[39wdy]

Hi, Despite the differences of opinion on Woodie front door hinges there are certainly several explanations for a wide range of experiences with these parts. First, I have rebuilt several sets of 38/39 Woodie front door hinges and a couple of pair of the "same" for 40 Woodies and they certainly are different. One person said that 40's could be made to fit a 39 (and vice-versa) but originally they were different and not just by part number. "Original" equipment hinges from the 39 model year were probably carried over on the first 1940 models as the factory would have used up old stock. However, because of the differences in the door designs the hinge had to be re-designed to more accurately fit the 40 profile. Front doors were also subject to greater wear (particularly drivers doors) and these doors are incredibly heavy which may have caused mechanical failure on the hinges. The local dealer might have replaced a 40 hinge with a 39 hinge and had his mechanic heat and bend it to a closer profile so the door would work. The same may have happened at the factory as their is probably no more inconsistent production models in the Ford line than the Woodies. Oddball parts were used throughout the production run to keep that line moving. Iron Mountain, Michigan was not always supplied with all of the parts they needed for the new production run so they used whatever they had to complete the car. Rarely can you find two Woodies that are identical in every respect until you get into the 47/48 model years (and even then there were anomalies)
I stand by my original statement but caution you to consider the aforementioned situations and the 75 year history of these vehicles and you can envision many different scenarios that could cause "incorrect" parts to be used (i.e. wrecks, improper restoration, factory supply anomalies, vendors who supplied slightly different versions of the same part, etc.).
Hope this helps shed some more light on the subject ( or perhaps muddied the waters a bit). Toby