40 deluxe sedan with 348 - project

neilswheels

Well Known Member
I don't suppose you've got any pics of the pedal assy in the 38 Grub? I was looking at an old front half exhaust picture tonight, it's gonna be really tight in between those rails. I'd be interested to see how you mounted the master cylinder. I guess your slave is a pull? Did you have issues with clearance between the end off the clutch fork and the Brake pedal? It all seems super tight in there, so much so that i'm thinking about converting the bell to a pass side clutch fork, put the slave over there out the way. There were some bells made like this, but I have a feeling finding one might not be so easy..
 

61BUBBLE348

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 11
Hi Neil, the 38 is auto, but what I did was to put the pedal assy up under the dash with the master cylinder on the firewall, I cut the old battery box out and effectively inverted it with new steel. I will take a few pics for you. You could add a clutch master in the same spot. On the 32 I had it all under the floor but the BBF had the clutch fork on the RHS so it was a little easier.
 

neilswheels

Well Known Member
Dang, I knew I should have gone ford in a ford!! ;)

I want to keep the floor pedals, guess i'm gonna have to be inventive, or use a hydraulic release bearing..
 

61BUBBLE348

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 11
Neil, under the floor is still Ok, as long as you can fit all your master cylinders under their, my 38 originally had a modified 39 pedal assy, with a late 60's Ford Clutch master and slave cylinder.
The main thing is to get your ratios right from a lever veiwpoint to get an easy pedal pressure and enough stroke to engage and disengage the pressure plate, what you are doing has been done a million times, well maybe 1000's, stick at it it will work.

cheers
 

neilswheels

Well Known Member
Deuce...thought you had a 34...amongst others.

So thats a push slave mounted in front of the gearbox. Looks pretty tight in there. i guess when its back home and in front of me, i'll be able to figure it out.

So Marco sent his last update today, a finished floor.

Modified trans cover

Removable Gearstick cover

primered floor

You can see the relief in the floor next to the back of the tunnel for the torque bar in this pic.

So that's it! The 40's due back in about two weeks, time for me to extract some digits!
Gotta thank Marco for excellent work, i'm very pleased and would thoroughly recommend him to anyone considering farming out some chassis or body work.
 

neilswheels

Well Known Member
So a small victory,the clutch pedal is finally finished. I had to make another 'adapter plate', as I'd 'centered' the hole for the brake MC, thinking the adapter was a little hokey Chinese made item, but turns out that the hole isn't supposed to be centered! I then tiged a tab on the clutch (brake) arm, machined a couple of pins on my 'new' lathe for the yoke on the clutch and brake pedal to take a return spring, and made a little bracket to locate the return spring on the chassis using existing holes in the bottom of the K member. I still need those C clips tho..

I've also taken the rad out to get the hose inlets changed, but this meant I had to take the grille off to wriggle the rad out, as the water pump nose is to close to the rad to wriggle it up and past the inner fender wells. Not looking forward to re fitting the grille, the bolts that hold it in also have to go through the fenders and inner fenders and air flow plates, no way i've got enough hands to line all that up! I've since found out that Ford assembled all this off the car, then dropped it on the car as one part, I can see why.

I've also decided not to follow my original 'plan' which was to get it out lowered with skirts, Sombreros and whitewalls, drive it for a bit and then hot rod it, I'm just gonna hot rod it.
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neilswheels

Well Known Member
Been a while since Ive been able to play with my 40, but i've done some stuff. I've stripped out all the front suspension as it needed painting, and is now all painted. As the axle is out, i've done some 'investigating' about drilling it, a lot of different 'opinions' on the web, but recently saw that TRJ was giving away a drilled Superbell axle from Pete and Jakes, so I contacted them P&J's, who told me that drilling it is fine, and told me how many holes to make, the size and where to put them, so thats a job in the works.
I've also had the hood punched, but I would like them to run a bit closer to the cowl, so its going back for some more :)
I've been buying stuff, which makes it feel like your making progress, got a new tank, electric fuel pump, some 8.5 rear steels, and having the Kidney Bean Halibrand copies redrilled for the 40 drums on the front, also bought some bigger mufflers (old ones 2" internal, new 2.5")as I decided to run 2.5 from the headers to the mufflers, then 2" from the muffler to the rear bumper, as Chevy ran on 348's from '59, which was followed by a load of stainless tube and bends to start making my tri y headers. There's an image here, but if you want a little 'overview', follow this link http://www.348-409.com/forum/threads/tri-y-headers.27918/
 

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neilswheels

Well Known Member
It’s been a bit chilly here, but I managed to get a couple of hours in today in my cosie -1 garage, and got the 2nd header tacked together. Let the tig welding begin!
 

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neilswheels

Well Known Member
A little update, I’ve been beavering away in the background, headers are now done, finally, inner fenders modified to take the headers but hopefully still look stock, re mounted the alternator on the passenger side as on the drivers side the fan belt wanted to run through the top hose. I also had the top hoes/thermostat housing modified to work with my hose and radiator, and there’s a few other stalls that have been taken care ofB149CDAF-E636-4A7B-BD7B-73A1C84F7A67.jpegAC3A70DE-FC3C-456C-9C73-D476C6F5FF95.jpeg
 
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neilswheels

Well Known Member
However, one thing has been at the back of my mind for a long time. I bought the engine as a rebuilt unit, and looking at it, it appears to have been taken apart, the valve stems look new (through the exhaust ports) the heads have been off and core plugs changed, but I’ve never been able to turn it over by hand. When it was on it’s temporary stand, the flywheel hit the stand so you couldn’t turn it over, and it went from the stand straight into the car. Well today I thought I’d check, cobbled up some bits to bolt in to the crank pulley, pulled the plugs and optimistically took the rocker covers off, but it barely moved, the pulley rotated maybe 1 inch. Well, it’s gotta come out anyway, so I guess I’ll be having it looked at..7D294074-1CBB-4C24-B372-C4D2766B397A.jpeg
 

61BUBBLE348

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 11
Neil,
you will need to pull the engine if it is stuck, I am assuming the gear box is definitely in neutral, and nothing else is hanging up to prevent the fly wheel from turning.
 
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