Barnfind followed us home!!!!!!!

Well, we really don't have barns as such in Florida, but this car was in storage for a bunch of years. My Son Don was looking at Craigslist yesterday and ran across a '49 Ford Fordor that was only about 10 miles from home. He knew Dan was looking for a flathead engine to build for the '30 sedan he is going to do once his roadster pickup is done, so long story short, we now have a new obstacle in our shop. :rolleyes:

The original plan was to jerk out the flathead and transmission plus a few Ebayable parts and haul the rest to the scrapyard, but once we hosed off years of dirt we realized the body is actually very solid and rustfree. The entire body has a uniform coating of surface rust, and for the most part the floors are solid..........only the front has some areas to repair, but that wouldn't be too bad either. The more we looked at it the more we realized it has never been altered in any way and is pretty complete. It also has quite a few options including overdrive, heater/defroster, clock, trim rings, etc. It even has an oil filter (believe it or not, in 1949 the oil filter was an OPTION! :LOL:

So, it looks like the flathead will get pulled and stored, and Dan is talking about a crate 350 Chevy, airbags, wide whites, skirts, a toothy grille, Vintage Air Conditioning, and a suede paint job. I didn't want him to get a project to distract him from getting his rpu done, but we are just going to clean out the shop and push this one into a corner until that happens. At first I thought Dan and Don were nuts thinking the car should be saved, but after climbing under it and seeing how it washed up, I have to admit it is too good to scrap. The doors all close solidly and the drip rails are mint. Only holes in the body are at the splash aprons on the front fenders, rocker panels, and minor holes in the rear quarters. You can buy patch panels for all of those. Frame and underside is pretty clean because the car was undercoated at one time.

The car came from Louisiana originally, and was last inspected there in 1966. There was even a 1957 Louisiana plate in the trunk. Just what we needed, another project!!!!!!! :LOL: :LOL:

Don

OR....:rolleyes: You could weld the back doors shut, fill the seams, put in a roll bar, trash the front bumper, put a straight-axle under the front, weld the fenders & hood together & tilt 'em, and stuff in an overhead valve V-8 with some fenderwell-exit headers on it... uh... kind of like this...:cool:

looks like the car one of my neighbors had, same color & everything. Sadly it was given to the high school & the kids just destroyed it...joe

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Originally Posted by J. Robinson

OR....:rolleyes: You could weld the back doors shut, fill the seams, put in a roll bar, trash the front bumper, put a straight-axle under the front, weld the fenders & hood together & tilt 'em, and stuff in an overhead valve V-8 with some fenderwell-exit headers on it... uh... kind of like this...:cool:

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Not as far off base as you might think Jim.........it started out simple, and before the night was over Dan was talking about converting it to a tudor and chopping the top. He brought me pictures last night of one he liked that was slammed and chopped. Now I just have to keep him focused on doing it simple and getting it on the road............not an easy task, he tends to want to go all out on everything he does. :D

Don

Good score Don

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Don wrote:

Well, we really don't have barns as such in Florida

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Don, yes you do!, You just got to get the hell off of the interstates to find them. :LOL: :LOL:

A little detour of 75 when you were up in Ocala would have yielded more barns than you could probably count. Some old cars, but mostly horses.:eek: :LOL:

................ :)
T L

Nice project! Hope this doesn't preclude the pink beast resurection, or the truck!:3dSMILE:

all that skill over in that shop it souldnt be no problemo knockin off the back doors ... nice find don..:D

Don

Nice find, looks like its pretty much all there. Craigslist is pretty good, I put a set of wheels from a 56 Chevy on lastnight wide whites, rims, full bub caps and got a call within an hour, but he just wants the tires and wheels.

I bought my 50 Ford quite a few years ago just haven’t started on it yet. I want to pull the V8 Flathead and trans and put it on crags list. I have no idea what they are worth. Does anybody have a ballpark figure? My car already has a 8" ford set up with the leaf springs installed, I have a few old Chevy small blocks and one 454 big block if I could find the energy to start. The engines will run it's me that will hardly start.

If you got extra parts with the car, you could be looking at some extra cash.
I sold my parking lights for $350 on e-bay two guys got in a bidding war, love when that happens. Two steering wheels one for $250 from the 50 ford and one from another year maybe a 49 went for $150. My wife just kept telling me to bring more parts in so she could put them up for auction. I would like to sell the flathead V8 with the transmission but I do not have any idea what it would be worth. It is the 8BA that’s all I know about it other then the intake is not bolted down.

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Richard

Man I love the Ol Show Box.:D


:toocool:

Old cars are gone.

Don,:) Lucky you on a great find. I love those old shoe box ford's.:)

Funny how things change. For the longest time, no hot rodder would have been SEEN in a 4-door shoebox, let alone build one.

Oh, and with about $3k in cash, you should have a great hot rod. . . :LOL:

Ford2custom.......no idea what it is worth, I have seen prices all over the place. With your Ebay experience just put it on with a reserve you can live with and see where it goes. I know what you mean about the bidding wars, sometimes we sell something or see something that goes way over what a new one would be. Dan sold something one time and it went over what he felt he could take in good conscience, so he told the guy to only send the lower amount.........bet that guys jaw dropped. :LOL:

Denny, yep, it does have overdrive. I'm trying to convince Dan that these were good transmissions and to get an adapter plate and use it and the rear end behind the Chevy, but he isn't believing me at this point. I had a couple of cars with this tranny and it was really pretty tough and that overdrive made it nice on the highway.

Jack, you are right about us never wanting fordors back in the day, but suddenly they are a little cooler. I hope he keeps it simple and just cleans it up a little and makes it dependable, and he could do it for the $ 3K you mention. But I have known Dan waaaaaaaaaaay too long, and can see the wheels turning already. :LOL: :LOL:

Thanks all for the nice words. It's funny what 6 hours of scrubbing last night did for this old heap. It still needs a lot, but at least it is starting to look like it has promise. I've been researching parts like weatherstripping and suspension repair parts on line, and you can get a bunch of parts for these.

Now I have to move stuff around to make some room for it. :( One reason we cleaned it inside and out was to make sure no critters were living inside it before we moved it into the shop!!

Don

man great find, i love those 49's. They kind of look like airplanes to me.

A couple months back there was an artical in old school rodz or rod and kulture that made a 4door 50 or 51 into a 2door, by getting 2 additonal doors, to strecth the original doors then moved the door latch pillar and part of the window back(dont know what that peice is called..."B" pillar maybe???)


i could try to find it if you are interested??

Thanks, I think he saw the article because he was showing me "how easy" it would be to move the door jam back and weld a filler piece into the front door to make it longer. I'm trying to keep him on the simple cleanup and drive route with this car, otherwise we are going to have another permanent resident taking up space in the shop. :LOL: :LOL: We already have way too many cars that are in that category, he needs one that he can actually drive some day. :o

Don

Don

Back in the 60's my older brother had a 53 Chevy 4 door, emerald green, lake pipes, shaved door handles, skirts, lowered, wide whites, nice green and white pleated seats. It was really nice, I think about that car from time to time and if I had energy plus money I would have one just like it. I would love to have that car today as a driver.

p.s. the guy is coming for the wheels that I put on craigslist last night


Richard

Nice score!!

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Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Thanks, I think he saw the article because he was showing me "how easy" it would be to move the door jam back and weld a filler piece into the front door to make it longer. I'm trying to keep him on the simple cleanup and drive route with this car, otherwise we are going to have another permanent resident taking up space in the shop. :LOL: :LOL: We already have way too many cars that are in that category, he needs one that he can actually drive some day. :o

Don

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I did the stretched door thing on a '49 four door a few years back. Just used a spare pair of front doors off a junked 4 door, added about 8" to the fronts and slid the post back a matching amount. Not too tough of a job. The owner did the big Lincoln flattie, complete with Zephyr trans. The guy just turned 70 last fall and as soon as the daytime temp is in the 60's he'll be out and cruizin' again this year.... He left the rest of the exterior stock, other then a set of Lakes pipes and painted it Candy Apple Red!!!! Gorgeous car, he drives it all over in the summer!!!!!

Just what you guys need!! another car!! But least its a good start! I see rat rod, get her running and drive as is!!! maybe some small custom touches, a little stripping, and your all set.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC02006.jpg

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...nsteinshow.jpg

couldnt find one with red wheels!!Dang it:D

Albert really did have it going even back before the war!:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Don, I heard a rumor you guys are going to add to the shop with all these projects following you home.
BradC

I can see it now.... Don yelling .."where's my sun screen, with a cat running to hide behind the roadster, some bikini clad Florida beauty posing in some slinky outfit, Don Jr. cussing his car out, while Dan stares at the RPU with his far away look! Ha Ha!:LOL: :LOL: :D
Here's a start..


http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c.../1_18_2007.gif

Nice grab Don. I had a '50 2dr. in '62. Myself and two friends sort of put a '53 Caddy 331 in it. Thank God JCWhutney, Almquist and Honest charlie were around then. We started the project in the back yard in Aug. or Sept. It sat there thru the winter in knee deep snow. Dad was so sick of looking at it by the time spring came that he kicked in a couple $100 so we could finish it.Used an Olds fly wheel that we redrilled with a hand drill on the ground so the Ford pressure plate would bolt up. The thing ran like stink. Used up those old Ford 3-speeds like a kid with a bag of suckers. Finially sold it to a roundy round guy for $150. Ahhh.......those were the days.

Ron

Well, it's been kind of a goofy week. First of all I washed my cell phone with a load of laundry. :eek: Had to go get a new one. Then my computer came up with a blank screen that said "out of range." Not sure what that was, but I did a recovery today and it seems like it is back to normal. Whew, didn't need to be buying a new one right now, and I was going through "forum withdrawl" without it. :LOL:

Thanks for all the comments and feedback on Dan's new toy. Looks like I have lost the argument to keep it simple.......Dan can't do ANYTHING simple. He is now looking for a set of tudor doors so he can convert it into a tudor, and is going to chop it and make a hardtop out of it. He and I cleaned out the shop the other night and got it parked out of the way until he gets his '29 done.

The one good thing that may come out of this is that he commented the other night he is now going to stop treating every aspect of his '29 like a shrine, and is just going to concentrate on getting it done. Up until now every bracket and crossmember was treated like it was going in the Smithsonian. Looks like he is finally going to stop agonizing over every little part and just get it done. That makes me happy.

Anyway, here is where the car now rests, and a picture of what he is thinking of doing to it.

Don

Wow that gold/brown chopped tudor is nice! It has some retro style like a zz top cruiser! Looking foward to seeing all of the projects as they advance!:D
Your a main motivator for me. Anyway, I've got to get off the computer and get to work myself! Thanks for the update, keep em coming!

Thanks Steve, now that he has explained his reasoning to me, it makes more sense. If it were a clean tudor we would hesitate to cut it up, but being that it is a fordor and he only has $ 500 in it, it would be a perfect candidate to slice and dice. Looks like it will get an s10 front clip because Dan has airbagged a whole bunch of those, and supposedly they fit these shoebox Fords pretty well.

He and I just got back from the shop and we spent the day messing with it a little. While he was tearing out all the rotten upholstery and floor covering I was tearing into the engine. It was froze up, but after I got the heads and intake pulled off everything looked pretty good inside. I heated the pistons up a little with a torch and dumped a bunch of Marvel Mystery Oil into each cylinder and intake port. After soaking for a while it broke loose and now it spins over pretty easily. The walls look fine with no scoring, so I think a simple 30 thousandths overbore and normal decking and stuff will give him a good block to start with. We are going to have it magnafluxed first though to make sure it doesn't have any of the usual flathead surprises like hairline cracks.

He thinks he has found some tudor doors so that should make it easier to convert. We've got to stop playing with it though so he can get back on the '29. It was kind of fun tonight tearing into an old car once again. :D :D

Don

Today, while I was walking the dog I passed a 48 Chevy pickup that has been sitting in the same spot for 6 years. A bunch of guys were around it and a gal under it.They decided to get it on the road. He bought it for 500 bucks, six years ago and had converted the power train off a newer wagon to the truck. Now it has independant front suspension, 9 inch rear, and looks to be a 350 under the hood. They got it started up today, so it was cool to be walking by while they were working on it. So I recogmended CHR to them for any problems they may run into. Nice folks, the gal wants it for her daily driver, so she was encouraging her husband to fix it! I hadn't thought about that approach to my truck!:LOL: