Projects Tony Miller's Custom 40 Ford Convertible

This is the type of build you love to say I saw this in progress! Only on the HAMB!!

 

Me too, Randy, but don't hold your breath. We may both be finished before this car is!

 

Any updates?

 

Sorry, nothing to report yet. Cash has been scarce since December, so Don hasn't done anything new since the start of this thread. I just gave him the green light, though, so there may be news before long.

Thanks for asking.

 

Re:50Fraud's 40Fraud

I've thought your fraud concepts have been right on the money and this may well be
the best fraud excution so far...If its not too late in the build, I'd like to offer up a couple of suggestions to consider. These are based on alterations/ideas used on my 40 coupe. 1st. rid the only square item in the side view, the upper trunk corners, as you may know rounded corners were standard on a Mercury. The 2nd, just behind the rear downward trailing edge of the rear fender, a 3/8" to 1/2" piecut, this seems to aid the the lower portion of the fender in the flow of the whole fender...

Please do keep us posted on the progress and all the best on your project,
Dyno Dave

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

We agree about the trunk corners, and are planning to round them.

I don't understand the pie-cut to the rear fenders, though. "Behind the rear downward trailing edge" would seem to be out in space behind the car. Can you explain the location of the cut in different words? Better yet, can you show us what you did to your car?

Thanks again.

 

I think he means move the back edge of the wheel opening rearward a little. More swoopy. But then you'd need to do the same on the front wheel openings.

 

Re: 50Fraud's 40Fraud

alchemy caught it, I should of said; " In the area behind the rear downward trailing edge of the wheel opening ". With 28.5"/29.0" tires in use it seems that rear portion of the wheel opening visually appears to lead back towards the front of the car...
A small piecut behind the opening gives a nice flow the fender. Thinking the front fender opening is good as is, because it already an arc to rearside of the wheel opening...If pictures would help, I'll ask my wife for her help getting attachments posted...4TS4EVR...Dyno Dave

 

Holy crap Tony! I love the look and as a former 40 Ford owner who doesn't like customizing the 40- that's saying alot!
I'd like more info on the hood profile in relation to the top of fenders. That hood lays in there perfect!
Road trip!

 

Dave, I get your meaning now. We did lay out both wheel openings to look alike, and with a very slight rearward slope to the back edge of each opening. Because we didn't take any direct side views of the car in the most recent shoot, you can't see the wheel openings accurately. The rear fender does roll under a little bit, and that makes it look like the opening is returning forward in the front 3/4 views. Look at this side view, taken a while earlier:



Steve, what more would you like to know? The fenders and running boards are in the stock location on the frame, and the hood is sectioned 2 1/2". The body is channeled by the same 2 1/2", so the fenders are attached higher on the body by the same amount. Don used a strip of tape along the body reveal from the hood into the doors to get an accurate transition before the sectioned hood was welded back together. There will be some further adjustments to the fender-to-hood shut line and the hood-to-grille interface.

Thank you both; I appreciate your comments.

 

WOW, What can ya say but Wow, tons of work and patience with incredible results, great job and a killer look and stance, thanks for getting the juices flowing again, off to the garage

 

Re:50Fraud's 40Fraud

Thought of another subtle change made that you might find useful. Gene Jordon of the Tri-Cities, WA. did the work on my 40'. As the door trim has a notch in it to clear the hinge and as the notched trim and hinge interrupt the flow of the side trim, I asked him to to hide the upper hinge, but leave the lower hinge in place. Gene commented that won't work, I said I'm looking at a 48' Ford with that setup as factory delivered. "Get me some 48' hinges" done deal...I hope this is helpful.
Some years ago, met you and saw your 50' at Bill Ross's WWW run & lawn party in Yakima, lots of discussion on how your 50' was built, the others were saying it's start was a 50' and I commented that you begin with a 51', its easier to go backwards? Looking forward to updates on your build, Dave

 

Thanks for the hinge suggestion, Dave. Have you posted pictures of your car anywhere? I'd like to see it.

Bill's parties were outstanding. Sad that he quit doing them. What were you driving when you attended?

 

Re: 50Fraud's 40Fraud

Tony, I can chop, channel & section old car images on the computer, but am unable post attachments...need help from the Mrs. There might be an old post under "chopped 40's" leading the Dave Propst's website... The tu-tone blue Bel Air in current form is in "let's see your 49-54 chevys" by Boones, p.26 #509...Dave

 

Re: 50Fraud's 40Fraud

Found that old site...40 Ford Chop, under dcmann p.2, post#30, click on davepropst website address, then 1940 Ford Coupe appears, scroll down to pictures...Dave

 

That was quite a hunt, but I found the '40 pictures on Dave's site. Is that your '40? I notice that the pictures were last updated 2/26/09; has the car progressed since then?

 

Re: 50Fraud's 40Fraud

Yeah, started it 12/15 years ago I wanted a statement making early 50's Valley Custom HOT ROD style 40', with numerous sublte logical changes, so spent alot time looking and mapping out those modifications, including the mild chop. The car was fully mocked up at one time, is currently a dormant and disassembled and not surprisingly could be brought... Appreciate it if you would pass along the info to any 40' guys you know. Thanks

 

This is such a sweet build, any updates?

 

Nothing notable. We're working on side glass frames right now.

 

this is fantastic! brings back some memories ill keep watching this build!!!

Yaril

 

Just a little update: when we last showed you the car it was looking like this (and still is, pretty much):


When starting to build the door window frames, Don discovered that convertibles want to have the rear track and the latch in the same place. To get around this, convertible doors are thicker than post cars -- but we have sedan doors on this thing. Don has now reconstructed the rear of the doors to widen them at the jamb, and to make room for everything to co-exist. That's done now, and latches & handles are installed.

Time to rough out the shape of the top. Don built some plywood windows to simulate the opening, and bent some bows out of steel rod:



With three bows and a centerline constructed in steel, a top covering was made from the finest virgin masking tape:



The sheet metal around the back of the cockpit is not yet in place, but this mockup lets us know where it ought to be and how it will be shaped (not like the picture). The real top structure will be adjusted from the shape of this mockup, and the whole contour of the top will be enlarged by the addition of padding and covering material.

I guess we probably should work on outward visibility a little, too.

 

Man that thing looks awesome!!!!!

 

Looks good Tony!!!!! Can't wait to see it in person when it is done.


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Simply outstanding - the coupe version was just great - the carson top version is going to blow people away - great design and execution of that design .... WOW!

 

Man, how have I missed this till now??

Don, Tony, awesome. Just killer.

Keep on keepin' on!!

 

Man. that thing is looking slick

 

Just like I said in my last post.................

Holy crap Tony!

 

Love your 40. Always liked the channelled look. Yours is really well proportioned. I like the quarter windows. Never liked the chunky wrap around top on a 40. A friend built a 37 rag a few years back with quarter windows. Looked so much better than stock. Ialso like the merc grille idea as a buddy had a really nice chopped 40 ford coupe with a merc nose. Ford should have built that car. Really nice proportions. Pat

 

I have a stockish 40 coupe in the shop for some upgrades. I thought this shot gives some perspective on how much has been changed on Tony's car.

 

That is so nice to see them sitting next to each other.
The proportions on Tony's car are so nice!