Projects 1939 ford pick up rebuild

I've started a rebuild on my 1939 pick up. I've replaced the frnt crossmember and have rebuilt the frnt suspension,tie rods,kingpins and spindles freshened up by Lobecks. Frnt disc brake kit. Corvette master. gm tilt/tele with a new vega box. Installing rear posie drop spring to bring the rear down,but not to low as these Michigan roads can be terrible. No doubt this truck will be driven often. I'm running the stock drivetrain 85 hp with no hood sides to show a little engine bling as I'll be in no hurry in the right lane. The body will be done once the drivetrain is completed thru the summer of 2011. I hope. More pics to follow as I go along.

 

tried to load pics with file. pics to follow.

 

Man, I love that truck! I almost bought one that has been on C.L. for the last 3 months in terehute indiana. Its a 1 ton express truck for 4500. I really love that oval grille. I will be checking in on ya to watch......

 

Real nice project! I love those 39 grill's.

 

I showed the pics to Henrietta the '38 Ford pickup. She is impressed and send s friendly horn honks to you and your '39. I've had my '38 since 1966 when I was 14 years old, always liked the oval grille Fords a lot, one of the best looking trucks of all time IMHO. '38 Ford was the first truck of any make to have a front opening hood. The front crossmembers are notorious for cracking in the center. When I got my '38, I discovered that a previous owner had "fixed" this by removing the U-bolts, bending a piece of flat metal that appeared to have been cut from a tin can (like vegetables come in) over the crossmember to hold the broken pieces of the crossmember in place, then forcing the U-bolts back over that to hold everything together. Another thing to check on your frame if you haven't already is where the rear legs of the X member connect with the frame rail just ahead of the kickup over the rear axle. This area is famous for trapping moisture and rusting out. Precision Coachworks makes repair sections to fix this common problem if you need them. They also make the braces that run from the center of the X member to the outer frame rail on each side. Those braces are often butchered by people installing exhaust systems. If those braces are not there, the outer frame rail will twist when you step on the running board.

 

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Nice truck, keep the pics coming.

 

I had to replace the front cross-member on a '36 three-window I had a few years ago. I got my cross-member from Precision Coachworks in Billerica, M***achusets. It came with either rivets or socket head cap-screws to install it. Since I wasn't sure about my riveting ability, I used the socket head cap-screws. From what I know, they are at least grade 8, maybe more. I installed them with red Loc***e, torqued them to the max for that size bolt. After I first did it, I was kind of nervous about bolting in a piece that was riveted from the factory, and checked it often. I never had any problems. An additional advantage to this is that after you have everything bolted up to your satisfaction, you can hit the socket heads with some bondo (or equivalent), some sandpaper, and a little paint. To anyone that doesn't look real close, they can p*** for rivets any day.

 

cleaned up to torque tube and bones today. next i'll break down the alxe housing for repaint and regasket. it worked when i took it out so it should work when i put it together. i hope. i bought some boxing plates for the rear end so while i set up for paint i'll be installing those. i think i'm gong to split the bones while i have it this far appart. i'm checking out the posie sprng i bought and it seems not as thick with less leafs as the stock spring. poss some modifacation to the rear cross member to bolt it up. anybody run across this on the 35-40 frame with a posie rear spring. my veh is a truck if that matters from car to truck stock spring.

 

Nice truck. Good luck with the build.

 

Hope you don't find hidden treasures in that axle housing like i did! Any Idea how much height you lost with the front spring swap?

 

i haven't take the ends of the housing off yet. sometime next week. hopefully no chunks or hunks. i did drain the dope in the rear today and i did'nt see anything in the fluid. the frnt spring and susp is still stock. I just cleaned it up and rebuilt it. king pin kit,tie rods and replaced the frnt x member.

 

Axle repair,frame repair and boxing plates

 

wow my 38' frame is looking pretty good compared to yours! that looks like the typical frame rust from what i'm told.

 

Luckly i have another part frame that i can use the rusty areas for replacement.

 

frnt boxing plates installed. a little more clean up and ready for paint. next thing is to tackle the rear frame then i'm done with that guy.

 

My frame actually looks pretty good. I'm working on getting all the rattles out and putting some rear shocks on. I want to keep it as stock as possible.

 

my frame is prety rusty behind the crossmember.. i was thinking of repairing it but i think it wil make a better job if i just cut off the rear tank area and replace it then box it in. that should make it strong enough.

 

Nice work.. cool to see the banjo rear and spring staying stock.. these trucks look so cool with the fenders on and not ratted out

 

i did buy a posie spring and some shackels to drop it a little but thats it i hope.

 

cut up my old frame today. removed the rear frame rear rails. next i'll trim up the lt rail and weld in the replacment beats trying to patch it up. i'll use a section for the rt rail. should be a nice clean repair. box it in to complete the repair and add a little strenght.

 

out with the old. next step in with the new.

 

much cleaner look with some new metal

 

replace the rear frame section on the lt side and repaired the rt rail. i also boxed the rear just for a little added strength. plus it looks cool to! now i'm thinking of s****ing the posie spring and all original drivetrain idea and put my parrallell leaf kit i have for my other rod with a 8 in out back. 289 and c4 to poss follow. i think i'll enjoy the truck more with the updated drive train as far as reliability. we'll see how i feel next week. i may change my mind again.

 

just a little clean up and ready for paint. heck even the rear bumper lines up ok. not bad for a taylor boy.

 

bolted up the posie rear spring. it looks lower already just by looking at the shackel eyelets. just need to swap the ring and pinion,set the rear,clean up the rear brakes and drums and its on the ground finally.

 

GM tele/tilt? Really...why would you do that?

 

Mine had a 3" drop axle on the front,but I changed it out for a stock one. I got tired of everything hitting and rubbing. Still haven't found any stock rear shocks for it yet. Since I last posted on here,I broke a few teeth off my cluster gear in the ******. Looking to rebuild it soon. It's still drivable,but noisey,haha!

 

tilt/tel was more for comfort. i'm thinkin i may just leave the stock column or aft mkt that looks more stock. I plan on installing the vega box i bought. the original box is a little sloppy. the mich roads are terriable so i;m leaving th e stock axle for now. the truck should sit a lot more level now that the rear spring is in.

 

stock column with vega box