Well, as some of you guys know, I'm still looking for a junk '40 Ford passenger body that is cheap and junk but will yield up a good windshield section (along with cowl and roof) so I can graft it into my '40 P'up cab (I like the leaned back windshield, I think it'll be perfect for my gasser). I'm still chasing some leads down, but this weekend I found a guy that has a '39 passenger body for cheap. I know that the '39-prior windshields swing out and the '40's don't, but my question is this: Will the '40 windshield assembly fit right in a '39 windshield opening and fit just like a '40? Yes, no? If yes, what other little details should be considered? Let's talk windshields here...
The opening that accomodates the swing-out WS is totally different, but the whole panel with WS would fit the same as a '40 one would. I too think this would be really neat. Windshield that don't open were a dumb idea anyway--that led to air conditioning, and that in turn led to street rodders...
40 passenger cars and 40 pickups use the same windshields can't you just lay it back where you want it?
OK, thanks for cluing me in on the '39 opening being totally different. Dang, and the entire 4-dr body shell was only $500 OBO, too... crud. No, I don't want the swing-out window with stainless trim in my gasser, it wouldn't look right on a gasser. But it would look great on a custom. I am doing the passenger graft because the P'up windshield bottom is higher off the cowl on a P'up. I want it to start right off the cowl like a passenger. I've also been told the windshields themselves are the same by a guy in the know, but take a look at a P'up and a passenger under the windshield where it makes a transition to the cowl and you'll see.
Mnay years ago when I bought my 40 Tudor, it had a 39 windshield in it, but the swing-out features had been removed. It looked pretty OK with the chrome plated trim (that was pretty pitted) from the exterior, but the way the former builder got it in the frame of the 40, was to neatly use a LOT of 50's style tar/rubber windshield sealant as there was no rubber gasket for this job. He did a fairly neat job but it didn't look that good, so I ended ripping it out and putting in a stock 40 windshield so I could use the regular rubber to mount it, and have a stock look (and besides, the rechroming on the 39 frame would have been pretty expensive for me at that time and the glass in the 39 frame was in not-so-good condition). I've seen a couple of 40's w/39 windshields in them at shows and none of them was able to make it look "right" (to me anyways) on the interior.
Dude, if you are confident enough to swap a roof couldn't you just do some cutting and welding and make your truck's windshield opening look like you want it to? Section it below the opening and drop it a bit? Is the PU roof more "bulbous" than the top on a car? Maybe that is a concern too? If so, it makes a bit more sense to do the swap.
Unkl Ian, if you look at a P'up and a passenger car up close and sitting next to each other (not in far-off photo's), you'll see that there is a considerable difference in where the windshield starts off the cowl. The P'up starts an inch, or maybe even two, higher. The top front corner of the door on the passenger car (where the pillar meets the roof) is much more graceful on the passenger car, not squared off like the P'up. That would be difficult to make graceful on the P'up. Much easier just to use the passenger top. I do not know if the P'up roof is any more bulbous or not. The passenger top graft can be made right above the belt-line and will involve a LOT less work than modifying the P'up top and cowl the way I want. Plus it should come out nicer and less of a hack job. With the cuts at the beltline, it looks like it will just be a cut-and-drop procedure based on the eyeballing I've done of the P'ups and passenger cars at the shows when they are sitting next to each other. Once the passenger top is grafted on, then I can step back and decide exactly how much the chop should be. Anyway, thanks for the replies on the '39 opening being considerably different. I also called a guy-in-the-know today and he also recommended that I not try to stick a '40 windshield into a '39 opening. That being said, then I guess I am still on the prowl for a junk '40 passenger body that will yield up a nice windshield/roof/cowl section that's intact and not all rusted out or beat to crud. The body can be rusted down low, but the clip I need should be nice. Firewall does not need to be nice. Leads appreciated, in the Southwest is preferable but I'll take all leads just the same. Thanx.
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