Ray and Terri Bartlett’s 1940 Ford Delivery is Hitting the Road Again After a 20-Year Hiatus
The 7th Griot’s Garage North Carolina Nationals was more than just the debut event for Ray and Terri Bartlett’s freshly finished 1940 Ford delivery. It was also a sort of homecoming. That’s because it was two decades ago, while returning home from another Goodguys event in North Carolina, that Ray and Terri experienced an incident that set the course for the ’40’s rebuild.
Let’s step back a little before we get to that story, though. Those who have been around the rodding scene for a while might know Ray as the founder and longtime proprietor of The East Coast Hot Rod Garage in Denton, Maryland. He turned over the business a few years ago to longtime employees Dean Alexander and Jason Lester, but still remains entrenched in hot rodding. And like so many business owners, retirement was the act that finally allowed Ray to focus on his own car, namely this fine 1940 Ford Delivery, which he took in on trade more than 20 years ago.
“When I got the car, it had a dropped axle and a small-block Chevy,” Ray tells us. “While driving to the Goodguys show in Charlotte, I hit something in the road that damaged the front sheet metal. When I got home on Monday, I removed the front sheet metal, engine, trans, and front suspension and installed a Heidts Superride IFS. I also decided to put a Ford drivetrain in it. The project ended up on the back burner until we got back on it (part time) about three years ago. Twenty years later, it’s done!”
It’s the classic tale of the cobbler’s shoes, with a bit of the standard street rod snowball effect thrown in for good measure. Because Ray, like any rodder, wasn’t just going to swap in a new front suspension and drivetrain. He and The East Coast Hot Rod Garage team would ultimately touch every part of the car.
Beyond the Heidts front suspension, the original frame has been boxed and fitted with custom crossembers, plus Weedeater rear leaf springs to suspend the 9-inch rear axle. Ray has a knack for coming up with just the right stance and wheel-and-tire combo, and he hit it out of the park again using 15×6-inch Real Rodders wheels and 165/15 tires up front paired with 15×8-inch rear Halibrands wrapped in 235/75/15 rubber.
The current 351c.i. Ford small block was built by Al’s Custom Engines using Edelbrock heads and intake, an Edelbrock carb, and an MSD Ready-to-Run distributor. A Vintage Air Front Runner system packages the belt-driven accessories in tight fashion, while a Walker radiator was installed in front of that to keep things cool. A Ford AOD transmission makes for easy freeway cruising, with Sanderson headers and a stainless exhaust fitted with Flowmaster mufflers delivering a just-right exhaust note.
There are many more modifications to the body than most people realize at first. Two-door sedan doors were used, which are 6-inches longer than sedan delivery doors and required enlarging the openings a like amount. A ’39 Ford windshield frame and single top-mounted wiper were also used for a more commercial feel, along with Standard front sheet metal – Ray felt the Standard grille fit the character of the car more than the Deluxe version that originally came on sedan deliveries. Ford fans will also note the hand-fabricated side trim by Dean Alexander, which now wraps all the way around the back. When all the metal mods were complete, Jason Lester stepped in to perform the final bodywork and spray the custom-mixed paint, an olive green hue that can shift toward gray or brown in certain light, as you can see below.
The commercial feel was carried over inside, where custom aluminum door and side panels are finished in a satin tan paint, rather than being upholstered. In fact, there’s a limited amount of leather, confined to the custom-upholstered Glide bench seat and front door armrests, all neatly stitched by Dean Alexander in-house at The ECHRG. Well-considered details include Classic Instruments gauges, a 15-inch ’40-style wheel atop an Ididit column, Art Deco-style knobs for the Vintage Air controls and other switches, and Lokar pedals. An American Autowire harness sends electricity to all the right places, while DynaDeck material provides an insulated, textured floor covering that’s easy to clean while maintaining the Spartan, back-to-basics feel.
The car’s quality is obvious, but what struck us most while studying the ’40 was its simplicity. It doesn’t have an exotic aftermarket chassis, a modern fuel-injected V8, or uber-expensive one-off wheels and custom-machined trim. Instead it uses proven parts, well-designed modifications, and thoughtful details to achieve a clean, timeless look. It’s a good reminder of the importance of stance, color, texture, and style when building a vehicle – a refresher course on the “less is more” school of hot rod building.
Ray Bartlett could probably expound on that theory, but he’s more interested in hitting the road. “I plan to drive this car as much as possible,” he says. And barring any unforeseen freeway incidents, we expect that this two-decade build will deliver at least an equal number of years of happy cruising.
Photos by Damon Lee & Todd Ryden
