1940 Ford Jalopy rebuild

[soltz]

Fun

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///[P\\\

 

[mikec4193]

finally got the roll cage kids to accept the old jalopy into the care...they are going to try and replicate the old roll cage...

so we loaded the old man up onto another flatbed ride over to the next town...

so it is away from the hood..had to keep tinkering away...

So there was this gas tank filler neck access hole...made the whole rear deck lid kinda wobbly...so I had some 3/8" brake line...hammered it flat on 2 sides and starting trying to get it to stick to the old deck lid...

crude and rude just like the folks would have done back in the day...

oh yeah the whole bottom lip inside was rotted so...it was raining outside so I started cutting thin scrap sheet metal that I had laying around...

it was kinda fun to not have to worry about getting is super smooth with butt welds and all that fancy stuff...it is an old stock car....stock cars are lap welded everywhere...

so the garage stall is almost empty with just this deck lid taking up the stall....

almost thinking about getting something else to keep me busy for the rest of the winter...

we will see...

MikeC

 

[mikec4193]

Been awhile...got a text from the roll cage kids and we chatted yesterday...he is ok recreating the old cage like it was...so we are moving forward with the build again...
the only real part of the sheetmetal that I still have is the rear deck lid...so...

Keeping with the flavor of this build...we want to keep everything old and lumpy...so..

this must have been a back marker back in the day...lots of lumpiness in the back end of things...the drivers side too...

I am so thankful that I decided not to drive this old heap...since then this has turned into a semi fun project again...old cars creep my out on the roadways anyways...

So until we do more...

KEEP ON GRINDING...my fellow rat rodders

MikeC

 

[soltz]

The old jolapy guys are smiling looking down at your work [ [cl
=[P=

 

[Burgerman]

The old jolapy guys are smiling looking down at your work [ [cl
=[P=[/QUOTE]

Agree. Nice to see it saved. [

 

[mikec4193]

So it has been a long time for any new updates....I delivered the old heap to the roll cage fab shop (October of 2019) and the lead fabricator there is now in the middle of a messy messy messy divorce....I can feel for him there...so nothing really new..I basically have been at a stand still...I did find a pair of 1940 Ford front fenders that I can cut up and make into Jalopy fenders...

So I have been talking to via facebook and email a bunch of people in New Jersey who are into vintage stock cars...well the other day I got via Facebook messenger this picture as it was raced...it was last raced in like 1963...it did win a heat race (at the Fort Dix Speedway now New Egypt) and was raced at several other tracks in New Jersey...from what I can tell the guy I am talking to (via emails) is the fellow in the picture..."JB Davis" and he lives across the street from the North Wilkesboro Speedway now. I think he was born in 1939 so he is not a kid anymore...

So that is about it...it did feel good to be able to talk to him about it..he thinks it last ran with a Ford 312 under the hood...

Now I am thinking maybe get it back from the shop and put all the old parts back on it and see if anybody from the New Jersey area might want it back and use it as parade car or something...

MikeC

 

[mikec4193]

Finally got the heap back from the roll cage shop...

1 1/4" black iron pipe just like it had when it was built in 1963...

This is the original cage...booger welds were the norm then...I got to actually chat with the fellow that raced it back in the day...he is like 81 years old now...he sent me his original Cromwell helmet...

Really made me smile when it arrived from North Wilkesboro to Mechanicville NY...

working on the rear fender wells as someone after JB Davis raced it cut them out...I got a pair off of a clapped out 1940 Ford 4 door...

 

[mikec4193]

We had some really weird stuff going on around this car and my hose too...so before we got back to work...we burned a little sage...it seemed to calm stuff down a lot....

Got the rear fender wells installed...I thought a set of 1940 Ford sedan inner fenders would be a no brainer...wrong wrong wrong...but we cut and chopped and they fit...what a hodge podge they are...

Next I found out where the rear fenders bolted was all rotted out...I am so loving how this was an old Jalopy from back in the day...we can lap weld all day long and not feel bad...and we did too...

the back of the body was just sorta hanging out in the breeze....it was not good at all...so we had some left over black pipe and we did some cutting and grinding and we had body mounts for the back of the body...

There was nothing on back as far as a bumper goes except some 4" steel channel that was cobbled on and then partially cut off with a torch...

I had some 4x4 steel tube that I had cut length wise for an old Willys Jeep project...well a little cutting and grinding and welding and "look mom...we got a rear push bumper"...

I still cant believe that the guys back in the day would race these things...I would not put my worst enemy in one of them...this thing a death trap...those boys they were crazy to race them...the former owner driver told me he raced it with a 312 Y block in it.....he told me "It would go like crazy down the straightaways but it wouldn't turn"....I wonder why??

MikeC

 

[Torchie]

[cl
A little smudging always helps.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[mikec4193]

still working on it

Still working on the ole heap...

When I got the old man home to my place it came with an extra cowl as the guys that had it before me had flattened the firewall...well the original race car had a full firewall...so I spent most of the winter welding in the "new" cowl...

 

[mikec4193]

inner firewall rehabbing time

The inside was really rough...that is what I get for buying a car that has spent it's life in the PA and NJ too...every time I hit the wire feed I never knew it I was gonna blow thru it or not...gotta love welding rust...

 

[mikec4193]

I did the ole hodge podge shuffle on this one...the rear inner fenderwells were off of a 1940 4 door sedan...from Michigan I think....had them shipped via Greyhound...they are pretty thin too...ole well...grind cut weld repeat...

 

[mikec4193]

Just trying to make it like it was....nothing like an ole beer keg for a fuel tank...

Once I got it all back into place like it was in 1966 I took it back out...it needs to go the radiator shop to get boiled out...

My wife says to me..."I don't think that will pass inspection"...

I don't plan on really driving it so I am not really worried...maybe around the back door yard if I am lucky...

 

[mikec4193]

I have been spending some serious $$$ on wheels and tires...

Who ever came up with the idea rat rods are cheap....never built one...

The rear panel below the trunk lid was so rough...so I found a fellow on Facebook (on the West Coast) that had one used in his garage...I was hoping for something a little rougher to blend in but it will be ok...

It is starting to look like a hot rod...

 

[Old Iron]

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[mikec4193]

The original car had a 37 Ford hood on it but the fellow I bought it from thru a hood but still not sure what is originally came from...so we got out the ole grinder...

I had pieces of a wire fence...so I used it to help stiffen yea ole hood...

I think the coolest thing about this whole rebuild is this is an old smelly stock car....nothing has to look pretty at all...back in the day it was crude and rude...today it is still crude and rude...

MikeC

 

[bob w]

Wow! You are putting a ton of labor into your project.[ I admire you for doing that. The end result will be worth it.[cl

 

[mikec4193]

So I have been busy...tinkering away on the old heap....I fought with the hood for what seemed like weeks...

I finally just took some of the old hood that I had and welded a strip of metal on it...it will look good from 100 feet I am sure...it is an old stock car...

From this angle no one will even know...

I had bought a radiator from a fellow on the HAMB...supposedly from a 1940 Ford...still not sure if it was or not...I had an old bed frame...so if it was 1965 again...your typical oval track guy would be using what he had...so did I...

and some scraps from an old Jeep build too...looks good from 100 feet again...

 

[mikec4193]

Once I got the hood done...I moved to period correct hood pins...

a little fake patina too on the old hood

the rear panel looked kinda flimsy even with all the welding I did...did into the pile of rusty metal and here we go...period correct supports...

A little rear fender action too...some cracks from the 1960s....

a little welding here...

and then some grinding too...

still having fun

 

[mikec4193]

I bought a pair of beat up old front fenders to cut up and make period correct fenders...gosh it was so hard to cut into sheetmetal from 1940...

but we did it...

another view

not bad I dont think...