Thread: I'm a new user from San Francisco looking for some advicee

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Well, she's got plenty o' patina!!

It's a Standard rather than a Deluxe; single wiper, plain grille the most visible ques. I like that it's got trunk rather than rumble.

She's seen some modification over the years. Probably a cheapo repaint at some time. The interior was redone at one time, and that metal sheet replacing the fabric top insert was probably pretty obvious to you.
The sealed beam headlights are a mod, and the engine is not an original. It's an 8BA, '49-'53. None of that's a real negative, in fact the lights are an improvement and will make your 12v conversion even easier. The later flathead (ignoring unknown condition) is better than the original, a bit more power too.

If it were mine I'd give it a real thorough cleaning top, bottom, in and out. Get the drivetrain in good working order, and do the hydraulic brakes as we've been discussing. A nice mellow dual exhaust. Then I'd drop it so it sat like my '36 did. If the wire wheels are in good condition I'd blast them and have them powder coated in a nice creme color, pop on some stock caps, and put on some black wall bigs and littles. Put in a new headliner from Lebaron Bonney and neaten up the door, kick panels and seat cover, lay down some carpet and then drive the thing with a big grin. Then over time spruce up the engine compartment with some detail painting and a few chrome bits like acorn covers and air filter. Same clean and paint on the underside. Try to polish up the chrome on the bumpers knowing that the rust and scratches would still show.

I'd cover up the spare rack mounting holes with the rear license plate, using one of those old timey lights to set it off. When it comes time to patch that hole in the trunk floor, have a good metal man make a patch that looks like the stock floor that's replaced, not just a flat chunk of steel. In the short run, to keep exhaust fumes out, any temproary seal is fine, just don't screw up the original shape. When the time comes, I'm guessing at least the driver side lower quarter panel is rusted through (the same water that got the trunk floor had to go somewhere), patch panels are available, or a good metal man can shape one.

Despite some of the revisionist story telling you may hear, this is just the kind of car we could afford, and would drive as a daily car in the early '60's. We wouldn't do anything major that would disable the vehicle for any length of time because we'd be grounded til it ran again. So that's why little things were done as time and money allowed. The car was in a constant state of change, improvements made in small steps. This is a neat car to capture that escense.