Holey COWL!

While working to locate door latches, I sent an email off to Mr. Dick Spadaro

Dick confirmed that latches were of the least of my worries.. As 38 - 40 ford woodie rear fenders are specific to woodie wagons.

Worse yet, I had the wrong COWL.. (as Woodie cowls are unique to wagons as well)

Fortunately, Early in November my friends Bryan (Tokyo) ,Kevin (MAZ) and I had planned to head to a "yard" we had heard about..

It was there that I stumbled on the remains of a 1939 ford DELUXE Woodie cowl.



Although it was in terrible condition. I have been able (so far) to graft it onto my other cowl and it appears it will work out well..





In addition I had the good fortune to spot this seat frame, which is also for a 38 - 40 Ford Woodie:

OH NO! these things are expensive

Soon after purchasing the wood I learned just how expensive this project was about to become..

Door latches for 38 - 40 ford Woodie are specific to Woodie Wagon.. and I only had ONE (thanks to Junior!)

worse yet.. one Woodie door latch had just sold for almost 600.00 on ebaymotors!

Through some careful sniping, I managed to get the 3 other latches, thank goodness for auctionzip!

Wood, Found at Hershey 2007

This year Hershey was all about good luck.. (2007)

A 40 ford Woodie is at the top of my "most wanted" cars..

This past fall, at the National AACA fall meet (Hershey!) I overcame another hurdle in owning one..

This wood is actually a "take off" by a restoration shop in new england..its not "good enough" for a 100 point car..

However, i think it will be perfect for my project because I want to build something that I will not be afraid to use..

I missed the opportunity to buy this wood in August.. but (W) at Hershey I managed to make it happen.




Not sure if I have stopped smiling since..




































One point of interest is the JOMA "mirror thermometer" that came in a box of "spare parts" with the wood. This is significant because my other 40 Ford sports a pair of these mirrors, and I have sought after them for quite some time.

Pushing my luck further on my second day at Hershey (in the pouring down rain) I found the correct spare tire carrier with the all important O1A part number.

Its shape indicated that it was for a Woodie.. and it fit perfectly..

Better yet.. it was ONLY $5.00

The last photo shows the tire holder installed.

In The Beginning

My interest in 1940 Fords began innocently enough..

As a kid fresh out of college in the winter of 1998, my future future father in law mentioned that his neighbor had an old Ford in the garage.


The price was right, and within weeks I owned a 1940 Ford 4 door sedan.

The car was completed just days prior to our wedding day and, in 2003 we had the opportunity to take a 6 week vacation with the car traveling 10000 + miles through 15 different states. From day one we have generally enjoyed every minute of time behind the wheel and traveling in the car.




Although other cars have come and gone, We've made the decision that this one is a "KEEPER"

Through the first 10 years of owning the 40, as we have come to call it, I made a habit of collecting spare parts. As time passed, my spares turned into a garage full of extras and in the summer of 2007 I decided it was time to start putting some of these pieces together.
















This is what those parts looked like in July of 2007.