Good luck on your detective work.

I don't know the car, but a few observations from that picture. Looks like it was taken around 1953/4, certainly not earlier than that. The hood looks like it came from a 1940 Chevrolet. The front bumper has the shape of a rear bumper from something built in the early 50's. The bodywork just inside the rear wheels looks like it could be portions of 1942-48 Ford front fenders mounted backward. The fenders look like typical spare tire cover pieces with some extensions (maybe mudflaps? can't tell from the picture). The hubcaps have a Mopar-ish shape. Obviously a Ford flathead V8.