1940 Ford A/G or B/G Gasser Build

[Oldmopars]

So, after asking questions and looking at the rule books for the different years, I have decided to build a Gasser that would have been raced in 1962. I want it to be a car that looks like a family race car. No fancy paint or big sponsor, just what the family could build on the farm. 

So, here is the start of my 1940 Ford Gasser. Wheels are still undecided, but may go with steelies. Engine I think, will be a 409 from a 58 Chevy.

Input is welcome

[GaryR]

Good choice, but the 58 engine is a 348. Don't jack it up too much in front!
Steelies are good!

[Oldmopars]

It won't be as high as it looks, the chassis does not fit the frame perfectly yet. I still have some work to do on that. And the engine may be a 348, but it looks the same as a 409, I have a 60 Chevy with the 409 and it looks the same. 

[Snake45]

Very cool project! And you just gave me a great idea. I've been wanting to do a '49 Ford gasser but have been undecided on what engine to put in it (don't wanna use the kit engine). Gonna use a 409 and call the thing "The 4 (0) 9er". Thanks! 

[Force]

2 hours ago, Oldmopars said:

It won't be as high as it looks, the chassis does not fit the frame perfectly yet. I still have some work to do on that. And the engine may be a 348, but it looks the same as a 409, I have a 60 Chevy with the 409 and it looks the same. 

The 409 didn't come until 1961 so a 1960 Chevy should have a 348 too, but as you say, they look the same except for oil dipstick location, drivers side for the 348 and passenger side for the 409.

[vintagercr]

I'll be watching.

[Oldmopars]

So, I have a lot done. To start with, the body is one step above garbage, or a bad resin. There were no body panel lines. Any amount of paint would have made it impossible to see the trunk. I started to scribe the lines and well, I just kept going till the truck came off. I was then able to build up the area around the truck so I could put the truck back on with a hinge.

This led me to look at the truck inside. The wheel tubs were way too large and stuck into the trunk too far. Good if I was tubbing it, but I am not. So, I cut off the tubs, then cut out about 3/16in and put them back to look more like the 1:1 car. I then had to make a floor.

Seeing as this is a Gasser, the body trim was removed. It was junk anyway and so weak that to try to foil or paint it would have been all but impossible. It a race car, no need for chrome trim anyway. 

It was a little too nose high, so I have adjusted things to get the stance with just a little nose down from level. Its hard to tell, but the nose is lower. 

The engine I am using comes from a 58 Chevy kit. I know the stock engine was a 348ci, but the box calls it a 409ci with the custom parts on it. So, its a 409ci. 

I pulled a Hilborn manifold and injector tubes from a corvette kit. I had to narrow the manifold to fit, but it looks good. The injector tubes are metal. According to the 1962 rules, you can have a hole in the hood to allow for a blower(A/GS) or for injection tubes, so I did not have to run a hood scoop. It allows me to show off the nice tubes. 

I had to cut out the firewall a but and add a larger tunnel for the engine. The lower firewall is now smoothed. 

All in all it is coming together. I am having a lot of fun reading the rule book and adding or deleting things to fit. As far as A/G or B/G, it will depend on what decals I have or find that I like. 

I built a dash, I can't find anything in the rules against a non-stock dash. So it is flat metal/Aluminum and has a box with gauges in it. 

The seats are a bit of a challenge. The rules say you can swap in buckets for the stock bench, but I am having trouble locating any Pre-1962 bucket seats. I have the "Custom" buckets out of the 58 Chevy, but not sure I like them. 

Anyway, I have a lot left to do, but moving along. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Looking good. Cool thing about opening the trunk is you can show off a huge truck battery that was often used for legal ballast. 

[GaryR]

I only mentioned the engine size as relates to class. Classes were figured displacement into weight.

I had Altered States cast me some Austin Healey seats, sports car seats were popular in gas classes, light eight and easily obtained. He might make you some if you ask. You just need to make taller mountings for them. They don't have to be from stockers, "custom" seats are OK.

I'm doing 2 B / Gassers. a 40 with a chain driven Buick nailhead blown 4-71 a B'GS, second is a BB Chevy B/G injected.

LOOKS COOL! Keep us posted1

Edited October 10, 2018 by GaryR

[Mr. Metallic]

Or you could look up Drag City Castings. He has several gasser-appropriate seat options available.

Here's a set I got recently. They are based on the seats from the 60's tool Revell SWC, but with a new, wider pleat pattern.

 

[Oldmopars]

That is some good info. I bet I could make a set of MG/Triumph/Austin Healey style seat fairly easy. They would look a little better than the custom seats I currently have. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Upholstered fiberglass buckets are another option.

[Oldmopars]

So, thanks everyone for the inspiration. I did some looking and found that the MG's from the 50's and a few other sports cars from the 50's had some nice simple buckets. So, I cut the back off the factory bench seat, cut it in half and shaped it like a seat bottom. This way I still have some of the upholstery pattern in the bottom of the seat. I then cut some .040 and heated it with my heat gun and bent it around the back of the seat giving it the shape and look of the old sports car seats. 

I have fixed the left seat where it is pulling away, just needed a little more heat.

I think these will fit the look and be right for the intended era. 

Edited October 11, 2018 by Oldmopars

[Oldmopars]

I have also done some math. The car stock is 2970lbs stock curb weight. The flathead stock was 535, but the 348/409 was 625. So I have added 90lbs to the curb weight. Assuming I have done nothing to add or subtract weight other than the engine swap I am sitting at 8.79lbs per cube with the 348 and 7.49 with the 409. So, I would be solid in the A/G class. To get it into the B/G class I would have to add quite a bit of ballast. A big truck battery, etc. Seeing as I have removed the bumpers, running boards and swapped to lighter seats, it would be a lot of weight to drop into the B/G class if I call it a 409, but less if I say its a 348. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Your seat solution looks great. Perfect. Double extra points for doing the math.  

[GaryR]

KOOL! Great progress!

I'm pretty sure the rules required a "headrest" for safety. Usually attached to the roll bar, pretty easy to make.

Seats are great! NICE WORK!

[dodgefever]

I like your idea and it looks good so far.  I'm going to upset the "it's only a model" crowd now, but if you want to be true to the hypothetical '62 date, you'll need some piecrust slicks, because Good Year Blue Streaks didn't come out until 1965. Several recent AMT kits have M&H piecrust slicks that would be suitable.

Also, that injection manifold isn't strictly correct, because the intake ports aren't spaced equally like that on either the W (348-409) or Mark IV (396-454) big block Chevies.

This is an Algon fuel injection manifold for a 409:

I'm not sure there was even a Hilborn injection manifold back in the day, but this is a modern EFI version:

Edited October 12, 2018 by dodgefever

[Ace-Garageguy]

40 minutes ago, dodgefever said:

Also, that injection manifold isn't strictly correct, because the intake ports aren't spaced equally like that on either the W (348-409) or Mark IV (396-454) big block Chevies.

...I'm not sure there was even a Hilborn injection manifold back in the day...

Excellent points. Though there IS a currently-available real-world Hilborn mechanical W-block setup available, the manifold itself is the casting developed for EFI.

This may imply that there was no cast Hilborn manifold for the W in-era, or IF there was, that the tooling no longer exists (so far, I haven't found an original).

In the wayback, Hilborn individual manifolds for the first-generation Oldsmobile OHV V8 were successfully adapted to the Lincoln Y-block (for which there WAS a Hilborn setup, though it was VERY rare), because the intake port spacing of the Olds and the Lincoln Y-block are almost identical.

The point is...the port spacing on the W-block Chebby is very similar visually to the Olds and Lincoln.

A source for the Olds manifolds is the Revell Anglia or Thames drag-car kits. It's a start, anyway.

Edited October 12, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Oldmopars]

Well, thank you for your input, I appreciate it. These are the things I did not know. I guess I should have looked at the stock manifold before I tabbed up the other one. I do have the option of fixing the hood, and putting on a 409 manifold with 2 4 barrels. This may be the way I go. I will look for the other slick in my parts box, I may have a set, if nothing else I will run a set that is just black wall and ask for a pass on the pie crust side walls. 

Yes, I also know that it is just a model, and the I am never going to enter it into any contest. I am building it for me and the fun is making it era correct, even if I have to change things a little. 

I was not able to modify the rear axle to my liking so I ended up ordering a Ford 9in. I had to check, and they came out in 1957, so I am good. It will have leaf springs, and they have been around since before the Model T. I have no idea who makes the traction bars I will use, but they are somewhat nondescript so it won't matter. 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

24 minutes ago, Oldmopars said:

Well, thank you for your input, I appreciate it. These are the things I did not know. I guess I should have looked at the stock manifold before I tabbed up the other one. I do have the option of fixing the hood, and putting on a 409 manifold with 2 4 barrels. This may be the way I go. I will look for the other slick in my parts box, I may have a set, if nothing else I will run a set that is just black wall and ask for a pass on the pie crust side walls. 

I have enough pie-crusts to last a lifetime, and some of them ought to be the right width for this.

You're welcome to a pair if you want them.

[Dennis Lacy]

This is a neat project! Nice work on the trunk and bucket seats.

Looking forward to following along!

[Oldmopars]

On 10/12/2018 at 7:08 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

I have enough pie-crusts to last a lifetime, and some of them ought to be the right width for this.

You're welcome to a pair if you want them.

I would love a set. I tried to PM you but it says that you can not receive messages. I have a P.O. box, so I can just give you that.

P.O. Box 591 

Naches Wa 98937

Thank you so very much, it will help me finish it in the right era. 

[Oldmopars]

In an attempt to keep this correct to the era, I pulled the manifold off and put the 3 duces from the 58 Chevy kit on it with the air cleaner from the 40 Ford. I now have added a hood scoop made from an old roof top Air Conditioner from a Peterbilt. I added some wires and painted the engine. The header do not show in the picture, but they are fender exit style that became legal in 1962. Max 2 exits, ending in a collector. I went with the stock style distributor as I did not know what custom ignitions would have been right, and stock I know would be. As you can see, the engine is a really tight fit. 

The wires are too close together and all come out of the center of the cap and can't be seen, so they are not necessarily in the right order, but look good anyway. 

I am having a slight delay, I need to get into town to buy some primer. I work from home and only go to town once every week or so. I live kind of out in the sticks in the foot hills. I should be able to grab some Thursday.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Oldmopars

[Oldmopars]

I have been moving a little slow on this, but I did get some work done on the seats. I figured that in 62 there was no Simpsons seat belts, or if they were around, Air Craft seat belts were way more affordable and available. So, I put a set on the drivers side only as the Ford would not have had them factory or needed them for racing. Added a little weathering to the seats too. 

Got a little paint on the dash too. 

I also mocked up the truck that it will be paired with. 

[bamadon]

This is coming along nicely. I was attending the drags in '62 and remember this style gasser well.