The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1940 Chev 1/2 ton “Franken/Restomod”

Hello all;

Once again thank-you for checking in and following along.

Since my work schedule has changed, it feels like it has been forever since I have checked in or posted. ( 2 weeks )
I did some good work, focusing mostly on the hood area as I work to get that fixed up and repaired, etc..
I received the antenna I had ordered so I took the 15 minutes it took to mount that. I decided on the passenger side and placed it in line with the door seam. Why the passenger side? I actually preferred the drivers side as it would not impede my visibility as it would hide in the "A" pillar blind spot. My wife seemed to have a strong opinion though, so I went with her suggestion. The antenna I bought is a VW antenna and came as a nice kit for a very reasonable price. The antenna is well made and I would recommend it if you like that style, the supplier is www.CIP1.ca though they are a US based company with shops in both US and Canada.

I chose some nice side view, swan neck mirrors and placed that order. I hope that they arrive before my next days off so I can get them installed.

As previously mentioned, I worked mostly on the passenger side hood piece. Once the paint was removed there was some lead from an earlier repair which I cut out and installed a new patch. There were a few cracks, which were repaired earlier and had cracked again so I thought that some additional re-reinforcements would be a good idea. I added a strip on the end of the hood, closest to the cab as well as a hinge support as well. That really made a difference as the piece was quite floppy before but is now very stiff. I worked for about 2 hours with hammer and dolly to remove much of the dings and low spots. That way when the truck ( eventually! )goes to be body worked it should only require a small skiff of filler. I also included a peek at my welding skills, very much improved! The weld on the end was thin and tricky but came out quite well.

I finished up the passenger side and then moved on to the drivers side. I was motoring along as I wanted to get the drivers side to the same point as the passenger side before going back to work. Alas, it was not to be... At some point the hood hinge flange was re-bent moving it over about 1/8" The passenger side was pretty straight, but the driver side has a bow of over 1/2" and I need to figure out how I am going to fix that. I had to order a new center hinge so I am waiting for that to arrive which gives me time to decide on the direction I want to go. I can either cut out an "eye" which will let me hammer the bend over to straighten it before re-welding. Another option would be to remove the hinge flange altogether and weld in new one. I am leaning towards the "eye" method as I was really impressed with how much stronger the piece was with the reinforcement in place.

The last 2 pictures attached I wanted to show you all the car that Dean is building. If you are just joining in on the conversation, Dean is the fabricator here at the shop and my "GURU". This is a 1936 Ford sedan which is "transitioning" to a coupe when done and he is grafting a 1932 DeSoto front end on. I really like the look with the DeSoto front end as it lengthened the car by 8" and gives it that long 1920's look to the car. The front end of the donor car was missing/smashed and Dean is planning a full custom look anyways. The roof has bee chopped, a coupe bum is going to be grafted on. Mustang II IFS and air bags in the rear. Fender skirts, low and sleek with a Gold paint when completed. I think he said the dash is coming from a Buick...

That is all for now, stay safe and be smart.
Steve