Technical Question installing small block into 1940 Chevy

true knee action fronts looked like a knee pointing to the front,...

 

I think the confusion is there was an original first design "knee action" front independent; then a second different design but still referred to as knee action. First design has two trailing arms parallel (I think, at least very close to it) to each other and running back longitudinally. The second design had the shock integral with the upper A-arm and used transverse arms from the frame out to the wheels.
Not sure of cutoff dates, i think the first design used until 38. Pretty sure 40 had the second design.

 

Exactly. Both are often referred to as "knee action shocks", and simply a different design.
This was my '39 Coupe before I swapped in a '58 Chevy truck axle I narrowed 5" to swap to a dropped I bema axle. As you can see it's a knee action shock that's integral to the cast upper control arm.

 

How bout a little more info on this one!! Sounds interesting. (I know you can't show pics "not pre-65" but these are hardly ever mentioned).
6sally6