1939 Ford Zephyr 3 window coupe

[Paul Payne]

This is what you might get by combining an unknown top, a Revell 1940 Ford convertible, an AMT 1936 Ford chopped 3 window coupe top, an AMT 1940 Ford hood, and a 1939 Ford grille. Might remove the bottoms of the fenders up to the bottom of the body and raise and enlarge the wheel openings.

[Kah puts]

Looks like a Zephyr all ready wooo...

[espo]

Great concept and your body mockup looks good. My question is the grill to hood meeting. How do you intend to blend them together? 

[Paul Payne]

This is just a preliminary mock up, and the hood fit with the cowl will also have to be adjusted. Also, the grill is resting over the existing side grilles of the 40, thus is farther out than when inset.

[Paul Payne]

Got some work done- began adding plastic to the lower rear edges of the hood to close the gap. Filed and sanded the cowl and top, then glued in place. Stripped, reshaped, and glued the filler between roof and rear deck. Sawed off the bottom of all fenders and rear splash pan level with the bottom of the body. Began grinding out the wheel arches.

[Paul Payne]

Did a little filling and sanding, then shot a light coat of primer to see where we are at. Getting close to where we need to be. Will be using an AMT 36 Ford interior bucket, two cushy bucket seats from the stash, a Revell 50 Ford pickup engine and tranny, and possibly a Duesenberg dash set into an AMT 36 Ford dash. Still adding strip styrene to the bottom rear edges of the hood to mate up better with the cowl. Also painting white walls on some solid rubber front tires from the Green Hornet. Going to use wire wheels from the Monogram 427 street Cobra. More pix when I get more done!

[Koellefornia Kid]

Nice work so far! Looking forward seeing it finished...

[TransAmMike]

Thats gonna be a great looker!!   Like the  roof.

[Oldcarfan27]

Looks good, but that section behind that door looks a bit long. Gives it too much of a cab forward appearance. 

Maybe a little section taken from that area would add balance to the length of the car.

[Russell C]

36 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

.... that section behind that door looks a bit long. Gives it too much of a cab forward appearance. Maybe a little section taken from that area would add balance ....

About 'yay' much, if I could offer a photoalteration to illustrate that?

[moparfarmer]

Dennis Ezmerlian did one like that a few years ago..He's a modeler from Winnipeg and I think frequents this forum

 

[Paul Payne]

Yes, it does look a bit long there, but look at Lincoln Zephyrs in comparison.

[Russell C]

18 hours ago, Paul Payne said:

... look at Lincoln Zephyrs in comparison.

Back in January I ran across another one of these, and was curious of I could minimize the 'excess length problem' by either shortening the back or lengthening the cabin into a 5-window version.

[Bugatti Fan]

Interesting project Paul.

I was unaware that Ford were using the Zephyr name pre war. The first Fords using the Zephyr and Zodiac names that I became aware of were made in Dagenham in the UK back in the 50's and 60's. But logically on reflection the names would have had US origins before. Did Ford US ever make a Zodiac model pre war?

[Paul Payne]

Ford didn't use the Zephyr name-I decided to have some fun since the project was originally a Ford convertible body.

[stitchdup]

Its really starting to take shape now. At first I wasn't sure how you were going to manage it but now I see it happening. nice work.

[Paul Payne]

Made quite a bit of progress since my last post. Since I started with only a body and chassis without even a hood, I have raided the stash for parts. We now have paint- Duplicolor indigo blue. However, the hood still does not fit up to the cowl correctly, so further adjustments are required. The interior bucket is from a 36 Ford, the cushy bucket seats are from the stash, and the dashboard is from a 36 Ford but with a Duesenberg dash overlay. No idea where the steering wheel is from, dressed it up with the indigo blue and some Molotow. The tires have hand painted white walls with dullcoat, and the wire wheels are from the 427 street Cobra. The engine is from the 50 Ford pickup, but with a lot of stash parts including Offenhauser heads and a 3 carb manifold, and a 3 carb unit which will get some linkage and fuel lines. A lot of other parts need to be found and decided upon- the usual fun with salvage! Here are some pix- more when I get more done!

[dino246gt]

Great project! I like what you're doing, keep going! Cheers.

 

[espo]

With the color on the body, it looks more and more like the photos. The body work looks really smooth and it's hard to tell what all went into creating this body. 

[Paul Payne]

Thanks! The hood is still giving me a fit- I may have to break down and locate a Revell hood. You wouldn't think there would be that much difference from kit to kit, but there is...............

[Koellefornia Kid]

I really like where this going! Colour looks great!

[Modlbldr]

This is quite an ambitious project that is turning out to look fantastic! The bodywork is so smooth you can't tell what all went into making the final product. The paint color is perfect for it. If possible though, I would love to see you spray a couple of top coats of candy blue.

Later-

[Paul Payne]

Well, as the paint continued to tighten up, there was lifting and cracking at the joint of the back of the roof and the rear deck- I suspect that there was a reaction to some super glue. Anyways, I decided to not only redo this area, but also some other places just were not as good as they should have been- shiny paint the great revealer! Will continue working on this and get out some pix when we are back in paint. Also assembled the interior and started to mount the wheels and tires- just waiting for the last white wall to dry so I can give it a shot of dullcoat. May be awhile- tomorrow I am having cataract surgery on my right eye, next day the left eye, then follow up and about 10 days off for recovery. After that new prescriptions once things have stabilized. YAY!

[Paul Payne]

Cataract surgery was very successful, actually was able to drive a little today! Next week I meet with my eye doctor to see if we are ready for new prescriptions. Must be carful not to stir up too much sanding grit- maybe all wet sanding. Needed to reduce the height of the seats, and the front and rear track will also have to be narrowed. Pix when I get a minute!

[Paul Payne]

First real mock up. Different wheels and tires- previous ones did not fit. Still in partial paint and primer with more body work done. Will be getting a replacement hood which hopefully will be a better fit. 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Paul Payne