1940 Nash, my first street rod

Before I had to junk out my first Javelin, I had come across another one to add to my possession. It was a '68 Javelin SST with a 290, 4-speed and factory posi. I did not own this car for very long as my desires for projects had changed. I had always wanted a street rod and decided that the time had come.

I think one of the things that was able to help me come to this decision was my dad. He had two 1957 Hudson Hornets with the 327 Hornet V-8. One was running and the other was a parts car. Anyway, dad sold both of his Hudsons so that he could build his 51 Rambler Wagon street rod.

I came across a 1940 Nash Lafayette 4 door up in WI. Somebody had already started to street rod it by putting a 79 GM subframe under her. I bought it for $350 and it was missing the entire front clip. They put her on the trailer by picking her up with a tractor and then I took her home. Once there, I took an extra rear end from a Javelin that I had laying around and tied it to the springs with twine. Then I called some friends and we picked up the front frame and rolled her off the trailer and put the front end on jack stands.

I found a donor car, a 79 Firebird, in a local junk yard and went to work getting all the suspension parts that I was missing. Once I got wheels on her, I set the 304 from my first Javelin in her. During this time, I had also joined the Nash Club and was able to locate the front fenders, hood and running boards that I was missing. I was able to find all the parts in the state of WI and so one morning, dad and I headed out to collect the parts. Once I had all my parts, we took a trip home with the car.

A former neighbor had taught me some things about body work with my Javelin and so I had asked if he would help me get started on this project. Once there, I had the entire car sandblasted and then we could see what needed to be done. Ray took care of all the work that I could not do such as setting the motor in place and replacing metal in critical places. While I was at Ray's, my wife ended up needing surgery so I left the car and headed back to WI. Ray continued to work on the car doing what I could not and then put her in a primer sealer.

By this time, my wife and I were moving to TX to serve two different churches. I left the Javelin with my folks in IA and we stuck the Nash in the back of the moving semi. I was not able to work much on the Nash while in TX, but I did remove the rain gutters from the top of the doors. I also sold the SST while I was there. After 3 and 1/2 years in TX, we moved to KS and work on the car began once again.

At some point in its life, the rear of the car was pushed over and the trunk lid did not fit and close properly. So I had that taken care of by a local hot rod shop and then I began to work on the Nash. I bought a Lincoln Welder and began teaching myself how to weld. I decided to postpone work on the Nash until I had some more experience with street rodding. I want to put a tilt front end on her so that I have access to the motor and don't want to screw it up because it can be difficult and expensive to find front fenders for a '40 Nash.