V8COOPMAN
Well-known member
Man, it's GOOD to see you and that wonderful Caddy-powered '40 finally over here on the 'Barn (along with some of your other toys)! Welcome aboard!!
Coop
1940 Fords
- Thread starter fortyfords
- Start date
Man, it's GOOD to see you and that wonderful Caddy-powered '40 finally over here on the 'Barn (along with some of your other toys)! Welcome aboard!!
Coop
mercman from oz
Well-known member
Trio of Imported 1940 Ford Deluxe models in Brisbane
Henry Floored
Well-known member
So many ‘39’s and ‘40’s got the brand X engine it’s sickening.
V8COOPMAN
Well-known member
Just think about how many of those '39s & '40s might have ended up being parted-out or even junked because someone hadn't SAVE them with one of those "Brand X" engines! Thank goodness Bob Gregorie foresaw the need to design them to fit so easily. A LOT of these old Fords would be gone if not for "Brand X" engines.
DD/Coopman
.
Henry Floored
Well-known member
Ugh!
Henry Floored
Well-known member
I saw a guy destroy an otherwise perfectly good 1939 Ford Coupe for a rod knock.
The frame was cut and a 305 with a turbo 350 trans was wedged in and some kind of rear set up as well.
To add insult to injury he had these big ugly cast aluminum valve covers that said Chevrolet Power on them. This was a stock smogger 305.
You must be out of your tree if you think that these Chevrolet people are “saving” our beautiful old Fords.
I’ve seen hundreds and I know thousands have been ruined.
tubman
Well-known member
Actually, "Coop" is right. For every "butcher" job done as described above, there are probably ten that were done less obtrusively. Back in the day when this was important, the vast majority of these were done using an adapter plate and the original transmission, that doesn't require any frame mods at all. Most of the guys that did these were responsible car guys that were careful with what they did and took care of their vehicles. W are lucky that they were, as these vehicles are still around and ready to be taken back to stock, if the owner so desires.
I have noticed that there is a lot of (fill in the word) "bashing" done lately. This is painting everything with a broad brush and not thinking about what is actually happening. Not to mention, "Mr. Coopman" has more knowledge and experience with these vehicles than those doing the majority of the complaining. Every '40 that had a non-stock engine installed in the '60's through the '80's is one that could have been neglected, turned into a stock car, or even scrapped.
I have noticed that there is a lot of (fill in the word) "bashing" done lately. This is painting everything with a broad brush and not thinking about what is actually happening. Not to mention, "Mr. Coopman" has more knowledge and experience with these vehicles than those doing the majority of the complaining. Every '40 that had a non-stock engine installed in the '60's through the '80's is one that could have been neglected, turned into a stock car, or even scrapped.
Henry Floored
Well-known member
Well of course you don’t agree with me. How could I expect to have any allies in my support of Ford’s golden years products on a place called the “Ford Barn”?
Now I know all the reasons. Please don’t school me on the whys and hows of why Chevy small blocks were made for these cars.
Chevrolet had Ford Flatheads in their crosshairs when they designed the small block. They knew they had to hit the sweet spot that Ford was enjoying by being the darlings of the youth market.
I could’ve bought a nice ‘40 Ford fo the money I spent designing and building an oil pump that was relocated to the timing cover of the small block Fors to make them easier to install into early Ford frames.
The insinuation is because no one has built as many 40’s as the other fellow that I don’t know what I’m talking about in this specific issue.
I mean all this with all due respect so please don’t be offended. Sometimes certain things need to be confronted head on.
Henry Floored
Well-known member
In reality the easiest way to swap a small block Ford with no sheetmetal, frame or firewall cutting is to simply use a ‘41truck or ‘41 -48 crossmember with a de-arched spring.
It takes about an hour to remove the stock crossmember. You wrap it up and save it if you ever wanted to return to stock.
It takes about an hour to remove the stock crossmember. You wrap it up and save it if you ever wanted to return to stock.
tubman
Well-known member
Lemme get this straight. Are you saying that a small block Ford in '40 Ford is OK but a small block Chevy isn't? If so, you have missed "Coop's" point completely (and mine too).
What's important to us is the preservation of these cars. I'll leave the "Ford in a Ford" discussion to others with more time on their hands.
What's important to us is the preservation of these cars. I'll leave the "Ford in a Ford" discussion to others with more time on their hands.
Henry Floored
Well-known member
I think you have completely missed my point but that’s okay.
Ron_r1959
Senior Member
I built a 53 Chevy pickup when i was in my 20's and put a v-6 mercury capri motor and transmission and a 9" ford rear end because the original 216 gave out. that might not seem logical, but it needed a motor and I needed something to drive so, I painted it Chevrolet orange and put it in with dual exhaust . i drove it for probably 10 years that way before selling It. As Coopeman said , it preserved a truck that I bought out of the weeds and as far as I know, that truck is still driving down the road today. I drove that truck all over the country, made a lot of memories with it along the way. One of my favorite things about it though was most people didn't catch on it was actually a ford product. The German built 2.8 liter mercury capri motor had a distributor in the back side just like a small block chevy did. It looked so natural in the truck, they would look at it and say, I didn't know chevy made a v6 back in 53! I would smile and say, well I think they are pretty rare and never tell them any different. Once in awhile it would offend some one, LOL The truck would pull a pop up camper 70 mph and get 17 mpg doing it. i never butchered anything on the truck it had all the original suspension and interior, I painted it Red with black fenders and loved that truck. The inline 216 was lucky to run 50 mph. So it was a win for a poor country boy that needed something to drive and a truck that had long since been forgotten!
Back when I was a kid, my dad would cuss the flatheads and rip them out and with the help of a adapter, would slide a small block chevy in them all the time. Funny thing about that , is for the last 30 years, he has built numerous flathead motors, most of them strokers and loves them!! Go figure, a couple of them did not have flatheads in them when he got them, so he changed them back over to original, well sorta anyway LOL its just a circle of life. My 41 pickup has a flathead in it and I love playing with it. sometimes its just where you are in life that determines what you put in them.
Back when I was a kid, my dad would cuss the flatheads and rip them out and with the help of a adapter, would slide a small block chevy in them all the time. Funny thing about that , is for the last 30 years, he has built numerous flathead motors, most of them strokers and loves them!! Go figure, a couple of them did not have flatheads in them when he got them, so he changed them back over to original, well sorta anyway LOL its just a circle of life. My 41 pickup has a flathead in it and I love playing with it. sometimes its just where you are in life that determines what you put in them.
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Henry Floored
Well-known member
You fellas realize the Chevrolet people laugh at us right? If there isn’t even a consensus here then they have every reason to look at Ford people like we’re bumbling idiots.
Chevy engines are necessary to preserve Ford cars?
Explain that one to a casual observer who asks why so many Fords needed a Chevy engine to be preserved or else sent to the scrapyard. Sorry I can’t get that one through my admittedly very thick skull.
Henry Floored
Well-known member
Here’s a little perspective on the subject of where Ford was and where Chevrolet wanted to be from one of the fathers of the Corvette and Chevrolet performance in general.
tubman
Well-known member
OK. I'll try to explain. Back in the sixties and seventies, there were a bunch of early Ford's that needed engine work. Even then, flathead expertise and parts were hard to come by. A guy could buy an adapter plate and motor mounts from a catalog for less than $100. He then could go to a scrapyard and buy a good runnin' 283 for another hundred. SBC's do go into early Fords with little or no effort and problems. This way, a guy could put an old Ford back on the road for less money than rebuilding the flathead and have a lot of fun with it and have a performance upgrade, rather than scrap the car. The same situation existed for other engines, such as Cadillacs and Oldsmobile's. Plus in those days, most people thought it was a cool move as they ended up with a real "Hot Rod" and not just another tired old Ford, and for less money, too. Win-Win all around. Small block Fords had just been introduced at this time and were a lot scarcer, more expensive, and more difficult to install.
Since literally no alteration was required to be made to the car to begin with, you are now free to spend your money and time as you please and bring it back to stock. It's just not as easy with a SBF installation (unless they have your obviously sophisticated upgrade).
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1942deluxe
Well-known member
Anybody else remember Frank Oddo in Street Rodder magazine that had a 289 Ford in a 40 coupe he'd owned for years in the early 70's? Frank would write articles about working on the car.
Henry Floored
Well-known member
Yes I remember those articles. He did the firewall surgery on that car which come to find out is completely unnecessary.