40 Ford Early Modified

[David G.]

This is another nostalgia build. I first bought one of these kits at the age of 12. At that age, I lacked the skill and patience to complete it.

 

It's not a very complicated kit but the tubular frame chassis requires planning and patience. For strength and stability, I chose to pin all of the major joints. For those who are not familiar with this technique, an example of "pinning" can be seen on the cross member near the front of the chassis. With the cross member lightly glued in the proper location, holes are drilled through the frame rails into the cross piece to allow wires to be inserted and glued into place. The joint is reinforced with more adhesive then the wires are trimmed flush to the frame and filed down. I did this for each of the major connection points- probably about thirty.

 

 

With most of the chassis frame complete, it's time to start planning the suspension assembly installation.

 

 

A little bit of test fitting.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[afx]

Nice looking project David.

[Rider]

Great subject Dave, really looking forward to seeing this come together. 

[David G.]

JC and Curtis, Thanks for the comments! I do appreciate the feedback.

Here's another update:

I started this one back in 2014 and sometime between then and now, the front brake discs went missing.

 

It was an opened kit when I bought it so maybe the discs were lost before I even started it. Either way, I decided to make my own using sheet styrene and some .125 x.125 square styrene rod.

 

There aren't any brakes or backing plates for the rear axle, so I probably could have done without the front discs. But, there they are.

 

The seat provided by the kit is rather rough. There are ejector pin marks on the seat cushion and it just looks... junky. So I dug this fiberglass bucket out of the parts box and made some mounting brackets for it from sheet styrene. It doesn't have side bolsters like the kit seat but I think that the bucket is deep enough to make up for that.

 

 

The headers required some attention too. First. they needed some heating and manipulation to mate to the flanges on the engine block. Second, the exhaust dumps are supposed to be glued directly to the end of the headers butt-joint style. Aside from this arrangement not even being close to looking right, I had concerns about the long-term durability of the joint. I decided to use some heavy aluminum foil I saved from some old dog food containers to make collectors. Not only would it make them look better, it would also reinforce the joint.
No wonder I couldn't finish this kit when I was twelve. Sheesh!

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by David G.

[CabDriver]

I really love the scratchbuilding and modifications you’re doing!  Looks GREAT!

[David G.]

Thank you Jim. 

Here's another update with more modifications.

OK. I've been dreading this front axle assembly ever since I opened the box and look at the assembly instructions. Although it looks fairly simple, it's what I call a floating assembly. Everything has to be assembled as it is mounted to the chassis and it all has to be kept in proper alignment without the aid of hard mounting points.

 

Already there is a problem. The way shock absorbers are supposed to be mounted to the axle is by placing that 1.5mm pin into that 3mm hole. Not only is the pin too small, it's also way too short. The pin would have too be about 2 or 3mm longer than the radius of the lower spring cup.

 

Using a proper sized styrene rod, I cut a couple of pieces long enough to allow the shocks to clear the axle mounting brackets. I then drilled them to fit over the mounting pins on the shocks.

 

One advantage of pinning an assembly like this one is that the pins hold it all together as you go, which allows for test fitting and tweaking prior to gluing.

 

All assembled. Once the adhesive cures, I'll add the steering linkage and track rod, then trim and file the pins and touch up the paint. Hopefully, this will be the last of the engineering adjustments I'll have to make. I can't imagine how this kit made it into production with such an obvious design flaw.

 

 

Here's a close-up of the pin assembly I had to fabricate just to put this dang thing together.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice start. Definitely will be following.

[alan barton]

Hi David,

I've built a bunch of these and you are right, they have their challenges!  I like how you handled the front axle - I can't remember how I got around that issue.  Don't be surprised if you run into similar issues with the rear end. I recall that the little V shaped track rod or Jacobs ladder isn't real keen abut locating to the intended points either.  

I also noticed that you painted the shock mounts black.  If your final chassis colour is the white you see here, could I suggest that after gluing the shock mounts to the frame, you carefully fill and sand the joint and then paint the mounts white also?  In this sort of frame construction you would not expect those little ears to be added separately to the frame - they would have been welded on  prior to paint.

I never bought the 40 Ford coupe version so will be interested to see how your finished short tracker looks.

Cheers

Alan

 

 

[David G.]

20 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Nice start. Definitely will be following.

Thank you Bob.

9 hours ago, alan barton said:

Hi David,

I've built a bunch of these and you are right, they have their challenges!  I like how you handled the front axle - I can't remember how I got around that issue.  Don't be surprised if you run into similar issues with the rear end. I recall that the little V shaped track rod or Jacobs ladder isn't real keen abut locating to the intended points either.  

I also noticed that you painted the shock mounts black.  If your final chassis colour is the white you see here, could I suggest that after gluing the shock mounts to the frame, you carefully fill and sand the joint and then paint the mounts white also?  In this sort of frame construction you would not expect those little ears to be added separately to the frame - they would have been welded on  prior to paint.

I never bought the 40 Ford coupe version so will be interested to see how your finished short tracker looks.

Cheers

Alan

 

 

Hello Alan.

Thanks for cautioning me on the rear suspension. I was hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, as it were. I'll certainly keep your words in mind.

Now that I look at the front shock mounting brackets, I can see that your recommendation regarding the paint color is correct. Thank you for the pointer.

Regards,

David G.

[David G.]

Wheels Down! I've always felt that getting a model car to the point where all four wheels are in place and on the ground is a tipping point, an "over the hump" moment.

 

 

The rear suspension was not as troublesome as the front, but it still required some modification.

 

 

 

The headers needed some additional tweaking upon installation but I managed to bend them to my will.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please always feel free to share your thoughts and opinions.

David G.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice work. Clean job assembling the frame.

[David G.]

On 8/11/2019 at 6:11 AM, bobthehobbyguy said:

Nice work. Clean job assembling the frame.

Thank you Bob, and thanks for sticking around for this one.

-D-

It may not look like much of an update, but this is actually a couple of hour's worth of work for me.

Looks like the drag link is missing from this pile-o-parts. When you can't find the missing link, you make your own.

 

That looks like it should work.

 

 

Uh, yeah. More modifications, I guess. Luckily, this part will be easy.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[afx]

Nice looking chassis.

[David G.]

On 8/15/2019 at 8:02 AM, afx said:

Nice looking chassis.

Thank you JC!

-D-

The chassis is mostly finished and the body seems like it will line up well enough.

 

Except that the air cleaner is supposed to stick up through the hole in the hood more than it does. Time for yet another adjustment.

 

 

With the chassis sitting sitting squarely on all fours, it's time for some weathering...

 

 

... and maybe some more added detail.

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment.

David G.

[David G.]

It's time for another update!

 

OK, the weathering is done. I also added some additional detail items. I made a Plexiglas windscreen and affixed it to the front of the roll cage. I also added some padding to the back of the cage.

 

 

It seems to me that a car like this should have a debris screen in front of the radiator, so I made one and installed it.

 

 

With the engine assembled and installed, I noticed that the top of air cleaner was sitting level with the hood when it should be sticking up through the hole in the hood.

 

So I made an extension to lift it to a more appropriate height. Now it's time to sort out the body and get it painted.

Thanks, everybody!

David G.

[James2]

Very nicely done thus far. From what I can see your doing well with a tough kit. But with a few mods it builds up to a great model. 

[David G.]

On 8/19/2019 at 6:11 PM, James2 said:

Very nicely done thus far. From what I can see your doing well with a tough kit. But with a few mods it builds up to a great model. 

Thanks James2.

This will probably be the last "On The Workbench" update for this project before I finish it up and post it in the "Under Glass" section.

OK, final colors. Yep, it's direct take from the box art but why not?

 

 

To finish this up, I need to do paint clean-up and polish, decals then final assembly.

 

Thanks to everybody for the support during this challenging build. Your comments help me to "keep my head in the game" so to speak.

David G.

 

[Rider]

Wow, awesome work David, fantastic job on the box art build.

['70 Grande]

Fantastic build; looking forward to seeing the finished build! Really appreciate all the pointers you provided in this post; very helpful!

[David G.]

On 8/23/2019 at 6:33 PM, Rider said:

Wow, awesome work David, fantastic job on the box art build.

Thank you Curtis. 

On 8/24/2019 at 8:14 AM, '70 Grande said:

Fantastic build; looking forward to seeing the finished build! Really appreciate all the pointers you provided in this post; very helpful!

Thanks Mark, I'm glad you found some of the information helpful.

On that note, here are a couple more pointers:

 

I actually believed that the next photos of this model I uploaded would be to the Under Glass section. I should have known better. In the directions, part number three, the Interior Rear Deck Panel is supposed to be glued into the body shell along with the firewall before mounting the body to the chassis. However, if I build it as indicated, then spreading the body sides to slip over the cockpit would be very difficult if not impossible.

 

 

The best solution to this dilemma is to glue the Deck Panel directly to the cockpit. The firewall fits snugly into its location and shouldn't require any adhesive to hold it in place. When I install the body shell, I'll probably tack it in its location with some PVA just to keep it from slipping and prevent "the rattlies".

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please always feel free to comment.

David G.

 

 

 

[Shambles]

My opinion? WOW! And I thought I was a decent model builder. Well, back in the day anyway.

[Sledsel]

Looks really good. Yea, these headers were a pain, so I made my own for the 37 Chevy I built. I have the Ford and Plymouth, but have not started them yet. 

 

[David G.]

20 hours ago, Shambles said:

My opinion? WOW! And I thought I was a decent model builder. Well, back in the day anyway.

Thanks John, do you have any of your builds posted on the forum? I'd like to see them if you do.

14 hours ago, Sledsel said:

Looks really good. Yea, these headers were a pain, so I made my own for the 37 Chevy I built. I have the Ford and Plymouth, but have not started them yet. 

 

Thank you Andy. Good work on the headers, the rest of the engine looks good too. Nice detail work. I noticed that you placed the air cleaner opening facing toward the rear. In my research I think I saw just an even split between front and rear facing openings. I imagine that they would be turned to the rear on dirt tracks (for obvious reasons) and the front on paved courses.

-D-

OK, "Big George" is officially done. Sometime over the next few days, I plan to get some proper photos taken and uploaded to the "Under Glass" section.

Thanks to everybody for all your support and comments.

Best regards,

David G.

[Shambles]

On 8/27/2019 at 8:38 PM, Shambles said:

 

Hi David. I posted a few on here a while back, then got into some remodeling of the house. I've got photos of some my older builds on my website. I'm in the process of revising the site with a new web app, and all of the pages are not completed yet: http://www.shamblesmodels.com/built.html

[TarheelRick]

That is one mighty fine looking short tracker.  Lots of obstacles to overcome, and you beat all of them.  I have one I am building into an independent front end for a Fox bodied Mustang.  Right now it is on the way back burner.