46 clip on a 41

M

Merrell Maxwell

Junior Member
All,
The front fenders on my 41 woody are pretty rough and ,since I am going to street rod it ,the correctness doesn't matter to me. I've been told the 46 clip will bolt on and I like the 46 look better . Has anyone had any experience making that swap?
Thanks in advance ,
Merrell
 
No experience with me but generally you hear that something fits a 42-48, not 41-48. You may want to take some measurements. I have a 46 so can get you a measurement from my end.
 
1946 Front clip is not a bolt on to a 1941 cowl/body.
The 41 is narrower. Look at a 41 hood vs a 46-48. Notice the wide filler strip down the middle of the 46-48 hood.
Prewar car vs post war car. Not saying that it can't be done. Just not a direct fit .
Torchie.
 
I had a 1941 Ford sedan coupe with '46 front clip. Every thing fit well but the front wheels looked a little funny because the '41 had smaller tread width than the '46. I suppose if you used wider wheels and tires they would off set that. Good luck!! Eddie
 
It is a bolt on fit at the cowl. The '46 fenders flare out more than the '41. Hood fits as well. Measure it. Hope this helps. Eddie
 
59ab said:
I had a 1941 Ford sedan coupe with '46 front clip. Every thing fit well but the front wheels looked a little funny because the '41 had smaller tread width than the '46. I suppose if you used wider wheels and tires they would off set that. Good luck!! Eddie
Click to expand...

Well I learned something new today. I thought that the 41 cowl was narrower than the 46-8.:)
I believe that the 46-8 are about 2 inch's wider in track width than the 41.
Torchie.
 
Yes torchey you are right about the axel being about 2'' longer on the '42-48 models. That's why the '41 wheels look strange under the '46 fenders.
Eddie
 
Thanks to all for the info. A couple more questions. Will the later fenders bolt to my 41 inner fenders ?Will the later axle bolt to my 41 frame ?
Thanks,
Merrell
 
The later axle will bolt to the '41 frame. The '41 inner fender panels are different than the 46. The body shell of the 41 is the same as the '46-48 cars. You should have no problem putting the '46 sheetmetal on the '41 body.
 
I would say that you will need '46 inner fenders and core support, actually a complete front clip off of a '46 would be a big help..
The '46-48 axles, front and rear are not a problem under a '41.. True the tract is 2" wider, however, the only solid attachment point is at the front/rear spring.. A '42-48 springs will be needed along with the tie rods, etc.
Of course if you are going to street rod the car, the use of an independent front end, (TCI, FatMan, etc) would be the best answer..
I know that the basic body shell, '41-48 are all the same.. In 1951 I was working in a body repair shop in Eastern Idaho.. We had a '42 coupe that had been rolled. It was not going to be a big deal to fix the car, that is until we discovered that the car was an Eastern US car, the bottom of the car was badly rusted out.
We had a '41 coupe that had been hit head on, it was a total so it was going to the wrecking yard. Did some checking, the basic body shells were the same. We cut the cars at the "A" pillars and across the floor at the factory seam. The rear section of the '41 was then grafted to the '42 cowl.. We took the transformation to the next level, putting a '46 grille into the..
That's the way things were done back in the day of "old school repair"...
 
I've just done the opposite. bolted a 41 nose on a 46 coupe sedan. the only problem and not really a problem was where the running boards attach to the front fender. hood bolted up perfectly to the 46 cowl
 
Don't know about 46 to a 41 but, I bolted a 41 front to a 46 body with minimal trouble. I would think it would work the other way.
Lee
 
Yes, trivial factoid the longest running American production car body was the Ford 1941 through 1948. Same tooling, thanks to the war.
 
A bones said:
Yes, trivial factoid the longest running American production car body was the Ford 1941 through 1948. Same tooling, thanks to the war.
Click to expand...

Actually the basic body shell, including the doors on the '41-48 GM cars are all the same.. The same is true of the '41-48 Chrysler and Nash cars.
 
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