My 1939 Ford Standard Coupe - The Tear Down

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Interior was out, but I was stumped for a bit with the spare tire. Someone had used a locking device to retain the spare....the kind that requires a key to remove. Jeff, a friend of mine who is a locksmith, came out and removed it. I gladly gave him the lock for his collection.

The floor had the sound insulation material on it. In some areas it just lifted right off. Other areas I had to scrape it off a piece at a time.

Note the "fresh" black undercoating material sprayed onto the quarter panel areas. I can't wait to strip the paint off on the outside to see what that's hiding.
A picture from the beginning of the tear down process. I still had plenty to remove from the firewall as you can see.

The body is still firmly bolted to the frame here. The battery box has some rust....I'll have to see what I have once I wire brush it down to bare metal.
Ok, it's getting there. Only hood hinges are left on the firewall in this picture.

Note the crank knob for the windshield, just visible thru the glass. 1939 was the last year for this feature on Fords. In 1940 the windshield was fixed and gasketed in place like modern cars. The trim around the windshield is chrome plated, but the center divider strip is stainless. Figure!
Here was the real culprit for the stink in the car. Mice had set up their nest in the glovebox. I nearly gagged when I pulled the cardboard box out....the smell seemed to rise up anew! Off into the trash can with it. Amazingly, the odors were gone.

The paint and woodgrain pattern on the dashboard was pretty shot. It will need to be stripped and repainted, then new woodgraining applied. All the plastic knobs are history, but I can buy repops of those.

Page 7 of the Tear Down

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