My 1939 Ford Standard Coupe - The Tear Down
The work has begun! I've already removed the engine and transmission and sold those. I didn't want to use the anemic little 60hp V8, and I'd already located a '46-48 flathead (59A) that I plan to rebuild.
I've begun to take the wheels off too. The car is sitting up on four jackstands. You'll notice here and in later pictures that the car has a significant dent in its roof. Something fell on it while stored in the barn all those years.
I can see that the car was repainted some
time ago....black over the original black. In some areas the newer paint is
peeling off. Perhaps they didn't prep the old surface very well. The
stainless trim is all there. The chrome is somewhat dull.
Safety glasses are a must when working underneath....lots of rust flakes and dirt fall down when you're banging away at old nuts and bolts.
It's amazing how much space a fender takes
up in your garage! I'm quickly running out of all my needed SPACE. A
couple pieces of sheet metal have to go down in the basement for now.
The bumpers were real straight, but the chrome is very cloudy. I tried a little chrome polish on a couple spots just for the heck of it. No good! Oh well, I was figuring on rechroming anyway. All the trim is there, and it all looked good. Only one or two very slight dimples in the stainless anywhere on the car.
Check out the "wide five" bolt
pattern on the wheels. Ford used this pattern from 1935 to 1939. No
aftermarket wheels are available to fit this bolt pattern. You have to use
adapters (if you want to keep the original brake drums) or change rear end and hubs to more modern styles.
It still smelled inside. I knew that taking the interior out would most likely remove the odor (it did!). As I tore the car down more, I began to realize that someone had "restored" the car some years ago. I'd guess that the work was done in the 1960's. Many of the rubber gaskets and seals were in too good shape to be over sixty years old. Repaint jobs aren't unusual, but even the upholstery looked to be in better shape than it should have been.