Projects 1940 ford coupe build

Worked on the rear floors and made some extensions for the vertical braces. Trying to get things tightened up for the rotisserie.

 

R you going to put a small rear seat or jump seats in there?


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I don’t have the jump seats. I will probably go without for now

 

I want to mock the car up before I put it on the rotisserie. This is the first time that I have ever seen the coupe with this many parts on it. This is where things start to get exciting.

 

You're not kidding man, that is exciting.

 

Exciting I guess, great work.

 

Looks great, lots of work but well worth the effort. Its time for me to get back to work on my project.

 

Pulled the body off the frame. I think I’m ready for the rotisserie

 

I accomplished this between paying jobs today

 

I'm working on my 1937 coupe also. Condition is like your

 

You want 39 doors on your 40 and i want 40 doors on my 39.

 

39 -40 Coupes have always been my fav. One of the best looking cars ever made.

 

Thanks For Saving That Coupe... Appreciated...

 

Great progress. Is the body held to the rotiserrie by the 4 bolts, two in the front floor/cowl and two in the tool tray? Did you use big washers/spreaders on the inside to spread the load when the body is rolled sideways? Only asking as I'm looking at doing similar with my sedan

 

yes it’s held on with those 4 bolts. I searched the Internet for a picture and could not really get a good look. The front is straight forward. The rear I used a 1x3 tubing between the tool tray bolts. I bolted it (the 3” way) down through the tool tray, through the 3” tubing and then into the rotisserie arm. The 3” tube spaces the mounting area down so that it barely touches the outer body. I was just like you, it didn’t seem like it would be enough. It’s working just fine. The doors even open and close ok.

 

I just picked up a set of original jump seats for the car. They were not in the budget but when do you ever see a set?

 

I think I’m finally finished with the underside. Spent the day blasting and finished welding everything up. Tomorrow I’m going to epoxy prime it. Man, that was a lot of work.

 

I did my coupe body like that and every now and then I still find a tiny pile of sand, mostly in the trunk area. I still think you're doing it right .

 

I’m going to turn my attention to the drive and chassis. I picked up a 153 tooth bell housing from a friend and I have a 10” 14 spline clutch disc coming from Speedway in a couple days. I put everything in the bell to see how it shakes down. Looks like it will need a little cut off of the input shaft. Most people say about 1/4 inch. Thinking about going with a cable clutch linkage. Have any of you guys tried it with my type of arrangement?

 

My memory is very foggy (40 some years ago)on this issue but I remember pinning the clutch peddle to the shaft that both the clutch and brake peddle are on . Then I either made a bushing or just reamed out the peddle mount enough to allow the peddle shaft to rotate. Then I put a fitting on the inside end of the shaft to install a rod to actuate the clutch. It was very simple and worked without a hitch for the few years I drove my first Forty with SB Chevy and Chevy 3 speed.

 

I understand what you are saying. Isn’t this how a 1939 pedal assembly works?

 

I am not certain, on that. I traded off my 39 pedal assembly years ago . I wish I hadn't done that. I know that the shaft on the 40 pedal assembly has to be pushed out of the bracket with a hydraulic press.

 

I racked my brain for a simple rod or cable install on mine, but couldnt figure it out, so went with hydraulic master and a push slave. Still not 100 percent sure its going to work, but I based it on the stuff Novak sells, and they've been doing it for a while. Be interesting to see what you come up with, simple mechanical stuff is much easier to fix if it fails on you.

 

I've done a couple customer chassis with the bell housing and trans combo you have. I ran the clutch with a Willwood puller slave and the 40 pedal assembly from P&J. The pedals need a little tweaking but when done everything worked good. I agree mechanical is better but sometimes difficult to get to work?

 

That mechanical system I used must have been simple.....otherwise I certainly couldn't figured it out back in the late 70's.... I am challenged by simple bell crank ( geometry problems). Somebody with a good memory should be able to step up here and recall what they did back in the day. I hope.

 

A machinists friend stopped in today. He is going to push the pin out and machine the housing and put a bushing in. He will replace the shaft with a longer one and it should all look and operate like the 1939 assembly. Sounds simple enough. Thanks for your advice! I almost went the cable route. Glad you chimed in. I will send pictures when I get it back.

 

When you get your pedal arrangement figured out, please show pictures.

This is a great build. Thanks for sharing it.


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Finally got the chance to get back to the build. I decided to address the rear of the frame. I had rust issues between sandwiched areas in the back and figured it would be a good idea to strip down the rear area and sand blast. I’m going to box the rails after they are all cleaned up.