Featured Technical My '40 Ford Pickup 'Hot rod' Project

I am going to start a thread do***enting the mild 'resto-mod' of my '40 Ford pickup. I was going to keep this truck completely original, and did for a couple of years, but the tired old gearbox and short gearing made using it in modern traffic and real pita. So, I started out thinking just a 5 speed conversion would be all I needed. Oh well, best laid plans..... Project creep has set in. Here's the plan now:
1. The 59A engine is getting bored 0.125" over to 3.313" for 255 ci.
2. The cam is getting an Isky Max 1 grind
3. A Merc intake will sit below a Rochester 2G carbie
4. Heads get milled about 0.050" and 0.060 for a total of 0.050" equal quench on each side
5. A rebuilt S10 5 speed goes behind the mill
6. The front end is getting dropped
7. The rearend is getting a 9" Ford diff with 3.54 gears sitting on parallel leaf springs
8. Brakes are getting upgraded
9. Wheels will be common Ford patterns to accept 15" wheels and radial tires

Anyway, modification of the frame is underway and, so far, I have removed the old X brace in the center so the new split wishbone support can be attached. This will be done once the engine and gearbox are mounted in the frame.

The first step in this process is bolting the new X brace in place, then removing the old X brace. I used 3/8" bolts and nuts except the center top which is a 5/16" bolt. They could all be 3/8" though.



Getting the old X brace out is not so bad. The forward portion shown removed is held in place with 16 rivets. These come out pretty easy by grinding off the heads, drilling through the shank and using an air chisel to drive the rivet out. I took the top portion off first. Then, the bottom. The top and bottom are spot welded to the front piece but an air chisel makes short work of these and it comes apart pretty easily.

Obviously, the old gearbox mount, located in front of the X brace, came out first. I forgot to take pix of this process but it was just held in with rivets which were removed as described above.

 

That’s not a resto-mod. It’s called a hot rod.

 

looking forward to watching the progress. Love these trucks. Smart adding the top brace before dissecting the lower. Easier to keep it square than make it square.
Carbie? For reals?

 

Those are great little trucks even with only a mild amount of hot rodding applied.

-Abone.

 

This is my first attempt. Still learning.....a lot.

 

I like your plan. I had an Isky Max-1 in the 59AB in my roadster. If you're looking for a bit of lope and that "hot rod" sound, the Max-1 might be a bit mild. If you're looking for an idle that's as "smooth as a gravy sammich"...then the Max-1 is a good choice.

 

Hay Bandit Billy, right up our alley, only a little less HP under the hood. Nothing wrong there! Here's how we did his rear springs so not to need lowering blocks. I seem to have lost the photos of the rear shackle mounts. Notice they are in the frame not under it.

 

@Pist-n-Broke here are the rear shackles in my truck. Through the frame, not under after I chrome them of course

 

Hot rod 'lope' would be cool, but I'm using this truck as my shop truck and almost-daily driver, so a milder cam is warranted, I think. It's never going to rev very high.

 

@Pist-n-Broke , @Bandit Billy Thanks for posting the leaf spring mounts. I will be doing similar with Posies parallel leafs n shackles on my 34 Victoria.

 

Max-1 or the 400JR are great choices. I run the Max-1 in my superchaged 8BA, love it I also went .125 over bore, spend some time porting the block, it will pay dividends as they don't breathe all that well without help.

 

You e found the right place! Sounds like a great build whatever you want to call it

 

My rear spring mounts are a bit different. They mount inside the frame as shown. These require cutting a section of the rear cross member out at the ends but it's no big deal. Then, the mounts bolt to the frame. It's a nice, clean, stout fit.

 

So you used the bumper iron mount holes? Are you going to run the rear bumper?

 

I hadn’t thought of that until you brought it up. I might have to figure something out if I want a rear bumper. The bumper hides my license plate, which could come in handy.

 

Don't the irons bolt to outside face of frame? You could just use longer bolts. Just speculating, don't have one in front of me.

 

Yes. I just checked. Bumper will still hide my license. Hooray!

 

Yeah, if you hang the plate on the driver's side under the taillight the bumper will hide it, see that a lot around here.

I was thinking that once the springs are on and tension applied it may be hard to unbolt the hanger to fit the bumper irons I would suggest putting the bolts (all 6 of them) in backward (heads inboard) that way the bumper irons could be added without removing the hanger bolts. Just an idea.

 

Me too,

Carbie, we call em that round here too, might be a colonial thing!

 

Thanks

 

If you're going to use an O.E. fuel tank you might want to do a test fit before locking in. Looks to me like you may have some interference.

 

Good point Wizz! The stock tank doesn't look like it would fit those inboard brackets. Referencing my frame and a Tanks Inc tank. Perhaps he has planned a fuel cell. Not a bad option.

 

Good idea that. I will use longish bolts from the inside locked in place with jamnuts, then the bumper iron can bolt to the outside without having to reach inside to hold the bolt heads while tighening the bumper nuts.

 

Progress today was removing the rear portion of the stock X brace. I understand it had to go to make room for the new gearbox/driveshaft. The side braces that were riveted to it are now bolted to the two curved frame pieces. I should be good to go once the engine and gearbox are done. Waiting on the cam regrind so I can see if the pistons will hit the heads after milling them. Shouldn't, since I am leaving 0.050" clearance, but the Max 1 has a bit more lift than stock, so test fitting with clay will tell the tale.

 

How do you guys suggest locating the forward parallel leaf spring mounts? Do they just get mounted wherever the forward part of leaf spring meets the frame? Or, are the springs somewhat in compression when they are unloaded? I forgot to mark where the centerline of the axle is relative to the frame, so I can't use the attachment point on the axle to locate the center of the springs. Duh.

 

If you look at a stock truck from the side, most appear like the rear wheels are located towards the front of the fender...and may not be the same side to side. Before the vehicle comes apart, I like to figure out and measure where I want the wheels to be...then design my suspension mounting points around the desired axle centerlines.

Using this method...I moved the front axle forward 1 3/8", and the rear axle rearward about 3/4"...gave me this...

 

I have had mine on and off so often I am thinking of using velcro to mount them so I can say that they are not under compression, the rear shackles swing to allow for R&R. @Pist-n-Broke did the front mounts before I took possession of my truck frame so he would be best to answer this one.

 

Throw the box and fenders back on the frame. Roll your wheels and tires in the openings. Mark the best center location on each side. Then after you pull the box back off, you can average the two new centerline locations, cause they will not be equal. As you will realize, 40 Ford fenders are not good mirror images of each other.