Boy I would have a hard time living with a power glide, TH350 fits with little more work and much better driving. Of course I am using a 200R4 in my 40 sedan project.
So, at this point I have done pretty much most of what I think I should do on the cabin, so now it is on to the frame! I spoke to a local company about grit blasting my frame as I wanted to get their recommendations. I had been thinking of towing it down there on its wheels but they want the frame stripped of everything that's not actually frame. So I started removing the easy stuff first - the gas tank. Here is the tank top, driver's side (note 2 cage nuts): And the passenger side (with only 1 cage nut): Here's the drivers side tank view from the bottom (note how the bolts are safety-wired and the wire runs through the frame): Here's the passenger side view from the bottom (you can see that the bolt is safety-wired and there also is a spring between bolt head and frame: So, I sprayed all three bolts and nuts with penetrating oil and let that seep in before I started removal by cutting off the safety wire. The two driver's side bolts were difficult and slow but yielded. The passenger's side was more difficult to remove as the nut started rotating in the cage (big surprise, right?) Some work with air-saw and chisel and I was able to grip the nut with my wrench and then was able to turn out the bolt: Next I'll have to drain the tank and dispose of the old gas at the county hazardous waste facility. By the way, I hope I'm not being too tedious in my narrative with all the pictures. But I'm hoping that by showing the details, if I start going off-track you guys will let me know before I go too far down the wrong path.
I like photos as you cam tell from my build threads. They can be very helpful to some people right now that are trying to figure out how to properly attach their fuel tank. Maybe the pictures will be helpful to you when you put things back together. For instance I did not have safety wire on my tank bolts when I took the car apart and did not install any safety wire when my tank went in. Your photos were helpful to me. I was wandering what that little loop was for on the frame and now I know. keep up the good work on your 40 and the thread .
Thanks for the encouragement. I have been reading your buildthread but I am only up to page 5. I'll have some questions you might be able to answer in one of my upcoming posts.
So, now that the tank is loose I can empty it (with help from my co-pilot): A little more than 3 gallons. Nice reddish color! Yum! Yum! Let me know if any of you want some free gas, aged to perfection... I had to run the fan for the rest of the day out in the garage because you spill the smallest amount and boy! does it stink! We also went up to Carlisle, PA for their giant auto flea market. Saw lots of car crap. My wife's Fit-Bit says we did 14,000 steps!! I only bought one thing: a new hat! Check out the logo: There was a lady and her daughter at Carlisle with a booth filled with lots of antique oil cans, etc. Plus a box of various Soap Box Derby helmets - some were really neat but didn't fit my fat head (actually they were for the kids who were racing, so I guess they wouldn't.) This was the only adult hat. Since it is labeled "Official" it was for the adults running the derby, so fit nicely. Anyway , she told us that all this stuff was inherited from her late bachelor uncle who had collected it all at the Carlisle Flea-Market, so she figured that was the best place to sell it all back. He apparently had filled a whole storage shed with this stuff. Yikes!!
I started out by leveling the frame and then marking the centerline of the rear axle on both sides. These measurements are in relationship to a couple of holes in the frame, so I should be able to easily find the axle centerline after the frame is grit-blasted.: Same with the front axle: Now that the tank is drained I removed the gas line and took out the tank: Next I removed the front brake lines and took out the master cylinder: I noticed on crack in the crossmember that I'll have to weld up: And part of the frame is missing - it looks like it was torched off many years ago with just the ends left attached. Depending on how I strengthen the cross-member, this may or may not need to be replaced. Not sure where I would find a replacement for this. On the front I removed the old fender yoke. The yoke is not in pristine condition. For some reason there wasn't one in the Ford when I bought it in 1966. But it is needed to stabilize the front end, specifically the front fenders. So, many years ago I was on the look-out for one whenever we visited the local junkyards. I finally found one in Bachee Canyon. The story is that after WWII some guy hauled a whole bunch of old cars up Bachee Canyon and just parked them there (which is off of 93 on the way to Lolo, just a little south of Missoula.) By the time I visited the place all the old cars had been pretty much torn up; e.g., there were a bunch of Lincoln Zephyrs that had been pushed over on to their sides so people could remove their transmissions and use them in their hot-rods. Many of them had also been used for target practice. My yoke, while shabby, was the only usable component I found on a 40 Ford parked up there.
Somebody probably torched the outriggers to clear dual exhaust. I used these on my car: Frame to X brace for 37-40 Ford (weedetrstreetrod.com) Factory style reproductions are also available as is the front fender support "V". There are also fender support brackets made to clear non-flatheads. 1939 DLX, 1940 CAR, 1940-41 PU FRNT FENDER APRN SUPPORT BRACE – Bob Drake
I decided before taking the frame to get grit-blasted I should open up the center-section of the cross-frame. The reason for this is that the center-section tends to retain a lot of grease and other crap and since I'm almost certain to modify it, I should open it up so the grit-blasters get it good and clean. I started by grinding off the rivet heads: I then center-punched them, drilled them with a 3/16 and then a 3/8 drill bit (as recommended in one of you HAMB guy's posts - thanks!) When I tried to punch them out, they did not come willingly Lots of drilling and hammering later I finally got them out: Problem is that the plate isn't coming out. Is it also spot welded at the front? I need to get some Hamber's input on this - what do I need to do next to get this top plate loose? Are these circled areas spot-welds? What do I do next?
I’m going to get my frame blasted soon (I hope..) Whatdo you plan to do about the double skinned areas front an back? I’m thinking about tempo them for blasting, as there’s o way the blaster will get in there properly, and either will any paint. Seems like a lot of work tho ,so I’m still thinking about it..
I'm lucky. My frame only has surface rust so I got a can of the Eastwood internal frame coating paint. It has a little flexible tube with a nozzle at the end of the tube. After I get my frame blasted I'll try to coat the interior of the frame with that. Even if it doesn't work all that well, I'll be long gone before the frame rusts through. After it comes back from grit blasting I plan on wiping it down with AfterBlast before I use the internal frame paint. I'll have to be careful using the internal frame paint since I want to box the frame. I suppose I'll have to tape it off so I can also spray it with weldable primer. Or maybe I should paint it with weldable primer first and then the internal frame paint?
Bob Drake sells these. I believe a company on the east coast makes them pretty close to the stock ones. Some guys just weld in a piece of one inch square tubing in top and bottom gives a little more room for exhaust. If you haven't already got your center out of your frame we have hooked a come along to the front cross member and put tension on it and a little help from a bf hammer . Also if you don't intend to keep it split it in half with a torch plasma cutter or saws all makes it easier to come out. Good luck with your project.
Those are called running board supports and are available new from Joe's Antique Auto https://www.joesantiqueauto.com/. Very nice pieces. What trans are you going to use?
Thanks for the info. I hadn't previously heard of Joe's. Transmission will depend on what engine and I haven't decided that yet. It would be nice to have a Ford (like a 302) in it, but I know that that presents a number of difficulties. In high-school I put a Chevy 283 power-pack in it with little difficulty (but I used the original drive train and the Chevy was way too much power for that!) So, the modern equivalent would be an LS I guess. A lot of this depends on what I come across.
While I was trying to figure out how to take the top off of the center-section box there was a lot of other work to do. I stripped all the brake lines and the master cylinder and clutch linkages and pedals out. Things like the axle bumpers also were removed. This is all to get the frame ready to take to the grit-blasters down in Manassas. I then moved on to removing the axle bolts. Air hammer didn't budge them so I had to use a breaker bar. A previous owner had torched out this cross-member leaving the ends still attached to the frame at both ends, so I needed to clean it up. Since those rivets go into the center box I decided to just trim the metal off and leave the rivets alone on this end. Yellow tape marks the spot Angle grinder and cutting disk work wonders: On the other end at the outer rail I just drilled and punched out the rivets. When I box the frame I will have to replace this piece with either a reproduction or something stouter. And then there was other weird crap that had been welded to the bottom of the frame rail that I had to grind and chisel off: Done:
A couple of interesting things: I noticed that the bottom of the frame has a flange on the bottom. This is located right behind the side brace position (on the passenger side, picture is looking towards the rear): Here is the same position, but on the driver's side. No flange. Why? And then I found this funny little doo-dad. Some kind of mount or hanger in this location on the passenger side of the frame: Close-up. What is this thing? Obviously been there for a long time. Very rusty, but I got it off. One of the bolts was quite odd. Look how the head has a little dome (I wire brushed it to show it better): Sort of fun discovering curious components while I get the frame ready to take to the grit blasters. I any of you need a close-up picture of somewhere on the frame let me know. It is now pretty well stripped.
Makes sense. I also removed what looked like some kind of mount on the rear cross-member passenger side with an encased piece of rubber. I assume that was a tail-pipe hanger.
So, storage is becoming a bit of a challenge. Where do I put this stuff once I remove it? Where do I put the rear-end once I remove it? I stuffed it under the cabin (it was either that or the living room) So now it was time to get serious about removing the top to the center-section: Followed by lots of chisel work with a BFH Once I chopped through the multiple spot welds on the front edge and the two rear corner spot welds on the back edge I was able to pry it off: Looking closely you'll notice that the factory placed the spotwelds at the very edge of the rear upright (that is the upright flange on the right in the photo below - you can make out the silver dots on the edge.) Their poor worksmanship made it a lot easier to pry off. Since the side edges of the top plate extended under the flange of the frame rail I had had to cut them. This left a nasty hidden edge that would probably bite me at some time in the future, so I had to clean it up. Then on to the front axle. And again, I made the wiser choice of moving the front axle under the cabin rather than storing it in the living room: I'll post a few pictures of the welds in the centerbox next.
Okay, so I put a saw horse under the front of the frame in preparation for loading it onto the back of whatever truck I rent from Home Depot to take it to the grit-blasters A little hard to see, but I have the rear of the frame on wooden block-stands sitting on dollies so it can be moved easier when it is time for loading So, now I wait for the gas pipeline crisis to pass before I try renting a truck (since you are supposed to refill the tank after use and, guess what?, all the local gas stations are closed due to no gas. But, no worries there is a lot of other preparation activities I'll be pursuing. So, here are the extra photos I took of the spotwelds. Here is the front flange and you can see the silver of the spotweld I am chiseling: Here you can see the spotwelds on the back edge of the back panel: I found a wide grinding disc to use when I was grinding down on the corner spotwelds. I'm not sure how good it was at moving metal, but it sure made the sparks fly! And that encouraged my continued chisel and BFH work. I'll be spending some time finding an electrician because I need to wire my garage for 220. My little old Sears 20 gallon compressor just isn't up to the task of operating the air tools very well and I also need to buy a welder/cart/etc. so I can start boxing the frame once I get it grit-blasted. Be happy that you don't live in the northern VA area. There are an over-whelming number of bureaucrats living here who know absolutely nothing about mechanical or electrical things, so the garages and contractors get pretty used to ripping them off. So finding a contractor/electrician/plumber/garage mechanic becomes an exercise in finding someone who doesn't assume you are stupid and ready to be taken. There are good ones out there, but you have to search carefully. By the way, thanks for the tip about Regulator Roy. I met him up in Carlisle PA a few weeks ago and now have my replacement regulators.
She's really a good sport about all of this (considering she has never ridden in it. It had broke down just before I met her and I've drug it around with us all of these years. Crazy huh?)
Just for the record how many of years have you drug it around? I have my 40 longer than I been married 50 + years and my wife said if I sold it she would be the next to go. Frank
Frank: I bought it in 1966 and drove it until 1970 or so when it broke down. At that point I was too busy with college and then my first job to do anything with it. I drug it around the country and am finally working on it.
These cars definitely take up more space when they are apart. After painting the frame and reassembling the chassis, I can see a bit of the floor now. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
One way to keep a caged nut from spinning when trying to remove its bolt is to clamp a vice grip down on the two tabs of the cage and squeeze them tight to the nut. Hold on to the vice grip and loosen the bolt. I've used this method many times and it works well if you can get the vice grip on the thing.
The serial number is on the frame by the steering box. There may be a second one on the rear of the frame also. There is no need to box a 40 frame it is plenty stout. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The Jalopy Journal
