I have a stalled 40 p-up build that I'm finally getting around to working on again so I figured I'd start a build thread. I've built 4-6 40 Fords so this isn't my first attempt. It will not be entirely HAMB friendly to some but I like what I have in mind. The plan is a late 50s early 60s shop or push truck: 4.3 V6 w/T350 (I was going to go T5 but my wife wants to drive this one and requested an automatic - I will probably update to an auto o-drive at some point), 8" rear w/2:80 gears, 32 front axle and spring, Speedway 4-bar front and panhard bar (this really tucks things in for good tire/wheel cleanace), DB, suede paint, wide whites and either Olds Fiesta caps or some early Plymouth caps I have around when going to an event, blackwalls, painted steelies and a center cap/cover like the old chromed wheels used to have for everyday use. This is not something I will pop the hood on at a cruise night but the interior will definitley retain the 40 Ford look and feel with a 40 gauge panel (updated), column, wheel, 46-48 Ford heat and defrost unit face with a brand new heat/defrost unit tucked behind, ac hidden under the seat, 96 Mazda MPV 3rd fold-down seat, probably a small roof console from a Chevy Suburban but made up to match the late 50s/early 60s vibe, PS, PB, wooden bed, class III hitch on the back to perhaps tow my 32 (avatar) around. I'm still undecided about bumpers, rear tail lights, and how and where to mount the auto shifter. I could go with an early Chevy auto column or perhpas mount one of the new shifters under the dash and keep the nice, clean stock column look, keep the floor clear, and do something a little different. I might also mount the shifter off of the front of the seat riser - I just need to see how things develop. Cab was done as an exchange with a buddy of mine - I paid for the materials and he did the work, prep, and paint while I built him a computer and set it up for him. It was a good exchange but, like anything else you do not do yourself, not everything done was/is to my liking. I've already hung the 8" using a CE kit, 4-bar front is in, I've mocked up my PS box which needed to be tucked into the frame for clearance, and cut out the center of the frame to accomodate whatever style tranny. I'm now wortking on installing Alan Grove brackets for my AC, Alt, and PS, completing my gauge cluster (alla MJ40s - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/private.php?do=showpm&pmid=8625474 ), modifying the 46-48 "fabulous fake" heat/defrost unit, and finalizing the 4-bar FE setup. Here are some pics of what I've done presently ..... the engine in the pics was just used for mockup and the engine mounts pictured have also been changed ...
I've had several 4.3's, good little motor, and with the planned O/D you are gonna have a great driver. Combining that with the sweet 40 styling gives you an 11 on a scale of 1-10!!!
Color is a 48-49 Mercury color - I'll get the info at home tonight and let you know .... Nope - you can't beat 40 p-ups for looks and style ....
I was at it a bit more tonight - worked on the "fabulous fake" heater box and got the defroster hoses exiting OK. Not the best but it will have to do. Once I've put a few screws in to hold the cover in place I'm going to locate a spot on the forewall for it so it does not interfere with the vent mech, heater hoses, and wipers... You also see a pic of the gauge cluster and then one of my 4-bar setup. The front spring is presently resting on the panhard bar bolt. I need to recess the panhard axle bracket further in to get the clearance - once I have the leaf spring clear of the panhard bolt and having movement, I can see where my batwings end up and bolt down/tighten up my adjustable rod ends. I'm using the adjustable ends as the Speedway 4-bar setup is really for a 40 axle, not a 32, and you need the bar wings to "seat" where they are supposed to be onthe axle at ride height. The adjustable rod ends allow for that "little extra" and have the rod ends seat properly in the batwings. I've used these before on my 40 coupe with the same axle and it really works out well .... I changed to the CE styled engine bisquit mount vs the Pete and Jake. Seems simpler to me and all my flatties have that style mount anyway ....
Nice project - like the color choice. My 40 has a car manual shift column converted to shift an AOD. The clutch remains as a dead pedal to conceal the conversion.
I'm going to follow this one for sure. I'm the guy that Girchy posted the link to over on GJ. Please do whatever you can to get the latest-greatest GM AC Delco motor mounts in there if you want to minimize the vibrations of that V6...I'm still working that out in my truck. It's not too bad in park but in drive its shakey
Thanks but my avatar and my 40 coupe are both flatheads and my 32 5-window project which is on the back burner while I finish this one, will be nailhead powered. So, I kind of spread the wealth, you know?! LOL!
An old build thread that I am now reviving - been a while as I started this one but it got pushed aside for my now completed 32 5-window build. Some changes to the plan have happened though as, with the passing of time, things change ..... Still a 4.3 but now a “built” engine that should put out about 320+ hp, 700 overdrive, 8” with 3:50 gear set, seat is now a third seat out of a Chevy Suburban, either a stock gauge panel or the one I had been building, 62 Impala steering wheel, and some other minor changes. In the process of selling a project I decided not to build - I cannot keep up with or house more than three hot rods so the fourth I had out there for after the 40 is now sold. That will give me some additional “sheckles” to make other upgrades from the original plan - but they will evolve as time goes on. The 4.3 is a fresh motor but never fired - I need to remove the timing cover to hopefully get the cam number and then the specs on the cam. Trans is a fresh build as well so I will assemble the combo and install just for the garage floor space if not for anything else. Things will then run its course from there, mocking up all of the gauges, seat, heat/air box, wiring harness fuse box locale, and so on, setting the pup box in place, locating holes, final welding the floor support cross pieces, but that will all come in time ...... At this point I am thinking this will be my last build and once done, I have several flatties I want to build using the roadster as a test mule. But I am getting ahead of myself - time to get back on track .....
I bought the engine from a buddy of mine who built it matching a 4.3 build out of Super Chevy magazine .....
It’s been awhile since my last post. The prepping for Carlisle then Hershey took up quite a bit of my time and my garage got torn apart in the process. But, both swaps went well for me and I was able to rearrange the garage afterwards but it took some time. I bought a new compressor as my old Sears unit, bought in the late 80s, was still running but was just not up to the painting I will need to do on the truck. So there went some more time .... before ugh the a a Kobalt Fresh m Lowe’s. The new 32 coupe needed some work as I had some gremlins to fix - down to 2 now so that’s good. Then it was finally time to get back on the truck. I had already done FE mock-up several years ago so I refamiarized myself and made some adjustments to the front shocks, sway bar, steering link, and steering box. It was then time to install the motor and tranny. Originally going to be a T350 and desert years behind the 4.3, I am now going to use a 700 with 3:50 gear set ..... That required moving my tranny mount back, trimming the frame rails to clear the 700 pan, and modifying my tranny mount ... The modified “X” in the center on my frame drops 3/8” down from the side rails, more or less the stock distance. I had some 1” square heavy wall box tubing which I placed on the top of the frame rails with some shins to get both center rails at the proper height. The wood shims will be replaced with metal and the square tubing replaced with 1x2” heavy wall tubing. That should be here this week. The tranny mount, 1x3” heavy wall, will need to be extended and I hope to pick up a smalll piece this week. The interior frame rails lower lip had to be trimmed away on the insides to tuck the 700 up underneath so I will have to reinforce the outside of those rail sections with 3/8” plate and a 1x2” piece of heavy wall from the outside frame rails. This set up of top piece tied into the center”X” and support from the outer frame rails will be repeated further back to complete the strengthening of this area. Certain areas of the outer framecrails will be boxed once nuts are welded in all necessary locations. Steering box clearance is good but the steering column swap meet find will need to be extended about 5”. Funny - it was originally the right length but was cut by the previous owner for their project - now it’s being put back to its original length. Just got my column drop and steering joint for the end of the column today so I will be working on that tomorrow. Starting to feel good about this build .....
Mocked up the seat with some wood - 7” tall at the back, 7.5” in the front when using a 3rd seat out of a 92-97 Suburban ...... ..... and the backing just underneath the stock seat pivot point.... I then set up the column and had the wife comexoutcandctry it out for me ..... She’s happy with everything except the location of the 72-73 Corvette shifter - since it resides down on the floor and she is sitting 10-11” off the floor, I will have to change plans and go with the Lokar shifter. I am happy with the results and a happy wife means a happy life. Lol!
Got some more done this afternoon and after dinner - mostly on the column mount. So the hole in the driver’s floor is an odd shape to accommodate the column, brake and clutch pedals ...... I made a template and cut a piece of 14 gauge - you can see the original piece is pretty butchered up. The hole for column at this point is an open “U” oikevthoriginal. I then started making the plate that welds to the column. Turns out I was able to cut out a single piece for the column to pass through that lays on the floor and then welded a vertical piece to get it on the firewall as well .... In extending the column I have found that the flared end of the exhaust pipe I purchased is in a perfect location at the floor. The column can slip into the flared end and would make column removal quite easy. I am thinking of leaving it this way just because ...... Right now I have to cut the slot for the brake pedal and make a more permanent bolt set up for everything. I hope to finish this all up tomorrow .......
Well the best laid plans ..... I did tac the column together the other day and set it in the truck - looks good so far! Now I hope to get it finish welded - time is short now however .....
So I finally got some time to work on the project. Parts for the steering column are coming in so I will be able to use the 62 Impala wheel and having signals, flashers and horn. I rec’d the tranny cover that I bought cheap as it is just welded here and there so you can modify it for your application. The 40-47 pickup truck has quite a tranny hole and having installed replacement floor pieces here and there, the end result did not match any specific cover. So, rather than start from scratch I bought this cheap and started slicing and dicing. The top or rounded portion is in two pieces and I rem’d them first. The back cross piece was curved where I needed it to be flat .... and the front crosspiece was curved way to much to match up with my floor there. I cut two new pieces and tac’d things together. My goal today was to just get this first pass done so I can then mount my floor shifter, get the wife comfy with it, and see where I need to go from there to complete it. I am happy with my progress so far .....
Shifter is in and the wife likes the shifter position - now it’s on to completing the tranny tunnel ......
Yes - early 70s Dodge Dart Speedo and some JCWhitney gauges with a top 180 degree sweep like the originals. There’s a guy here and on the Fordbarn that posted on how he did his. I just followed what he did ..... But .... .... I will be using a Classic Instruments cluster for this build. Wifey liked that one better .....
I started cleaning up the shop a bit today - it really needed it - and worked on the hump more. I think I will be able to use the two hump pieces I cut off with some flattening. a little slicing and maybe adding some bits in the corners .... we shall see ... once I get the perimeter screwed down and having a solid base to work with I can get to cutting and get the humps in ..... I never fancied myself as any kind of metal fabricator/bender but I am actually enjoying it .....
One of the items that I am missing for this build is the under hood latch mechanism. I started poking around, asking a few local sources and actually found a 40 Delux unit and a 39 unit in my stash. The 39 is the right width at the back part but the part that goes to the nose inly one hole lines up to the hood.. The Deluxe one has the right nose piece but the back piece is too wide. What I need is the 40 Standard or 40 Pickup unit ..... So I mounted the 39 unit using the one nose hole - it lined up nicely (centered) and it had the right depth (9 7/8”) from the tip of the nose to the back edge of the latch mechanism that I got off my friends 40Pickup (thanks Chuck for that). So I made a plate to go from the one hole that lines up with the hood to the other hood hole. There was also a center hole in the hood latch I also used ..... You can see it here - the shinier metal - checking my measurements all looks pretty good along with the Deluxe nose piece that I had removed and used as a reference. I will need to weld the new piece in a few places and there is some hood lip I will have to weld in as well to have something for the last two rearward bolts .... .... you can just see where the second bolt would reside. In lieu of an original unit, this looks like it will do the trick. I also worked on the heater box mounting and where the battery will reside. I think I will place the battery in its stock location under the hood, passenger side, close to the firewall ....
I built a platform to mount my battery, using one stud and an existing threaded hole in the firewall, and included a leg brace to the frame. Once the truck is assembled, I will choose a battery, fabricate a box and attach it to the plate. It was a little more complicated with the fender well headers.
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