OUR 1938 FORD STANDARD COUPE

Part 2: The teardown and frame build up

There is something special about carguys; they always believe that when the carpet is pulled, the front sheet metal is removed, and the paint is stripped that there will be no holes, little rust, and Bondo will only be seen on the shelves of Walmart. The eternal optimists. Maybe that explains why we enter each project with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a 5 year old on Christmas morning.
As I began tearing down the coupe on MY side of the garage, little things became obvious; the sheet metal firewall that needed to be replaced, the liberal use of Bondo to level the old dents and scrapes, and the small pockets of rust-throughs.
The 327 appeared to be in pretty good shape as well as the outer frame. The front fenders were relatively straight with no major dents or splits and only small rust holes were seen where the fenders attached to the body (a common rust area on these cars).
The rear fenders were pretty rough. As mentioned in part one, the coupe had 1958 Chevrolet tail lights frenched into the rear fenders. Although they looked pretty good with the paint, after stripping it was noticed that a lot of rust had developed where the metal was welded.
The biggest problem was the lack of cross member support. A Muncie 4 speed had been installed by a previous owner. To make it fit, a large section of the cross member was cut away with no additional support added. I could stand on the cross member and the frame would flex inward. In addition, the front of the floor was rusted because much of it was also cut away to make room for the 4 speed.
You will notice that the body has been stripped down pretty close to bare metal. That project was also done in the garage. I spent a lot of time the first winter we had the car removing paint and Bondo often when the outside temperature was 20 or more below zero. I have an unheated garage. It sounded like a good idea at the time.
I replaced the damaged cross members with ones obtained from Chassis Engineering. They fit well with very little modification and provide more than sufficient support. I did have to modify them a little when the exhaust was run.
I obtained a 1978 Mustang II front suspension, got a new R & P, and installed an 11" disc brake upgrade kit also from Chassis Engineering. Everything fit.Very little swearing with this installation.
I also obtained a rear spring kit from Chassis that bolted perfectly to the '38 frame. This kit accepts several rear ends without modification, including those from Ford Granadas. I was lucky enough to find a 9" rear from a 1979 Granada. This was an option since most had 8" rears. Although this rear had drums instead of discs, the tag code indicated that it would have been installed in a Thunderbird or Lincoln. New shoes, seals, and hardware put the rear in cruising shape.
The Mustang front was entirely rebuilt. 
Motor mounts were welded in for a small block. At this time I still planned to rebuild the 327 that came with the coupe when it was purchased. The transmission mount was set for a Turbo 350. 
The frame was then disassembled, sanded down, primed and painted. The body was on HER side of the garage on a cart. That is where it stayed for several days. I am very lucky to have an understanding wife (and that it was summer with little rain).
After priming, the frame was painted a dove gray. Everything was then reassembled (it all fit and I had no nuts or bolts left over) and the frame was pushed outside to bake in the sun for a couple of days.
What would I do differently now? Although the frame is more than adequate, I should have boxed the entire frame.
Next time, The floor, firewall, and assembly for a final fitting before paint.