After having my 1928 Roadster finished https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/28-roadster-build.998430/ for 2 years a few problems became obvious. Having 2 boys that enjoy riding around in the car became an issue. I put a 3rd belt into the car and we can all fit but probably not for much longer as 5 and 9 year old boys seem to only get bigger. Also an open car make’s highway trips a bit of an adventure. A roof and windows can make for a more “civilized” ride the entire family can enjoy. I was on the hunt for a 39-48 Ford sedan. I came across a 1940 halfway across the country and after speaking with the owner and getting photos a deal was struck. The car was shipped and made the journey out west. The car arrived and after an inspection it looks to be an old amateur restoration. Unfortunately a lot of issues with the car were quickly discovered. My plan of buying a roadworthy car and spending the rest of summer cruising around were out the window. Lessons were learned about not going to inspect the car in person a big mistake I will not ever make again. I discovered I had bad brakes, a Flathead running on 7 cylinders, a broken transmission housing, electrical system that was a non functional fire hazard, and body mount issues due to very poor rust repairs in the floor, a old black paint job that looked like it had been washed with a pumice stone. The boys were thankful impressed by the car. Lots of room in the back seat and they enjoyed showing all the neighbourhood kids how manual windows and ash trays work( something Gen Alpha kids have never seen) Not knowing where to start I figured tackling the paint would be a good first step. The paint was very tired. The black was a gritty with lots of scratches. Someone had tried waxing or polishing before and created large swirl marks everywhere. I played with a few compounds but quickly discovered there was a lot or area to do by hand. So I purchased a DA polisher and started to learn. I figured I could make it any worse so why not learn polishing on a black car. I Started with a clay bar to pull the grit out of the paint. Then cutting compound, polish, followed up with a wax. The results were amazing the old paint job cleaned right up. It still has runs and embedded dust but now at least it shines. Moral of the story you can polish a turd. Next up was find out why I was running rough a compression check on the engine and found #2 was down to 30PSI. A leak checked had it leaking out the exhaust. I pulled the head and eventually managed to get the valve out as the guide was stuck in the block. The seat was not in the best conditions but this a a budget fix on the engine as it seems to be very worn and needs a full rebuild anyways. Hopefully I can get one season out of it before I have to deal with it any further. With the head off I was able to clean out the cooling passages and got handfuls of rust scale out of the cooling system. After what came out of one side I pulled the second head and cleaned that cooling system out as well. The other sider had just as much debris in it as well. At some point a critter had found the rad tank was a great place to store food and I pulled old cherry pits from the top tank. At this point I decided it would be best to just get the body off the frame so I could have better access to the body mounts for repairs. I stripped down the interior cutting the patchwork of wiring out of the car including multiple house hold wire nuts. It was just a disaster so figured starting from scratch was going to be easier (also I really enjoy wiring). I stole this idea off some other builds on the HAMB and created a front spreader bar to bolt to the hood hinges. Out back I used a floor jack on a wood support in the rear of the body. I lifted it a few inches at a time and used some cribbing to support the body until it was up far enough to get the frame to slide out With the body off I was able to got a closer inspection on the frame. After 85 years it was in need of some attention. The front crossmember was cracked and poorly repaired. This is where the snow ball started picking up speed. I figured why stop now and I just stripped it down to the bare frame. I took it over to the locate U-Blast and cleaned off 84 years of rust and dirt. I was able to locate a good front cross member so out mine came and in went the replacement. @jordabennett customs gets credit for the great YouTube videos on hot riveting. Gave me the insights to try it out and it seems to have worked. Only thing I did differently was built this adjustable buck to wedge inside the frame to hold the rivet in place as it was a one man operation. It was a noisy job with the air hammer both my kids notified me that it was to loud to fall asleep in the house (another flaw in having a attached garage with kids rooms above) The steering box mount was cracked so a good replacement was installed. Once everything seemed good I was able to paint the frame with KBS rust paint. So this is where the project sits now. Time to get busy cleaning and painting all the other parts off the frame too keep it going back together. Fix the body mounts, completely rewire and plumb the car. The goal is to have it ready for the 2024 season while maintaining a full time job plus 2 kids.
Congrats despite the setbacks...its a really sharp looking ride...you are certainly commended at tackling the issues head on...it will surely reward you down the road with trouble free cruising...
Good move. You addressed every need as it came up. Surely your wiring will perform as well. May the '24 season be smooth for you.
WOW! Great work on your part to save it from itself and the poor attention it has had in the past. Gonna be a sweet ride going forward. Love your Roadster as well.....Don.
"All in"....now you'll know the car inside and out, seems we always end up there one way or another. Thanks for sharing.
I loved the roadster as well; glad you are saving another 40, kids are going to love it this summer. You are doing well, my favorite cars are my roadster and my 40.
Great job of getting safety issues and getting the stuff knocked out to give you a reliable car to enjoy with the kids this next driving season. You’ll have a far better time now that you “know “ the car inside out. Great looking car by the way.
Very cool ride and your boys will grow up and have great memories in the 40 starting this summer. I can tell they already love spending time with you in the old cars and those memories will last a lifetime for both you and your boys. Although, you are technically ruining them just like all of us here…or, at least that is what happened to my boys growing up around this stuff. Next thing you know, you will be spending all your time working on their hot rods…which is great by the way.
Nice '40! I had one many years ago (in my 20's) and realized later how nice it would have been as a family hot rod after our son and daughter were born. The back seat area is like a playground! Glad you have foresight rather than hindsight like I did. Lynn
Thanks yes the 40 was on my bucket list of cars to own. Once polished up you can’t beat a old black Ford. Unfortunately this one had issues hidden but at least I have the space and skills to get it sorted out. Before it was delivered I told a friend I was going to keep this one simple. He laughed and said there was no way I would leave it alone. I guess he was right Yes we have had fun In the old cars preschool drop off is much better in a hot rod versus the grey SUV. Yep Those old spring seat’s really have some bounce to them for a impromptu trampoline
I love these sedans. Kinda on my bucket list, also. Good luck with the build - you're doing a great job so far.
Bet the boys are having a blast with all that extra room, 2024 should be a great cruising year for ya’ll!
Thanks the paint is far from perfect it still has lots of issues. I was not brave enough to try wet sanding yet but it sure came up looking better than it was. It still has that old paint look and I won’t have to yell at the kids for getting to close to the car when swinging hockey sticks or parking bikes.
Wet sanding is easier than polishing. But, your DA buffer will very likely not remove the scratches from even 3000 wet sand. For that you will need to master a variable speed buffer with wool bonnets for the first pass, I switch to microfiber bonnets on the same machine for the second pass and then I switch to my variable speed DA from Griots Garage with microfiber bonnets for the final glaze. That wool bonnet on a high-speed buffer can burn through paint FAST! Start on the wife's car.
Both your roadster and now the ‘40 look great! Next time I visit the family homestead (1880) in Airdrie I may look you up!
Of course what’s the worst that could happen having a bunch of hot Rodders Descend on a suburban neighbourhood
Looks great, I like the re riveting. Also try some Meguiars #7, it's made for single stage paint and will make the black have a really deep shine. I used it on my old lacquer checked black '41 truck with great results.
After 84 years the pedals had some wear and play. Found the original bushings were worn right through. I Forgot to order them and didn’t want to pay $40 in shipping for $15 in parts. Checked my extras and I had some bushings from my experimental 28 roadster clutch linkage so I was able to turn the OD down to fit inside the pedals. I’m sure the real machinist will have a better solution but to hold the bushings on the 3/4” stock I used a drop of supper glue. Once the machining was complete I heated section up with a torch as that release the glue so it could be slid off. Next up was building up the worn section of the clutch pivot ball and then shaping it back. Hopefully the pedals will be good to go for another 84 years.
Looking good, you’ll be happier in the end having said fuck it and took it completely apart. Keep us posted with progress
I have been spending any free time over the winter holidays cleaning up and painting parts. First up was get the front axle apart. The perch pins were very stuck after a few attempts and a lot a heat I was able to get them free and out. Cleaned up and painted the wish bone. Pulled the rear axle apart for cleaning as well wire wheeled 84 years worth of rust and crud off it and gave it a fresh coat of paint. Same was done with the brakes everything was cleaned and lubed up. I then cleaned up the axle tappers and lapped them together with the hubs for a tight fit. Started putting it all back together with my helper
Love the last pic! So - you going to put a 5-speed in it for all the long hauls you will be making with the boys/entire fsmily?!
The Jalopy Journal
