1940 Ford Deluxe 2 Door Sedan Rebuild

[Dieselwrencher]

This is my 1940 Ford. The car and I have a long history, but it has a longer history in our family. My great uncle owned this car for many, many, years. Here's a little history on it.

My uncle Jerry purchased it in the 60's from what I've been told. He drove it as it was until 1969 when he tore it down for upgrades. He put a 1958 ford 9" in the back and repainted the car black laquer with blue ghost flames. He got it done around 1973. At the time, his friend was building a 39 Standard. Uncle Jerry got his car done first so everyone called his car Sooner, and his friend, Gene, got his car done later, so his was Later. In the 80s the car got a small block chevy, TH400, and mustang 2 front suspension. This is where I came in. When I was a kiddo, uncle Jerry would take me to car shows, rod runs, and swap meets. The old 40 had no heat, no AC, faded paint, cracked original glass, flaking keystone classics, and Mr.gasket side pipes under the running boards. They were the cast or pot metal ones, not the chrome heat shield looking ones. The rear seat was still original as were the door panels, head liner, but it had a newer knob radio. It had a Cadillac tilt/tele column, with white bucket seats. Who knows how many tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of miles he put on this car. I remember he took me to a big swap meet in Minnesota so I could get parts for my 39 Chevy. We were driving through snow higher than the bumpers and had no heat or wipers. We brought back rear fenders for my 39 that trip. He actually sold me the 39 Chevy which was my first car at age 13.

My Dad helped my uncle do a lot of work to the car to make it better or just flat run. My uncle could turn wrenches, but he just got things done. I can't say they were done nice to put it nice. He wasn't really a fabrocator. Anyhow, my uncle wanted a stroker motor. He had one built and my Dad put it in. He also built a fan shroud and adjusted the toe on the car. This was in 1993 before my aunt and uncle took it to the NSRA nats in Springfield MO. They pulled a pop up camper with the car to all these rod runs. He was die hard to say the least. The winter of 1995 uncle Jerry passed away. He had a heart attack walking in a blizzard after his LTD broke down. (He was a cement truck driver and just passed a physical with flying colors the day before). There were some issues with the car after he passed away. It was supposed to be willed to my father but no one could find the will after Uncle Jerry was gone. My Dad didn't push the issue and basically wrote it off. The car sat for a few years and the car club Uncle Jerry belonged to restored the car. (Restored is a loose term for real)

I found out where the car was once when they were restoring it and it happened to be Uncle Jerry's good friend with Later. They let me do some work on it. Then the car went to a different shop and I hadn't heard anymore on it. My Aunt would come over and give us updates on it. It spent a good bit of time at the upholstery shop. Well, one day my Aunt stopped over to my parent's house with Sooner. My Dad and I were in disbelief. The car was now electric blue (purple) but it did have some nice flames on it. It now had steel wheels with baby moons, and stock seats front and rear. Totally not uncle Jerry's car. Then to top it off, she tells us she's selling it............... For $22k. Family price. We declined. I was just out of college and Dad was so mad he couldn't stand to look at the car. Uncle Jerry was my dad's father's brother. He had more memories with Uncle Jerry than with his own father from the sounds of it.

So there we were in disbelief. Life went on and I always looked for cheap 40 Fords to build. One day I was cruising craigslist and I saw a 40 Ford for sale. I looked at the pics and thought man that would be cool. Then it dawned on me that it was Uncle Jerry's car. I told my fiance about it and told her it was really too bad I couldn't get it. She asked why not? Go to the bank and get it. We were saving to pay for our wedding and I was shocked. I did just that. Went to the bank and purchased Sooner back! Here are some pics of when I first went to look at him from the previous owner. My youngest brother went with me. I was so excited to actually be able to get the car. At that point the banker was still on the fence about the whole deal. I had to pay $16k to get the car back and luckily my banker made it happen.