Projects building a low budget bellybutton 40 ford coupe

Anything new with my favorite '40?!

 

Wondering how this ended up.

 

Ok Bugsy & b-bob here goes...


About 2 years ago I had changed the 16" bias plies for some 15" bias plies.
It gave the car a more radical rake,
(even though there was a big wheel/fender gap)
but it handled so much better.

The f100 brakes weren't ever really an issue,
with the flathead anyway.
I was hoping the 302 would keep up with the middle lanes of traffic,
so earlier in the year I had splurged on a disc brake kit.

Yeah I went the speedway route.
Many hours were spent trying to piece a kit together over the counter with no luck.
After all the easy to find parts were added up,
the bearings and caliper plates were worth more than the $20 leftover.

One reason to go with the discs was better braking,
the other reason was to have matching bolt patterns - 5x4.5"

I had found some cool thin studebaker rims that fit over the rotors.

The tires size I wanted was a little out of my reach. 185R15 is what I was thinking.

These 15" steelies were found with some radial 205/65/15 tires.
They had similar backspacing to some of the aftermarket rims.

Holey Chit when I put them on.
The wheel was almost inline with the outside of the fender,
and way too high.
Almost like one of those 70's street rods!

After all that my balloon had popped a little.
I had to rethink my plan.
(this was about the end of October)

Instead of dwelling and not getting anything done,
I focused on my old RPU which had gotten a little crusty from sitting too long.

After too many hours in basic troubleshooting and tune-up time,
(about all of November!)
I got it running about as good as ever.

And actually drove it up to the Mooneyes Xmas show.
Now it was time to get back to the 40.

TP

 

During that month of down time,
a bunch of time was spent figuring out the options.
The biggest road block was the front axle.
Before my time,
the car was in a good accident,
as you could tell by the front fenders!
The front axle was replaced with a '46 or so,
a little bit wider.
Through a HAMB ad I found a couple correct 40 axles.
I contemplated sending one to an axle dropper.

At the same time,
a really interesting thread popped up.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168603
Now this is what I needed to see,
a true low-budget fix.
Here we go Bugsy!

Fortunately I had a (I think) 36 spring lying around,
which was about 2" shorter than the 46.
If I could section that 2" out of the my axle,
I'd save an inch on each side!
That could be all I needed for now.

I didn't want to risk ruining those perch pins,
so I started by stripping the suspension down to the main triangle.

Than spent a couple minutes peaking the top and bottom a bit,
not perfect just enough to line up the soon to be parts.

After some basic measurements it was time to cut.

Funny cause a week went by between the above pictures!
I had dreamed of doing this job,
but all my plans changed when I actually restarted it.

I depended on that horizontal cut to keep the kingpin angle the same.

My original plan was to weld some tabs for some tricky clamp positioning,
but all that was really needed was some stiff rectangle tubing and a bunch of clamps.


TP

 

I've really been enjoying stick welding,
and it seems to be a much stronger type of weld in some cases.

7018 loves to fill big fat gaps!

The hard part was the edges of the I beam.
As they sink in a bit.

It couldn't get much straighter than this.
The top and bottom have a soft step,
as they aren't at the same line when pulled in.

The weld seem in the middle was a cool scar to have,
also wanted to keep an eye on it just in case!

Now it was time to see it underneath the car.

But no,
those pesky original spring shackle bushings had to be removed first.

But no,
those pesky original spring shackle bushings had to be removed first.

I've got a drill and torch technique that takes forever,
but gives a good result.

The trusty spring spreader....

And it was ready to throw in.


TP

 

A couple days later there was time to slide it under.

I had expected the new spring to be flatter after installed,
but wanted to see what it looked like before any more modifications.

Chit!
Way too tall still!
The fender/wheel line was better though.
I just didn't want the semi-gasser look.

out again...
Was relieved that the axle didn't pretzel on me after all the jacking.

I had many chances to reverse the main leaf spring,
but like I said I thought it was going to be lower with the smaller spring.

No problem,
this old pipe bender has bent more springs than pipe!

After 2 passes it was almost perfect.

I ended up removing 2 leaves for a total of 9.
The second leaf needed about 1/4" trimmed from each end to fit right.
Also the ends of all the leaves were rolled up a bit with the grinder,
even though I reinstalled the plastic liners.

Funny how fast time flies doing what seems like a small project!

With some weight on the spring,
the wheel sit about right where I was hoping.

There's still some weight to be added,
and over time it should settle a bit more.
I still will consider dropping another axle,
but right now it is more important to put $400 to get it running!

The only thing I didn't mention yet was the change of the pivot ball.
That 2" pushed the ball back about 3/16" or less.
Once I modify the tie rod to fit,
and be able to roll the car out a little easier,
I'll have to figure out what to do to compensate for the change.
I'm hoping to get some time in tomorrow!

TP

 

I think you gut shot a good old Ford

 

its easy enough to just cut the 3/16 off the wishbone by the ball end and weld it back on, I did this when putting a 46 wish bone in my old 40 coupe with a dropped axle, took 4 1/4 out of the wishbones brought the length and width just right to bolt back in, still going good. Love what youve done here bringing the coupe back to life.

 

Well there's you're one star. Personally I think this is what it's all about. Wrenching, thinking, planning, scrounging and repeat ,all on your own on a budget with a little help from your friends and your kids.. Your living the life , not just blowin hot air at the local cruise in . Good on ya!

 

What a great '40 project! Thanks for all the photos and details. Bob

 

Love the pics of the great cars and love seein kids getn involved. Great job!

 

Great job. You've got balls cutting that axle, but it looks like you pulled it off.

 

I wish I had half your talent. Neat project.

 

HAHAHAHA!!! You actually did it!!!! MAn....the axle cut looks like it went great! This saved you some dough too. I agree...good chance to reverse the main spring and take a few out. I'll bet you're getting tired of putting that front end in and out but i think you've got it beat now!! Thanks for all of the pictures and detailed updates. She's moving along now!!! Can't wait to see more!!!

 

Strange how so much of a build these days can involve unbuilding what someone else built. Guys today build great cars out of stuff that would not have gotten a second look even a few years ago. I really like this build.

 

Ok here goes.
My computer doesn't like to recognize my photobucket account,
so I'm trying a new host "imageshack".
It's the same but different.
Why do people think old programs need to be upgraded?!

Anyway finally attached the tie rod and did a rough alignment.
I had rolled it out before without the tie rod,
and it took forever to roll it back!
Easy out but it wouldn't go more than 6" before the wheels turned!
Of course it was evening and it was raining!

It is low enough that I can live with it.
Definite street rod roots!
I'll still save up for the different front tires/rims,
but for some cheap rollers these will work.
I think it was worth cutting the axle up!

Depending on how it settles with the full weight,
I may reverse the rear spring as well.

Good enough way to end 2012.
Actually I've got a couple more hours!

Anyway Happy New Year to everyone!

TP

 

Do you know approximitly what year those front rims are? They will accept the 10" '50 Merc caps that i want to eventully use on my car, but i not sure what years to go look for.
They don't appear to have a deep off-set to the outside either. Thanks.

 

That is a sweet pair man

 

I got them off ebay and they said 68-93 or something like that.
I think its cause the rear 2 were the early version,
and they were able to sneak in the 2nd pair I got which didn't match!
Of course I didn't notice til after I mounted the tires.
I'm on the lookout for some that match the rears now!

Yeah I'm really fortunate right now to have all this stuff.
The old rusty one is kept outside too!

TP

 

Here's my latest mini project,
thanks to the suggestion of rickyracer.

I had found a nice Mallory electronic distributor,
which was great but didn't follow my "over the counter" build plan.
This ford distributor was scrounged from ebay for cheap,
even though new they are only $80.
Of course it took an hour to get it (hopefully) trustworthy.

This is one of Ford's first electronic ignitions.
These are supposed to work great with the GM HEI module,
replacing the original Duraspark box.

Next up was figuring out the ignition module location.

An old regulator was the perfect donor.

Everything was stripped out.

Than an aluminum heat sink plate,
and a phenolic wire attaching plate was cut out.

Everything I've studied said it was important to have the heat sink.
Hopefully this is enough.

I didn't really want to show this picture,
as it is a little sloppy,
but here it is in all it's glory.
The idea for the loops is to be able to remove them or fix them if needed.
Everything was soldered and that dielectric grease was also used.

I'm not totally satisfied with the main wire attachments,
as it's not an easy quick disconnect.
For now I'm hoping it will work as it is,
and if I need to screw with it later I'll modify it then.

A quick sand and rattlecan and the old Delco-Remy was a sleeper box.

I've tried to keep the upper firewall clean,
but there were already plugged holes for a regulator from back in the day.
Now people will wonder why my distributor is hooked up to a regulator!

TP

 

Great idea! I love it. I've been meaning to do the same thing with an electric fan control module. Your's is better.

 

Wow, Your last two mini projects are really similar. Great ideas bare
repeating. Usually I don't like stuff that looks like other stuff, disc brakes hidden in drums, injectors that sorta' look like carbs, Olds valve covers on SBCs but this is a functional disguise simply housing a new part in a part that would have been there. It looks far better than just bolting the GM module on a bracket somewhere. Your approach to this whole project is really fun to follow. Great results.

 

Okay fixed!
The new photobucket doesn't let me resize pictures as easily.
Others use the giant duraspark box to hide the HEI,
but then it's big and newer than I'd like,
well and I didn't have one anyway!

TP

 

Always wanted a 40. This one makes me want one even more.

 

Well said. It's hard to define that line between fake-for-fake's sake and changing the aesthetics of a part to fit a period; but it's there.

 

Great thread. Love the looks of your car. Reliability is a big thing to me. Good job on the upgraded drivetrain and keeping a traditional look.

 

nice job all around. nice to see people with talent giving those of us with less talent ideas on how to do things.

 

I'm not a Ford engine fan,love their cars, but not their engines. But it looks to me that a sbf fits better in a 40 than a sbc.
Narrower for sure. Does the extra length pose a problem?

 

I love Ford flat head engines. You can get a little over 300 cubic inches out of a flat head without too much work. The Mitchell overdrive unit will also help the old Ford . This is the route I would go. The unmolested cars are the big money cars on Barret Jackson auctions.

The straight axle will never go out of style. If I wanted to drive a Mustang two, I would buy a Mustang two.

I have a friend with a 39 deluxe coupe. I had him park It next to a chopped 39 Ford coupe.The un- chopped looked a lot better than the chopped.

 

Zibo, as always your builds are full of great info, and the car turns out fantastic. I like your style. Thanks for taking the time to post.