
    from England

    Hi Tom, hows the convertible going? I've 'almost' got your brake pedal fitted for my clutch, good things come, etc,
     
  4. Hi Neil. No, not much progress lately!
    Recently I purchased a small farm property. All my spare time and brain power is focused there, renovating living quarters and setting up the property the way I want.

    I did see your most recent update, good to see its moving forward.

    Managed to do a couple of little things late last year.
    I restored my 40 steering wheel to the point of primer then decided its a bit too plain! Got hold of a '49 Mercury wheel, its a pretty cool looking thing. So I've filled the cracks and, started prepping it for paint.
    I adjusted my spotlights, the positions and angles never quite looked correct from left to right, so they've been tweaked and evened up a bit.
    Also purchased a pair of pop-up ashtray doors from a friend and adapted the dash to suit those.

    Not much, I need to devote a few more evenings and start chipping away at it again.
     

    Attached Files:

    chryslerfan55 likes this.
  5. neilswheels
    Joined: Aug 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,213

    neilswheels
    Member
    from England

    All progress is good. A friend of mine has just put the same wheel in his 40, they look really good in there.
     
  6. Frank Compoccio
    Joined: Jul 5, 2015
    Posts: 21

    Frank Compoccio
    Member

    Looking for convertible top woods for 40 Ford. Seems very expensive. Does anyone have patterns so I can cut my own? Kube?
     
  7. How's this project coming?..Any updates to post?
     
  8. Thanks for your interest @40FORDPU
    Little has changed! I've finished building a workshop on my little farm, the convertible and all its parts have been relocated there. I did a bit of an inventory and recalled where I left the project.
    I'm sharing some photos of the painted engine, same one from the car when I bought it, just a clean up, new gaskets and a fresh coat of paint for my first iteration!
    flat3.jpg
    flat1.jpg
     
  9. Also purchased something fun to use in the future.....
    flat5.jpeg
     
  10. Frank Compoccio
    Joined: Jul 5, 2015
    Posts: 21

    Frank Compoccio
    Member

    Anybody have knowledge of converting convertible top to hydraulic on a 40Ford?
     
  11. Morning @Frank Compoccio . I understand that the 40 convertible top is originally vacuum operated (or at least assisted).
    I imagine swapping the vacuum cylinders for hydraulic ones with the same open/closed dimensions, plus the addition of a pump, lines and oil reservoir.

    Whats the benefit in changing though?
    The vacuum system have the advantage of giving a bit of sponginess and flexibility when it comes to fastening and storing the top?
     
  12. neilswheels
    Joined: Aug 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,213

    neilswheels
    Member
    from England

    Hi Tom, thanks for dropping in on my build page, I had to come and have a look at yours. 4-71 eh, thats what i want on my 348, but I think I need to get it driving first. Love the skirts, are you going to lower it? I pancaked the rear crossmember on my sedan originally, that dropped the tail really quick, , Posie spring and suoerbell on the front.My Sedan looked great with skirts, these cars seem to be made for that look.
     

    Attached Files:

    32SEDAN likes this.
  13. Howdy Neil,

    The plan is to have the convertible running, driving and road registered, then setup the blower on one of my spare flat motors and swap them out later on. Same with the lowering.....it needs to come down many inches!
    Your sedan seems to sit perfectly, I have a dropped Superbell up front already, with what looks like a standard spring pack.
    I like the idea of flattening the rear crossmember, did you cover it in your thread? I've seen photos similar of work done while still mounted in the chassis with body on. (maybe no floor though!).
    Caught up with other life priorities this year, cars seem to come second!
     
  14. neilswheels
    Joined: Aug 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,213

    neilswheels
    Member
    from England

    I originally took mine out and did it on the bench, but a friend of mine recently did his in the car, from underneath, seems like hard work to me tho, all that welding above your head, hot sparks landing on you, my least favourite type of welding.
    I cut out little sections of the boot floor to get to the top frame rivets, the floor was rotten there anyway. Pics below give a rough idea of what i did, I made a jig to hold the crossmember before cutting anything, I decided that the ends where it sits in the frame, and the spring mount centre section were the important bits, with an adjustable jig center to get the drop I wanted, then made the rest fit. , I plated across the joints for some extra piece of mind, and added fake rivets, cos thats what you did back then. Slipped back in the frame easy. All changed now tho for the A rear spring.
     

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