Projects 1939 Ford Convertible Sedan Resurrection

Coming along nicely.

 

Sam, as usual, great job on the build as well as documentation...I really enjoy following along and look forward to each of your updates.

 

Nice job on the seat. I replaced every wood screw I could with flange nuts on my coupe. I had my seat re-upholstered using the good stock springs and if I were to do it again I would pull the seat springs down tighter and use foam under the covering. When I hit a bump I get one dip from the shocks followed by 2 more from the seat.

 

Nice work as usual, Ive not been as industrious as you over the summer.
Ive got a similar 'feature' around my shifter, but Im not sure how its going to be carpeted or covered yet, what are your plans for this?

 

Love this thread. For me a 39 convertible sedan is my holy grail car. Thank you for all the detail on these posts. I’ll be able to use what I’ve learned o how these go together if I can ever find one for me!!

 

Yes, I agree.

 

Yes,sure Tim.... Maybe I could win a Baliegh slip roll for that fine piece of tech. Could have done the bend with a thigh also.

Thank you!

Thanks Tim!

Hi Joel, I have thought all along that whomever I choose to upholster this thing will want to ditch these brand new spring sets for foam. I am not tottaly against that idea. I like the ride my firm foam seat provides in my Forty Coupe. I plan to install the original style pads and cloth I bought from La baron Bonny on the springs and cover them temporarily with those Indian blankets to see how I like the ride before I actually upholster the car.

Hello Neil, Thank you! As to the shifter boot riser thing. I don't think I will be using it. I decided a slightly taller shift boot cover will look better.

Thank you Jason, The CS are out there. Just make sure the one you choose has all of the specific body parts and top hardware. Parts are difficult to find.


I don't think I posted this yet. I was concerned about this hinge. Someone had cut it to
get the pin out years ago.

I V'd the cut a little.

Not a real pretty weld but sound.

It finished out pretty well.

I think I will be able to use it. The pin slides in and out well.

So we were getting ready to fit the dash and make the electrical panel mounts. I decided
we better fit the wiper motor and towers so we would know how much room we had.

I had a brand new 12 volt 40 Ford wiper motor from Bob Drake that I had bought several
years ago. I thought it would work in the 39. Turns out I was wrong again. The mount is
different and the cowl vent system is also different so that the wiper tower arms pass through
it in a different way than a 40. So I had to buy one made for a 39. If any one needs a 12 volt
40 Ford wiper motor I have a brand new for sale. Should be able to save you a few bucks.

The Newport Kit came with great instructions and bolted right in. BUT then there was
the problem with 39 Ford Convertible/ Station Wagon specific wiper tower kit I also
bought at a swap meet several years ago. when I tried to attach them I found the drivers
side arm had been cut off. Probably trying to make it work on a 40....

So it was a pretty easy fix. Cut and drilled a piece of flat stock then clamped it to the original
arm.

Tacked it together in the car.

Checked the function with these fancy wire tie wiper blade arms



A little more welding, including plug welds and we have wipers. There is one more brace
I need to install. I will be modifying the kit brace that goes from the wiper motor to the
dash. More on that later.

I decided to go with Classic gauges for this car. They are a larger OD than the originals
so I cut the original gauge support system out many years ago. I had a machinist friend
of mine bore the holes out to fit the gauges. Unfortunately he made a very uncharacteristic
mistake when he changed bits for the second cut and drilled one hole too large. Fortunately
I was able weld full plate in the hole and NOT warp it in the process. The machinist then
bored it out to the correct size. No harm no fowl.


Of course the Classic gauges are made to drop in from the front. The 39 gauges were
mounted from behind. I liked the look of the smaller flange exposed in the front plus the
Classic gauges are a lager OD and the flange of the gauge would look odd sticking out over
the reveal of the dash. So I came up with this plan.



I had to leave Those two center slots available for the dash trim so this aluminum bridge
will have to do the job.





You can see how close to the edge the speedometer rim is to the edge of that body line.
I like the results. The uninformed may think its stock... maybe.

That's it for today. Thanks for watching and commenting!

 

Next up was the drop down electrical panel. Looks like I spared you all from watching all
of the layout and most of the fabrication of this thing. I spent about a week on this thing.


Aluminum is nice to work with on a project like this. Keeps the weight down too.

I used 8/32 and 10/32 screws for the fasteners. Piano hinge is easy to work with for this
type of application.

My wiring kit of choice is this American Autowire Highway 22 Plus #510760. The
fuse panel is installed on 1 inch poly spacers. The spacers are there to allow room to
run the ground and power wires below the panel. The little six fuse panel on the right
is for the additional circuits we think we will need on the accessory side.. The screws
in front of the panel are for ground wires.

The Classic Instruments Speedometer and tachometer combo came with this huge black
box. I bought this 14 years ago. I suppose by now all of these circuits are contained within
the gauge body. We tried mounting this black box in a lot of places but we could not find one
with good (easy to see) access to the dip switches. So here it is mounted in the basement of the
fuse panel.








The assembly is mounted at the firewall on a piano hinge. At the front a simple ,single
knurled nut secures the panel.

The panel tucks up pretty tight. I don't think you will be able to see it under the dash from
the doorway or seat.

Once the dip switches are set we won't need to drop this lower panel too often( I hope ).

This is the view you get when you need to access the fuse panel. No need to squeeze
between the seat and door jamb on your back to see it. and out of site the rest of the time.

That blank spot in below the little fuse panel looks like a good place for more relays
or other things., but actually the the wiper motor takes up that space.

Here is a view of those pesky dip switches.


Thanks for watching.

 

Wow. You are making great progress Sam. It will be in paint before you know it. Keep up the good work and the great blow by blow descriptions.

 

I did a hinged drop down panel on my 34 in the same spot under the dash. Works great, easy to service fuses and I don't have to look at it. I like yours out of aluminum. I used steel and painted it to match the car.

 

Sam, Nice write up as always. You are doing a tremendous job. Thanks for the pictures. Like the hinged fuse panel.

Keith

 

Hi John, well maybe not great progress but progress anyway. I don't even try to estimate progress anymore. we just keep plugging away on little stuff and eventually it looks like progress

Thanks Bandit! I will probably paint this panel semigloss black.

Thank you Keith!
Well it's fall, lets talk heaters.
I am a fan of the Auto Therm heaters I installed one in my 40 coupe a few years ago. Dang thing will cook you out of the car in just a few minutes. So it should be perfect for those cool fall and spring cruises in this car.




I have had a box of heater parts I bough at a swap meet sitting in the shed for years so I dug them out to see if I had any parts worth using for this project.

I had two bodies and three cores to work with.

This one is in pretty good condition.

I had high hopes.

I tested all three cores 20 psi of air with the core submerged in water. They all failed the test.
So I started searching for a new core. I found brass works will make new ones but the cost
is around $400.00 and a long wait time. I found a core made for a 1970's Scout is the right
size and no too expensive if you can actually find one. I ordered one but they finally back got
to meafter a month and said they were having supply problems. About this same time my neighbor
was visiting. I asked him if he had any of this type heater. Turns out he did.


So I tested them both. Originally they were full of some sort of bug larvae but I eventually
was able to blow the bugs out. Both cores leaked but I was able to salvage one of them as
it was just leaking where the fitting is soldered to the cores tank. So yeah I have a heater core!

The housing is not dented just has peeling paint.


Since I don't want any bolts or hoses sticking through my firewall some modifications
are required.

Cut the studs off and welded some flat plate to the back of the housing.

1 inch square tubing was drilled for 5/16 x 18 all thread.

Square tube is welded to the firewall

All thread rod sets the heater off the firewall aways. The stand off length is adjustable.


When the firewall insulation is installed this defroster hose fitting will be pretty tight.

The heater is no good without a fan. Don was bale to rewire and get two of the 6 volt
reversible motors to work

The heater features a a two phase fan. A typical bladed fan that blows air from the back
through the core and a a scroll case fan that forces pulls air from the core backward through
the defroster ducts.



The switch we had was in sad shape but Don rebuilt it. We hadn't found my 6-12 volt
reducer so Don used a a GM ignition ballast resister to run the tests. It reduced the voltage
down to about4.5 volts if I remember correctly. We now have two operational motors and
two we have not tested. So I am confident we have enough supply to keep us heated for
awhile.


You can see the fan spinning here.

This is a handy wiring schematic if you are trying to figure out how to wire one of these
heaters.

I was surprised to find that Dennis Carpenter offers a brand new switch for this application.
So I picked one up. Then I found this 6-12 volt reducer in my electrical box so we are set.

If you can't find a 6 volt reversible motor this 12 volt non reversible motor from NAPA will work just fine. I have had one in coupe for several years now.

Well, there are still some more things to do on this heater project like hose routing and a heater water flow control valve. So more later on this .

 

Remember to leave a lot of wire at the panel so you can come in from the top, allowing it to hinge after it is wired up. I'm sure you already know that but...

 

FWIW, IIRC, the (factory)gauges used -> mid '80s(at least) fords used an electronic(?) 12->6V reducer. Nice small little thing. Bolted right onto the back of the instrument panel plastic "wiring" sheet. Haven't had to use one lately(20+ yrs... ;( ), but they were cheap then. I got most of mine from wrecking yards, as I don't remember any being bad, other from rough handling of the gauge pkg. From what I read in the past, all (factory)gauges were 6V until they went electronic, into the 90s(?). The reducer worked for me for a 6V interior fan motor, maybe I got lucky? Might be worth looking into, I don't remember them getting seriously hot, unlike the old coiled-wire-resistor-types(looked like a very small ballast resistor), which I couldn't touch when they were in use. I don't have the part#, but some I got were from a mustang, escort, & some big ford car. At the time Echlin n others carried them.
Marcus...

 

Sam, thanks for the tutorial on the heater build and great job on the drop down panel. I may steal the design for my truck. My coupe has swing pedals and getting to the fuses is PITA. I haven't seen you on the board lately; I hope everything is going well.

 

Thanks bandit! Yes we will leave plenty of wire. Already did this on my coupe.

Thanks for the info nrgwizard.

Hi Joel! Yep I'm still here and we are working on the car. Progress has been slow but I do have a few things to up date you guys on.



Lets do some more heater stuff.

1/2' copper pipe works well for plumbing the heater but the hoses may stay on better with a bead
So I made some beads.

Since i didn't have the right tool I improvised.

Rounded off a spike end.


Cut a groove in a piece of square stock..

A few taps with a hammer and it's done.



I used some bulkhead fittings to go through the cowl. I will apply
clamps in final assembly.

I chose to use a Vintage Air System kit 50507-VUA to control the water. I installed this
same system in my 40 coupe. Yes I know this is an inconvenient place to put the valve
but it seemed like the best option.

Welded a plate to the firewall and tapped it for the ECU box for control valve.

The ECU

Made a shield/ cover for the left side of the heater.

Done with this project for now.

 

Liking the heater stuff, ive been it two minds about fitting one in my sedan, and have opted not to for the moment, I cant think if a nice way to run pipe from the engine to the firewall, and I dont want holes in the firewall. Looks like you are running them through the side of the cowl behind the back of the fender, so will you be running the lined in the inner fender? I think this is something I may retro fit, the UK's not known for glorious warm weather. Might need to find one of these heaters..

..just realised, my fender well headers will be in the way for this pipe run, back to the drawing board..

 

Brilliant way to put the bead on the end of the pipe!!! Nice clean install!!

 

Thanks neilswheels, Yes the lines will run on the outside of the inner fenders. I am using bulkhead fittings and 90 degree elbows ( size10 AN fittings) .

Thanks drdave ! I'm sure there is a better way but this method worked for me and was a simple solution.

So here we go back on this rear door again. This door has been my worst restoration nightmare. But hey I get to share it all with you.


The first cut was made below the door handle.

The door skin completely went flat when it was cut. We will cover the fix for this later.


The door fit was so off we decided to cut and stretch the door a little.



The bottom corner had to be cut off so the door bottom edge could be lined up






We also added onto the door flange.





More edge work.









Had a couple of small dents at the trim line so we used the dent puller tool. We needed
to get those out before proceeding to the next step.

We decided to make the final skin cut at the belt line.

Notice the bow in the piece we cut off while the door skin line went flat...



We found this contour gauge which came in very handy for this phase of the project.

Found it on the internet and it was reasonably priced. Note: you have to keep the nuts very tight and check them often .

We set the both rear doors on tables so we could check the contour of the good door
against the project door.

We put a 2 inch grid on the new 19 gauge skin.


Initially we used some wood blocks to get the skin up to the profile we needed to match
the contour of the other door. This is all of the pictures I can load for this post so we will
continue this project later.

 

Thanks for the update Sam, keep up the good work!

 

Back door continued. To get the door skin to assume the contour we decided to build
a brace.

Two pieces of 16 gauge steel were cut and bent 90 degrees on the break. Then they were
run through the shrinker stretcher to get the right contour.

Then the pieces were welded together. The holes are for the stainless trim clips. They
were made larger than the holes in the door skin so the clips would be able to spread
out correctly

Evercoat MAXIM panel adhesive was used to glue this piece in.






Lots of clamps


We have done some small projects on this wheel and watched a few videos. Despite this
we found this skin job to be very challenging. After a couple of afternoons of wheeling
I was totally frustrated and ready to call in a professional. I tried that but he never called
back... So we took some long breaks and then returned to wheeling on occasion.

The grid was helpful for keeping the wheel tracking straight.We eventually made several
smaller box grids to help bring up low spots. It amazed me how the skin would change
shape so quickly in an unwanted direction.

Eventually we reached a point where the compound contours were close enough for
a skim coat of bondo.

So that was enough door skin work for awhile. I wanted to install some door locks in
the rear doors and it seemed like it would be much easier to engineer the install with
the skin off.

This is a system normally used on 32 Ford 3 window cars. They have a manual and
electric option.

It's a tight fit but should work pretty good.



Doing this install this way worked well . It made it much easier to install it in the other door.


Okay no more excuses, it's time to attach the skin.Used some Rust Mort to seal the
surface rust.



Used some plastic washers on both sides of the panel and some 8-24 screws in the holes for the stainless trim.Used self tapping screws in between the holes where needed to get a tight bond.

Test fit.





Since we didn't feel comfortable with the skills to fold over the door edge skin. all edges
were welded.

A lot of work went into getting the door gaps correct. We were struggling with the fit
of the rear door and decided that the front door was not fitting all that well either. So
we decided to cut the B pillar loose to twist it a little and move it back a little.

Because of the move the back of the back door gap closed up a bunch and as a result I
had to regap the door two more times. Eventually and maybe finally we are happy with
the fit and function of this door. This all transpired over a three month period. I'm so
glad it's done!

That's all for now, thanks for watching.

 

Sam, you have no fear. I've been thinking about how to fix my truck doors and cutting through the skin to get at the inside scares the crap out of me. You're doing a fantastic job. Thanks for showing your tricks.

 

Thank you for showing your work Great work

 

Thanks for showing! Is the upper join glued? (panel bonded)
Did you choose to go that way to avoid warps?

 

That's a tough repair job Sam...great job! Thanks again for sharing.

 

Thank you nor6304 for watching and commenting!

You are welcome X38!
Yes we chose to glue the joint to avoid warping. we had used this technique on Don's 54 Mercury a few years ago and have noticed no problems with the quarter panel repair on his car so far.

Thanks Tim!

Here is another project we did during the dreaded door skin project. It helps to do something a little less stressful when you get frustrated with a certain part of the project that seems to be taking way too long.

Door Conduit Project:
Because I am installing power windows,power door locks and maybe some speakers in the rear doors we needed to come up with a way to get all of the wires from the floor to the inside of the door. This is not as easy on a Convertible Sedan B Pillar as it is on a typical sedan our coupe cowl. The B pillar on these bodies are solid steel. So here is our solution to the problem. Lots of coffee and pop was consumed during the planning stages for this.

The basic components: after much searching we found this simple kit ( The tube and Grommets).
The inside Diameter of the tube is 9/16" ( most other offerings were much smaller ID). This
should be sufficient for the wire loom we will be installing. The sheet metal parts were formed
by Don over a piece of pipe.

Some welding required.

It was important to get good penetration since the outside was to be finished meta lfor
painting

An extra grommet was installed in the doors so we don't cut any wires.

The extra sheet metal was installed to give the upholster something to attach the panel
to.

After some fiddling around we came up with this arrangement. Closed

We installed the door stop at this point so we would know if we had enough conduit.
The grommet in the door fitting is tight enough to hold the conduit in place. The
grommet in the foot rest is a hard plastic that allows the conduit to slide on that end.

A view from inside the car in the seat area. The conduit will travel between the seat frame
and the B pillar support.


We had to consider the fit of the Stainless and rubber door Sill/seal in this process.

A parting shot. This was a fun project.

And here is where I bought the conduit. Thanks for watching.

 

I really appreciate it when you show the label from the box on the flexible curve template. It makes finding one so much easier.

 

Awesome work!

 

I was hoping someone would find that useful.

Thank you! 05nopro440! Thanks for watching!

Rear Seat Springs Project:


Back when we were installing the floor I mentioned that we had to shorten up the rear
seat pan because the pan hard bar needed some extra room. This of course complicated
the installation of the stock dimension seat spring cushion. So a lot of modification of
the spring set was required to fit the pan.

First thing we noticed is that the spring did not conform to the un-modified portion
of the seat pan. So we bent it here after the picture was taken.

We had to take this bend out this bottom bar.



This arrow is pointing at the area of the seat pan causing the need for the modifications.

Cut this back bottom bar off. Noticed it's filled with wood?

Straightened the kink out of the bottom bar.

This spring mount gizmo was made from aluminum so I couldn't weld it back
together. I ended up using screws on the overlapped pieces to reattach it.

We bent some 1/4" round stock into a dog leg to conform to the shorted seat pan.


The arrows point out all of the modification points.

We tried installing the stock backrest without modification but for some reason it
was too tall. After a bunch head scratching and discussion we decided to remove
one row of springs. It's not ideal but at least it fits the hole.

We moved the sectioned bottom up and overlapped the perimeter pieces and
welded them together. Those diagonal braces were also cut,bent and reattached
to the support frame.

Done: The upholstery guy will probably prefer foam over these springs, we'll see.

Ford used a wood back brace here. I am considering using a piece of 1x3" thin
wall tubing for this. Oh yes, I had to modify the bottom of this wood seat support
a little to fit it. It was kind of a guessing game as to how tall it should be. We looked
at a lot pictures of this area of 39 Convertible Sedans before deciding on this
measurement.



So that old fart in the back seat is the 39Guy. He always thought that the back seat
would be roomier than this..... Oh sure there is still plenty of room for two back there.
I am not looking forward to trying to get in and out of here with the top up.

 

I'm glad you finished with a front shot...from the rear I thought you were trialing a fancy seatbelt system!