Finally Collected My '39 Deluxe Coupe Body

I bought this body a little while ago, but only just picked it up about 2 weeks ago. I live in the North Island of NZ, and it was in the South Island. It was cut up in the '60s to be mounted on a stockcar chassis for speedway racing, but fortunately never got that far, and sat in storage for a few decades. The guy I bought it from has had it about 10 years, and has done a lot of work on it, but it still needs most of the floor, plus the rain guttering, which were both removed when it was destined to end its days in the bullring.

I have a (mostly) complete '38 Deluxe four door which my father bought in the late '70s, when I was a kid, but which just languished in our backyard when he lost interest. I bought it off him a couple of years ago, and the '39 coupe body will be grafted to fit the '38 Deluxe front etc. It'll be a bit of a mongrel, and fat fendered Ford anoraks will spot the difference straight away, but it'll be a cool old beater, and lots of fun.

I took these pics at Rusty Acres, where the body was, when we picked it up.

 

Sweeeet. Good luck. Those can't be easy to find there. Hell they're not easy to find here!

 

Thanks, yeah, they're rarer than rockinghorse shit over here. NZ buyers have tended to favour four door cars, so coupes were few and far between even when new. But many were used in speedway in the '50s and '60s, and rust finished off a bunch more.

 

Those are such a nice looking body style....nice find. BTW, how did that car do pulling the trailer?

 

I love seeing these overseas guys tow rigs.

 

Thanks, yeah, I really love the body style, real nice lines. Should be interesting to see how it matches up with the curvy '38 Deluxe front. The '38s had the shorter body. The tow car is an Australian Ford Falcon. 4.0 litre straight six motor. Pulled the trailer and body like they weren't even there.

 

Lucky guy!! I've always wanted a '39 Deluxe or '40 Ford coupe....

I'm jealous.... very jealous!!

 

I own a company which makes custom apparel for race teams etc, so in between jobs I put together an image of how I want it to look when finished, then started making up a T-Shirt design for it. I may not have a car for a while yet, but at least I'll have the T-Shirt!

 

Just so you know, the cowl is totally differet bewteen 38/39 standard and 39 deluxe and 40...you may be able to make it work, but it will not be a "bolt on" deal. Even the fron crossmembers are different because 38/39 standard had a standard fan, and the 39 deluxe/40 had a crank mounted fan, so the front crossmember had to be changed to get it to work.
Good Luck! Heres a pic of my 39 standard I got a few months ago!

 

Chris, your '39 is fantastic! Yes, I am aware of the differences, thanks. Until I really get into the guts of it, at this stage I am hoping to get around the problem by fitting '38 Deluxe lower cowl patch panels, and maybe modifying the bonnet slightly, but we'll see when work really starts on it. The '39 coupe body will be mounted on a '38 chassis. Everything about the car with the exception of the body, is '38 Deluxe.

 

Sweet, I love 38 Deluxe and 39 Standards. My Dad has a 38 Deluxe 4 door thats his driver, neat old cars. He also has a 37 and a 40 Deluxe, so were fat fender rich over on the farm!
My car sat for about 35 years, was rodded in the ealry 60's. It is pretty stock running gear, but has a 283.

 

What are your plans for the '39 Chris? I think its spot on just the way it is. How about a few pics of the other cars in your families collection?

 

I don't want to hijack your thread, but here you go. These are the only pics I have on the computer at he moment. The 41 tudor sedan is mine, the 34 tudor I just got a month or so ago. It is my current major project. The 40 pickup is my brother's, as is the Model A coupe getting the engine (thats him putting it in). The nicer A coupe is mine (you can see my Dad's 38 in the background under a tarp). The A roadster is my Dads, as well as pretty much everything else in the driveway. My Dad has a lot of other cars as well. Thanks for the interest

 

Oh yeah, plans for the 39 include a frame-off. I am going to get it driveable for a couple years, but it is just bad enough to need to come apart. Besides, I really want to yank that 283 outta there, and put a REAL engine in it. I have had it running, and drove it around the block, but the 35 year outside storage did it no favores Then again, if it wasn't parked outside, I would have never saw it! It took me over 5 years to finally buy the car.

 

One more thing...I always wondered what kind of Dog was in your avatar? Looks like my Red Bone Coon Hound, Lucy!

 

39 Deluxe is a beautifull car. Dad has one......

 

Chris, please feel free to hijack (and that goes for anyone else who wants to post pics on this thread), those are some fantastic cars you've got there. What suspension mods have you done to your '41? Nice stance. So too your brothers '40 puckup. Thanks for posting the pics.

 

The dog in my avatar is Oscar, my 3 yr old Rhodesian Ridgeback. The Ridgebacks were originally bred in Africa to help hunt Lions. Very strong, whilst at the same time slightly stupid, and very gentle. He goes everywhere with me, and because of him, I'll have to keep the bench seat in the '38, as he won't fit in a bucket or bomber seat! There do look to be some similarities between him and your dog Lucy, there is some Hound in the Ridgebacks, so they could sniff the Lions out.

 

Ah, I'm hearing ya. The pics must make the condition look better than it acually is then? Looks like a fantastic project. Have you found any period pics of it?

 

Wow, thanks for posting. That is beautiful!

 

Quite a family Chris! Awesome...

 

Thats funny, my dog is dumber than a box of rocks! But she's a big sweetheart, and can sniff out anything! My 41 has a 2 1/2" dropped axle, reverse eye spring, and 3/4" longer shackels. My brothers 40 is basically the same, minus a couple leafs. He also "raised" the center of his front crossmember 1/2" to get it that much lower. His is way lower than mine, but my car rides really decent.
The 39 coupe has some rust in the floors and quarters. Nothing major, except one large hole in the trunk were a bad of fertalizer was stored. It basically needs lower quarter patches and either floor patches, or a whole floor. But the body is EXSTREMLY strait. The wirings shot, brakes are shot, king pins, on and on. I had another way worse 39 standard I sold after I bought this one, that really needed a frame up, and I was collecting tons of parts for it for like 5 years, so I really have everything for the car, and I want to make it REALLY nice. Everything else I have is orriginal paint driver quality cars, wich I really love, but I do want a completly gone through car as well, and I guess the 39 is the choosen one
Good luck, and if you ever need anything or have any questions, give me a shout!

 

Good luck with your 39 project.
I've got a '40 that started as a basketcase and I love it.

Also used to have a Rhodesian Ridgeback (zuke)
He'd run forever with no water.
I thought he was smart but he didn't know cars were not lions so...
Great dogs though.

TP

 

Chris, did your dad build that car? It looks like one Kennedy's dad sold to the Pacific Northwest not long ago.

Steve, you didn't say if your body is a Standard or Deluxe. If it is a Standard you don't have any problem with the front end swap. If it is a Deluxe you could cut that '38 Fordor through the windshiled posts & weld that cowl into the '39 body. This would solve your "hood to cowl" issues..... but I think it would be just as easy to make the modifications to the existing sheetmetal with the help of a patch panel or two.

Congratulations. Looks like it should be a nice car when finished. A few of us here like these ugly old '38's & '39 Standards. Keep us posted.

JH

 

Far out, it must be the hound in them. Those are some pretty similar traits. Oscar is also unbelievably lazy, loves his comforts, and is as greedy as anything I've ever known when it comes to food.

 

Thanks for the details, you guys are right on the money, both those cars look fantastic. Would you mind posting a few more pics of your '41 and your bro's P/U if you have them? Also, what size wheel/tyre combo's are you running? Your '39 Std sounds like its going to be a great project. Please keep us posted. Do you have any period pics from when it was first hot rodded?

 

I'd love to see some pics of your '40. Would you mind posting? I thought Oscar was smart, my partner Helen thought he was stupid. Love is blind, right. Then we got a second dog, a Kelpie, and I realised she was right. Mind you, he makes me look smart, which is a good thing.

 

Harrison, its a Deluxe unfortunately. But I just couldn't have cut up that old '38 Deluxe four door body. My father bought that car in the late '70s when I was about 6 or 7 years old, and it lived out the back of our house. I used to play in it all the time, and it was really a part of the family. It was a POS, but it was complete. I actually part-traded the four door body on the coupe, I knew I'd never do anything with it, but I still feel a bit guilty about it. But I've kept everything else from it, including the 24 stud Flattie, the 3-speed, Banjo etc, plus the interior, so at least I'll retain as much of the soul of the car as I can.

I've really enjoyed the updates you've posted on your '38. Its a fantastic looking car, and keeps me inspired. Mine won't be a show stopper, but it'll be a lot of fun. I know the '38 Deluxe has been nicknamed the ugly duckling of the fat fendered Fords, but I love them, and they're thin on the ground here, especially coupes.

 

Wow, that sounds just like my dog. She inists on sitting or sleeping were she wants, lays around all day yawing, and will mow you over to get to food! I'll post some more pics shortly

My 41 wears 600:16 front and 750:16 rear. My brothers is 5-50:16 front and 750-16 rears (I think, may be 700's).