Projects 1938 Ford Standard Build Thread

I posted yesterday that I added a new member to the family. A 1938 Ford Standard. It was suggested that the best way to handle the mountain of questions that I will surely have and to keep you all updated was to just start a build thread. So here goes.
The car looks better in the pictures than it really is. But, it's pretty solid and complete. The interior is mostly stock.


I apologize in advance as I'm sure the thread will not progress as fast as others due to the fact that I am a pretty slow worker and I won't be doing much other than planning/collecting parts before Spring since I have no heat in my garage.

 

One of the first items on the agenda will be to get it running again. Was told it was running shortly before I got it and one day it died and wouldn't start again. The previous owner thought it may be the coil. But he said "I'm the same age as the car and I just can't do all the things I used to be able to."

Once the car is running again I plan to clean up the wiring and the firewall. As luck would have it, I've got a roll of old type wire sheathing that I got in a box at an auction and hung on the wall of my garage probably 10 years ago. I'll try to remember to post a picture.
I also plan to pull the radiator and have it cleaned and checked as the antifreeze was way down and it looks to me like it may have been leaking. If anybody knows a good radiator place near me(central Iowa), let me know. I used to take stuff to a guy in Ft. Dodge but I'm not sure if they are still around. Also, what do you guys think about trying to shine up the top tank?

Someday, after I get more pressing items addressed I would like to install dual exhaust and possibly headers.

 

Based on the pictures of the listing I thought it would be a good deal for someone. The older I get the better I like the front end on the ‘38’s.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

The other thing that needs addressed asap is the brakes. The master cylinder and (I think) a couple wheel cylinders need rebuilt. Not sure if I should rebuild them or just jump right in and do all the brakes?
The reason I say this is because when I have the car the way I want it, the original brakes will likely all go away any how.
When it's all done, I'd like to have the front slightly lower with either black painted steelies or chrome wheels like these.

This is one of the things where I really don't know what all my options are.

 

It needs a lot of work. Old bodywork is not the greatest, and the paint has cracked/chipped in spots. But, it's got "good bones" as they say.

 

Nice find!! Most people consider the '38 to be a dog but I've always had a soft spot for the Standard with the extended grille louvers along the hood. If the car still has the original wiring you might want to consider replacing it. After 82 years the cloth insulation is probably not in the best shape (mice, heat, corrosion, etc).

 

A lot of the wiring has been replaced already as most of it has been converted to 12v. I'll probably end up redoing some of the new wiring also as some of the connections, while functional, are kind of ugly.

 

The car will need teardrop tail light assemblies(somebody put '65 Impala tails on it) and original type lenses and bezels for the headlights as well. Where does one get the best deals on these?

 

The only old time radiator shop I know of is Kasal Brothers Repair just a few miles outside of Chelsea. They were able to fix the radiator in my 57 Ford, but werent able to save a rotted out one in my beater truck. If you use them, be sure to tell them not to paint it. They normally squirt on some crappy looking glossy black that if you try to paint over it wrinkles up....learned that the hard way.
I would think you could find a shop closer to you in Des Moines though.
For wheel cylinders and a master cylinder I recommend Van Pelt sales. Ive had good luck with their hydraulic parts.
If buying new brake shoes, DO NOT buy Dennis Carpenter. Both my bro and I have had issues with their arc as well as the glue job. I recommend you get shoes from Bob Drake. Van Pelt may have shoes too but I have never seen/ used theirs.

 

Show us a clear pic of the backing plate so we can help you determine what year brakes you have. A stock 38 had cable brakes, so if you have leaky cylinders they aren't stock anymore.

 

Is this what you need?

I am more on the fence now about what I'm doing with the brakes/hubs. I found another thread that had a picture of a '37 Tudor with a good stance that still had these wheels minus the caps... looked pretty nice.

 

Those are 39-40 brakes. Do the rears match by having those 2 large nuts on the bottom?

 

The rears appear to be the same.

 

Here's a picture of the interior. Seats are fair(I say fair because the front and the back each have a golf ball size tear, otherwise they are pretty nice). Door panels are warped but the upholstery on all but the driver's door is decent. Headliner is stained and sags a bunch in one spot(feels like some critter made a nest in there at some point). I'm assuming the headliner was replaced once since it is vinyl similar to the seats in my Firebird.

 

Does anyone else think that front axle looks like a 46-47?

It would be easy to drop the stance by reversing the main spring leaf and maybe flattening the spring a bit. Remove that second wrap around leaf. Install some 48 Ford rear axle bumpers instead of the stock 37 front bumpers. They are shorter and softer, which will matter if you reduce the clearance there.

 

How much impact does altering the spring have on the way it will drive? Also, how much drop could I expect to get doing that?

 

Dropped the left side of the headliner and got a grocery sack full of critter nest. Kind of chuckled when I saw they used these to make their nest. No sign of dead critters, so I believe these may not have worked so well. LOL

 

If you don't remove any leaves it won't alter the firmness at all. If you flatten until it hits the bumpers it will make for a very rough ride. Finding a middle ground is best.

Removing the wrap around leaf is very common and will soften and lower the spring a bit. Might be an easy start. Then you can look into reversing the main leaf. These are easy things. Taking a little arch out of every leaf is a whole weekend job to do the correct way.

You probably have four inches of travel right now, right? Messing with the spring to reduce that to two will not harm the ride. Then the 48 rear bumper replacement will gain you another inch of travel back.

 

Good info. Thanks!

 

Another thought I want to run by you guys.
The tires have almost no miles on them, but they are old enough that they are getting cracks on the sidewall. Since I want to drop the front a bit and since I will be needing tires anyway, what about 5.50-16s on the front? There is just over 1" height difference between the current 6.00-16 and the possible 5.50-16. When I am done, I think I want the car to sit similar to this altered pic.

Am I going to need the shorter tires for clearance? If I use the shorter tires and modify the spring is that going to have me lower than I want?

 

I decided to make a less than exciting job a little more rewarding by teaching my Son how to load and operate the grease gun.

 

If you want the car to be slightly lowered like your altered pic, you should probably do the smaller 5.50x16 tires, and a slightly flattened spring with a reversed eye. That should get you two inches lower with the spring and another half inch with the tires. You shouldn't have any real tire vs. fender rub problems.

If you want another couple inches you would have the axle dropped, and have the dropper let it narrow up. That would give you a bit more tire clearance from the fender lip.

 

Reversed my front spring yesterday... sort of. I say sort of because I didn't do it "the right way" all the way through and now I see the results of that. So, I should probably pull it back apart in the spring and finish it correctly rather than just "getting it done". Before I touched it, I went through several threads here and watched 6 or 8 videos. I noticed there were several different ways people were doing it, with the way people on the HAMB were instructing being the clear "best way". But, when things start going wrong, I'm afraid it is all too easy to do things "the easy way". Good intentions and all that.

So, I removed the spring and it became clear that someone had it apart before me. I'm not 100% sure what they did to it(maybe added a leaf or 2 as the nuts holding the spring to the crossmember didn't draw up as far as they should). Looked it over and it appeared to be in pretty good shape(couldn't see any cracks or significant rust). Got out my big C clamps and started separating the leaves. Was kind of surprised when I took it apart as the leaf with the eyes was flatter than I expected to begin with. But, I didn't think too much of it. Now I made mistake #1, I forgot to trace the arc of the spring on something. Also, I don't currently have much room to work so it wasn't long before I accidentally knocked the stack of leaves all over hell. We are off to a rough start. Lol.
Made some reference marks on the spring and headed to the press. After what seemed like forever I had the arc starting to go the direction I wanted it. At this point the press work seemed like it was starting to not go my way. That is, seemingly all of a sudden it stopped bending the way I wanted like it just decided it wasn't going to go any more. At this point I should point out that, while I am fortunate to have a press, it is the one with a monster bottle jack rather than having power of some sort. I am guessing it was just the late hour and being tired of running the jack that had me feeling this way like it had quit going my way.

It was at this point that I made the poor decision to take the easy way out. I had watched a few videos of guys who had supposedly built quite a few cars and said that once the spring was at the point I had mine it could be drawn into place with the clamps and be good to go. Now, it should have been a red flag to me that these individuals had no video with the springs the reversed actually installed in the car. But, it wasn't(until I had it all together).
So, I used the clamps to draw it the rest of the way into place, put the bolt in the center and put the bolts into those alignment saddles.
The spring looked great( to me). I put it in the car and set it back on the ground and everything still appeared good. I stepped on the bumper and bounced a little to see how much removing that wrap leaf had affected the stiffness. It felt good, actually better than before. I must not have had the ends of the spring bent as much as I thought because after I bounced the suspension I looked under the car again and the outer portion of the altered leaf were not completely following the contour of the others.

So, the good is that the stance of the car has improved by leaps and bounds. The bad is that I will have to pull the spring in the Spring to finish "the right way" as I started. Sorry I couldn't get a pic of the whole car. My garage is packed at the moment. Interesting note: I was worried that since I didn't follow through "the right way" I may end up with something not quite right and one side lower than the other. However, when I got it one side was 1/4" lower than the other but now it is level as can be.

 

I was just dreaming of one of these the other day, in about the condition you found yours in. I'll watch.

Devin

 

If it has factory brakes they are mechanical, not hydraulic (last year).

 

Yes, all the leaves should pretty much match their arc. You can fix the main to match the others, but you could also take a little arch out of the others as well. That would give you an inch with the reverse, and maybe another inch with the flattening if you don't go overboard.

Don't believe everything you see on YouTube. Lots of "experts" out there that haven't really done what they are spouting about.

 

Had to get out of the house for a bit today. So, even though the garage isn't particularly warm at this point, I went out to piddle with the car a bit. When I got the car it was clear that the cowl vent hadn't been opened recently. IT looked like someone had sprayed a few heavy coats of paint with it closed. When I started messing with it, it became clear that it was a little more than that. Over half the original seal is MIA. It appears someone put caulking around the edge and closed the vent, apparently planning to never use it again. When we have decent temps again in the Spring I'll have to sand and get some paint back around the edges as well as install a new gasket. But, at least it opens and closes again now.

 

A smokin deal may have just fallen in my lap... if the part will work for me. I just found a private party with a new 1" drop front spring that they have left over from a project(thinking it can be bought for $75 or maybe even a little less). The catch is they are not sure if it was ordered for a '38 Ford pickup or a car. It appears to measure the same as my car from eye to eye. Is this something to consider or just leave it alone?

 

Only difference between an aftermarket pickup or car spring would probably be the number of leaves. You can change that in a few minutes.

An original pickup spring would probably be thicker leaves, as well as more of them.

 

Cool. I'll have to check, but I think he said this one has 7 or 8 leaves.