Projects 1940 Ford Coupe Resurrection, Tuesday Night Special, 303 Olds Taildragger

FWIW, I have a bunch of stock 324 OE style rockers I am not using if you get a thought of changing to later 1.8 rockers from a 324. A little gain in hp there they say. those rockers were refaced, bead blasted and cleaned. I also have a bunch of 51+ std bells if you go that route and on the wild side a newly built 37 Buick tranny with a stout 51 Olds 98 gear set. Lots of choices out there. I am running a 37 with a 57 Olds gear set and I am 71 but the left leg still works well

 

Will follow along on your quest.

 

Larry, I like your progress and appreciate your desire for a manual trans. But don't judge that early hydro by that "Jetaway", or whatever it is they called that hydro that came out in '56, at least I think it was in all GM cars that ran a Hydramatic by '56. The "new improved" Hydramatic was all about smoother shifting, and nowhere near as good when it came to high performance.
And what you said about getting older and trouble with a clutch can be true at times. On the way to SIM last year, I ran into a huge traffic jam caused by roadwork on I 20, and that Ford Motorsports clutch in my '40 began to feel like I was pushing against a brick wall, as I went thru stop and go, pull up and stop for about 10 miles!

 

1.8's might be on the plate. From what I understand getting 324 heads would be best but one can ream out the 303 rocker stands(offsetting to the rear is ideal) for the slightly larger 324 shaft and use the 1.8 rockers to gain some breathing.

 

Dave, this is what I mean. I drive a stick every day. In fact the last 22 years I have only owned stick shift cars. But the city traffic stinks, and I do do battle with my old cars on the city streets and an auto would make the slog better. But I really do like to row my own.

I really am torn on this issue. I will crack the Hydro and see how it looks inside. Obviously it bolts up and is "paid" for which are good attributes. Also has a decent reputation for reliability and strength from new. Negatives are its super heavy, sluggish and no OD. I'd also need to source a slip yolk.

I will continue to dwell on this not sure what to do...........

 

Maybe we'll get a chance to discuss it over at Mark's tomorrow.

 

Another decent Tuesday evening in the garage. I got the front crossmember off of the bad frame.

I decided to take the gussets with it. Not sure if I will keep these or the ones on the other frame. It probably depends on how well aimed my drill bits are.

There was a tiny crack originating at the spring mount hole. I ground it out with a cut off wheel and hit it with the welder and grinder.


I only got a few rivets out of the good frame before bed time for the kids. Not a bad night's work.

I started to cut the bad crossmember out for easier rivet access but also but ran out of time. I am planning on doing my grinding/drilling of the rivets from the inside and bottom on the good frame to keep any errant grinder marks away from the serial numbers and the top side which will show.

I also was able to borrow a scope to check out the cylinders on the 303 but it will have to wait till this weekend. Hopefully I will have good news to report.

This weekend is the big Swap Meet here in Atlanta so I might find some goodies. Also it happens to be Warbird Weekend at the regional airport starting on Friday which is going to be awesome. Love me some WWII airplanes.

 

This past weekend had a good time hanging with Dirty Old Man and some of the SFCC while trophies were being made for the Run What You Brung event October 21 at Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA.



Still need some paint but pretty nice for a bunch of cast off parts and pieces.

 

Not too much got done this week. Spent some time on the 303 Olds. This is the scope I tried out.

Frankly it was hard to see much and not too sure what I was looking at. I mostly was seeing carbon build up on the piston tops , hard to see cylinder walls. I did see something that I think is not too good on one piston top. Kinda looked like a clean drilled hole with a tapered bottom. Like the bit was extracted before coming through. Rough guess would be smack dead center, possibly a balancing thing? I did not see it on any others and due to magnification cannot tell how big it was. In the end it is really no big deal as I was intending to do higher compression pistons anyways. Overall everything looked OK except that small issue.

Here are the plugs, carbon build up but dry all around. Appeared to be old vintage style plugs based on the porcelain style, any guesses how old they are?



Other side




With the plugs out it turned over very easy with a socket on the snout bolt. I was hearing a bunch of noise coming from the front of the transmission while turning it over. Not sure if possibly the starter may be hung up? I tried to find neutral on the shifter arm but it did not seem to matter what detent I had it in. The output would not turn when the motor was turned over nor could I rotate the output by hand at ant point. Something may be amiss in the hydro.

Spent the rest of the night scraping the block and this is all I have to show for that, about two pounds worth and I didn't get it all clean.


Next up, I borrowed a pressure washer to finish up the external engine/transmission clean up and I also got a leak down tester from the guy I borrowed the scope from. Not sure how much I will gain on a cold and dry engine but it can't hurt to test it. Will report next week on findings. I also plan to separate the transmission next time while getting back on the frame if possible. Lots to do.

 

Another Tuesday in the books and I made some progress. I got the bad chassis out and cut up into manageable bits. I hung the body from the ceiling joists using hook eyes and rachet straps, worked pretty good. I went from the trunk lid spring mount holes in the back with one strap each and opened the doors and ran a single 3" wide strap at the a pillar to roof area. With no floors or trunk lid it is pretty light and went up easily. There is basic bracing at the door openings that will keep it from distorting. When it comes time to do the floors it will all need to be squared up anyways.




This frame looks Ok but it really is bad.




I will be saving the body mounts from the right side and I kept the left side whole including the x-member for now untill I figure out what I am doing. I did pressure wash the 303, got cleaner but still pretty gunky. I still need to use the leak down tester my buddy loaned me. I am going to hit the chassis hard through fall and winter and hopefully by spring I will have a good solid roller to build the body on. The 303 will be filler to mix it up and to keep from getting stagnant.

I did pick up a J tool for the Hydro, just in case.......

 

Careful that the body being suspended like that does not "take a set" from being off it's mounts. If it were me I would drop it down and level it up with some 2x4's across that dolly. Just saying.......might save you some grief FWIW

 

Another 40 coupe builder enjoying your build.

 

and I thought my frame was rough

 

Love your thread so far as I am a 40 lover as well. I am also in agreement regarding the body being hoisted up as you have it. Bolting it to a couple of paired 2x4s and hoisting it up by them was what I did some years back and it worked well ....

 

Yes, I do agree. Some of this is the struggle of a body off build in a single bay, not enough room. I have a friend who did the same thing using two wood planks one each through the door and the quarter windows and held a '47 body up like that for years with no noticeable effect. For the short term I have the good chassis stored on the cart below the body. Within a week I should have the chassis back up against the wall and can set the body back down. There is so little of the lower structure intact that I intend to put a sheet of MDF on the dolly.

 

Considering your lack of room perhaps this set up I used would be of use to you. I made two simple spreader bars. One used the spring bolt holes on the cowl in front while the other rear spreader bar used the trunk spring holes. It is a very stable way to pick the body and allows you to level the body and hold it just over the frame while line up the mounting bolts. The other benefit is that it does not distort the body.

An cherry picker was used for the back,

I have one picking eye in the ceiling so it was used with a chain fall.
Another cherry picker could have been used here allowing for even more mobility.

 

Wow, I got out of the gate good and hit a pretty nasty road block.




If you remember an earlier post I stated that the majority of the car was stored at my place of work. Well long story short there is no work no more. Most of the parts are out on the back deck waiting to be put under the house for the winter. As many before me has said going off on their own and starting a business was the best and most scariest thing they have done. I have received nothing but positive comments from every past client that I have contacted and I have no doubt that I will make a killing on my own. Its just going to take some time, which has to include taking some time away from the project. Hopefully this will be somewhat smooth and profitable transition with not so much dead air between posts. I have meetings all this week with prospective clients and one outfit that wants to create a partnership, wish me well.

 

Larry, I certainly wish you well in your decision to go it on your own. I have no doubt you will succeed. Wish I could offer you some space in my shop to store your parts, but as you already know mine is bursting at the seams, thanks to my son's project. As the old saying goes, I can't even cuss a cat without getting fur in my mouth!

 

looking forward to watching you on the 40, hoping to start mine this winter! been sitting since 1957!

 

Pretty nice car to start from Rich

 

looks like you have a great start on your build with good skills, determination and a pile of parts . Life is full of changes , as one door closes another will open or at least a window . Good luck on your job search .

 

Larry
I am stripping a 39 chassis that I got for the motor. I am using the X member for my 34. If you need the front or rear cross member, I can cut it out for you if you need it. The body mounts are trash, as are the side rails. The guy used a industrail sawzall to remove the body. Any other pieces that you need, let me know.
Good luck with you new business, I know you have a unique talent and will do well.
If you need to store parts, I have room in the loft area. Just label them.

 

Wow good luck with the new work opportunity! If you need anything let me know if I can help.

 

Larry, until Bill Nabors mentioned his loft, I hadn't thought of that possibility for offering you storage. I do have 2 trapdoors, Approx 46"X 22" for access to the loft in my shop.
Little trouble to get stuff in and out, but IMO, for long term storage much netter alternative than under the house in what I'm assuming is a dirt crawl space.

 

I appreciate all the love guys. I have everything stashed in the dirt floor crawl space under the house except the hood which I slid up on the roof on a pad, the replacement metal which is stashed in the car and the wishbone/axle which is too damn heavy to move at this point is still on the deck . It stays dry under the house and there is plastic over the dirt. I have enough space to work for now, but need to keep focused and not spread to too many small projects, stick with the chassis till its good.

But when it rains it pours and today the Dodge my faithful ride of 12 years was eaten by a F-150, on the lookout for a daily that can haul the family and the art but isn't a minivan. Hard to buy a car with no job eh?

On the business front had a great meeting in the AM. I have an old client that wants to form a partnership. They have the money, connections and nationwide franchises that need my services as I do something that they cannot, last piece of a large puzzle kind of thing for them, and have to otherwise outsource. Got to see the space we have been offered, it is awesome. They are willing to do build out starting early 2018 and are looking to start marketing/promotion of our services second quarter of 2018. And I have a good line on a project to keep me busy until then, just got to get a bid together in the next two weeks. Moving much faster than I thought it would. Nothing concrete and in ink but sitting with a good feeling.

 

That is a nice looking start you have there.

 

Sounds like you have the business situation rolling the right way for sure.
But what's the story on the Dodge getting banged up?

 

Thanks for the offers Bill. The front one out of the bad chassis is actually pretty nice so I am set there. I could use a the rear most C channel crossmember but I have been leaning towards getting the one offered by Speedway Motors. Anyone try that one? got good reviews on speedway site.

Since I will be running parallel leafs I was thinking of replacing the stock rear leaf spring crossmember with a lighter weight dedicated shock mount crossmember from one of the aftermarket places like TCI. Any thoughts?

 

Coming back from a meeting in Canton on 75 south at 60+ everyone came to a stop, it had been raining and I hit the breaks hard and slid into a toyota rental at probably less than 15 mph and bent up the hood and popped the radiator, didn't crack a head light and would have be fixable but the '97 F-150 behind me drilled us insanely hard in the drivers rear corner and set us into the toyota for a second time. None of the doors on that side would open, trunk mangled, rear window blew out. Junk.

 

That stuff is why I do't like to come into or thru the ATL X ways in rush hour or wet roads in either of my hot rods.