Thought I'd share the build of my recent purchase. Bought from a great bloke in Iowa in June. Shipped back to the UK and collected in July. Parked up for over 50yrs with virtually zero rust and a rebuilt Flathead. Plans for it include, 4 bar setup with 9" axle, IFS, coil overs all round, tuned up flathead(edelbrock heads,dual 97's,stainless exhaust ), with Chevy T5,new steel wheels Hopefully have it up and running asap
I know it’s not going to be to everybody’s taste but i want something that will drive decent and keep up in modern day traffic
It will be a nice ride, I don't get the IFS. but to each his own. Straight Axle cars to me drive and steer better than the IFS cars. just need to drop the axle and add a sway bar. I dig the worn paint. looks just like the paint on my 39.
I have had both under a 40 and to me the straight axle was as good as the ifs. Just need to add or remove spring leafs to get desired ride.
Must admit the 38’ I had a drive in before buying this one drove pretty decent. Brakes were crap and it needed another gear. Could be worse and it could have a 350 Chevy install
Pretty much my thoughts. Nobody sees the underneath. It’ll still look original apart from the bigger tyres
I’ll do my best. Engine/gearbox in for final time hopefully. Clutch all connected up and working. New shoes and brake hardware in the 9”. About to start and finish the brake lines. Plan is to have the chassis all plumbed and to have the rebuilt engine up and running before I put the body back on.
Things moving along again. Brake lines are nearly done. Propshaft installed. It'll be time to put the body back on soon
Went along to the Classic Car Show at the Birmingham NEC on Saturday and saw a lovely 39/40 coupe in original condition. Unusual as it had 39 lights/dash
That show sure attracted a lot of people! The coupe in your pictures appears to be a 39 with a 40 trunk lid. What is really interesting is the windshield. The 39 windshield was a tip out type. 39 Deluxe with crank open and close windshield. The convertibles and woodies had this divided windshield arrangement. The car you photographed appears to have been customized quite a bit as many 39 -40 Fords have. This one appears to have been well done. One of those modifications you don't always pick up on right away. It should be a good modification to have in a climate that has a lot of rainy days.
This will be a real nice driver for you, when completed drive the wheels off it. Mines been on the road right at 1 year now and I've put 9800 mi on it. Weather permitting it's my daily driver.
Couple of hours with a wire wheel and wire brush and it’s probably better than when it left the factory. Should be good for another 70+ years
Seems to be going a bit slow at the moment. Little jobs seem to take ages. Been doing the interior and getting things ready for bolting the body back down. Dynomatted the whole of the interior and then 6mm closed cell foam on floor and doors Having the exhaust made this weekend so first start is getting close
Exhaust all finished. 2" Stainless System with no mufflers Just got to pull the motor again to install a full flow oil setup then it'll all get bolted back down for good hopefully
Hey 40 Coupe looking at your frame/exhaust pic's made me think of something that might help you in case you experience a problem I had. I'm running the same 7" dual diaphragm brake booster and fought my brakes dragging for a bit before I finally figured out what was going on. I put all the proper clearances between pedal rod to booster and booster to M/C and good strong return spring on my pedal, everything would be fine while everything was cold so to speak, then when operating temps escalated the brakes would start dragging. Had a hunch, touched the booster and it was hot....real hot! My exhaust runs thru wrapped fenderwell headers and then out board under my running boards so that was not the problem (so to speak) heat source, it was solely the engine compartment heat escaping under the car. Long story short and a lot of head scratching..... a lot of heat is generated under the hood and escapes under and thru the frame, It was heating up my booster up which worked perfect when cold, then it would heat up making the diaphragms more "Pliable" so the normal engine vacuum was slightly applying the brakes. I basically doubled the recommended normal clearance on the diaphragm to M/C clearance and the problem went away. Just my experience, thought it could possibly save you some grief.
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