Had to do a couple of small tasks before I move the body and rotisserie into the work bay.

I thought that this would be a great time to assemble the gear shifter and mount it to the transmission before I put the floor in it’s way. I know 1940 Fords came equipped with a column shifter, and it is traditional to keep the shift on the column, but I really like the Lokar shifter that is in our 1939 Ford. As the British car review mags used to say, “the shifter falls easy to hand” so I defied tradition and bought a Lokar shifter for the 1940. The steering column is finished in satin black powdercoat as is the handbrake lever so I ordered the shifter in satin black. The kit came with good instructions and assembled easily. Mounting it to the transmission went well, the only glitch was that I had to put a dog leg into the shift rod to make up for the long shift rod on the transmission.

New Lokar Shifter

I also had to make new mounts for the front wheel height sensor. Using the stock fender aprons, I was able to attach the sensors directly to the aprons since the factory aprons were bellied out toward the fender. My new louvered aprons are flat, so I had to make a couple of brackets to properly space the sensors. Fortunately, the new aprons came with their own set of brackets to mount them to the frame, so I could repurpose the ones that I had made for the factory aprons. A few holes and a cut or two and the problem was solved!

Reinstalled Front Ride Height Sensors.

Time to get the body down off of the storage lift and replace the firewall and front floor, then test fit it to the frame. Then I can begin the prep work to paint it. It is beginning to take shape!

C.