Hot Rods 1940 Ford Standard Coupe Survivor

So all of the frame numbers mean nothing to Texas in 1940, car titled by the Engine number.
Great find
Too bad I don't have the engines nor the original frames for my 40's

 

HIGHLANDER,
Just let me know what you want pictures of and I'll help out anyway I can.

 

The "engine number" seems to be in the proper range for a '40. They merely left off the 18- prefix. It is likely that the number stamped on the frame did not include the prefix.

 

It matches the frame.

 

Tire time (the tires on the car are ~ 30 years old). I want a rubber rake on the stock narrow wheels. Is 550 front and 700 in the rear a good choice with stock suspension ? My concern is with the 550 front bring too small on the stock suspension.

 

Purely my opinion.
5-50-16 is too small, especially at stock height.
7-50-16 rear and 6-00-16 looks more traditional,
and the front doesn't look like you "cheaped out"
with weenie fronts. It also is more than a 3 inch rake.
7-50-16 Firestones are 31 inch diameter and 6-00-16
are about 27 inch diameter or so.. Back in the day, you
would have left the fronts and just went big in the rear.
Killer car!!

 

Back when people knew how to work on a car. And you could!

 

In relation to the Ford script tire: in 1939 Ford opened a $5.6 million tire plant addition onto the Rouge. Plant capacity was 6000/day.

 

A minor tweak:

 

You could probably take out several leaves too. The reversed eye will give you an inch.

 

In reference to your question earlier about tires, I'm running 750's in the rear with a Posies spring, stock shackles. In the front 500/525's with a narrowed and dropped axle, posies spring.

Like someone said earlier, stay with a bigger tire like a 600 if you're not going to drop it much in the front.

 

I have an original dropped axle that's been dropped, too.

 

I don't want to assume, but most dropped axles are only a 2" drop. The call them a 4" drop because originally the axles already had a 2" drop in them. So basically the axle's are 2" over stock. So the reversed eye spring and axle will drop it about 3".

 

A 6.00 is too big on a 40 with any drop on the front. Go with the 5.50 or a 5.00.

For the rear a 7.50 will really fill it up, but a 7.00 might be easier to fit in there.

 

Alchemy is right about the 750's. Getting them on and off is a bit of a dance.

 

Here are some comparison photos that may be of benefit. Don't know why the photos are so far down below this info.
In first car photo , it had complete stock suspension with 5:60x15 up front and 8:20 x 15 in the rear. Rims were 1950 Merc. up front and 1950 Lincoln in the rear. The Lincoln rims are 1/2 wider than the Merc. The tires did not rub the fenders.
In second car photo car has OEM suspension and 6:00x16 tires and rims all around just like Henry made it.
In third car photo car has OEM suspension and 6:00x16 tires all around with the only modification being the front spring spring eyes were reversed. That lowered the car 1 inch. You can see the slight rake.
The last photo shows the same car with 5:60x 15 tires up front along with a Magnum 4 inch dropped axle, a Posie (#2040) reversed eye spring, Magnum dropped steering arms with unsplit wishbone. OEM anti sway bar is still installed. The rear is OEM stock with 7:60 x 15 inch tires. The 4 in. dropped axle lowers the car 2 in. The reversed eye spring lowers another inch. The front rims are 15x5 1/2, 1950 ford pick up. The rear rims are 15x6 with a 4 in. backspace and were made by a company called SOLIDS years ago. Front tires are 25.88 in. diameter. Rears are 28.66 in. The small tires lower the front another 1 1/2 in.
The Magnum axle is 3/4 in. narrower than stock to give better tire/fender clearance. Two jacks are needed to change a tire. One jack under the frame to first raise the body. The second jack under the axle to raise the tire off the ground. I decided not to use 8:20 x 15 tires on the rear because they were too wide coming too close to the fender and were a "bear" to change. I also used stock holes in the frame to bolt on 3/8 in steel angle iron to be used as pads for a car jack or bottle jack. This prevents damage to the 40 Ford frame and provides a strong surface. Also double nutted the perch bolts to prevent damage to threads if a jack is placed under the perch bolt. One last thought. The rear of the car looks better if the radius of the tire follows the radius of the fender opening. My front inner fender panels are literally resting on top of frame rails to give a "more lowered" appearance. New fender braces were made to support fenders, instead of the OEM "Y" bracket that bolts to the front cross member. Hope this helps you decide.
Your car is beautiful as it is. Don't restore it to perfection or it will lose it's uniqueness. Just make it safe to drive.

Scroll way down to see photos.

 

Dan, I went to your Varmit thread to get the answer about your narrowed axle, but couldn't find for what I am looking. Did you have your original axle both dropped and narrowed? I have read of a few guys using 36 front axle and bones to gain more clearance for turning.. Can someone tell us how much narrower a 32-6 axle is from a 37-40? Is it a straight forward swap?

 

I went with 550 front - 700 rear. I am using the original wheels and think this will be a good combo for dropped front end.

 

I used the 47" axle from Chassis Engineering. Ford axles are 48.5" kp to kp. Also, the perch width is different by about 4". I believe stock perch width is 39" and this axle is 35". The narrowing of the perch width allows for more room in turning, so the tire doesn't hit the bones. Since the perches are closer together, this requires a splitting of the wishbones, or at least modifying the original bones to accommodate the smaller triangle. ALso, a stock spring cannot be used, rather a spring that is made for 35" perches. Posies makes a spring as well as CE for this axle.

 

Check out the radiator capacity, 22 quarts. Holt moley that's over 5 gallons, right???

 

Thanks Dan! That info is helpful but a little intimidating. To accommodate a smaller triangle, the bones would need to be shortened, according to my reasoning. I may have access to a 36 axle and bones. I need to learn the adaptability to my 40, after dropping the 36 axle. I'll continue to monitor your varmint thread

 

@504640 That works, the bummer about 36 bones is that while they give more turning clearance, they raise the car one inch over 40 bones. It's because of the spring hanger location. I wish I had side by side pics to show you.

Also, I bought some already split 40 wishbones and then bought mounting brackets from CE.

 

Some progress: Brakes rebuilt, wiring repaired, dropped axle and reverse eye spring installed. Also put on a new tailpipe but it has the original muffler. Next step is to put on wide whitewall tires and then a good polish on the paint. I do have the original hubcaps in the trunk.

 

Oh man, that car looks like it would be great with new blackwalls.

It must be the color. Your opinion may vary

 

Yeah, I'm for blackwalls too.

 

Well - it's getting white walls.

 

LOVE this car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Picked up the car today from my Dad's shop out in West Texas. Looking good with the dropped axle and reversed eye spring. I prefer the wide whites.

 

AG,
That thing is AWESOME!!!! Love it!

 

So, are they aftermarket springs, or just stock with main leaf reversed?