going to look at a 40 ford delivery tomorrow... suggestions??

hey guys.
my neighborhood s**** hauler saw my old truck the other day and asked if i wanted to buy a car...he shows me a pic in some catalog of a 40 ford delivery... through his thick Jamaican accent i was able to figure out that its is almost complete... with flathead v8 and ******, no gl***, some trim, some rust.... i know its vague but any info would be awesome... he wouldnt give me a price... ill try to post some pics tomorrow.
thanks!!

 

Ownership ?

 

haha yeah possibly... not that i need another project. ive always been into deliveries but never had the right chance to scoop one up. im not a flathead guy currently but id LOVE to have one.. are the older ones sought after, for resto or rod?

 

if the rear door is rough.. (or missing) its gonna be a tough find..
on top of that I believe the rear door has a special latch that is specific only to the sedan delivery..

rear fenders are sedan delivery ONLY but there are actually more nos sedan delivery fenders than sedan delivery's. so if they are missing its not a deal breaker..

40's are known for frame rot ahead of the rear axle at the "kickup"
as is frame rot under the battery on the p*** side of the firewall.


if it has 2 rear doors its a panel wagon.. and unless its mint.. I would p***.
everything else is available.. somewhere..


ps.. this is the best info that I recalled someone else might correct me..

I know that sedan delivery and woodie rear fenders are NOT the same..

 

strange,i have an uncle that lives on the west side of st. petersburg fla. he has a 40 delivery in his backyard...you tell that guy to quit snooping in my uncles yard!!!!

just kidding..good find if you can get it.

 

when you say almost complete.....rear fenders are sedan delivery only , make sure you get them. rear bumper i believe is woodie/sedan delivery only and i don't believe you can get them in repo. rear bumper irons are unique too

 

awesome thanks guys.. any guess on price, sight unseen.. probably stupid question hahah.

 

linkin... tell your uncle ill give him a sweet deal on it hahah

 

if you need some parts my buddy has some extra rear fenders and stuff.

 

right rear bumper is sedan delivery only.. as it has a different radius than a car woodie is FLATter still.. (green bible shows these)

irons for the rear would be unique.. as would the taillight bracket.. and the bucket seats (if it has them)

 

Xs 2 on what sawall said on the back door, been trying to put something together
for over two years now on my 46 delivery.

 

As a '40 SD owner, prepare to spend lots of time in the right lane when you get it running. The things are like caves, and lane changing is challenging. When I rebuild mine, I'm thinking about having some of the new back up camera technology installed to give me a peek to make sure no one is lurking in the huge blind spot. Don't get me wrong, I love my ol' delivery and will never part with it.

Because of the blind spot on the right side, you usually find SD's with damaged right rear fenders and quarter panels. If the rear door is rusted out or trashed, look for a roof with the same gauge metal to be a donor skin. That will give you the same compound curves you need for the door skin.

Front doors are coupe doors. Good luck.

 

All of the info so far is correct. The one item that no one has mentioned it the back door hinges, they are SD rear door only. Mine were trashed and I had to remake the body half. Like 36tbird says, they are like driving a tunnel. I have mirrors on both sides of mine with the p*** side a convex one. After you get used to them, they are great drivers.

 

Rear bumper irons are specific to '40/41 sedan delivery only and impossible to find. Same goes for rear door. Rear fenders are a little easier to find but still not easy. Rear bumper came in two styles - rounded p***enger type and then later the flat commercial type, which is reproduced. Pickup truck bumper is the same as the SD and woodie. The flat bumper looks much better to me. Here's the flat type commercial bumper on mine - it didn't have either the rear bumper or bumper irons when I got it (lower photo) - that is how I know how hard it is to find the bumper irons.

As others have said tunnel vision and a traditional rear view camera is essential.

 

I'll agree absolutely with the caution about driving an SD is like driving in a tunnel. If I still had mine I would have a back up camera for certain. They are very dangerous cars to drive without some sort of aide.

The only other thing that I can comment on that hasn't been talked about in the other posts, is that the B-pillar is lined with wood! Other that the woodie, this is the only Ford model of this year to do so. While it isn't impossible to replace the wood, it is something for you to look out for as most of us car guys really hate to work with wood! I literally wore out my saber saw trying to refit the missing wood on my SD. Maple is some hard stuff.

Good luck...

 

Go for it. I have owned several SD's and love them. The above information is correct and if you advertise you will find all the missing parts except the right hand tail light bracket. Wescott makes both right and left and they are perfect.

The rear bumper and brackets are hard items but I have been able to find them. The flattended bumper is the best for access to the rear cargo area. I am in the process of making the rear bumper irons. Drake may make them but doesn't show them in his site.

As for price, they are hard to sell and depending on condition you could pay $3K to $15K for a core. I found mine in a storage yard for the price of unpaid storage...rough but restorable.

Good luck and post some pictures when you drag it home. Here are some of my recent finds. The rusty one is mine.

 

I hate all of you. I want one

 

They make great storage containers... Tear off the front clip, and take the body off the frame.. Set the body on a couple rail road ties (make sure they are sitting on very soft wet ground).. Take all the unneeded handles and latches off, screw on a few of those sliding hardware store bar latches... Screw some sheet metal over all the window openings... And then fill the inside with what ever you would like to store in it.. I like to store the same things mice like to eat.

 

be sure you take a towel............druel is for us older guys. dont look good on a young man............

 

heres an old pic of mine

 

it could be a panel delivery too if it has 2 rear doors and an ugly hole in the right quarter panel to mount the spare its a panel delivery the front end including doors on a panel are truck parts

 

here's one i put together:

 

Left Turn is Right, errr....I mean, correct. When I got mine it was keeping firewood dry.

 

Yeah I got the idea going out to an old farm out in western NE, there was a fenced off lot with 8-10 old panel/sedan delivery bodies no frames, no front clips, sitting on ties, in the mud.... Looking around most seemed to be 40's Fords, one '33-4 Ford sedan delivery (it could've been saved, guys have built cars from quarter panels before) and a 40's Chevy panel.. Also one old mopar wagon with sheet covering all the windows... It was kind of sad thing to see...

I know my grandpa's friend had a few Willys panels and a Hump Back Dodge panel he used to store stuff in.. The Dodge and all of the Willys but 2 are restored now though..

 

ok heres the update..
heres the good and bad news all rolled together in one steaming pile hahah
-the thing is completely taken apart and stuffed inside... great for storage .. you guys were right.
-i think all the panels are there... though its hard to say ... the inside was a dark sea of surface rust and mosquitoes.
-as you can see from the pics... no flathead.. 0010 sbc.. which may be worth its weight if its the 68 327. th350 surprise surpise and a chevy 12-bolt out back
-later frame, home made floors, chopped top.. not a terrible job.
- drip rails, pillars and gl*** channels looked good.
- no gl*** no trim.. he had two seats.. i didnt see them
-rust on lower body and ? on panels

- i told him i wasnt really interested but it might be worth 500 bucks...he was super happy with that...i bet i could throw it on the trailer for 250.

thoughts?

 

If you don't get it for that money, I'll come get it myself!!!

 

It's a panel truck not a delevery and the rear, while it may have 12 bolts holding the cover on, is not the 12 bolt everybody pay$ the money for. Run away.

 

man... run away??? sheesh i didnt think it was that bad hahah.... thats worth it even for a storage bin hahah

 

That is unfortunate.

Unless you're a diehard '40 panel truck guy (and I doubt it) then I would possibly buy it to sell. Otherwise p***. May be worth the investment if there are some hard-to-find parts still left with it. Hate to see the firewall cut and frame missing.

 

yeah and the floors look worse than the fire wall..
- and this may be a dumb comment but isnt a 12 bolt a 12 bolt??