Hot Rods BChrismer's Survivor '40 Ford Convertible

Yup. Bought those and his 38-41 distributor with a 12v pertronix conversion.

 

Anxious to see it Bret. Should you decide to go with the snap-in style hub caps(40-41 truck style) I have a couple 15” mid- fifties stock F-100 steel wheels I could donate. I also have a set of 16x4”.

 

She’s the BOMB, Bret! Dibs when you get tired of the old gal.

 

Nice, man.

 

I'm happy for you Brett.

I love the Oklahoma folks but they can have the gravyfied french fries at Murphy's.

 

Thanks. I don't know how I missed your '39 'vert build thread. It's definitely bookmarked.

 

Where you parking all these ‘40s, Brother? If your getting a little top heavy, I’m sure I can help ya out…

 

I'm sure you will enjoy your convert as much as I am mine. Stock 40 converts rock!

 

This is the old '40 MO plate that I ran on the back of the panel truck. Because it had a lot of weathering, I had decided to drop it in a pan of vinegar to help kill the rust stained paint. Well...the vinegar decided to just eat all the paint off the plate.

Because I am cheap and didn't feel like buying a spray bomb of Wimbledon White, I found the can of Rustoleum Canvas White and applied a coat to the back, to see how it was going to work. Looks like two coats will handle it, then break out the black 1Shot for the letters and border.

I am somewhat kicking myself for not registering the plate for the panel, back in 2020, when I had gotten the confirmation the number was available. I'm hoping it comes back clean again, so I can send in the appropriate paperwork once my title comes back.

 

Thanks, Ed! I'm planning on driving it up for the StL Hot Rod Hundred Sept 14. It got one of the OLD Roarin' 30's stickers in the windshield and one of the over sanded tag toppers on the back now. If I ever sell it, it has a LONG line of local guys who've called dibs you'll have to fight.

Uh, yeah...about that. My wife is not real happy right now, as the convertible kicked her car out of the garage. I'm currently working through the list of widowed church ladies to see if any of them happen to have some garage space I can rent to rotate '40s into.

 

Keep in mind that with a "raked" stance the gear oil, from your differential will drain out and run down the interior of you torque tube and eventually dissolve the rubber encasing the torque tube center bearing. There is a replacement bearing available from Skip Haney on Fordbarn. Plus, I recall seeing a thread where a fellow in FL actually recast the rubber around the OEM bearing so it can be reused. OEM Ford center bearings are no longer available and are very expensive and rare. You can tell the bearings "bad" when you feel and hear the solid driveshaft vibrate as it whips inside the torque tube.

 

@hotrodpro Danny Burroughs at Bruce’s Hot Rods makes a torque tube seal to keep the gear oil in the diff. I used on of those on mine and then greased the center bearing at the zert and hoped for the best. I think it’s still going strong as far as I know.

 

Here's a follow up on Dan's information. I have also installed one of Bruce's seals.
Technical - Torque Tube REAR Oil Seal Question | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)

 

Road tripping in a '40 convertible with 6v electrical is going to be a new experience. When I got the stake truck on the road, I rewired it all 12v with a Chevy internally regulated alternator, just to make "power" related failures a fairly easy roadside fix. I haven't thought through that process yet, with the convertible, but one of my other concerns is that I have an older cell phone that doesn't hold charge very well, and I will need to somehow be able to charge it.

I also remember that when I rewired the stake truck, my Uncle Bob had an AM radio out of a late model hung under the dash and used a 6v to 12v power inverter to power it. I searched high and low in the garage trying to find it, since my pack rat nature tends to never throw stuff away. Unfortunately, I had no success finding it, so I resorted to Amazon, where I bought one of these.


https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Converter-Waterproof-Stabilizer-Automotive/dp/B0BQJ4G77B

as well as one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1V92QBR?th=1

And since I was blowing money like a sailor on leave, I went ahead and grabbed one of these for future use.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R3Y5WXH?th=1

Just trying to figure out where I can hide that power inverter and fuse box, but as long as I run my power and grounds from the 12v items to the fuse box/bus bar combo, I should be able to wire up an accessory outlet to plug a USB cord into to charge the phone. The bluetooth amp will be saved for a later date when I can figure out how to mount a 5x7 dual channel speaker behind the speaker grille, so it remains out of sight.

 

I have that same mini fuse panel in my '40. So far I am happy with it

 

Yesterday, I drove the '40 convertible up the street to a car show held in our neighborhood by a local church. One of my photographer buddies came over because he wanted to shoot some pics of the car.

Here's the link to his photo album of the car. To me, it is interesting to see what his eyes see.

https://capturingcreationphotography56.pixieset.com/brethismustacheandhis40ford/

 

Nice work! We have all seen the various details of the exterior picked out. What stood out to me in his selection are the interior shots. That resonated with me as what the driver interacts with when going down the road.

 

That’s too cool Bret!

 

Exhaust hangar is cool .

 

Jerry, this is why I didn't buy your convertible. I've been eyeballing this one since 2020. When it came up for sale last fall, I didn't have the funds, so Jim Pike wound up buying it. I told him to give me 6 months, but he made me wait 11.

 

Drove the convertible out to Mike Meeker's shop last night to finish up the clutch/transmission shop in my coupe. Once we got the coupe buttoned up, I pulled the convertible up onto the lift so we could adjust toe-in.

On the 35 mile drive out to Mike's, I got passed by a guy snapping a photo. I was very surprised to find the photo posted on my FB page when I got home.



Earlier in the week, I bought some 6v LED 53 style light bulbs on Amazon to use in my gauge panel. I didn't realize I was going to get to test them out on the ride home.

 

What a cool 'vert a great collection of photos too

 

SUPER FIND

 

Headed out to the St Louis Hot Rod Hundred, keeping a close eye on the oil pressure gauge. Had some sprinkles from the remnants of Hurricane Francine, but things seemed to be going great.

Then I lost all oil pressure but at least made it to Redmon's Candy Factory, 50ish miles from home. I finally put the top up for the very first time.

Got a ride on a rollback over to Mike Meeker's shop, threw all my crap into the coupe, and got back on the road.

It's not a trip to St Louis unless you make a stop to inspect Uranus.

Got to Washington, MO and had to make a stop for dinner. If you've bypassed Lion's Choice on your way through the StL area, you're missing out on some great roast beef sandwiches.

Side note:

Apparently this little frog decided to run away from home and he stowed away in the coupe. I felt something cold drop on my toe, only to look down to see him. He wandered through the car until we got to Washington, where I let him go in the grass by Lion's Choice. He thanked me by pissing all over my hand. What a jerk!

 

After a few calls with known flathead guys who build engines, I was encouraged to have them tell me if it's not knocking, I can more than likely pull the pan off of it, scrape all the crap out of the oil pan, clean up the oil pump screen, and probably squeeze some additional miles out of it before requiring a rebuild. That process will commence Friday evening, so hopefully I'll be back in bid'ness before the Midwest Forty Ford Gathering and for the Gathering at the Roc.

 

Sorry to hear of your loss of oil pressure. I hope cleaning the screen solves your problem. Flatheads still providing us fun and adventures for 90 years!

 

Well, things seem to be taking a different direction, and that's a good thing. While the current flatty will be coming out, the oil pan/pickup screen cleaning will be postponed for a later date, but their is a high probability that the convertible will be back on the road next week sometime.

 

Motor swapping! How Fun is That?! you must have a spare available?

 

I haven't seen it yet, but I will be picking up a '46 59a that was rebuilt by Jerry Livingston, over near Wichita. It was intended to go into a '36 sedan but never did, so it should still be clean as a whistle on the inside. It just requires a stack of cash and about a 600 mile round trip to pick it up.