help identifying 40 ford convertible

VeryTangled said:
Hi Everyone, Lanny, yup, that's what he said. People at the registration place don't really know or care if they are/were correct. It's just another piece of paper to them.
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Then there would have been very few cars sold in December,
Most would buy there car in January so it would be titled as
one year newer than it would have been in December, HUH.

We would not be talking about a couple of cars, if that was
the way it was done, we would be talking about many, many
cars that would be titled that way. Hard to believe. :confused:









.
 
Lanny said:
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Then there would have been very few cars sold in December,
Most would buy there car in January so it would be titled as
one year newer than it would have been in December, HUH.

We would not be talking about a couple of cars, if that was
the way it was done, we would be talking about many, many
cars that would be titled that way. Hard to believe. :confused:


Lanny, While it may be difficult for you to believe, it remains factual.
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Lanny said:
Kube, so your saying that a '32 Ford could be titled as a '33
Or a '34 as a '35, Or a '40 as a '41 and so on.......
Is that what you are saying :confused:




Yes, precisely. While not all states did it this way, some did.
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Or going the other way too. As in my friends 1936 being titled as a 1935 because it was titled in late 1935. I think times were tough and you were just happy to have a
car period. They were not worried about people that would be restoring cars 60-70
years later. Many cars were driven until they were worn out and junked. There was
a 1942 Fordor on here awhile back that got "flipped" as I recall. Titled as a 1941 (NJ) but clearly a 1942 Deluxe so it appears other states did the same thing as PA. .
 
Milt/Las Vegas said:
The holes on a 40 ford dash that I got with a 40 convertible project don't even come close to lining up.So,I thought it was probably was a closed car dash.
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Well, I suppose it's possible that some were made with differing hole location patterns. However, all of the dashes I have and have ever had, fit the same.
In fact, I have witnessed a number (too many) of convertibles otherwise nicely restored with closed car dashes.
They install without modification but require some fancy "masking" at each end to fill the gap by the "too narrow" closed dash panel.

The very first convertible I had restored some 40+ years ago... I had a beautiful dash all ready for it. Installed it when I finally got to that point and noticed it just didn't "look right". Well, the reason it didn;t look right, is it was a closed car dash. Even at that time, it was a bit difficult to find an op0en car dash to replace it. I did of course but learned the lesson early on...
 
So after 89 posts still no picture of the elusive 40 Ford conv. sedan clone. I looked thru some old publications couldn't come up with one. It's out there... Bill
 
Bill, I have seen photos, in the past, of '39 Ford CS's with '40 Headlamp doors and even '40 Deluxe hoods, etc., I may have even seen one with a column shift (CRS). Not to change the subject but perhaps to muddy the water a bit more, a few years ago I saw a '38 Ford Convertible Club Coupe with '38 Standard front clip on it. I always thought that the only Convertibles that were available in Standard trim were Roadsters and Phaetons. No Ford Convertible Sedans ('35 to '39) were offered in anything but Deluxe trim... As far as I know.:eek:
 
Vic Piano said:
Bill, I have seen photos, in the past, of '39 Ford CS's with '40 Headlamp doors and even '40 Deluxe hoods, etc., I may have even seen one with a column shift (CRS). Not to change the subject but perhaps to muddy the water a bit more, a few years ago I saw a '38 Ford Convertible Club Coupe with '38 Standard front clip on it. I always thought that the only Convertibles that were available in Standard trim were Roadsters and Phaetons. No Ford Convertible Sedans ('35 to '39) were offered in anything but Deluxe trim... As far as I know.:eek:
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Vic, your observation of a '38 "standard" convertible is one of those that can easily be verified at the Benson Ford Center. There are very accurate records as to how many of each model and from each plant were built.
Records found during my research for the 1940 book allowed me to realize precisely how many of each model were built and what engines were installed in them respectively.
I did not always find documented reasons why certain cars were built but the numbers - they were easily found.
Even found that a number of 1940 Ford Deluxe convertibles were built with the 60HP engine.
 
Kube said:
Vic, your observation of a '38 "standard" convertible is one of those that can easily be verified at the Benson Ford Center. There are very accurate records as to how many of each model and from each plant were built.
Records found during my research for the 1940 book allowed me to realize precisely how many of each model were built and what engines were installed in them respectively.
I did not always find documented reasons why certain cars were built but the numbers - they were easily found.
Even found that a number of 1940 Ford Deluxe convertibles were built with the 60HP engine.
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Kube, that's very interesting, as I said, I did not think that Ford built any convertible bodies with the Standard trim package except for Roadsters and Phaetons. I also read somewhere that the '39 Ford Convertible Sedans were assembled at the Lincoln Plant, not at the Rouge.
 
Vic Piano said:
Kube, that's very interesting, as I said, I did not think that Ford built any convertible bodies with the Standard trim package except for Roadsters and Phaetons. I also read somewhere that the '39 Ford Convertible Sedans were assembled at the Lincoln Plant, not at the Rouge.
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Vic, Maybe I was not clear... I have no clue whether or not Ford built a '38 standard convertible. Just sayin' that is one thing easy to find out at the Ford Research Center.
When researching for my book, I was actually quite surprised at what cars were built in 1940.

Seems to me your correct in regard to your CS being built at the Lincoln plant.
 
V8COOPMAN said:
And even with a tube axle (?????).....! DD
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I did not come upon any documentation that tube axles were installed in deluxe cars.
However, I have come upon one such vehicle that appeared to have been so equipped from the factory. Still, I'll be the first to admit that is not "proof".
 
turbotank said:
this car was in a wreck.

someone bought a regular 40 ford, and replaced everything on the car that was damaged with 40 parts, including the frame and drive train. and threw away the 39 title.

sad in many ways.

as u can see the welds on the firewall replacemnt were not done very well. but it did get some resistance welds

the trans cover was modded to fit the 40 firewall and the floor shifter was patched up
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That sure is alot of work to repair a 39 model car that was in a wreck. It surely had to have been totaled to have such extensive parts replacement. The car was probably only worth a couple hundred dollars when repaired. The car's history would surely be interesting.
 
Sixseven said:
That sure is alot of work to repair a 39 model car that was in a wreck. It surely had to have been totaled to have such extensive parts replacement. The car was probably only worth a couple hundred dollars when repaired. The car's history would surely be interesting.
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Not too much work actually.
Reminds me of a '35 Packard coupe I had about 20 years ago. Came from the family that had it since the early 50's. Front clip was off.
When I went to put the car together, the side mounted front fenders would not allow the doors adaquet clearance to open.
Turns out the front clip was from a junk yard (decades ago) and was from a larger series Packard.
I am certain at the time, the car and the front clip were nearly worthless.
This kind of thing happened a lot!
Hey, I put a 77 Chevelle front clip on a 74 El Camino back in the late 70's. Both the vehicle and the clip were cheap and easy to swap.
 
Couple of side items:

The frame picture of the "homade" 40 CS shows the three small holes where the V8-60 engine mounts would have riveted on; all 85 hp cars I have seen here in southeast don't have these holes punched. Perhaps this is a 40 STD frame. Maybe put a 40 STD grille and hood on and call it a "late 39"...that would really make folks talk!

Not really germane to older cars but here in GA if you purchase a truck that originated as a cab/chassis or just a chassis with firewall/clip the year of manufacture is I believe, when the company upfitted the truck, not when Ford/GM/Freightliner, etc built the chassis.
 
Wow, this pic just popped-up on the front page of MSN. DD

BBnTW9f.img
 
That must be all her luggage in the back seat... ;) With the top in the lowered position, and the spare tire in the trunk, there's not much room for additional luggage in the '39 CS trunk. :eek:
 
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