Hot Rods A 40 Ford Coupe for Uncle Mike Build Thread

Nice work being done..still following.
Thanks for keeping us up to speed on your fine project.

 

Nice hot rod

 

i.rant

Well....I have not ruled out paining some fender welting. I had this dang stainless stuff on hand and decided to give it a try. I hate working with it but it seems to work well with this color. It appears to me that this color really looks pretty good with the stainless trim.

Other than the problems kinking or bending problems inherent with this stainless welting there is also the problem of how to finish off the ends. There seems to be no good way finish them. I did use my Dremel tool cut off wheel to make the cuts this time. That yields much better results than using tin snips. But then you have a straight cut end to look at. Most of the time that is not a problem except at the front fender ends of the front fender interfaces by the hood.

If any of you guys has an idea of how to finish those ends off I would like to hear from you.

 

Could you ream out half an inch of the cording material and insert a 1/2 inch piece of stainless bolt with the head cut off and polished/rounded over with that Tasmanian Devil dremmel of yours?

 

Thanks guys!

Lowcoe,that sounds like a good idea! I will give it a try and let you know how it comes out

 

Wow! You are really moving along. I haven't been on the Hamb much lately , so I just caught up with your build. I liked the battery mount; very clean. It's refreshing to see a 40 going together correctly.

 

We made some good progress this last week. We are at a car show this weekend so I have some time to post some stuff while idling away some time in the Motel room.

Lowcoe suggested making some inserts to put in the raw ends of the stainless welting so I gave it a try.


Two of the problems we were having with the welting are shown here. The end was***** ugly and we could not get the welting to stay tucked in between the panels.

I chucked 1/4"x 4" stainless bolt in the old lathe and cut some plugs to roughly the dimensions shown here. It is not to critical to get them dead on as we will be gluing them in the slot later anyway.

I did a little file and sand paper work before buffing the ends of the plugs. This tap holder worked well for holding those little plugs for polishing.

The welting slides inside the stainless so I pulled about a 1/2" out of the top of the stainless.

Then I cut just the cord part of the welting off and then pulled the welting back into the stainless making a socket for the plug to git into.

To fix the problem of the welting popping out of it's slot between the fender and grill panels we added a piece of welting to each side of the welting tab. We glued theses pieces on but decided to staple the pieces together on the next set. This works much better. You can see the plug inserted into the end of the welting here.

This is the result of Lowcoe's suggestion. I think it is great idea ! Thanks Lowcoe!

We also installed the running boards this week. I had purchased a welting kit for them from Bob Drake and we puzzled over how to get that stuff to stay in position while we bolted the running boards on. I had noticed previously that Ford had stapled the welting to the fenders during production.I don't know if they did that for the running b Well I didn't have a stapler that could do the job so I got out my rivet drilled some 1/8" holes and inserted some aluminum rivets.

That effectively held the welting in place while we got the boards in place. We had to drill some extra holes in the running boards and fenders at the front fender to running board interface on both sides of the car and had to bring the right rear fender out 1/2" to mate the fender and running boards correctly.

We spent quite a few more hours fine tuning the fit of the hood and fenders before installing the bumper. Don in his usual we way mulled over the fit problem and decided we needed to spread the V shaped support bar we had modified earlier in the project to clear the crank pulley. We used the hydraulic press to bend that heavy 1/2" round stock I had welded in there. It took a couple of tries to get it adjusted just right. Now no shims are needed between the support bar and the inner fenders and every thing seems to fit well.

The headlights went in with minor corrections. Those LED running lights are a nice item and are quite bright.

The TO DO list is getting shorter but is still pretty long considering my ever closer looming debut date.

 

Looking sweet!

 

Here is another project we did last week. I decided I wanted to have some sort of neutral safety switch on this car. After considering several options we decided to get the signal from the clutch pedal rather than the shift linkage.

We decided to install a proximity switch. In other words the switch does not have to make contact with the pedal but the normally open switch closes when a ferrus metal object (the clutch pedal) passes within 5 MM of the switch.

We found a OMRON TL-W5E1 NPN switch in the Mc Master Catalog for about $90.00 . Yes it is kind of expensive.......... I hope it works. We wired it into the relay that operates the stock 40 starter*****on.

The switch
The following is the spec sheet from the manufacturer.


DC 3-Wire Models


Model TL-W1R5MC1 TL-W3MC[] TL-W5MC[] TL-W5E1
TL-W5E2
TL-W5F1
TL-W5F2 TL-W20ME1
TL-W20ME2
Sensing distance 1.5 mm ±10% 3 mm ±10% 5 mm ±10% 20 mm ±10%
Set distance 0 to 1.2 mm 0 to 2.4 mm 0 to 4 mm 0 to 16 mm
Differential travel 10% max. of sensing distance 1% to 15% of sensing
distance
Detectable object Ferrous metal
(The sensing distance decreases with non-ferrous metal. Refer to Engineering Data on Data Sheet.)
Standard sensing object Iron,
8 × 8 × 1 mm Iron,
12 × 12 × 1 mm Iron,
18 × 18 × 1 mm Iron,
50 × 50 × 1 mm
Response frequency 1 kHz min. 600 Hz min. 500 Hz min. 300 Hz min. 40 Hz min.
Power supply voltage
(operating voltage
range) 12 to 24 VDC (10 to 30 VDC), ripple (p-p): 10% max. 12 to 24 VDC (10 to
30 VDC), ripple (p-p):
20% max. 12 to 24 VDC
(10 to 30 VDC),
ripple (p-p): 10% max.
Current consumption 15 mA max. at 24 VDC (no-load) 10 mA max. 15 mA max. at 24
VDC (no-load) 8 mA at 12 VDC,
15 mA at 24 VDC
Control
output Load
current NPN open collector
100 mA max. at 30 VDC max. NPN open collector
50 mA max. at 12 VDC
(30 VDC max.)
100 mA max. at 24 VDC
(30 VDC max.) 200 mA 100 mA max.
at 12 VDC
200 mA max.
at 24 VDC
Residual
voltage 1 V max. (under load current of 100
mA with cable length of 2 m) 1 V max. (under load
current of 50 mA with
cable length of 2 m) 2 V max. (under load
current of 200 mA with
cable length of 2 m) 1 V max. (under load
current of 200 mA with
cable length of 2 m)
Indicators Detection indicator (red)
Operation mode
(with sensing object
approaching) NO C1 Models: NO
C2/B2 Models: NC E1/F1 Models: NO
E2/F2 Models: NC
Refer to the timing charts under I/O Circuit Diagrams on Data Sheet for details.
Protection circuits Reverse polarity protection, Surge suppressor
Ambient temperature
range Operating/Storage: -25 to 70°C (with no icing or condensation) *
Ambient humidity range Operating/Storage: 35% to 95% (with no condensation)
Temperature influence ±10% max. of sensing distance at 23°C in the temperature range of -25 to 70°C
Voltage influence ±2.5% max. of sensing distance at
rated voltage in the rated voltage
±10% range ±2.5% max. of sensing
distance at rated voltage
in the rated voltage
±20% range ±2.5% max. of sensing distance at rated voltage
in the rated voltage ±10% range
Insulation resistance 50 MΩ min. (at 500 VDC) between current-carrying parts and case
Dielectric strength 1,000 VAC, 50/60 Hz for 1 minute between current-carrying parts and case
Vibration resistance Destruction: 10 to 55 Hz, 1.5-mm double amplitude for 2 hours each in X, Y, and Z directions
Shock resistance Destruction: 500 m/s2 3 times each in X, Y, and Z directions Destruction: 500 m/s2
10 times each in X, Y,
and Z directions
Degree of protection IEC 60529 IP67, in-house standards: oil-resistant *
Connection method Pre-wired Models (Standard cable length: 2 m)
Weight (packed state) Approx. 70 g Approx. 80 g Approx. 100 g Approx. 210 g
Materials Case Heat-resistant ABS Aluminum die-cast Heat-resistant ABS
Sensing
surface Heat-resistant ABS
Accessories Mounting Bracket,
Instruction manual Instruction manual
* For environments that require oil resistance, the upper limit of the ambient operating temperature range is 40°C.

last update: November 06, 20


As usual I started the project by making a cardboard pattern to try out my theories.

A few hours and several cardboard patterns later the design was finalized.

The mounting braacket was made from 1/8" aluminum. I decided to paint the aluminum with silver caliper paint.

Installed with the pedal in the up position.

Installed with the clutch pedal depressed. I bolted the bracket to the front body cowl bolt. The 10-24 bolt on the other end of the bracket allow for a small amount of adjustment for the proximity sensor.

A quick test indicates the switch works. We will have to test it some more though once the car's rear axle is supported on jack stands and we can check test the clutch adjustment.

 

Again, very slick solutions to some perplexing problems. (I have the same
welting and had not given any thought re finishing those ugly cut ends).
Look forward to seeing your coupe in person in the near future. Perhaps
at the Vintiques show in your area?

 

I COULD HAVE USED YOUR IDEAS 40 YEARS AGO AS I BLUNDERED THRU BUILDING BACK YARD 40 FORDS.

THANKS
LOU

 

HEY!! That aint traditional!! That is slick as goose*****, I can think of 101 uses for that in about 5 seconds flat. Neat. I REALLY like the plugs for the ends of the stainless welting as well. Neat stuff.

 

Thanks 36 ROKIT! If the coupe is streetable soon it will be at the East West Flathead reliability Run in Monitor WA.( near Wenatchee) on September 19th and it certainly should be on the road for the Wings and Wheels show in East Wenatchee WA the first Saturday on October.

I could have used some of these ideas back then also........As I have said before this build the culmination of a lifetime of dreaming and learning.

Thanks falcongeorge! I have tried to hide most of the non traditional stuff...... I saw a forty this weekend with stainless welting. It looked like he had inserted phillips head screw of some sort in his. It looked good and he didn't have to have a lathe to get it done. I also saw a 48 Ford coupe that had some sort of chromed plastic welting. The owner said it had been installed 25 years ago. His was understandably weathered and cracked some but that should be expected after 20 plus years. The owner could not remember where he got it.

 

Haven't been on the thread in a month and a half, just got up to speed. Dang! As always, fantastic work and great engineering solutions. Thanks for all of the documentation!

 

How I have missed this thread for so long I don't know. Quite an ambitious project and you are doing a beautiful job on it. That's going to be one great '40. Love all of your explanations and detail shots of the process. Subscribed.

 

Have been putting in lots of hours this week on the coupe project......

She is on the ground and ready to test and hopefully take to her first outing tomorrow. We had to install a standard front spring tonight. It was just too low to drive with the dropped axle, reversed eye spring, disc brakes and the radials I chose to run. It still has a rake ansd should settle some as it is driven.

I will post a first drive report tomorrow.

 

Good Luck on your maiden drive. It sure looks nice.

 

Nailed it with the stainless welting,really pops.

 

Good luck!

 

So we made it to the show a little late, but we made it. We to fix an oil leak at the firewall mounted filter housing (twice) and clean up the mess....... We got there before noon but I was so busy talking to people I didn't get around to taking pictures before many had left for home.


The proud owner The 39 guy (left) and buddy and fellow builder Don stopped to pose for a commemorative photo on the way home.

While driving around today we found a few bugs that we will be working on soon but for the next couple of days we shall rest....

Thanks skho73 it has been a busy month and we got a lot done. I will have some detail posts to post later this week.

Thanks 64DODGE440! Well since you waited so long to start reading this thread you did not have to wait around for the next post . You got most of the build in one session.

Thanks southpaw-customs! We were fortunate to have an eventful but safe first run.

Thanks i.rant! The stainless has some inevitable small kinks in it but it does look good with the blue.
I can see that the baby blue color is not a common choice of the traditional flathead group. Mine was the only blue car and there was one yellow at the show today. The rest of the cars were in traditional Henry Ford colors... I did get some compliments on the color though. We put some clear silicone on those little stainless plugs this morning before inserting them in the welting to make sure we did not loose them.

Thanks lowcoe! it went well!

 

Great job fellas!

Now tell me, was it quiet inside?

 

Love the color, That's a build to be proud of!

 

COOL car Sam !!! Chris

 

Considering that I have not installed the door seals yet...... and the windows were down...... yes I would say it was quiet enough. The doors make a nice clunk sound when they shut...

Thanks! That's Ford Waterfall Blue from 1956.

Thanks Chris! I like your new pick up too! I am glad we both met our goal of driving our projects to the run yesterday.

 

Hi 39 guy.Sweet looking 40.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

I saw it in the east/west photo coverage...Its ALIIIIIVE!! VERY cool stuff,. congratulations!

 

It's on the road and looking great! Love the stance.
Congrats!

 

Congratulations on a great build and successful first trip!
Thanks for sharing the trip along the way of the build.
GREAT job of sharing the details!
Keep workin'
Al

 

And that, Folks, is how it's done...... Great job. Great build thread. Thanks for taking us along. I'm getting off the internet now and heading to the shop to get to it!

 

did a little digging, Waterfall Blue is also listed for Ford cars in '54/'55. Looks sharp as a razor...