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My 1939 Ford Standard
Coupe - The Tear Down |
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This picture was taken when the body was still bolted to the frame. I've
removed everything from the firewall. You can just see the opening of the
driveshaft torque tube down below.
I'd been planning to have my pals over to help lift the body off when
it was ready. With the rapid advance of the project (and my impatience) I
figured I'd try a way to get the body off by myself. If it didn't work I
would have to wait another week to get everyone over to help.
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Body parts are scattered all over the garage. I've carefully bagged all
hardware with identification cards in the bags, stating what the screws
and bolts are for. I also take lots of pictures of how everything went
together, and notes about little things I want to remember.
At this point I'd finally removed all the body mount bolts. The
dashboard and steering column are out. I'm amazed at how light the body
actually is. I set four stacks of three concrete blocks up. Using my floor
jack and a block of wood, I jacked up a corner of the body at a time, and
slide the 4x4's under. That part was easy. The only problem was that the
rear tires were a few inches taller than the 4x4 in back.
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The answer was to drop the rear axle & torque tube assembly out. The
fuel tank came out before the rear end. With these items clear, I could
simply roll the chassis out the front. I set the rear of the frame on my
floor jack so it could roll too.
All glass had been removed at this point too. The 1939 Fords had
crank-out windshields. There is the crank mechanism and hinges to deal
with, but like everything else, out it came. The glass was ok but showing
signs of aging. Only one or two panes are original Ford script glass. The
rest were replacements put in some years ago.
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Standing in the trunk I took this picture looking down into the
"toolbox" area at the very rear end of the trunk. These are
known for rust-out. Mine was not too bad, but still in need of some
repair. You can see a lot of flaking black paint and surface rust on the
trunk floor. When I took a wire wheel to these areas I found some deep
pitting in some parts, but no rust-thru at all. I think these will clean
up ok, but the tool box may need new sheet metal. |