1940 Ford Jalopy rebuild

[mikec4193]

So the 9" Ford rear end I found...it was missing quiet a few parts...thank GOD for the internet...found most everything I needed at Toms Bronco Barn on the West coast...

some of the stuff fit...some of it didnt...

I cant blame Toms...when I bought the rear end out of the junk pile, I asked the fellow "So when I go the store to buy parts for this...what make model and year is it???"...he hemmed and hawed....scratched his chin a little and says...."...tell them it is a 1970 Bronco"...so that is what I used as a base line when purchasing parts....as far as the 9" Ford I am a total newbie...I am use to Camaro and S10 rear ends...live and learn...

these parts you wont need...thinking about giving the folks at Lokar a shout to see what they can do for me....

Rock Auto to the rescue...

more to follow

 

[mikec4193]

I had to show some of the "Hodge Podge Engineering" that went on back in the day....

the right rear suspension as I bought it....

lower shock mount...

this one I get...from what I was told from the folks over at the HAMB...this was to keep the steering box from pulling out of the frame mount....

this is the back side of the steering box mount....

I tried to repair that area....I think it came out ok...this frame is so bent and twisted...not a straight part on it...oh well...once a Jalopy always a Jalopy...my goal is to keep that flavor alive with this rebuild...

MikeC

 

[Torchie]

[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[mikec4193]

Had the grandkids for a week...so worked came to a halt...before they got here I did my best "Hodge Podge" engineering on they old heap....someone at some time swapped of did something to the steering mount or the steering box base or something...I cant tell which got cobbled up but I just put back all the stuff like it was before...sorta...steering column was several inches off from the original mounting holes...

this is what we had before...bolted to a piece of angle iron...

offset shown above...

so I started the hodge podge again....

a little bit of this a little bit of that...1 bolt to hold it to the dash and 2 to hold the column...just like what those earlier folks would do...

good as new...

not sure what happened here...but as the folks of yesteryear would do...looks good from here...

Hey at least the old heap has steering...first time in 3 months...thought we would never get all those parts to work together...

then onto the running boards...I really wanted to put some decent running board covers on this heap...but I was only going to have to cut them up when I got them mounted...so Lowes to the rescue...
Bought a 6 foot section for 30 bucks shipped to my house...

look at this...

and back on the old heap...

Just like new...I even kept the winkles in the running...

From what I have gathered...this old Jalopy was not a front runner back on the day but more of an "also ran" or maybe even a "back marker"...there is no real damage on the front of the car...the rear is like a bag of walnuts...the drivers side has some racing damage on it too...so it was either in the way or was getting pushed out of the way...

Passenger side next up....

baby steps they are....

cant wait to get it done....

MikeC

 

[Burgerman]

Enjoying following along Mike. Keep them photos coming.

 

[Old Iron]

[cl[cl[cl
[P[P[P

 

[bob w]

Lotsa work. I'm glad you're sticking to it.

 

[mikec4193]

So it has been a little while I guess...been struggling to keep this one going...my ADD or ADHD or whatever I have in my head...it kicks in and I get wandering eyes again...I loved this Jalopy in May June and July...but August...I am not all that enthused about it any more...

got the drivers side running board back on...and then...

passenger side too...

I tried to save the original front end that came on it...but it was not meant to be...got one side apart..the other side not so good...

I have come to the conclusion that I like to put stuff together...NOT hit and bang and cut and chop stuff...it seems like such a waste of time...

I am a "Righty Tighty" kinda guy as opposed to the "Lefty Loosey"...I use to know guys that love ripping stuff apart...not me...I think I would rather buy a bunch of parts in a basket that I can assemble rather than take hours upon hours trying to get stuff apart that really does not wanna come apart...

next step is off to the roll cage shop so they can replicate the cage that was in it excepting the fact all the welds will be functional...

How about this beauty above???

MikeC

 

[Ben Modified]

[P[P[P

 

[joedoh]

neato, love the old stock car look.

My kind of project, where you can be messing around and knock something off and it's an improvement....[ddd[P

haha

 

[zzrodder]

Great build, nice to see you save the old heap, many would have just cut out the few usable body parts and chucked the rest. Makes a person shudder to think of the possible consequences of some of the scary fab work!! Was that some sort of spring jack at the rear?

 

[soltz]

[cl
---[P---

 

[lowbudget50]

That's the way they were back in the day.
No one had tubing benders and they used what they had

I get that, still doesnt make it any less sketchy hahaha

 

[mikec4193]

So I have been thinking about this project and I am already lost the fire in my belly but I will push onwards with it...in less than a month I have a date with the roll cage kids...they will be replicating what was there before excepting the hodge podge welding and pipe fitment skills...

I was trying to get some stuff done to it...found some used 3/16" brake line and I decided to stabilize the rear window a little...

the whole thing done here...

looking at these for a possible rear hinge...

I had big plans for this old heap and I was going to rebuild it and put it back on the street and then I got thinking...why???...what kind of drugs was I smoking???...this old heap has been a stock car for the last 55 to 60 years....why change it now??...once I decided this...I got this wonderful feeling of peace come over my consciousness...

besides...trying to make it street legal is a pain...you gotta do DMV stuff and lights and windshield wipers and all that old DMV stuff....then you gotta try to drive on the roadway and all that highway stuff...

so the plan now is to rebuild it so it runs and drives and then try and find a buyer for it...

I feel better already...and I saved it...sorta...

MikeC

 

[soltz]

Been There

Some times it looks real good in your minds eye and then reality shows it's ugly head and you have to wake up.
As a runner someone will just have to have it [cl

 

[bob w]

Use it to haul moonshine.

 

[Torchie]

Use it to haul moonshine.

[cl [cl [cl
Good for you for saving it.[cl
Some one will love it when you are done.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[mikec4193]

I have 2 nights to tinker on the old heap...maybe 1 1/2 hours each night...so maybe 3 hours...and lookee here:

before

after...

and then overall patching frenzy...

So 3 hours...and 4 patches...

The funny thing is before I would have worried about how these welds would look and I grind them down to look nice but...

The Hodge Podge Garage from that era...probably would have pop riveted it or maybe brazed these patches onto the floor...

Since I will never being driving this thing...this will be fine...it would fit right from that era...

old and crusty...4 patches down...probably at least another 4 to 6 before the old floor board is a little tighter...

I remember back when I first started racing my 1967 Camaro (in 1980)...the rear floor floor pan had holes in it and I think we just left it alone...the clay would fall out the bottom easier if there was no floor in it...I might have tack welded the drivers side "for safety sake"...fun times they were back then...

MikeC

 

[Skip]

I cringe thinking back to the cars that went through my hands and to the stock car track. 64 Fury, 66 Nova, 71 Challenger, 68 Charger, 71 Fury, and others I can't even remember any more.

 

[mikec4193]

Had sometime on Saturday and Sunday too...nothing like welding rust...had to turn the heat down on the old buzz box....trying to keep it an old stock car as much as possible....

before the big one was cut out...

I had bought from LMC truck a patch panel for the S10 I call my daily driver...well I only used part of it...been around like 4 years now...so...

so we got 3 or 4 more holes filled in...floor pans are a wreck but we are going to try and save it...

Spent a lot of time coming in and out of this window...

So thankful we don't care about it anymore...we are actually having fun now...polishing a turd we are...

MikeC