Chopped 40 Ford Sedan Delivery Traditional Custom

[Ferbz]

On 12/21/2024 at 9:51 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Chopped (done well) is almost always better. Looking good so far.  

Agreed👍 Many of these old 40s/50s cars have tops that were designed to be really tall for increased interior space as well as 'hat space'. Everyone wore hats back then! 🙂

[Ferbz]

On 12/22/2024 at 5:04 PM, rattle can man said:

The chop looks good. I once had the same idea. The project stalled because it was more difficult than I thought. It's still in the stash somewhere.

Thanks! Yeah, the chop is not as easy as it looks. Hopefully you'll get back to yours at some point 👍

[Ferbz]

On 12/21/2024 at 2:05 PM, bill-e-boy said:

You have nice proportions with your chop and lengthened doors. Well done

Thanks! I often trust my gut when it comes to restyling.....and things work out most of the time 🤪

[Ferbz]

On 12/22/2024 at 2:04 AM, Starwulf said:

Man, what a concept and execution. I've a spare delivery just like this one and it's definitely getting chopped as well. Kudos to you 👍

Thanks! Yeah man, go for it! It'll look a lot better with a haircut 😉 You'll have to decide how to line up the rear once you bring the top down when you line up and reattach the A pillars. Some people lean the windshield back, others 'stretch' the top by cutting it in the center and adding a strip. I elected to pie cut the rear window area and lean it out rearwards and lean the bottom of the rear door area forward slightly.

[Ferbz]

On 12/24/2024 at 11:09 AM, LennyB said:

That will certainly motivate the SD.   

Agreed! Especially if it's not hauling anything 😉

[Ferbz]

On 12/26/2024 at 12:36 PM, Moparman18064 said:

Very nice alterations. Looking forward for what is to come.

Thank you!

[Ferbz]

So I'm back tinkering on this project while I wait for a good day to paint my High and Mighty Ford. After staring at it and staring at it I realize the thing that was bugging me about the proportions was how high and thick the sides of the hood looked to me. I did not want to section the whole car so I considered sectioning the just hood (a very small amount) and raising the front fenders similar to how some of the Valley Custom cars were done. After sectioning the hood (a little more than the thickness of my razor saw) and mocking it up in place it improved the looks of it quite a bit to my eyes without looking too radical. I proceeded to channel the rest of the body to lower it just enough to line up again with the slightly thinner hood. Lots of fiddling with the gaps between the hood and the cowl is needed but I'm liking the proportions alot better overall. The effect is not as dramatic as a full section job or a front fender raise, but the result is a cleaner, slightly less bulky look which these tall sedan deliveries tend to have, even after a chop job 😉I also decided I really want to capture the early post war 1940s look with this custom. As a result, I chose to not use whitewall tires and popular 50's era hubcaps and went with black walls and flipper hubcaps, similar to the Jack Calori 36 Ford. In keeping with this late 40s aesthetic, I cut a hole in the rear door for a sunken license and am considering these tail lights from the Revell 1948 Ford kit. I'm not sold on them tho and may end up sticking with 39 Ford teardrops. The fender skirt is from the same Revell kit which I thought I'd try out. I like the thin-ness of the skirt, but not the shape so I'll likely scratch build a set that will flow better with the rear fenders. I'm on the fence about either hinging the rear door to open/close, or gluing it closed. I spent quite a bit of time fine tuning the gaps of the door so we'll see.... Plans also call for polished rear fender guards and spotlights, and maybe 41 Plymouth bumpers. I'm going to attempt to mount a 41 Ford grill into the front, which I already have a stripped and sanded down AMT 39 Ford grill piece glued in place to wrangle it into. Stay tuned!  

Edited May 27 by Ferbz

[Twokidsnosleep]

Superb 😎

[Zippi]

Boy, that is down in the weeds and lookin good.  

Edited May 27 by Zippi

[Ferbz]

12 hours ago, Twokidsnosleep said:

Superb 😎

Thanks!

[Ferbz]

5 hours ago, Zippi said:

Boy, that is down in the weeds and looin good.  

Thanks! The ride height still needs to be dialed in once I get going on the chassis but yeah, the goal is to get this robust pig looking lean and low 😎👍

[Speedpro]

Nice work so far Ferby! I like how its coming along. So, the grill in it right now is from a '39, and you're going to put a '41 in it? It looks as though you filled in the '39 to make it smooth, are you doing the same to the '41?

[Ferbz]

55 minutes ago, Speedpro said:

Nice work so far Ferby! I like how its coming along. So, the grill in it right now is from a '39, and you're going to put a '41 in it? It looks as though you filled in the '39 to make it smooth, are you doing the same to the '41?

Thanks! Yes, the 39 grill was sanded smooth and glued into place. What I plan to do is cut an opening into the center of it so that it will house the 41 grill. Essentially, I used the 39 grill to fill the space(s) that will surround the 41 grill. Some of the early customs of that era had sheet metal to fill the factory grill opening when an alternate, smaller grill was used. Here's a pic of the front of the Jack Calori coupe as an example (pic borrowed from CustomCarChronicle):

I'll also have to fill the gap above the grill on my model with styrene(the empty space right below the hood lip). I may have bitten off more than I can chew here lol Stay tuned to see if I pull it off! 🤪

[Speedpro]

I see what you're doing there. Thank's for clarifying that. I'll be watching your updates to see how this works out.

[espo]

51 minutes ago, Ferbz said:

Thanks! Yes, the 39 grill was sanded smooth and glued into place. What I plan to do is cut an opening into the center of it so that it will house the 41 grill. Essentially, I used the 39 grill to fill the space(s) that will surround the 41 grill. Some of the early customs of that era had sheet metal to fill the factory grill opening when an alternate, smaller grill was used. Here's a pic of the front of the Jack Calori coupe as an example (pic borrowed from CustomCarChronicle):

I'll also have to fill the gap above the grill on my model with styrene(the empty space right below the hood lip). I may have bitten off more than I can chew here lol Stay tuned to see if I pull it off! 🤪

The La Salle style grill was an option on some early '36 Ford kits. That may make your grill a little easier to do if you can find one. 

[Ferbz]

20 hours ago, espo said:

The La Salle style grill was an option on some early '36 Ford kits. That may make your grill a little easier to do if you can find one. 

Yeah the LaSalle grill was/is a popular option for sure, but I wanted to try something not only era appropriate but a also a little unusual. I'm also up for the challenge! (I think lol) 🙃

[Ferbz]

Front end update: the cut lines in the slightly sectioned hood has been filled, and I've filled the gap between the hood and the grill area (see previous posts) and cut open the grill area to accommodate a 41 Ford grill center piece. Lots of gap fine tuning and smoothing up ahead but I think my idea of using the unusual 41 grill just might work! It's a subtle but effective modification, a change that might require a double take: It's initial appearance might look like a 40 deluxe grill with the sides filled in, but the longer you look, the more you'll see: the grill bars are vertical and not horizontal, and it's wider and more round with no sharp peak down the center. More to come!

[espo]

You're right about the different take on the grill. 

[Ferbz]

6 hours ago, espo said:

You're right about the different take on the grill. 

Thanks! I've never done this mod before so I wasn't sure if it was going to work or not, but I had to give it a shot 🤪

[Speedpro]

On mods like this, you gotta just make that first cut, thus throwing yourself into the "NO turning back now" zone. I think you did a great job! It really gives the front end what it was looking for. 

[Zippi]

Yup, looking good there man.

[Ferbz]

25 minutes ago, Speedpro said:

On mods like this, you gotta just make that first cut, thus throwing yourself into the "NO turning back now" zone. I think you did a great job! It really gives the front end what it was looking for. 

Yes indeed! I'm slowly getting better at ignoring that queezy feeling I get right before I start cutting lol It's also about trusting your gut when you get an idea. In your head you see it working out great but It's a matter of seeing if the idea can actually exist outside your mind and in the actual physical world. There is something to be said about studying what's been done, having a plan, then thinking things thru as much as possible. But at the end of the day there's no way to know for sure until you 'throw yourself in'! 😉

[Ferbz]

20 minutes ago, Zippi said:

Yup, looking good there man.

Thanks! Hopefully the overall result will be that early custom vibe I'm after 🙏😉

[Ferbz]

This delivery body was an old glue bomb, maybe from the era when american kits had less than ideal quality. As a result, the gaps between the hood and the cowl needed filling/fixing. It may also have something to do in small part with the fact that I'm using the hood and fenders from the sedan? I used sheet styrene strips to fill the gaps and am in the process of fine tuning them. I did essentially the same thing with the rear door, gluing styrene strips to the edge of the rear door and sanding/filing them to fit the opening better: