Hot Rods A 40 Ford Coupe for Uncle Mike Build Thread

To continue the hood / cowl fit stuff we moved on to correcting the gap along the curved portion. With the hood down on the cowl lacing and a good fit at the grill area and fenders there was too much gap between the side of the cowl and the hood.


So I stripped the flux off of some 1/8 welding rod and added it too the hood.


The drivers side was OK except for this small area so we added a small piece here.

Since the hood had been significantly damaged during one of this cars many mishaps some of the latch hardware had been removed so they could get the hood to close. I had to do some research to find out what was missing and eventually borrowed a 40 Deluxe hood from a friend to help figure out what I needed to complete the hood latch. As it turned out the parts looked fairly simple to make so I gave it a try. I also noticed that Bob Drake offered a kit for this but I thought I should at least try to copy them first.

If I remember right this devise holds the latch handle out a little from the hood while you lower the hood onto the grill .

Copy's are on the left

With this repair and trial fit done I used a combination of chemical stripper, sanding and sand blasting to prep the hood for paint.
I was warned that I should not get any paint stripper in the body joints so I tapped them off before applying the chemical. The stripper worked well on the paint but left the rust so I finished off the cleanup with my little pot sandblaster.

Mike the painter did his magic and it is ready for trim. I put the hood latch ornament on to see how it fit. That is another story of it's own that I will cover another day.

 

Great post thank you

 

Not only do you show excellent craftsmanship, You have excellent presentation skills. This is a win win deal for all of us that are building 40 fords !

 

I bet the Drake cowl side was made just as Ford did: for a bad fit. Most all 39/40's have horrible hood fit. We all know it, but only a few go to the work you did to correct it.

On my 40 Standard I had to cut the inside brace at the back of the hood to bring the sides inward. They bowed out so much and scraped the fenders. On the front edge I filled the original trim, and was able to adjust the gap around the grille with some steel rod like you did on your back edges.

 

Super nice job on this and really enjoying your commentary as well as the photos.

 

Alchemy,34toddster,Kan Kustom and X38, Thank you for your compliments and comments. I am pleased that so many people find the posts interesting and helpful.

Alchemy, we also had to push the sides of the hood in at the brace and I gave considerable thought to adding metal to the bottom of the hood nose to close that gap too. I probably should have.... I just hope we can get the hood to fit as good as it did during the mock up phase when we put the newly painted pieces back on the car.

 

I continue to be amazed by this thread.

 

Thanks Don, I don't know if any of it is amazing but the build has been quite challenging and enjoyable at the same time.

This next post I will call Door Gaps was one of the most challenging and frustrating projects I have done so far. I was determined to have good constant door gaps on this car. As usual with everything else on this body the door gaps were pretty bad. Either the A pillar had been deformed or the 39 doors were made just a little differently because they sure didn't fit well.

Because this was my least favorite job to do on the body I kept putting it off until it was the only project left to do before taking the car to the painter. Consequently I did not document the project very well, especially the finished product.

We start with the replaced DS cowl to door gap. As you can see it is too wide at the top but gets tighter as look farther down the door.

So I added some 1/8" welding rod to the door.

This is tedious welding on both sides. Then you have to sand and file t back to contour . I realize some people would cut the cowl and and push it towards the door and weld the seam back up. But I liked the shape of the cowl A an B post on the car and decided not to cut them. I did not take a picture of the finished weld but their are other samples of that.

It is kind of hard to see but this is the partially finished edge of the added on edge of door below the top hinge. I usually brought the outside and inside edge back to contour before I filed the gap. It was much thinner by then which made it easier to whittle door down to the desired gap.

This top corner was eventually tapper d at the top and the door gap was massaged. This is an example of an edge that had to be welded because I took so much off that folded over edge was starting to split. Typically I would weld the edge any time I started to see a small crack or split developing.


This repair started out as a small pin hole or two and quickly turned into sub panel repair before I could put the outside patch on. The culprit appeared to dirt trapped between the two panels.

That was much more fun than the door gaps.

This is the bottom right corner of DS door I have already filed so much off the edge that I had to start welding the door skin to the inner door . I was originally shooting for this tight of a gap but my neighbor that does body work professionally happened by and said I better widen the door gaps to a paint sticks thickness or I will have paint chip problems. He said only show cars and trailer queens run that tight of gaps. Soooo I reprogrammed my expectations and ground some more metal off.
The pro also reminded me to make sure that I had plenty of clearance between the inner door structure and door jambs. He explained how he learned that lit bit of advice. So I also had to make some adjustments to the door jambs too. I am fortunate the fellow HAMBER an professional body man came along when he did.


The doors were on and off too many times to count for test fittings. I very seldom welded the doors on the car tired to protect the neighboring sheet metal when I did.

The finished edge. You might be able to see that wrapped flange is very thin (width) in some places.

So this is what I was shooting for. This is the thin paint stick not the 5 gallon size heavy stick.

 

DS Cowl

So here we are dealing with the new cowl fit again. The door edge was hanging too far out (after hinge adjustment) and My solution was to cut the cowl again.

I had asked the painter to come over and do some bondo work while we were finishing up the hood fit. So after sanding off some of his rough in work I took some measurements to see just how far off the fit was. It is my understanding that if there is a contour problem here you want the door to be slightly lower than the cowl. Other wise you will get wind noise and possibly some rain water will enter the door jamb area.

So I cut the cowl skin loose again and pried the skin out to match the door.

I did not get a picture of the finished jamb but it finished out ok.

I documented the PS door even less but will show a few pictures of it too.

I had given the painter this door to prep awhile back. In retrospect I should not have done that as I ended up undoing quite a bit of his work. We had a miscommunication on the prep for this door so it is the only piece that was not sandblasted before body work. as you can see i had to weld and file the whole trailing edge of the door and the front edge received considerable work too.

This A pillar area received a piece of 1/8" welding rod as did the DS.

You can see the gap between the A pillar and the door in this shot.

This is not a real clear picture but you can see the bare metal (modified gaps).

Well crap this on is even worse! I guess I will just have to take some gap pictures when the body gets back from the painter.

 

I built this engine almost 4 years ago so my memories are a little fuzzy on some of the details. I also don't want to bore you to death with another flathead build. But I actually haven't seen too many engine builds in the car builds threads I have followed.

The engine I used came in another project car I have had around for too long. The car is a 39 sedan convertible I bought out of New York about 12 years ago. The engine had been rebuilt and put back in the car. Somewhere along the line the oil pan had been removed and never put back on. The heads and intake were on it but bolts and the carburetor were missing. The result of this was a lot of surface rust which can see in the photos. The block is a 59 L .

It was a surprise to me that the cylinders were in as good of shape as they were.

The block is a 59L

You can see the rod and main bearings had been protected by the oil over the years of exposure in the dirt floored sheds.
The flywheel was pretty rusty but it cleaned up well.
Some rust in the exhaust ports.

The valve train was also pretty good considering. It had adjustable lifters too. Theses are the two piece valve guides and the valves had the mushroom bottoms on the bottoms of the stems.
I removed all of the head stud bolts. 48 of these is a workout.
Cam gear cover.


I sent the block off for some cleanup and machining. The cylinders just needed to be re-honed . I eventually decided to change the crank to an 8BA style so that I could run insert bearings instead of the full floating bearings used on the 59 series engines.Of course this meant I had to change the rods and the rear main seal system too.

 

I got the block back home and put it on the engine stand. For those of you that know you are not supposed to put a 59 type block on an engine stand this way I will tell you I know that now .I will show you my solution later.
I got a little carried away with the de-burring project and ended up polishing the block .But I like it this way!

All new hardened valve seats were installed.I also port matched intakes. You can also see the holes I drilled in the lifter bosses . They are used during the adjustment of the valves. A rod is inserted into the hole and engages one of the flutes in the Johnson adjustable lifter. This keeps the lifter from turning in the hole while you adjust the height of the adjustment bolt for proper valve lash. The stud sticking out of the block is the one used to hold the exhaust baffle in place.
Bling? I installed these exhaust port dividers or baffles .

These long nose needle nose pliers worked well for inserting the baffle.

I am not certain these baffles will do any good (some say they help the flow) but I hope they do no harm to exhaust flow.
This photo is a little pretty fuzzy but it shows the baffle through an exhaust valve . The baffle is held in place by a cylinder head stud.

 

Your skills and attention to detail are mind boggling. This is a terrific informative thread,thanks for posting.


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I.rant,thank you for your kind comments! It is always nice to know that someone is enjoying or learning something from a posting. I know I enjoy posts that show the processes used to achieve a goal rather than just looking at pictures of the finished project. Nice coupe in your avatar!

 

Since I chose to run the 8BA crank in the 59 series block I had found out I had change the rear main seal and the rear main bearing. If you compare the first two photos you can see the difference in the way the crank and seal are configured. I believe tis type of seal is called a labyrinth seal. It is now wonder why they tend to leak.
59 style
8BA style
The upper an lower 8BA seals are different from each other.notice this bottom one has a drain hole in the lip of the seal.

The upper section of the 8BA seal.

I am sorry but I did not get a picture of the 8BA crank installed without the rear main cap. I received a lot of help from fellow HAMBERS in learning about this crank and seal swap both in education and the acquisition of the parts. The thread is for this is listed below.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/flathead-crank-shaft-questions.533812/

 

Well it looks like I posted something out of order here. Oh well , lets look at the paint job and the engine stand adapter.

Masked everything off with frog tape and clear plastic Costco garbage bags.

It was winter outside and since my lungs have already been compromised enough in working carrer that before painting the engine block I took the time to make portable spray booth from 3/4" PVC pipe. The upper frame hangs from a bike hook in the ceiling. I also put the vertical legs and a bottom perimeter on it for a better seal and a means of keeping the fan from sucking in the plastic sheet walls. When not in use the side walls are rolled up to the top frame , the vertical posts are removed and I can easily carry the upper structure out to the storage area and hang it up out there out of my way. The fan is from an old Gen Air stove top unit. I vent it outside through my old wood stove wall thimble. The filter is just a cheap furnace filter. It works pretty well. It is large enough to do engines , fenders and hoods.

The booth worked well. I also put some cross bracing in the upper structure that works well for hanging small parts for painting.
I used a a good quality (I hope) spray bomb paint to paint the Block Ford Blue.

As soon as I finished painting the engine block I heeded the sage advice of the experienced Flathead builders on the HAMB and made this adapter for the engine stand.This is a much safer way to support the considerable weight of a Flathead. I had seen a 59 type block with a cracked rear housing a while back and wondered what had caused it. Well, hanging it from the rear of the block is what likely caused it.
The adepter was very simple to make. I used the headers to make a template for the 3/8" steel flange and cut a piece of steel tube that fit the receiver. I calculated the angle needed to have the block stay at 90 degrees to the floor cut and welded it on to the flange. I added the gusset plates for extra insurance using a time honored axiom from my previous occupation of "if in doubt build it stout"

I was surprised at how easily the engine could be rotated to the vertical position with this gizmh and also fabricated this simple tool for rotating the crank shaft. I used some scrap 1" square tube for the adapter and some 3/4" round stock for the handle.


I found that this vertical position was actually much more comfortable and convenient for working on the valve train than the horizontal position. I could sit on a stool for the tedious valve adjustment process.

 

I like the adapter for turning crank. It's one of those I should of thought of that moments.


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I installed a Schneider cam grind 248F for 49 to 53 Ford in this engine. I will have to show the cam card on the next post as I must have exceeded my time limit to upload photos looking for it this morning. I think they call it a 3/4 race cam. It should be a very street-able cam that generates just a little extra HP.



Installation of the cam was pretty easy. Just apply some assembly lube and in she goes.

I try to stay organized and keep everything clean. I made this tray a few years ago. It collects dust most of the time but I clean it up and comes in handy when I build an occasional engine.

I chose to run the 8BA style lifters in stead of the older 59 style because they had the one piece valve guide. All of the valve assemblies can be put together on the bench and then inserted into the block.
The valve assembly keeper ( I forget it's real name) can be seen at the bottom left of this picture.Again a little assembly lube was applied.

Here ids the hard part of the install. You have to use a special purpose bar to compress the spring to put the keeper washer in place. I used the side cutters to get a little more space between the block and the spring so that I could see the slot the keeper had to be inserted into.

You barley see it here bit the slot at the bottom of the valve guide is visible at the end of the side cutters.
I used a brass drift punch to seat the keeper in the slot.
The oil pump idler gear was actually installed before the cam.

Cover bolts are safety wired.
I will mention at this time that I used the Ford Flathead V-8 Builders Handbook 1932 to 1953 by Frank Oddo. published by Fisher Books for reference while building this engine. I could not have put this engine together without the book and help from the HAMB.

Valve adjustment was next I did not get too many pictures of that process. but I can remember it was tedious and I was glad I had the engine mounted on the stand in the vertical position to do the work.

You can see the crank rotation gizmo at the top of the picture.That device made it easy to turn the crank for the valve adjustments.

 

Here is the cam card for the cam.

 

Thanks for the flathead primer, never worked on one. Started my hotrodding with Chevy 6's and went to OHV8's

 

This is probably one of the best tutorials ever written on a 40 build! I've read through the whole thread several times, and notice something new every time. Very well documented, written and photographed. Even my ADD agrees.

This has reinspired me to tackle my 40 coupe, which keeps getting pushed to the rear of line. I think that I will use the same build sequence to make it less complicated.

Thanks for making the hard look easy, and the processes understandable with the step by step photography.
Bill

 

Bill thanks for the kind comments. The ultimate goal in sharing a build like this is to hopefully inspire , encourage, or help a fellow car nut with his projects. If this thread inspires you to work on your 40 then I guess it is working!

Cooljunk, like I said in the beginning of the engine build this is my first flathead and I have been learning as I go and the engine has not been run to date so......we will have to see how it comes out.


The pistons were all cleaned and checked for flaws and weighed. They all were within a gram or two of each other. This is the older full skirt version of the flathead piston. They are not a high performance piston.


This is my Buddy Jeff measuring for piston clearance.

We used shrink tube on the rod bolts to protect the rod journals. As I stated before we used the 8BA rods

We used my trusty old ring compressor and a plastic hammer to gently insert the pistons in the bores.
Later in the process when were installing the heads we checked the piston and valve clearance with some clay.



Here is another little item.(Note: this modification was done before the assembly of the block started) Because I decided to run and electric fuel pump to help stave off vapor lock I no longer needed the fuel pump rod.What I read was that if you do not have the rod in here you will loose oil pressure.

NOTE: Please read post 301( of this build thread) on page 11 before you consider this modification. If I had it to do over again I would choose to shorten the stock fuel pump shaft so it does not touch the cam and leave it in the hole.



So I decided to drill out the bushing ,tap the hole and thread this allen plug in there. It was not as easy as I assumed. The fuel pump bushing turned out to be made of a very hard steel and was very difficult to drill out. But a few drill bits and a tap job later the plug was inserted with some thread locker.

 

I will have to watch this build since a 40 coupe is what I would like to have some day.

 

Alright Junkyard Jeff come along for the ride! There is still a long way to go on this build. We all will have a lot to learn along the way.

Before engine assembly I turned my attention to the oil pump and filter modifications. The flathead never really had a good oil filter system but fortunately a lot of people have spent considerable time and money figuring out a way to get her done.

I bought a kit PN-MCF-90-OFK full flow oil filter kit from Motor City Flatheads. They have modified the pump so that all of the oil is directed out of the bottom of the pump through a bulkhead fitting through the remote oil filter and then returned to the engine in a direct route to the rear main and the main oil gallery. A new Melling pump is supplied in the kit.

The book says this is a slam dunk install but it took me quite awhile to come up with the right combination of parts to get this stuff installed. I had to make a few fitting changes and had to modify the oil pan baffles to get the oil pump pickup to fit. The book and instructions covered the 8BA style install and since my engine is a 59A the pan was much different from the 8BA.
Early on I did a quick mock up the headers to help decide which side of the pan to place the filter.

I wanted to be able to see what I was doing while doing the mock up. So I contacted a friend and scored an oil pan that I could cut open for the mock up while maintaining my oil pan for the final install.
If I remember correctly I had to order this 90 degree elbow that connects to the bulkhead fitting in order to make the tight 90 degree turn to clear the oil pick up.
Just another view. In this view you can see I had to heat and bend the oil pick up tube.

Mocking up the oil filter placement.The fitting pictured here came with the kit. You can see in a later picture that I chose to use another type of fitting. Actually I spent a lot of money on fittings and had to wait a week at a time to get them since we do not have good source for them in my area.


Using cut pan measurements I drilled the 3/4" hole for the bulkhead fitting. I discovered too late that this pans sump was a little longer and I could have moved the hole forward on the pan another inch which would have been better for hose to starter clearance.
The baffle was cut down to allow the pick up to fit in the pan.


I read that the dip stick tube fitting was a major leak source on the flatheads (they were riveted on) so I bought a kit that takes care of that. The inside plate is tack welded on and the a gasket coated with silicone sealant is placed between the outside plate and the pan and the screws compress the gasket. I used some thread locker on the screws too.
The finished installation. I fabbed a bracket to mount the remote filter. You can see how close the bulkhead fitting is to the mini starter. I would not have been able to mount it here if I had used a stock starter.

Getting that oil line inside the pan clocked correctly and the fittings tightened down is very difficult. Oh yes, and you have to do that while the sealant is drying on your gasket.I didn't get any pictures of that process because I was too busy trying do do all of that without getting silicone all over my arms.

The oil from the filter drops into the bearing gallery back here.So as I have said before the darn thing has not been run yet. My major concern is that bulk head fitting might leak... but we won't know for another month or two..... Yes I know there is some billet looking stuff here but most of it was homemade. I hope that shiny stuff doesn't upset too many HAMBERS.
NOTE: Feb 8 2015 When we put the front axle on the frame we found that the axle could hit the filter when under compression as installed here. So we will have to choose an alternate location later. We think we can mount it near the firewall on the frame where the stock battery location was.

 

This is continuing to be one of the most comprehensive and informative threads on the HAMB. Thankyou again!

 

Cutting that oil pan up to work on the oiling system was problem solving at its best. You're making the hard look easy,great thread in which I look forward to every installment of your build. Awesome work.


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Thank you X38 !

Thank you i.rant this was one of the most challenging projects of the engine build and was far from easy to do (for me) . The more I went through the pictures the more I remembered just how many trial fits and contemplation it took get the system to clear everything and yet be functional.

 

Continues to be a fantastic thread. It's what keeps me checking in on the Hamb.

 

Thanks Okiedokie notes like yours are encouraging! Should have another post on here tonight.

 

Fantastic work---watching this with great interest.

 

Watching it too as many of these items are needed or planned for my '40. This is reading like a technical manual, and I dig it!