I love survivors. I love the thought of something like an old hot rod just sitting in wait for decades. When a car goes untouched for such a long period of time, uncovering it becomes something like an archeological dig. There is just so much to lear... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
Fix what needs to be to make it safe and reliable and drive the wheels off of it, any thing else can start to cost some big money. It is a beautiful car just the way it is!
For those of us who have cars that have been untouched and in the family for decades, this is always a tough call. Whatever the family desides, restore or preserve, the important thing is to get it out and drive it.
Always thought that car was really cool, and it is real goosebump stuff to see that it's survived in such amazing condition! The curator in me says make it drivable, but preserve as much as possible of what remains of the state it was in at the time of the HR article, particularly because the article focuses so much on the quality of the builder's workmanship. QUESTION for the '39-'40 Ford nerds, is this car unique among '40 Deluxe coupes in having what appears to be a crank-out windshield with a top-mounted wiper? I thought that was a '39 thing?
I was just going to Email this to Ryan because I don't wish to be seen as trying to hijack this thread. But I didn't see how to add the pictures of the cars in question. I love the '40 and with a 302 it can only be better. But about survivors. Here is a picture of my old '32 coup. I know it was a hot rod at the end of the fifty's 'cause it was mine. The current owner keeps it as I sold it, with the exception of the sbc, and takes it to local shows. Also an old picture of my roadster from before it was mine. It set the B/FR record at Bonneville in '58. I saw it at Half Moon bay that same year. I think those old cars are out there. They just don't look all that much different than more recently built cars. Maybe?
Wow, nice! I'd say get it on the road with as little effort as needed, and drive it until it drops. You can always resto it in the future, but once you do you'll be paranoid to push it too hard. It's all about the fun factor (for me, anyways =).
OK as everyone knows I'm just not an inline 6 car guy. That said that car is smooth as they come. Its got it in spades. I really would not want to make the call on it, bring it back to its former glory or clean it and drive it. I would think that maybe only restore what needs to be restored like maybe getting the rust off the carb covers and stuff like that without over restoring it. Make it look driven so to speak.
Great car and article. I can only wonder what kind of responses a builder would get today if he asked, "should I put a GM 6 in my '40 Ford"?
I think that is the same car I saw in a magazine way way back when. It looks to be in pretty fantastic shape and outside of going through the brakes and carbs I probably wouldn't want to do a lot to it. I don't feel the same way about some of the historic rods and customs that have been drug out lately and seem to show up at shows year after year with so much rust on them that you can't tell what the last paint color was let alone what the paint job that was on them when they became famous looked like. Those need to be restored to what they looked like when they were first shown.
Tidy it up a bit, replace any old rubber and drive that thing! Would be interesting to see the headwork it says it has, and why they went with that method rather than a WAYNE head or other crossflow. Lucky! TP
Coincidentally I was just looking at that car/magazine last night! Always dug that thing. Only thing I would change is my name added to the title!
As they say on The Antiques Roadshow: 'If you hadn't restored the finish, it would be worth about $50K. But as is, it's only about $3-5K.' Cue view of very surprised and disappointed look on the person's face. Followed by the "Well, we would never sell it anyway.' I think that probably applies to this beauty, in my mind anyway.
Would be interesting to see the headwork it says it has, and why they went with that method rather than a WAYNE head or other crossflow. Lucky! TP[/QUOTE]First off I would guess money. Second I have run both Howard and Horning heads. They were made as race parts. They expected you to accept some leaks. The Wayne requires different pistons from a GMC head. The Horning requires a billet cam. It wasn't like going to Summit and buying a kit today. Actually I sold my reworked stock head to Bud Morrell who put it on a flow bench and said it flowed better that his Wayne.
I'm a big fan of milled stock heads for a flathead, as they can take the beating or lack of care I give! So I can understand the second part of the explanation. If he was a doctor though, the money couldn't have been too crazy vs headwork! Thanks for that info. TP
About time a blog entry worth checking out Ryan. They cant all be of this intensity I know. Do no MORE than necessary is my take. Wonderful news thanks. Hey RichFox read the last four words of your first line.
You're right Frog, never seen a '40 with a crank out windshield and top mounted wiper, this is probably a 38-39 with '40 upgrades. The rest of the work is so nice, upgrading to '40 components would have been easy.
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