Quote:
Originally Posted by Kube
Hi ya guys,
In hopes of adding some clarification to inquiries I'd received:
This book covers domestic 1940 Ford passenger cars.
Although I'd received a few requests during the research stage for foreign built and / or destined '40 Fords, well, to include them would have added perhaps a couple of more years to the research. I'd made the decision to not do so.
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There's always appendices and addendums
Having been involved in researching, writing and editing Original Factory Specification manuals and Concours/judging rules for Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l. over 3+ decades, I can relate to 'Kube' about when to say 'when' and what to focus on, along with the constraints of time, resources and budgets. I also like to see what others have done with similar efforts in order to learn what to do better, as well as improve my knowledge. I have a stripped-down-to-the-shell 'basket case' '40 Ford V8 Tudor (now going on my 42nd year of disassembled, non-running, parts-collecting ownership) and have had an original '40 Deluxe tudor and coupe that I disassembled back in the '80s (both I wish I could have held onto).
I gather anything I can to help me figure out how to put things back together. In high school in the mid-'70s I started with Ray Miller's "Ford Road" series of books on Early V-8s, '55-'66 T-birds, post-war-'50s Fords and early Mustangs, then moving on to parts books like the '28-'48 'Green Bible' and any book I could find at the bookstore, magazine article on the newsstand rack, parts catalogs from vendors, along with scouring swap meets for vintage factory literature. Since I had a copy of the Early Ford V8 Club's previous '40 book, I couldn't set my credit card to 'stun' fast enough to order this last weekend and compare them.
I received my copy of the new '40 Ford book a couple days ago. I got home from an all-nighter in the office around 3 in the morning and really needed to get a couple hours of sleep before going back in to work, but I couldn't wait to open it and see what was in there. I spent half an hour quickly thumbing through it before I had to say 'no mas' and finally call it a night. I've been going back and forth with it today to sum up my initial thoughts about it.
The format is very similar to the '40 Ford book that preceded it, organized by the major sections (Exterior, Interior, Chassis, Accessories), and it's certainly more voluminous with much more information than its predecessor. It certainly differs from the kinds of authenticity guides I've been accustomed to seeing for various years/makes like '55-'57 Chevys or Model 'A's, or put together for a limited body style/assembly plant car like the T-bird. It's not simply a listing of charts, tables with parts numbers, brief descriptions of what/when something was used, its finishes and detail photos. It's also a study that covers which manufacturers subcontracted to Ford to produce the parts, including references to documentation. It goes into written descriptions with more depth than I've been accustomed to producing. And it includes illustrations taken from parts books, installation instructions and other sources that help to tell the story of how it was intended to be assembled, as 'Kube' comments in his introduction.
One specific thing has been nagging me since 1980, when I first started tearing into that December 1939-built Mandarin Maroon '40 Deluxe tudor with hot air heater I mentioned above. I remembered finding some fine-ribbed, hollow rubber extrusions on top of the frame rails and wondered what they were for. Ever since I've been wanting to find replacements for them for the pending restoration on the April 1940 Kansas City-built V-8 Tudor I have torn apart and sitting in my storage building. Chapter 4-Chassis on pages 4-8 and 9 finally provided me with an answer about what those body anti-squeak extrusions were and where they were located. I can't believe it's taken 40+ years for me to find the answer about those. But I still haven't found a source for them.
A second thing that's been nagging me has been the cardboard liners for the trunk and cowls. I remember vividly these panels and their texturing. I had hoped to see some detail pictures of these in color, but what was in the book was a single black-and white photo of the cowl panel and some detail photos. I guess I was hoping for some more overall photos that were model-specific, but as I note at the beginning, I'm familiar with the limitations in printing a book like this and making choices as to what (or what not) to include in the final version. I can't find fault about what's in there, since it goes into depth on all the other parts and pieces that comprise these areas.
It's going to take some time to digest this work. I probably will have this on my side table to look through and take my mind off of my 'real world' job for some time to come. Thanks and kudos, 'Kube' - the wait was worth it.