Duncan's (sort of) project - 1940 Ford

[Duncan]

Finished up my driver's side kick panel this weekend.  I did it the first time, then realized I forgot the courtesy light goes in it, and I wasn't really happy with it anyway.

Second attempt was much better..

 

What really sucks is that my old-ass air compressor finally died.  I have been nursing it along for a few years now, and it finally completely seized up.  The pump on it developed what sounded like a rod knock.  I shut it down and next day, and it wouldn't budge. It's completely seized.  Oh well.  I got one helluva lot of use out of it, and it worked well for a lot of years..

 

I'm looking through Craigslist to pickup a used 20-30 gallon unit just to use until I find a replacement.  I'm dead in the water until I get a replacement..

 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Duncan

[datsunfreak]

25 minutes ago, Duncan said:

What really sucks is that my old-ass air compressor finally died.  I have been nursing it along for a few years now, and it finally completely seized up.  The pump on it developed what sounded like a rod knock.  I shut it down and next day, and it wouldn't budge. It's completely seized.  Oh well.  I got one helluva lot of use out of it, and it worked well for a lot of years..

 

I'm looking through Craigslist to pickup a used 20-30 gallon unit just to use until I find a replacement.  I'm dead in the water until I get a replacement..

 

Harbor Freight sells a few of them?

 

 

[Duncan]

2 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

 

Harbor Freight sells a few of them?

 

 

Yeah, I have seen them.  However, my compressor is old and I've replaced parts that were leaking.  Whenever I did that, seems like something else went bad, and a new leak would show up again.  It's about 25-ish years old and I think it's time to let it go..

 

My friend in San Diego has a big compressor at the shop and he put a HF motor in it.  It works, but when I told him I was going to pull off the 6.5hp motor on mine and give it to him, he is very anxious to get it..

 

I have a couple of very expensive guitars that are going up for sale soon, so it won't hurt so bad to spend $1k or so on a new compressor..

 

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Duncan

[paradime]

Totally gob smacked, what a bad ass Ford you got there. Dripping with style bro.

[Duncan]

10 hours ago, paradime said:

Totally gob smacked, what a bad ass Ford you got there. Dripping with style bro.

 

Thanks for the kind words.  I've always wanted a 2-door Coupe or possibly a sedan delivery from this era, so this is a wish come true for me..

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

Nice work on those panels B)

[Duncan]

I looked for a bit, and finally picked up a used (yet brand new) compressor at a really great price.  I actually paid the guy's asking price because I thought it was actually too cheap! It's a 30 gallon oil-free unit that fills my needs pretty nicely for now.

 

I can paint parts and spray glue with my big gun, but no cars at this time.  I don't know about most folks, but after having a compressor for years, it's damn hard to go without one for a while..

   

Edited April 21, 2022 by Duncan

[datsunfreak]

11 hours ago, Duncan said:

I don't know about most folks, but after having a compressor for years, it's damn hard to go without one for a while..  

 

I don't use mine much, but would be pissed if I didn't have one...  😄

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, datsunfreak said:

 

I don't use mine much, but would be pissed if I didn't have one...  😄

 

My neighbors would be pissed, because they mostly come to me for air in their tires.  I consider it a small price to pay because I play guitar loudly, and I illegally paint stuff in my garage.

 

All without them complaining..

 

 

[Duncan]

Finally got all the tweed stuff out of the car.  It's not perfect, but it's not awful, either.  I may slap the seat in, and take a week or two off before I redo the carpet.

 

I'm a bit burned out on doing upholstery, and I need to rip out all the old stuff they used on the floor.  It's actually insulation that is intended for construction use.  I don't understand why they used it, but it looks like it's easily removed.  I used something similar to Dynamat in my wagon, and will probably use the same here..

 

I can't figure out why the bottom of the door armrest looks so ratty in the photo.  It's fine in person, really....

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by Duncan

[Duncan]

Got delivery of my insulation yesterday, so I started installing it today.  Seems like I just did this on my wagon. although I know it's been a while.  I will say this car is much easier to do than the wagon, and it should go much quicker.  

 

Started at the back, and got about 1/3 or maybe a little more done. 

 

Just for the LULz, here's a photo of the factory Henry Ford original wooden toe boards.  All the reddish stuff that is smattered about is actually old glue from the previous carpet install.  (It sort of looks like surface rust) The previous upholsterer over-glued the shit out of it, and it was quite the job to get the old carpet, padding, and insulation out.

 

I'm using some glue as well, but substantially less, thank you...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Duncan

[Duncan]

mmmm...carpet

 

 

I need to sew a heel pad onto the driver's side floor and glue it down.  Should wrap it up tomorrow. 

 

Seems like I been working on this interior thing forever.  I'm new at it, so I've been going slow trying to minimize mistakes.

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Duncan

[Duncan]

Ran out of storage.  I now have a new home for the AutoBody tool Dept, and the Electrical Dept..

 

Had to get a shorty as it fits under my wall mounted garage shelves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Duncan

[Duncan]

Seems I got carried away. (As usual)

 

I bought that shorty bottom tool box to go under my garage cabinet, (pictured above) and then realized I had space for a middle box to go on top.  After looking and looking, I ended up finding a three-piece set for $90.  Those middle boxes are really hard to find now, and used ones are going for some serious money now. (who knew?)

 

The new under-shelf arrangement.

 

 

The existing setup on the other side of the garage.

 

 

 

The overflow outside the garage

 

 

I'm giving the bottom box to my friend who owns the shop in San Diego, and the top box to another friend here if he wants. 

 

I just wish I had room to keep them all.  It's impossible have too much tool storage, IMHO.

 

 

 

 

 

[Duncan]

Been doing some stuff lately on the '40.

 

I had an unfortunate jack slip incident that was actually a plus.  Had the car jacked up on the front crossmember, and the wheels on my floor jack were pointed perpendicular to the car, so it didn't roll any as the car went up.  Boom..

 

I looked but didn't see any damage.  When I started the car, it sounded like all hell was breaking loose.  The jack hit the fan shroud and was AFU and unrepairable.

 

The company that made these was sold, and these shrouds were NLA anywhere.

 

  

 

 

With no options, I pulled the mechanical fan and added an 1850 CFM Spal puller fan.

 

 

With the mechanical fan, if I got stuck in slow traffic, the temperature starting going up much higher than I liked.  This puller fan completely cured it.  I had to spend about 15-20 minutes idling into a car show last week and had NO problems.  The car stayed right at 185-190 the entire time.

 

I was going to move the trans cooler from the nose to under the car, but it can stay right where it is now.  Problem solved.

   

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Duncan

[Duncan]

I don't have a photo, but my dash has billet bezels for the dash gauges, the radio, and the clock.  They're not highly polished or that gawd-awful ball milled stuff, but they are quite dated, so I am looking to move it back to stock or at least stock looking replacements..

 

I found this after looking around for quite a while.  It's an original radio delete plate for the '40 and it had some surface rust, but was pretty straight.

 

 

Not the best looking piece, but it was the only one I found for sale after looking for a few months.

 

I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I have a mandrel for some buffing wheels that fit on a drill.  I took a little Blue Magic Metal Polish and a small little buffing pad and spent about 30 minutes on this.  

 

 

It's certainly not perfect, but it's real usable for now.  There's is a company that makes a stainless repro that looks real nice.  The repro piece is made in China, and while it's not discontinued, it's been out of stock for at least a year, and the company has no arrival date on new ones.  I can live with this in the meantime.

 

I'm still looking for an original clock, and that is also proving to be a bit of a challenge.  There was an non-working original on Ebay recently, and it sold for $300.  I'm hoping I can do better than that.  I really don't care if it works or not.  The originals had to wound manually...

 

I haven't bought one yet, but planning on going with this aftermarket gauge kit.  It bolts right into the stock mounting, and it looks very close to the original gauges.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Duncan

[Duncan]

And just for grins.....   While I was searching for a radio delete plate, I came across this '49 Mercury radio delete, and I though this was the coolest thing ever.

 

I have always loved the '30's art deco cars, buildings, trains, and planes. 

 

 

I didn't buy it, but I did steal the pic...

 

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Duncan

[Duncan]

Well.....

 

The trunk was the first thing I got started on when I did my upholstery.  My sewing has improved a lot, so I'm going to start a do-over in the trunk.  I'm going with black in the trunk, and I've gotten much better at doing piping.  I'm making new panels wooden panels because they're cheap, and I'm taking more time to fit them better. 

 

Also, if I shit in my hat, the burgundy panels can go right back in.  I'm not embarrassed by them at all 🙂

 

 

I started here because this is closer to my bench, and I don't have to move the car..

 

I also have been making headway on getting the billet stuff out of the car.  This showed up today.  It's an original '40 Ford dash clock that goes in the glove box door.  If you see one like this (a core, essentially) people are asking $250-$300 and apparently getting it.  I placed a wanted ad on a hot-rod forum, and someone e-mailed me asking $40 for it. 

 

 

Repro bezels, faceplates, and the actual knob are available and inexpensive.  I have some Meguiar's plastic polish and can get the clear plastic looking like new.  I'm going to see if I can get someone to repair it if it's not real expensive.  We'll see. It is a wind-up clock and even if it was working, I can't see me bothering with it every time I drive the car.

 

The cool thing is Ford had two clock vendors for 1940, and this one is the one that is mostly sought after.  The other one looks like an old desk clock, and doesn't have the art deco styling like this one.  Anyway, I'm chuffed over the deal on this one...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Duncan

[Chopper Jim]

I've got my Street Rod friends looking for a clock in their piles of parts. The same bunch that knew the previous owner of your car.

At least two of them have 1940 Fords also.

 

Chopper Jim

[datsunfreak]

15 hours ago, Duncan said:

We'll see. It is a wind-up clock and even if it was working, I can't see me bothering with it every time I drive the car.

 

I've owned a few Datsuns with non-working clocks. I always just set the time to the name of the car, 5:10, 6:10, etc.  😁

 

Or just set it to 4:20 and forget it...  😋

[Duncan]

14 hours ago, Chopper Jim said:

I've got my Street Rod friends looking for a clock in their piles of parts. The same bunch that knew the previous owner of your car.

At least two of them have 1940 Fords also.

 

Chopper Jim

 

Thanks Jim.  The one I have now will be fine, but I do appreciate it.   The clocks are getting harder to find.  I think people are getting away from past trends and trying to return to more original stuff. 

 

If you happen to remember, could you ask one of those guys if they happen to know how long ago the owner passed away? I suspect the car sat quite a while before I got it.  Even though the car was in Az, I dealt with his wife who had sold their property and moved to Las Vegas.  It's not that important, I have just been wondering about it.

 

 

 

[Duncan]

40 minutes ago, datsunfreak said:

 

I've owned a few Datsuns with non-working clocks. I always just set the time to the name of the car, 5:10, 6:10, etc.  😁

 

Or just set it to 4:20 and forget it...  😋

 

That's funny.  I found a couple of places that do quartz conversions for around $125.  If I don't go that route, it's definitely going to be set on 4:20. 

 

There's no clever way to set it at 1940  🙂

 

 

[datsunfreak]

2 hours ago, Duncan said:

There's no clever way to set it at 1940  🙂

 

Set it to 7:40 and see who gets it?  🤔

[datsunfreak]

2 hours ago, Duncan said:

I think people are getting away from past trends and trying to return to more original stuff. 

 

I have noticed this, and what I hope is going on is that people are seeing cars built in the '80s and '90s and how fast those trends faded and became dated, so they are looking to a more "timeless" look? As in, try to limit your mods to things that won't look stupid in 5-10 years. The whole pro-touring/g-machine look is tap-dancing on the line of that for sure. Mostly with the wheels, but thankfully that's easy to change with the times...

 

And billet aluminum trim bits is a trend that needs to die already, too. 😄

 

 

 

 

Now on that note, there is currently a strong love for the way they did it in the 60s and 70s (look at throwback van builds for one), so I wonder if someday people will look back fondly at the pastel blue and billet everything builds and want to revisit it? I hope not, until I achieve room temperature at least... 

 

 

[Duncan]

10 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

 

And billet aluminum trim bits is a trend that needs to die already, too. 😄

 

Now on that note, there is currently a strong love for the way they did it in the 60s and 70s (look at throwback van builds for one), so I wonder if someday people will look back fondly at the pastel blue and billet everything builds and want to revisit it? I hope not, until I achieve room temperature at least... 

 

 

 

One of the main reasons I bought the Ford is that even though there was billet and tweed interior, but nothing on the car had been hacked up.  No power windows, and what billet is there is all bolt-in stuff.  When I was looking at cars from that era for sale, there were a few with 20" billet wheels, and a few with the bumpers removed and painted purple, yellow, and lime green.  Yuck.

 

I hated it when it was a current trend, and I hate it even more now.  And yes, I'm trying to get it to look like a car done in the 60's.  I just got my first trunk panel sewn up using black vinyl and the same pleated pattern, but I sewed in some small piping in the main seam that separates the top and bottom pieces of the panels.  I think it looks very nice and simple, IMHO of course.

 

 

I just finished this 15 minutes ago.   The show cars in the 60's would do white seats, etc, etc, and do a very bright color piping.  I ain't so showy, but I think the piping finishes it off a bit nicer than the plain seam...

 

It'll look better once it's on the panel and trimmed.  (hopefully) 🙂 

 

Maybe I can talk my friend Freddie into doing his 510 wagon in 60's style...Slot mags, pleated interior, and a '60's dragster rake 🙂

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Duncan