Features Ayala-Barris Jack Stewart 1941 Ford RESTORATION has started.

It has been a while since Palle had bought the car at an ebay auction, and it was shipped from the US to Amsterdam by Bendix Transport. Where we picked it up and the truck drove it to Palle's home in Denmark.
And even though the restoration had not actually started until this Sunday August the 29th, a lot had happened since then.



Several phone calls had been made to Jack Stewart, Jim Street - both owners in the late 40's and early 50's - and Bob Drake who owned the car from the late 50's and restored the car in 1972. A lot of information was gathered - although we are still looking for a lot more, including old photos - and using this information a "to be needed parts list" was created. And the fun search for the missing parts stared.

A lot of the missing parts have since then been located, and bought. And are already in Denmark, or will be on their way as soon as possible.
So far a lot of the key parts have been found like the 1950 Studebaker Commender front bumper, the Appleton S-552 Spotlights, the 1950 Mercury Monterey Steering wheel, the stainless steel window trim and the 1950 Ford rear bumper guards. The car used cut down 1949 Ford rear bumpers with 1950 Bumper guards)

But we are still looking for some more missing parts. And if any of you have a lead to one of these, or perhaps have them in the garage or shop. Please let us know.

Still looking for:
- 1949 Ford rear bumper (one without the horizontal rib in between the bumper guars, only the 1949 model)
- Long type 1941 Ford/Mercury fender skirts (not the shorter 1946-48 models)
- 1948 Mercury sedan or coupe dash board. (only need the center grille, gauge pods and Mercury script for on the glove box)
- 1948-49 Cadillac Sombrero hubcaps, and wheels to put them on.
- Kustoms of Los Angeles Plaque (Barris)
- And the last would be a period fender mounting antenna.


Here is the differences between the 1941 and the 1946-48 style skirts.
Unfortunately the original long 1941 Ford skirts are not with the car anymore. The once on the car are heavy fiber glass units. ANd the shorter 46-48 are steel aftermarket units.
We need the Long version.. in steel.




So back to the current state of the car.
Palle had the car sitting in his home garage ever since it had arrived from its long trip, and every day he had touched it, sat inside it.. and I guess even talked to it when nobody was around. But he just had a hard time to start the restoration of such an historical important car. Last Sunday it was time,and he was ready to start the process. Palle and his good friend and neighbor Dan started the project by carefully removing the interior.


Palle removing the drivers side interior door panel



The interior had been installed in 1951, and was removed after Jim Street Sold it. Not sure is if the interior was removed after the accident or before. In any event when Bob Drake bought it id did not have this interior in it. But he was able to locate it and put it back into the car when he restored it in 1972. So what you see in the following photos was basically all done in 1951, but reinstalled in 1972. The removal of the heavy carpet revealed some pop riveted plates on the floor board, and some area's where covered with an unknown black plaster stuff.



The front bench bottom is completely home made from plywood and set on some blocks that where nailed to it. Rather crude, and not really comfortable I guess. But the car is channeled 6 inches, so there is not much space for a rear seat I guess.








After the side window garnish was removed the screws where removed so that the side panels could be removed.




Rear window garnish welding





Unfortunately also the inside of the roof was covered in the same black plaster kind of material that was found on the floor. Palle has no idea when this was added, and what it is. But the questions will be asked to both Jack and Bob so hopefully we will soon know. In any event we cannot see the sheet metal work on the inside... yet.






Some pieces of wood are added to help the upholstery stay in place. and it looks like the used some kind of insulation material on the inside of the body.





All the photos where taken by Palle.. and I think Palle will get on here soon to tell a bit more about the start.

 

Crazy..

 

Can't wait....

 

Thanks for taking the time to share. It's always cool to see the work underneath the paint and upholstery on a famous custom. I had the opportunity to see in person and take some pictures of the Sam Barris Merc in bare metal with no interior a few years back at Darrell Hollenbeck's Vintage Color Studio. Getting the chance to see the metal work on a famous custom is just like looking at the individual brush strokes in a Picasso or Rembrandt to me.

 

Rikster, the black stuff is not some sort of sound deadning or perhaps a protective layer over some welding that was done .
What is interesting is the riveted panels on the floor ,seems a bit crude ,hard to think that they were put in when first built, but who knows ,cover it with carpet, no one will ever know !
Wish I was over there ,would love the oppurtunity to help out on this .

 

I wounder what is under the paint .probably more rivets.like so many other barris cars.and so many say things about east cost kustoms wow.

 

I personally think the riveted panels where done by Bob Drake in the early 70's. But we will try and found out by asking the guys who worked on it back then.

And I don't think we can consider this car a "Barris Custom" as most of the work was performed by the Ayala brothers. The Barris shop only put some finishing touches on it.

 

Considering what this car has been through we should all just appreciate that it is still around for us to witness another (correct this time) restoration. Not my favorite but it is a great example of what the Ayala's and Barris' were building and I love it.

 

was this the car that was hit by a train or something

 

Yes in the mid 1950's it was hit by a train. After that accident Bob Drake bought it and eventually resorted it in 1972

 

I remember seeing this car for sale so cheap, even at auction I think it was good buying. Glad to see restoration in progress.

 

Hey!! Thanks Palle and Rik, for showing this restoration to us,,, Really GREAT !!

Thank YOU guys !

 

Keep it going this gonna be one of my favorite threads

 

being that this is the car that was hit my the train doesnt matter what is under the paint it was a good thing it was saved thats all that matters then ..cant wait to see the build on this it will be great ..

 

Nice, hit by a train and still around, that, is just awesome! Even better it is in great hands and being restored to the way is should be.
How about some pics of the whole car?? Please??

Doc.

 

There are some more photos of the whole car in THIS thread.

 

Thanks Rik, I guess missed that one!

Doc.

 

Nice to see the work starting...kudos to all involved, for their passion and perseverance in doing this resto.
Does Palle also own the infamous Laga Cadillac, also?

 

The start of another Killer thread. Subscribed. Thanks Rik and Palle. Slim

 

I bet thats roof tar in there thats gotten hard, that black stuff.

 

thank you for sharing these photos and the info. Truely incredible.

Jeff

 

Here are some photos of some of the parts that have been gathered for the restoration.

The Studebaker bumper... sorry for the odd angle of the photo, but this is the actual items and the photo was lifted from ebay.




The 1950 Ford bumper guards




The set of Appleton S-552 Spotlights.




And the Mercury Monterey Accessory steering wheel.
The photo is not the actual steering wheel. The one Palle found will need a full restoration, but once done will look like the photo below.

 

Man is this going to be good...thanks Rik.

 

Looking forward to seeing this comming together

 

Thanks fellows for giving us the opportunity to witness this great early kustom restoration.What a cool car,can`t wait to see more!

 

Finally! I look forward to follow this one!!

 

Any shots of the damage AFTER it was hit by the train, but BEFORE it was restored????

 

Not yet, but Bob Drake told us he has the photos. But its hard to get the "other generation" to get photos scanned or copied and send over seas... So it might take us a bit longer to get those.

 

Thanks Rik for posting. Cant wait to see this back in its former glory. What do Palle have planned for the original interior?

 

Subscribed. Many thanks, Rik.