Ty Branum '40 Ford Tub

Thanks for posting your album pictures JohnnyG. No matter whether it is 39 or 40 I like it as shown.

 

Did 39 firewalls in converts have the weird bead that bends around the wiper mount bolts? But it's not like all usual '40 firewalls because there is no humps where the choke cables come through. But there is the round hump for the heater option, which I thought was a '40 feature.

It does have a '40 sway bar on the front, but that could have been bolted on at any time. You could look for the '40 clutch pedal linkage, which had a mount on the leg of the X member. You could look to see if the rear fenders had filled-in teardrop taillights. I don't know if '40 converts had a different outer door handle than closed cars, but the hole they fit into on the door skin was a large egg shape instead of a small hole for '39's. A small hole might remain in the door jamb which was access for the screw to hold them on.

 

Sure is interesting looking; any rear views?

 

Here is my 39 Convertible Sedan firewall before I did any repair or changes. No heater hump and no choke or throttle bumps.

From the scrap book for comparison.

This still does not mean the story of 6 being made is not true. As has been said it is relatively easy to swap the sheet metal and trim back and forth on these 39 - 40 Fords. I am sure if the Ford boys were just testing the waters in the design , engineering or marketing areas they may have chosen to just use a body already sitting in line for 39. The door handles would be a good indicator of the year but it looks like they were already filled in when the car was initially picked up.

It really doesn't matter either... It is a cool looking car as is. Not to start another thread on which grill is better since I like them both.

 

Would be easy to check this from inside the door, as they probably wouldn't have removed the whole area, just welded a small patch. Or even looking in the door jamb as the builder probably wouldn't have filled the small hole for the handle attachment screw.

 

I was wondering about the windshield in this because it looks as thought they removed the center bar out of it and put a V but windshield in it?

 

It would appear that they did cut out the center post on this car. 39 and 40 Ford convertibles (and I think woodies) shared the same cowl section.

 

It’s cool to go back and check out the pictures of this car. Ty pulled the sbc out of it and ended up building a nailhead for it. Chopped it a little more, and finally got it back on the road (13 years later).