Restoration How To? (1 Viewer)

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I bought my 40 in Mayish of this year and initially figured I'd do a frame off resto to get the paint perfect. Then I brought it home, drove it even though it ran like absolute crap, took the kids for ice cream, crossed my fingers and drove it to work to show off, and just kept driving it. Got lucky and met a friend of a friend who knows 40s, and found this site. Learned more than I figured was possible, and now it runs wonderfully (for a 42 year old tractor engine), and I drive it every day. I'm going to slowly fix things like the badly cracked dash pad or radio that works intermittently, but no way I'll take it apart for a frame off and not be able to drive it.

I've fallen for the patina and idiosyncrasies, oh, and @rkymtnflyfisher 's beautiful photos.

I spend more on it than I'd admit to anyone who doesn't own a 40, but I spread it out and it gives me a great deal of pleasure. And the thumbs ups, waves, honks that happen every single time I drive it don't hurt.
 
Dang, I'm actually quite flattered that people have found my thread useful and inspiring. I thought it was a trainwreck that turned into a fishing adventure full of tomfoolery and drunken shenanigans.

I learned the vast majority of the stuff I needed right here in the 40 section. Too many people to list without looking like an idiot.

The usual suspects always turn up with sage advice when the time comes, just ask, give the correct info to the return questions, and don't be afraid to experiment with different parts.



And a big thanks to all the people that enjoy my thread and chime in, my rig is still a rolling project.
The 3 things I think some of us appreciate about your rig are 1. You did/do most if not all of the work yourself.
2. You use the hell out of it in a manner that is consistent with its design. To me that just makes it cool whether it’s a frame off, a rolling resto or a refresh.
3. In the process you gained a body of knowledge that you can now share with others. ( your now one of the usual suspect) Paying it forward.
 
I know @GA Architect 's thread is great for really technical breakdowns of a lot of compnents. His rig is a ton of fun to drive and is just about 100% rattle free.
 
this couldn't be more true. There are so many rabbit holes you can go down during a restoration. I'm finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and really seeing the fruits of my labor coming together. I'm nearly 2 years in.....

👆🏻 This is the most accurate thing I have read on here today. 😬🤣
 
For the question of "How to?"


Just like you eat an elk. One bite at a time.

Set small goals, one system at a time. Brakes. Enginge. Drivetrain. Rust abatement. Upgrades.

You get the idea.

Keep it drivable as much as possible, helps keep the motivation high to fix what you've started.
It's easy to get in over your head and then throw in the towel. Keep it small and simple.

The other little things are learned with experience. Make a mistake once and you'll remember it forever.

If you are even remotely skilled with your hands and are willing to learn you can build a nice rig. Mine is proof. Hell, I moved across the country a couple of weeks after I shot paint.

Truthfully the hardest part is time and money, you're going to steal both from someone and somewhere in exchange for working on your 40.
 
Truthfully the hardest part is time and money, you're going to steal both from someone and somewhere in exchange for working on your 40.

That's very true. My wife is pretty understanding, but I'm pretty careful about how much time I spend on my 40. Money is comparatively easy. There's always more money to be made. There isn't more time. So be sure you're using that resource wisely.
 
One thing was not mentioned here, SPACE, keep broken down vehicle, takes a lot of real estate. When I started I worked from one car garage and it took me at least 30 min before I could start and an hour to clean up after finishing. That really cuts in your wrench time. Yoe need space to work on them.
 

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