Projects winter project - "so let's chop a 40 coupe (and fab everything else possible...)

First off,
thanks alot guys for the replies.
It helps sometimes I wonder what the heck I'm doing spending so much time on this,
so knowing others understand surely helps!

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Tried to utilize my spare time this week to focus on the firewall.
My oldest kid (Jaxon/whabamp) likes to hang out at the shop and he really helped with the clean up.
(thanks anyway 41 Dave!)



Which resulted in more than enough space to pull the engine out.



The firewall seams were as bad as I figured they were going to be.



After a couple minutes of grinding and some welding it was a little better.



Just alot of gaps and a couple bad angles/curves.



It's hard to see in this chitty pic,
but the top corners of the firewall/cowl are more round now,
the outside triangle holes underneath that center piece that juts out are closed up,
the distributor indent is parallel instead of pinched in,
lotsa little corner holes have been patched up.

Than last night...

Finished welding all the inbetween seams,
and made the little corner bottom pieces at the base of the hoop.

There are over 25 pieces making up this firewall!

As typical with my late night thinking,
I had a half can of grey primer and sprayed it on there.
It helped to see what parts needed cleanup,
but I immediately regretted it,
so the next half hour I wirewheeled as much as I could off.

This morning I had a couple hours before my wife went to work,
so rallied up and sanded/scotch padded the firewall as much as I could bear.
Than mixed up the milspec epoxy primer that I love and double rolled it on there nice and thick.



This paint is awesome, it dries hard and really sticks to the metal.
The idea is to use it as a high-build primer,
filling the chingers from the grinder and weld beads.
I don't need it perfect just something so dirt and oil can be wiped off easily.

After a couple days it will cure up and I'll sand it a bit for a top coat of either black or off white.



I had a little extra time to start cleaning up some of the casting slag on the engine block.
Usually I like the casting marks but this was a little too rough.


There are a ton of little engine bay projects
- front spring clamps & crossmember holes,
- inner fender sheetmetal
- front shocks ....

but now that the firewall has made the cowl super sturdy,
and other than some cowl rust there's not too much grinding on the inside of the firewall,
I can put the dash in,
and also work on the doors,
more importantly the door hinges.

It's typical of this car,
completing one project opens up 10 other projects.

TP

 

Crazy ass firewall! Good job T-BONE.

 

looks great.. and i have to say its good to see young man with long hair.. i swear i was the only one who had long hair around any of my friends. ( mom was a hippie, so iv known nothing but long hair ) heh.. rock on, the project is taking shape.. enjoy the time with your boy, these years are very impressionable you be the king or the devil by the end of a few more summers. LOL o yeah, im 36 and have saved so much money on lack of hair cuts.. heh.

chris.

 

The firewall turned out great!
Seeing you make progress motivates me to work on mine.

 

Travis, Sorry that you didn't need any help. Looking forward to further progress. Firewall is looking great for being made out of 25 pieces ! Must have been quite the zig saw puzzle.

Dave

 

I lurk here, and never post (really...this is my first post...a year and three months after joining)


this is absolutely incredible. A real inspiration to continue working on my car.

 

Nice...

 

For some reason I looked at earlier photos and its trippy to see the progression.
It's been basically from nothing to the only painted sheetmetal part on the car!



The bottom was so nasty I ended up cutting it off at the first bend.



The engine is so heavy,
that I figured a low and set back engine would give better handling.
If I knew how much work this was going to make...



Since the 40 firewalls angle out on the bottom,
the rear spark plugs are behind the firewall.



After the center cowl part was replaced,
giving it some rigidity,
I thought way too much and just cut it all off.



The important part to keep was the bumps,
even though the drivers side is kinda ugly cause of the windshield wiper motor.



The top of the cowl was too rough to use.
Since the top flat part was set back a couple inches it was easier to make.
I wanted to keep the angled part on the bottom,
but had to flatten it out a little.

After making the bottom part and letting it sit for the year...
I ended up cutting the bottom part out and flatten out that angle again,
there wasn't enough "fix it" room.



At least the headers cover up some of the modified top part!

I have two long haired boys,
They won't let me cut it!
I'd prolly have long hair but there's grey comin in and I look way old,
so always wear a hat when it gets a certain length!
Actually I'm so cheap I cut all our hair with one of those electric buzzer deals, forever now!

I took a look at your project before I started posting,
and its funny I had to laugh.
I've lost my mind a bit during this build and glad to see I'm not the only one!

Hey Dave it would have been embarassing to have you help clean the shop!
It took longer to make excuses not to clean than it did to actually clean.

Hey that means alot!
Now post some pics of your project!

Thanks!

TP

 

Travis, No problem, I am willing to help friends to clean up or what ever. Really need to work on my own mess.

Dave

 

I was one of those that thought you couldn't improve on the '39-40 ford coupe..but you really made me a believer..cant wait for the next update..awesome job.

 

freaking love the headers!! this '40 looks sinister as hell!

 

Awesome!

 

Nice work Zibo...

What's the yellow outlines on the frame for?? You're not gonna cut holes in it are you? :Rolleyes:

 

Flattered by friendship request! Hope to do some hot rodding with you some day...maybe some beers too! Its good to get in touch with others who are using the fat,bone,and gristle scraps to build rad cars!

 

It is truly an exceptional feat to improve on perfection. Mission accomplished!

 

There is a whole lotta ass kick'n go'n on in this project! Loving it!

 

Great progress, looking good!

 

Unreal. Glad you're back at it!!

 

I think page 2 will show how it was cut

 

Yeah like Big Nick said it was sketched on the outside but for the inside.
That part is slowly becoming only a hazy memory.

******

So here's what's been goin on in "what the hell am I doing" land.

The doors and hinges have been patiently waiting there turn.



The problem is there is no useful door jamb.
I've been forming a strategy,
actually its too many strategies cause some of them involved saving the rusty useless metal.

It helps to streamline options by just cutting them out.
The stuff was so nasty I'm not sure why it was a consideration to use it.

My problem was I couldn't stop.

This part is eye level (on jackstands anyway)
and it is the shittiest part left on the original body.

The other thing is if you look on the outside part of the window,
the section kinda intrudes into the window itself.

Well not anymore cause it's all cut out.


The metal was so flimsy and wavy it had to go.



I made a quick template with the earlier made supports that weren't symmetrical anymore,
and cut even more out.


So in less than 2 hours I added probably 2 weeks or work.


So nice to have this out of the car.


The plan is for hidden hinges,
and a beefy new door jamb/A-pillar that integrates too a welded in dash.
With the convertible style center upright,
I'd rather have a clean inside window surround and not the stock bolt-in frame.

The tricky part will be making the door match the new skinny front pillar.
No problem cause its missing most of it.


Anyway if I can trudge through this part the rest is easy.
Cough.

TP

 

That's a nice job. You are a brave man. Thanks for saving a rusty hulk!

 

This build is awesome!LB

 

Yer gonna be burning a few lb,s of wire Good move to just replace it all.

 

Here you go!



The replacement steel is 1/8" or so,
alot thicker than the original sheetmetal,
so instead of trying to bend it I just cut and welded.



There wasn't much to weld to,
but it was enough to make the correct space.
I'll have to patch up the gaps from the inside, later.



Now at least the main door jamb frame is complete.
I'll do the inside of this part when the dash goes in.



The main thing is I can start on the hinges.
They will be inside hinges not outside,
which kinda sucks cause there will be large holes in the door jamb.



It's funny cause it only takes a short while to do all this,
it's just getting that short while to do it!

TP

 

So crazy!

 

It never ceases to amaze me when I run across a high end build like this here; especially one that's been here this long without me seeing it before!
I was skeptical that a chop would look good on a '40 Ford coupe, but that's all changed. Your coupe looks amazing, and just keeps getting better throughout the build!

 

At first this car made mine look like a new car, major difference now is your is looking way better than mine!!

 

I just spent the last hour reading this thread front to back. Travis, all I can say is that you are the real artist. I just play an artist at the car shows. Not only do you have the eye for visualizing good proportions but the courage to start cutting. Frame rails from scratch? Man, nothing gets in your way of building the car you see in your head. You make all those patch panels look easy. Great job shooting progress photos and writing captions. I know that can slow down the process but this will be great record of the car for your kids some day. Great job all the way around!

 

Still the door jambs.

Last sunday I went to the shop thinking I'd get a bunch of work done.
I ended up sitting for an hour contemplating hinge ideas,
than figured cleaning up would help.
Don't know if it did but I found a box of goodies.

This whole car has been built on a series of coincidences,
so when there was the exact amount and size of heim joints in the box that I could use,
I knew that was a sign to use them.
I just didn't know how.

What sucked was there were so many gaps to fill,
that had to be done while there was access.
It helped to configure a hinge plan while filling them.

After all this time,
it was strange to see it actually solid.

If you followed my blog deal,
this song kinda fits what I'm doing.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vATaxa_uf5U&feature=related[/youtube]


This is the start of the heim hinges.

The idea is to use the heims as fixed pivots,
than have hinges rotate on them.
They are greased,
and I'm adding a middle one to offset any stress.

It seems like there is enough pivot space.

Than last friday I was really dirty after work,
so filled most of the remaining holes in the cowl,
and wire wheeled/grinded the firewall as much as I could stand.
Than gooped on my favorite 2 part epoxy primer.

I have practiced a method with this paint using a roller and brush,
thinning the first coat down so it will seep into the nooks and crannys,
soaking in to any uncleaned rust spots,
than the second unthinned coat gives it a nice thick layer.
Over the weekend it cured,
and last night I cut the holes for the hinges.

If you look on the bottom of the pic,
you can see the cardboard templates for the hinge idea.
I'll have to notch the holes a bit more,
but it looks like there'll be just enough of clearance.
The doors won't open to 90 degrees,
hopefully a bit more than 60.

Now what to do.
The next step is the inner frame of the door,
so the hinges have a place to go.
Than the hinges,
than the bottom of the door jamb,
than the bottom of the door,
than attaching what's left of the original door....

Holy chit.

TP

Thanks Bomonster!
I hope you had a nice cold beer while you were reading!
The pictures and writing thing actually help to realize I am crazy.

TP

 

I really enjoy watching this one come around!!! thanks Zibo!