Hi all,noob here,just hoping to find wisdom on some things with a new/old project. I inherited a project from my grandfather,a 42 ford super deluxe coupe. Pop restored it in the 60's,ran it hot,shut the hood and walked away from it,for 42+ years. I was never allowed to work on it or learn anything about it because of need to. Now I'm blessed with restoring,de rusting and learning what to do with it. Lot of small questions,if I could borrow your time. Little things,like whats the little knob in the middle of the windshield framework,how do i get the dashboard out without destroying it,and does new rubber have to be so expensive? I've been a mechanic for 20+ years on and off,but some of this stuff evades me. Thanks in advance!
The white knob should be for the vacuum wipers. To remove the dash, you will first need to remove the windshield garnish moldings. They are held in with screws. Then you will see the screws that attach the dash board. There is also 2 bolts on the bottom of the dash one on either side. Finally you will also need to remove the 2 bolts that hold the column drop to the dash, and the 2 bolts that attach the park brake handle to the dash. . You can remove the gauges, radio, etc without removing the dash ***embly. You can also unhook the wiring from the gauges and remove the speedometer cable to remove the dash with the gauges in place. If you have anymore questions, please feel free to send me a private message. Matt
You'll have to ask Corky Coker why new rubber is expencive, but I think Matt pretty much covered the other questions. Feel free to ask more. Got any pics? Old ones, current ones?
Thanks for the info! Wasn't sure if there was anything behind those. Interested in new wiring and gauges,and a repaint. Waiting on parts for the flathead,so nows the time...
When I built new wiring for my '48 (very much the same) I took the instrument cluster, circuit breakers, speedo, clock, etc. out and started building my harness with them laid out on the floor...once you have established distances with a single wire or string as a template it is simple to make your wiring the correct length with no need to crawl around under the dash. From there, with a few more lengths of wire routed and cut to length on the car, I built out from the light switch and turn signal and so built the entire harness comfortably. In each area I ran a couple of extra wires with ends rolled up and taped off in case I needed to add backup light, foglights, etc. in the future. Build your wiring 6 volt even if going to 12...I think extra capacity is cheap insurance. Books to consider...there is a '46 service manual, now reproduced as '42-48 Ford, Merc, and Lincoln that has excellent photos of how things are routed. Shop manuals...there is an actual '42 shop manual, made for the '42 Ford used by the military in WW2. It is reproduced by I think Vantage press, a military manual company. The 1946 Canadian shop manual is also excellent...it is reprinted with some extra specifications added as a '39-48 manual.
Cool. That was my thoughts. Get it out on the work bench,mock it all up,build the wiring,then take it all apart and repaint and decrustify. Now if I can figure out how to get the back seat out...
You should order a copy of the 1941-1948 Restoration Guidelines from the Early Ford V8 Club (http://www.earlyfordv8.org or more specifically https://www.earlyfordv8.org/store-product-item.cfm?id=21&pid=2). Also become familiar with the Early V8 Forum on fordbarn.com. Charlie Stephens
From what I was told by the man that done it the first time was that it was a 42 super deluxe coupe,has a 239 from a mercury,the heads show 59ab,so dunno.Has 15" wheels on the front,16" wheels on the back. Said he took apart what was left of 4 cars,46-48. Trunk was full of parts,hinges window regulators,crank handles. A set of two duce and three duce manifolds went missing mysteriously shorty after he p***ed away. Imagine that. I still have the three carbs ,but no manifold, I threw the stude pic in for good measure...
That's a 42 front end. Also remember that the 42 had been in production for about 4 months when Japan attacked Pearl.
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