Hi All, I am another guy who was lucky enough to find a 1940 Ford Pickup to restore. I want to turn it into a driver. I am a pretty fair mechanic; but have little skills at bodywork. I want to learn tho. I have read the previous similar post and have a lot more questions I am hoping to get your valuable input on.


Here goes the questions and thank you in advance for any experience you share:

The flathead engine is frozen up so I think I will modernize the drive train.

Is there a V-8 or other good carbuerated engine I can put in it
that will fit without moving the firewall?


Where is a good/best place to get motor and transmission mounts?


Can I use the original two sided radiator with a different engine?


The floorboard is partially rusted through. Does anyone know where to get a new one for this particular vehicle? Bob Drake doesn't make them.


What is a good hub to hub dimension for the front and rear end? I want to use the original fenders. I would like to use a 6" or 7" stock type wheel with hub caps.


I am thinking of a Mustang Two front end and a Monarch/Granada or '96
or newer mustang rear-end on leaf springs. Does that sound like a good idea?

Is there any suggestions on how to handle the box? It is now the original wood base with a metal covering.




Thanks,
Fred in Bothell, WA

 

I believe that Bitchin' Products makes a floor board kit for the 40-47 Ford truck cabs. It's not like the original with all the original stampings and such, but a good kit form wha ti know. Try looking them up on the web, or check out a Street Rodder magazine for their info.

And welcome to the boards , you'll get lot's of help here.

Gary
==============================
1946 pickup-ongoing project
1947 pickup-waiting for resto.
1957 Ford FL 500 Town Victoria
1970 Mustang FB-daily driver
selling my '88 B2 2.9/AT 2WD

 

Hey Fred - Welcome to FTE and the '47 & Older Forum.

Lets see if we can't answer a few of your questions.


>>The flathead engine is frozen up so I think I will modernize the drive train.
>>Is there a V-8 or other good carbuerated engine I can put in it
that will fit without moving the firewall?<<

I don't know of one. Do hope you stick with a Ford though. I know we had to move our firewall back 3 inches to fit the 302 and a couple of the people we've met that have put in 351's have had to move theirs also (don't know how much). Steve cut ours out, made a 3" frame 3 sided box from some sheet metal and welded it himself. The kits they sell are plain and don't have the character the original has. He thought about buying the kit, but with a little whining and proding, he ended up fabricating it himself using the original wall. For a daily driver, it's well worth the time to take this step. Otherwise, I hope you like trailers for distance runs.



>>Where is a good/best place to get motor and transmission mounts?<<

We got ours through Chassis Engineering. Still needed some modifications, but we got to use our frame as is (original).



>>Can I use the original two sided radiator with a different engine?<<

Funny you should ask, we ran into a guy that had a '41 at the Daytona show this past weekend. He's using the original radiator - just had the extra holes plugged. We special ordered ours. It's the same size as the original, just is updated and only has the required holes for our modern motor.


>>The floorboard is partially rusted through. Does anyone know where to get a new one for this particular vehicle? Bob Drake doesn't make them.<<

Ours was partially rusted also. Rather than welding a flat plate in, Steve got a piece of sheet metal and cut the various sizes to weld in from the underside. It kept the character of the original but is real strong. We covered the inside with a fiberglass mesh we got from the POR people and than painted it with POR-15. The floor ain't going anywhere and we're totally pleased with the results. We probably could have just done with the fiber-mesh and POR, but Steve has a habbit of doing things where it will never come apart.


>>What is a good hub to hub dimension for the front and rear end? I want to use the original fenders. I would like to use a 6" or 7" stock type wheel with hub caps.<<

Can't help you here - we haven't decided on the wheels yet - have a long way to go.


>>I am thinking of a Mustang Two front end and a Monarch/Granada or '96 or newer mustang rear-end on leaf springs. Does that sound like a good idea?<<

Front end - as mentioned earlier, we didn't clip ours - we kept the frame original and got the parts to work with the motor and disc brakes from the Chassis place.

Rear end - we're using a Ford 9" from an older small Bronco. Didn't have to modify the rear other than moving the mounting brackets. We have an '80's model Mustang as our donor car, but the rear was wider than needed. Check out the drawing in my gallery for the dimensions on the frame - it may help. Also, search for "alittle40" in the gallery. He has a drawing of the complete frame setup in there.


>>Is there any suggestions on how to handle the box? It is now the original wood base with a metal covering.<<

Don't know what to tell you here either. Our box came stock with a metal floor. The box mount frame is wood, but Steve's going to fabricate a metal frame as he did with the cab mounts (originally wood also). Our whole box floor needs to be recreated as it's pretty well shot, but the rest of the box isn't in too bad of shape.


Good luck with your project and I hope you start a photo gallery soon. I'd love to see what you're working with and the progress pict's. Also - I'll e-mailed you regarding the bench seat, we didn't use ours since we're putting in buckets.

Later.

 

I don't know how the half-ton beds are but mine was origionally wood without the metal top due to it being a one-ton, but if the bed is held up by a wooden members that hold the bed planks onto the chassis I suggest taking these wooden members out and keeping them for a pattern later and trash the rest (unless you want an origional floor). Then get an after market wooden floor with all the strips and bolts and test fit the older blocks to see if they will work correctly with the new bed floor. Then make new ones out of some good treated hardwood to suit. O' ya, the aftermarket bed planks do need to be trimmed to fit.

About the radiator, you can easily find after market ones that will fit but the origional can work just as well. I had mine recored to run with my flatty and they put in one core. You might have this done and have them fill in two of the holes while they're at it, but rebuilding it may cost you just short of a new one.

Speeday motors has a wonderful catalog that's filled with aftermarket items like engine mounts, tranny mounts, and suspentions. Their website is www.speedwaymotors.com Just remember that they have a racing and a street catalog.

Good luck with your project!

Clayton

 

Hi, I'm a lucky one too! I just picked up a 1940 1 1/2 ton Flatbed. The headlights are on the fenders and it is a duelly. I also want it to be a daily driver. Don't know if the flathead can be rebuilt? Would it be better with (say,a 302 and auto trans), or keep the flathead in? I would like to add A/C and power steering, but keep the body stock.

Scott in Albuquerque

 

Cool keep us posted!
302 v8 is nice if you want to add th ac/pwr steering
That flat is it running?
Rich




02 F250 4x4 SC 5.4v8 6spd 3.73ls Trueblue/Silver and Chrome Nerfs

"All Levers"

 

My flathead was frozen up so I took it apart. I am still trying to figure out if I want to (or even can) rebuild it. The old cast iron blocks are prone to cracks. I have a frozen piston (rust on the cylinder walls) but have been unable to determine how the water got to it. It may be a head gasket. I am going to get a cylinder hone and see if I can polish off enough rust to see if there is a crack in the cylinder wall. I talked to a machine shop who said they could rebuild the flathead if its not cracked for about $2200. I was hoping to just clean my engine up and throw new rings and bearings in it and play with it stock for awhile. I have a feeling it will at least need to be bored out though.

If your motor is running and you want a driver you could put a new transmission and rear end in it. There is a conversion kit to mount a C-4 transmission to a flathead. I think I saw it in a Speedway Racing
magazine. If you put in a 302 you will need to modify the firewall and put a different oil pan on to make it fit. The 302 sounds somewhat complicated to me.

Have fun with it!

 

I think a 1 1/2 ton truck is built different then a pick-up? Is a 40 pick-up built on a car frame? I am not sure what I will have to do to the firewall and I think a old bronco oil pan will work? I have a 69 ford 1 ton van as a donor with a 302, auto trans. The flathead is full of rust and I have not taken it apart yet. Not sure if the trans in the truck works? So my thinking is to swap with the 302, auto trans and rear axle?


Scott in Albuquerque

 

You might try calling the folks at Chassis Engineering to see if they have any experience with and/or kits for mounting the new drive train in a truck like you have.:-X12

 

scotta,

When you say pick-up I beleive your talking about the 1/2 tons like most people have. They were known as the exspress delivery model. All tonnage trucks came in many models such as a flatbed, stake bed, or chassis, although I don't beleive that the trucks over the one-ton mark had the exspress delivery option. I do know that the 1/2 tons had a one perpendicular leaf spring on the front instead of the two parellel ones one the bigger models, Ihave never heard of them being the same as the car chassis.

The 302 should work great for a daily driver, although I have no clue if one could fit without cutting the firewall on this year of truck. The rear end would need a change as it is geared up for pulling stumps. Good luck, and if you have any further questions feel free to ask, and you may want to start a new thread.

Clayton