For a number of years a good friend of mines Dad talked about a '32 Ford he built in the 60's. We were hanging out in the garage last week and he dug out some pictures of the car. The pics and the story behind the car is pretty cool so I figured I would share it here, and hopefully maybe someone may remember the car. The car was bought in 1960 from a junkyard / garage in Pottstown, PA. The guy had a number of Model A's and B's and each car was thoroughly covered with a mixture of motor oil and kerosene to prevent it from rusting. The car was 100% original and still had the 4 banger in it when he brought it home. After all the oil & kerosene was washed off, the motor and trans was removed and replaced with a '48 flathead backed by a trans from a '39 Ford. The original rear was left in place but the original brakes were replaced with juice brakes from a' 48. After the motor and trans were done, he put in tailights from a '63 Corvair and made a spare tire bracket from some tubing. The rest of the exterior basically remained stock but he replaced stock headlights with sealed beams, and more than likely they were Dietz (or something similar). VW marker lights were also used on the front fenders. After all the work was done, the car was painted "Sanromani (sp?) Turqoise" which was a blueish-silverish color. He doesn't remember for sure, but it may have been a Caddy color. For the interior he installed a Stewart Warner gauge panel with a set of their blue faced gauges. He used bucket seats from a VW bug and had them re-upholstered in black vinyl by Two Brothers in Old Forge PA. Two Brothers also installed a new canvas roof. He drove it for a few years, and then decided to replace the flathead with a 283 from a wrecked '58 Corvette. The motor came from a yard at Phillips Garage which was located in Pennsburg, PA (in Montogomery County). The 283 worked well but the trans and rear didn't hold up well. After breaking some parts, he decided to replace the '39 trans with the 4 speed from the Corvette. For the rear, he pulled a 8" 5 lug from a wrecked Mustang. He believes he did this around 1965 or 1966, so the rear must have come from a wrecked 'new' car. For the rear springs, he would up using a set of leafs from a Nash Rambler since they were the shortest he could find to fit the car. The rear axle, springs, etc. also came from Phillips Garage. After the new trans was installed, he actually took the car to Hurst in Warminster PA and they designed a custom shifter handle for him. He believes they may have used it as a prototype since they wouldn't take any money for it and they took several pictures of it installed in the car. He then decided to repaint the car, and this time Coronado Red which was similar to Honduras Maroon, but slightly browner. Then he moved back to Moscow, PA and in 1968 decided to sell the car. The car sat for sale at Skelton's Garage in Moscow and he believes a truck driver from Honesdale, PA may have bought the car. After that, he lost track of it. So is there any chance someone recognizes this car? Here is the handful of pics he brought over...
Minus the taillights and a altitude adjustment that would be a killer car today. It would be interesting if it is lurking somwhere to be discovered and returned to the road. No way am I going to use the term "b**n f**d". I hate that overused, lame discription for everything that hasn't been seen for a couple of weeks. Frank
Quick update on my post... The car had a 'swing' pedal for the clutch for the 4 speed from the Corvette. I guessing it must have been a Borg Warner T-10??? Also, I believe the gauges were called "Twin Blue" from Stewart Warner. Here is a pic of the type gauge panel he used...
This is the third story I have heard in the last year about the Model A junkyard in Pottstown. I've been told it was actually in Stowe right above Pottstown and that he has something like 290 model A's there. I hear he was also horrible to deal with but once he died his widow and son sold off everything and were really nice to deal with. I looked at a '28 Tudor a while back and the owner was telling me how he bought 6 A roadsters for something like $600 (for all of them) when the owner of that junkyard died off the window and he drove each one home. Keep in mind that was some time ago.
Yes, you're are right... It wasn't in Pottstown, it was in Stowe. When the are was purchased, the owner actually had closer to 50-60 cars, with most of them being 'A's. Tom
Back in 1961 or 1962 i was there to see the cars ,I think most were Model A.It might have been called TIN LIZZIE HAVEN i think or something close to that.I also think the cars were painted or covered with grease or kersone.When we were there the prices were high for the times .So i got a 40 Nash that my FATHER drove home from erie ave in Phila for $50 dollars.
Just bringing this back to the top to see if anyone else remembers this car... Would love to find out what happened to it...
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