39 Ford Project

[Belair-o]

What bigblock said!
Very clean and sano, love hearing/seeing your logic evolve and play out!

[Custer55]

Very nice work as always!

Thanks!

[Custer55]

What bigblock said!
Very clean and sano, love hearing/seeing your logic evolve and play out!

Thanks!

[Custer55]

Haven't been doing much lately but have a few things done to post an update on.

I got the alternator brackets cleaned up and painted the one that bolts to the head. Also removed the alternator pulley and media blasted that so it will be ready for paint if needed.

Also painted up the power steering pump mount brackets and pulley. Also did a quick paint job on the power steering pump so if it does work ok I won't have to take it back off to paint it later.
If I need to replace it I didn't spend that much time on it.

All set up with belts in place. Might need a slightly longer alternator belt but will give this one a try for now.

Next I was wiring up the alternator to see if it works so I wanted to add a junction stud on the firewall near the starter solenoid. I decided to bolt on the inner fenders, grill and hood sides to make sure it didn't end up in a bad spot for access to it. Also a good time to see how much room I have for a radiator and fans.

Here is a view of the space available for a radiator and fans. Being a 39 Standard it is narrower in the front more like a 37 or 38 Ford. You can buy nice bolt in units but they are more than I want to spend at this point at $900. to $1,500., or cheap ebay stuff that are 3 or 4 row which is not what you want in an aluminum radiator. So I took a bunch of measurements so I have a pretty good idea of the max size that will fit.

Iola Car show was this past weekend so I ended up buying this radiator from Auto City Classics. It has 2 rows of 1 1/8" tubes and comes with a lifetime warranty so at $240. it is more budget friendly. Also they are at 3 or 4 shows I go to most every year so that is a plus as well. It is actually made for a 32 Ford Highboy but dimensions are very close to the original for this car and will just take some minor fabrication and modifications to make it work.

Another view with the radiator mocked up in place. Although you can't see it in these pictures I bolted the hood and hood latch back in place to make sure all that will clear as well.
I may be able to move it a bit farther forward to get better clearance for electric fans but I have to put the hood sides back on to double check that. One nice bonus is that it already has the bracket on top for the rods that bolt into the firewall.

And this was my best find at the Iola car show and swap meet. I got this pair of bucket seats out of a 73 Jensen Healy British sports car. They need a lot of work but at $10. each they are a great find. They will be a big improvement from the milk crate I have been using for a drivers seat. I will need to build pedestals to get them at the right height but that may end up being a good place for the fuse block. Most likely will remove the headrests once I get to the point of replacing the foam and upholstery.
Brian

[Belair-o]

Thanks for posting, Brian! It is great seeing the front sheet metal in place, looks so great! Like (as always) how you are adapting stuff to work, without breaking the bank (like the radiator, and the seats). Your vision for the car is really coming together!

In high school, a machinist at a fabricating shop I did after school janitorial/cleanup work for sold me a 39 Chevy Sedan for $25. I later sold it for $50, and figured I had doubled my money - sure wish I still had it, especially with seeing the transformation you are achieving. Thanks! Doug

[Custer55]

Thanks for posting, Brian! It is great seeing the front sheet metal in place, looks so great! Like (as always) how you are adapting stuff to work, without breaking the bank (like the radiator, and the seats). Your vision for the car is really coming together!

In high school, a machinist at a fabricating shop I did after school janitorial/cleanup work for sold me a 39 Chevy Sedan for $25. I later sold it for $50, and figured I had doubled my money - sure wish I still had it, especially with seeing the transformation you are achieving. Thanks! Doug

Thanks Doug!

[567chevys]

Hello Brian , First I want to thank you for stopping in and updating you 39 Ford project.
you do great documentation & great pictures and look like your very good at your work

Thanks Sid

[Custer55]

Hello Brian , First I want to thank you for stopping in and updating you 39 Ford project.
you do great documentation & great pictures and look like your very good at your work

Thanks Sid

Thanks Sid
I am still learning!!

[Custer55]

Continued working on the new radiator installation over the past couple of weeks or so. Not a lot of garage time lately but still making some progress.

With the radiator positioned pretty much where I want it I put the hood sides back on to check the clearance. It is a pretty tight fit at the forward radiator flange so I minor tweak at the flange will be in order. Also in this shot you can see where I trimmed the grille center filler panel to clear the radiator top tank.

View from the engine side. At the bottom near the lower hose tube you can see the bracket I made for the lower radiator mount tabs to sit on. These will be gusseted and turned into more a radiator mount crossmember eventually.

The next project was modifying the firewall to radiator support rods. The originals ending up being about 6 1/2" to short with this radiator. The originals were made with 5/16" thread on the radiator end and 3/8" thread with a carriage bolt head on the firewall end, so a 3/8" not can slide all the way over the rod where it bolts to the firewall. Unfortunately the rod between the ends was an oddball dia, just under 5/16", so just adding a section of 5/16" rod would not have looked right. I was going to just thread the 5/16" rod on the radiator end but my die worked like crap for making a longer threaded section so I decided to just cut off both ends and weld a new piece of 5/16" rod between the ends.

Here one of the radiator ends is ready to weld up to a new section of 5/16" rod.

Here it is all welded up and ground out. Your can see the slight taper from the new rod to the old threaded section. Pretty much the same process for the firewall end.

Here is the modified rod compared to the original. The originals were pretty full of rust pits as well so the new ones will look better as well.

Test fitting the 1st one on the car it looked good but it didn't sit right in the bracket on the firewall. When tightened at the firewall it sat about 4 inches above the radiator bracket.
My first thought was to make a taller bracket to bolt to the radiator but when I made a mock up template I didn't like the way that would look at all so I came up with a different plan.

I set up a jig on my welding table to put a 4" offset bend in the rods (didn't get pictures of that) with gentle enough bends that the rod wouldn't end up to short and the 3/8" nut will still slide over it.

Both rods in place to check the fit. Not a perfect solution but I think it looks way better than adding a bracket on top of the radiator.

This shot shows the modifications other than drilling the mount tab holes that I made. Just a couple of notches in the forward flange to clear the grille support bracing and bending the flanges in a bit above those notches to clear the hood sides better. The notches at the bottom of the flange was the way it came so I would assume those are to clear something on a 32 Ford.
Brian

[Custer55]

I got tired of tripping over the seats I bought at Iola so I decided to put them in the car out of the way. Before I did though one of the seat levers to allow the seat to fold forward was frozen up so I got that freed up with some heat and penetrating oil so it works good now. Nervous putting a torch near the vinyl but a welding blanket and wet towels kept everything in good shape. Was more worried about starting a fire cuz the seats will be re-covered eventually anyway.

With about 6" or so of wood blocks for them to sit on the height is still a bit low but the seat tracks will raise them up as well.

Another view.

And a view with the drivers door closed. The headrests don't look completely horrible but most likely will get removed when the seats get re-covered. This also gives me a pretty good idea of what I will need to fab up for seat pedestals. I think I will mock up something that is adjustable first to dial in a good height and then maybe build the permanent ones a bit on the low side as they can be shimmed up fairly easily vs having them end up to high.

So back to the radiator lower mount. With holes drilled in the radiator mount tabs I drilled corresponding holes in the frame brackets and them made up a piece to tie them together with some rectangular tubing that was left over from my 55 Frame project.

Then trimmed the end brackets down some and tack welded gussets in place on the end brackets. I kept it clamped down to my welding table as much as possible to minimize the welding distortion.

At this point most of the welding was done.

All done welding and ready for a test fit. Should be a good solid mount for the radiator as well as stiffening the front section of the frame a bit.

Bolted in place on the frame. I did have to file out the mount holes a bit so there was some minor shrinkage from welding not surprisingly. Now I need to make up some rubber mount pads where the radiator bolts up. The plan is to glue up some pieces of the same rubber gasket material I used on the battery box to make 3/8" thick pads to get the radiator at the right height so my notches in the radiator flange match the grille support crossbar. Also the filler panel at the bottom of the grille will need to be modified to make sure most of the air goes through the radiator.
Brian

[Belair-o]

Brian, I wouldn't have thought of splicing the threaded ends onto the smooth rod for the support rods - thanks for another tip/trick. The bend in the rods was a great idea - looking good!
Thanks, Doug

[Custer55]

Thanks Doug,
wasn't sure how well that would work but when my die worked like crap cutting threads I figured might as well give it a try.

[Custer55]

I made more progress on getting the radiator mounts finished this past week.

Didn't get a picture of these last week but these are the rubber pads I made for the lower mount tabs on the radiator to sit on. I used some 1/16" thick rubber gasket material I had laying around to make them by gluing 6 pieces together with tire repair rubber glue. They ended up about 3/8" thick and after sanding the edges flush on my belt sander they turned out good.

Next was modifying the lower grille to radiator baffle to better match the 32 Ford radiator. The tape indicates the cut lines. I will be re-using the lower part only.

With the top section cut away I tipped the edges of the lower section to make a better transition to the new upper baffle piece I will be making.

The new piece is at the top. Pretty simple piece made out of 18 gauge. I didn't add any bead rolls as the bends on the edges should give it more than enough strength.

Here I have the two fit up and held in place with little magnets to start tack welding them together. Since the gap is nice and tight and I can weld it on my bench I will be attempting to tig weld this as I need all the practice I can get tig welding.

With just a couple of tacks to hold the pieces together I bolted it back into the grille to check the fit. Looks good as it lines up right where the radiator core meets the lower tank.
I will have some adjustment on the lower radiator mounts as well to make it all fit together the way it should.

All tack welded up ready to finish welding the entire seam. I did fusion tacks so no grinding required before the finish welding, just a bit of planishing on the tack welds.

And here it is all welded up. As you can see my biggest issue with tig welding is trying to stay on the seam, as it is hard to see at times with basically no gap between the 2 pieces.
Maybe someday I will get a lot better at making nicer looking welds but the good thing is there will not be much grinding to do and I am getting full weld penetration.

Here I have the weld seam finished out. Just need to make some little filler pieces on the ends.

All done at this point. I used the mig welder on the filler pieces so I wouldn't have to fit them up so perfect. Was a pain to finish out though as there is a lot more grinding to do with mig welds.
I will most likely put a skim coat of body filler on this before painting it to make the weld seam disappear. Other than painting a few parts this pretty much wraps up the modifications to install the 32 Ford radiator.
Brian

[bigblock]

Nice work as always, keep up the good work!!!

[Custer55]

Nice work as always, keep up the good work!!!

Thanks buddy!