Hot Rods Building the Black Rat '40

A few years back 5(?) I decided I would like to recreate the '40 Ford hot rod that I built when I was
17 in high school. I had a '54 Chevy 2 door with a 327 Chevy and Saginaw 4 speed. I located a '40
Ford coupe with no engine or transmission for sale locally. I sold the '54 to raise the money for the
'40 cpe. A long slow build began. This time I had the luxury of having adequate funds for my build.
The first things was obtaining a 2" dropped axle, re bushed it, and installed MoPar disc brakes and
put on the stock wish bones (like the coupe I built in '61). Next came removal of the stock '40
closed driveshaft rear end and replacement with a '67 chromed Firebird PosiTrac rear axle.


Here's my first '40 cpe. that I drove to school and raced on Saturday nights.
Stay tuned and watch for more build pictures.

 

This looks like fun.I`ll saddle up and go along for the ride.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Going with an Olds again? Looks like a great project.

 

Yep, going with a '56 Olds 324 bored to 4" with '57 371 pistons. The '57 pistons wrist pins are, .005-.006 farther
down from the piston tops than the 324 pistons. They are just a "scooche" higher in the cylinders which boosts
the compression just a bit. They are still below the deck of the block by a safe amount to swell when hot.

 

looks like a fun project Mickey! please keep us posted!
but, Olds never made a 391 in '57
and as far as I know the '57 pins are about .015 deeper in the hole than the '56

 

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Nice! What transmission are you going to use?

 

Very excited to watch your build. I am working on a 40 coupe that was last built in the 60's. It has disc brakes that as far as I've been able to tell by comparison in pictures are Mopar. What Mopar brakes did you use back then ? I have been trying to figure out whether to rejuvenate whats on there if I can figure out for sure what they are off of , or just go with the new kits available. Black Rat , cool name !

 

You're right Paul. I meant 371. I worked in an engine building shop in the 60's and knew them all from memory.
My memory is getting a bit dicey at my age. Thanks for the correction! BTW the pistons still come up below the deck.

 

I'm starting with a '49 Ford 1/2 ton pickup trans. to convert to an open driveshaft for the Poncho rear end. It's too
weak for the Olds I know. I used '39 Ford top shift boxes, in my high school '40, with a stock 4:11 torque tube rear end.
I shucked the '39 boxes regularly in those days but replacements were readily available for $25!
That sounds cheap until you realize I was sacking groceries for $.65 per hour.

 

I can't remember exactly what MoPar brakes mine are but I probably bought them from Speedway.
A guy named James Dean stopped in to help me install them.

 

always good to have some help remembering the good 'ol days, and details.

 

If there is a casting number on the calipers a good counter man at perhaps NAPA can ID them. I have done it before when I had a parts store years ago. Of course one would have to have the "books" that seem to have been replaced these days with the almighty computer.

 

About time you got off your Butt..Mick..Have fun while you can...This getting old crap is for the birds

 

^That rear is the 10 bolt BOP with the big axles^. good stuff. Love a '40 coupe!

 

I found a couple of pic's of the disc brake setup that I used.

 

Makes me think Volare..

 

Thanks for the pictures. I bought a new Speedway kit with Ford bolt pattern rotors and GM calipers because I haven't figured out what kind are on the car now. They look like some Mopar ones that I saw a guy selling awhile back. To me they resemble the look of my Daughters 77 Vette but smaller. Not a big deal, just makes me curious since they were on there so long. Made me wonder what guys were using back then. Whenever it was that they were installed. The rest of the car looks like it was built in the late 50's or early 60's. 49 Ford inside handles. Ashtrays brazed shut. 57 Chevy rear end. etc. Just speculation.

 

Touche ya' old dinosaur!

 

I found a set of high back Dodge van seats for the coupe. They're mounted to a set of brackets from Speedway.

 

I pulled the dash out to refurbish and braze up some holes, drilled by some gorilla, to install a wrong radio.

 

Let's put some insulation in.


Got an adapter from the Sachse Rod Shop which allows mounting a modern dual reservoir master cylinder on the '40 ford brake pedal bracket so I can retain the stock pedals.

 

Already giving me an instruction sheet. Gonna have to get one of those adapters. Looking good !

 

I got that adapter from the Sachse Rod Shop in Sachse, Texas.

 

Great project. Following along.

 

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Yes that's what I think it is too.

Here's pic's of the install before I installed the springs. I used a Posies spring kit.
Even the brake backing plates are chrome!

 

There's no chrome like old chrome.

 

What Paul said - pretty sure the Volare's are what's on my 39 Coupe.......

 

Getting the dummy block and transmission ready to install to set up motor mounts and trim firewall slightly for
clearance of the Olds bell housing. This was before installing the new axles.