1940 Ford Deluxe

Today was a good day...

I finished servicing the '40 Ford, mounted a tag on it, and drove it down the road for the first time!

WOOHOO!

I drove it around out on the country backroads for about 15 miles or so... I didn't get too far from home. It ran good, drove good... I'm pretty happy!

The steering has a small amount of play, not enough to worry about. I think the clutch pedal linkage may need some adjusting.

The biggest issue I ran into is my inexperience with a 'three on the tree' shifter... combined with a non-synchronized first gear (second and third are synchronized) has left me with the feeling that I may need to drive country roads for a few days before taking it into town... lol!

-Bear
 
682bear said:
The biggest issue I ran into is my inexperience with a 'three on the tree' shifter... combined with a non-synchronized first gear (second and third are synchronized) has left me with the feeling that I may need to drive country roads for a few days before taking it into town... lol!

-Bear
Click to expand...
First drives are something you'll never forget. 3 on the tree will become second nature, it always feels like the 1 - 2 shift takes forever... at least to me. LOL thankfully first is only needed from a full stop , and you'll get the timing down when to drop into first just before you come to that full stop. Congrats!
 
As 34-40 said it becomes second nature after a few drives. Older cars have all the power at low revs so you don't need first gear unless you are on a hill fully stopped.
 
Sweet ride! A polarizing filter would of cleared the glass of the reflection likely.
We are going to a local show literally up the street from my house in an hour or so.
Pierre
 
I've been driving the '40 around local for a while now... and fixing some small issues along the way...

I had to replace the shift bushings in the column shifter... all the rubber had disintegrated, resulting in a lot of slop in the shifter. New bushings tightened it all up nicely.

Next, I addressed the charging system... the existing voltage regulator worked sometimes, and sometimes didn't. I ordered a new repop regulator, which never worked at all... so I ordered another new repop from a different company. It didn't work at all, either. I reinstalled the first new regulator and attempted to adjust it... and finally gave up on it.

After reading up on regulators, I discovered that all of the new regulators are very low quality and problematic. I began buying used and NOS regulators... the third one I tried worked fine, with some adjustment. I think I have that issue resolved. I also replaced the 6v battery and the negative battery cable, and went through the entire charging and starting systems cleaning all the electric connections.

Next, I'm planning to tackle the cooling system... the system keeps the engine cool enough as long as the car is moving. If I stop and let it idle, it doesn't take long for the guage to creep up. I've seen temperatures around 215 degrees at the head, but haven't seen it boil yet...

I'm planning to start by flushing the system out thoroughly, then refilling with new antifreeze and add Water Wetter and see if it runs any cooler. If that doesn't help, I'll take the radiator to a radiator shop and get their opinion...

I've also ordered a rebuilt distributor from Third Gen Automotive that I plan to install soon. I bought the car from the owner of Third Gen... he advised me that it would need new points fairly soon, so I went ahead and ordered the distributor.

-Bear
 
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