1947 Ford Project (and Questions!)
- This topic has 20 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 6 months ago by Torchie.
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August 28, 2017 at 02:49 #52963Johnny HastingsParticipant
Hey gang,
I’m a frequent looker/reader here, and finally got a project of my own going.
Here’s the car:
I’m not 100% sure on the model, but I believe it to be a Long Door Deluxe from late 1947.
I’m trying to do a video diary of the build. Here’s the current videos:
So, I’m still cruising on the tear down of the thing, and I’ve encountered something weird with the front fenders. I dug around the web for a while, but couldn’t find anything definitive.
That brings me to the question (likely the first of many that I’ll have through this build)!
The question is regarding where the small lights that go under the main headlights attach to the fenders. On the left side, the attachment point is raised/stamped a bit. Here’s a pic:
On the right side, that same spot is completely flat; here’s a pic of that side:
So, the question is: what’s the deal with this? Clearly one of the fenders was replaced at some point. From my investigations, it seems like the one on the left side is original to the car, and the right (flat one) is a replacement from a different year/model of the car. Does that sound accurate? The reality is that I’m going to cover up/fill these things anyways, so it might not even matter to me. It just seems like I’ll have to cut out more on the left side to get all the raised parts off, and fill a bigger hole there. I haven’t looked over the rest of the fenders to see if they’re otherwise identical (I did notice the radius of the curve at the upper inside of each is different, but it’s covered by the grille anyways, so doesn’t seem to matter).
The comment about filling the light holes makes the whole question kinda moot, but I’d like to know anyways. The more I figure out about this thing, the better the project will be in the end!
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Any comments / thoughts are appreciated, as are answers to the question I asked and confirmation of my theory on the exact model.
August 28, 2017 at 05:10 #52964TorchieParticipantWelcome to the wonderful world of Fords. 🙂
It seems that Ford changed things just to Change things.
Take 1941’s for example. Late production versus early production. Hood hinges were different. 3 piece front fender vs the 2 piece front fender.
I have heard stories of totally stock and originals having 47 trim on one side and 48 on the other. LOL
The one side may be an earlier Fender retro fitted or it could have come from the factory that way.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44540
This thread from the Ford Barn will give you an idea what you are up against. 🙂
Nice looking sedan coupe by the way.
Torchie
August 28, 2017 at 05:27 #52965TorchieParticipantAlso.
Here is a good diagram that shows the difference between the short door and the long door Coupes. This a 41 but works for other years as well.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.August 28, 2017 at 17:43 #52974Johnny HastingsParticipantThanks Torchie! That’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.
Hah! That FordBarn thread would be scaring the crap out of me if I wasn’t looking forward to customizing this thing so much. I guess my new rule is that if something seems weird, just figure out how to hang and weld it up how I need it!
August 29, 2017 at 03:30 #52978Brian ArcellaParticipantCongrats on the new ride, you’re in the right place I’ve only been an active member for a short time and these guys rock nothing but customs and a wealth of knowledge and information. If you want some really cool inspiration from a car similar to yours is Barry Maza’s 47 Ford custom
August 29, 2017 at 21:26 #53007Dave (a.k.a. rodncustomdreams)ParticipantCan never have too many ’40s Fords and Mercurys on a customs forum! Â Welcome to the fold!
Dave
Jus' creepin' along..
August 30, 2017 at 02:31 #53011Johnny HastingsParticipantThanks for the replies guys!
Brian: I’ve been watching that build almost since the beginning, and it’s been motivating.
August 30, 2017 at 16:52 #53032ShanahanParticipantI wonder if it could possibly be a 46 fender that someone welded up the turn signal on top, then cut a hole down below for the newer turn signal? You’d have to sand it down between the headlight and the hood to see if there is some patchwork there. Just a thought. Looking forward to seeing your progress!
August 30, 2017 at 22:59 #53034TorchieParticipantI wonder if it could possibly be a 46 fender that someone welded up the turn signal on top, then cut a hole down below for the newer turn signal? You’d have to sand it down between the headlight and the hood to see if there is some patchwork there. Just a thought. Looking forward to seeing your progress!
J
I had that thought as well.
September 1, 2017 at 00:59 #53055Johnny HastingsParticipantI got up under that right side fender, there’s no repair work visible from the inside. Either tonight or tomorrow I should have the fenders off. I’ll make sure to get some pics of the inside of both.
September 4, 2017 at 17:41 #53175Johnny HastingsParticipantI’ve put a few more hours into the ’47. Got the front end apart. Â The video can be seen here.
I wouldn’t mind a little feedback on that video format. I left a lot of the actual work footage in, just sped it up as much as the editor would allow. Thoughts?
During the video I uncover some damage on the left cowl. That will all have to be cut out and replaced. I see around the web that I can buy the lower part of that, but I haven’t seen the entire piece any where. Here’s the lower part I’m talking about:
http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_mercury_early/cowl-patch-panel-steel-left-ford-passenger.html
Anyone have any idea where to get the whole left side cown piece, rather than just the bottom? I’ve looked for over an hour now!
Also, regarding the earlier conversation about the discrepancy in the fenders, I’m still not certain. There definitely wasn’t a patch for an upper small light on the right side. There’s no indication that one of the fenders came from a different car (not one that I can see anyways), other than the difference between the two.
Next up, I’ll probably get all the filler off the fenders, and see if the fenders are welded to the fender extensions.
September 4, 2017 at 22:22 #53179TorchieParticipantI doubt that anyone makes the entire replacement side of the cowl. But I could be wrong.
The bottom area looks to be the hardest to fab so you could get the replacement pieces and the fab the rest your self.
You can do a lot of metal fabbing just using some simple hand tools and a little ingenuity.
I couldn’t watch the video due to my band width or lack there off. LOL
Try these people for replacement panels. Good reputation for fitment.
http://emsautomotive.com/index.php?route=common/home
Torchie
September 11, 2017 at 04:04 #53376Johnny HastingsParticipantFinally had some time to continue the tear down. Working on video 5, but I took some pics to share for those who can’t see the vids.
There’s a pic of the left side cowl damage, and a pic of the right side cowl. There’s still quite a bit of body filler on the left side.
I got the windows out today, most everything on the front end is removed from the frame. There’s a small cone on each side under the frame, and the leaf spring is still bolted to the cross member. I don’t have a tool for pulling the cones off, so I’ll grind them off likely. The leaf spring can stay attached until I’m ready to completely remove the front end.
I got the front and back windows out today, and the rear decklid off as well. The decklid is pretty beat up where the plate holder was.
I did some wire wheeling on the fenders to pull some of the body filler off where the fender meets the fender extension. They are braised together, so whichever fender I keep (likely the passenger side) I will just leave it all together. The driver’s side fender is too beat up to save where it meets the body in front of the driver’s side door.
The front of the frame is pretty beat up, and has had some rather poor welding done to try and repair it. I’ll have to bend it back into shape, grind off the bad welds, and fix it up where ever it needs it. Hopefully the frame itself isn’t twisted. There’s clearly been an accident to the front of the car, and an accident to the driver’s side cowl at some point. I marked the spots where there’s bends or damage in the front of the frame. It doesn’t seem to expend beyond the marked areas. It’s kinda hard to see the damage in the pics, except in the cross member where it’s obvious. The video will show all this in grim detail.
September 12, 2017 at 01:28 #53400TorchieParticipantot sure what you mean in regards to the “cones”under the frame? Are you talking about the bump stops that hang down above the front springs. If so you jsut need a socket as the bolt that holds them on goes up thru the middle and into the frame.
You might look for a donor car main body shell.that has a good DS cowl area to use to fix yours.46-8 should all work and it doesn’t have to be a coupe.
Always interesting what you will find once you start to tear into them.
Torchie
September 12, 2017 at 01:52 #53401Brian ArcellaParticipantIf you can afford it have your car media blasted, my guy gets about $600 to put the body on the rotisserie media blast it and put a coat of epoxy primer over the bare metal, I always see it before it’s primed but even with it you can see all the bad spots etc.  Some guys have methods of keeping the bare metal from flash rusting but I can’t say I know what it is.
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