Projects Trying to un-ugly a 1946 Ford coupe

I had a 1941 Ford club coupe project, but when I saw this 46 coupe advertised locally a few weeks ago I figured I should go look it. The seller told me over the phone it was a traditional Hotrod. He had no pics in his ad. This is what I saw when I walked in his garage.



The paint, stickers, tires/wheels...ugh it needed help. It did run and drive, but the seller told me it needed a new engine, and thus why it was a pretty reasonable price. It had all stock running gear and aside from having some trim shaved, appeared to be a nice dry car. I was sure I could get it looking a lot better for not a lot of money, so we struck a deal and I brought it home. The car running/driving was the bonus as I wanted a car my family and I could enjoy sooner then later. I asked the seller where the front bumper was, and he replied "hotrods don't have front bumpers". Sure thing, man.



First thing I did was pull the gross 14" wheels and white wall radials off and put some 16's on it. The drums had been redrilled to 5x4.5" bolt pattern, so this meant I had to clean up another set of drums and rebuilt all the hydraulics on the brakes and packed wheel bearings while I was at it




Then, I removed the seats and swapped them with the freshly stitched seats I had for the other coupe. The seats in the 46 were nice, but not my style. I also peeled all the stickers off and put a stock steering wheel back in it.



The car has been painted "Hotrod flatz" which is a single stage enamel with a flatning agent. My car painter friend Dusty came over and looked at it, telling me you can wet sand and buff the flatz paint. We tried an area just above be passenger side headlight. Now I get to do the whole car!





And yesterday I figured out why it was running bad. I think he had an externally resisted coil, with no resister, and it burned up the points and condenser. The coil is not marked anywhere, so I replaced it with a internally resisted coil and a fresh distributor I had. It now runs like a watch. It had a rechromed rear bumper, and I picked up a rechromed front bumper at the Monroe swap meet a couple weeks back, and found a nice front gravel pan on Craigslist. I installed those and it really looks better.






Next up is a dropped axle I got from Anson axles. Stick around, in my free time during the next month or two I hope to get the coupe sitting right and paint shined up

 

Man that's a huge improvement looks great

 

Looks really good! Nice save.

 

Congrats - yes, I think that you can save it

 

That is a beautiful car!!! That white interior against that black paint is quite stunning! It's nice ya' got the stock steering wheel back in!....I love the look of that car!....good job for sure!

 

Man, what a difference. Now show the rest of us how to make it sit right.

 

"Save" seems a bit extreme on an already driving car, I'd maybe leave that term for the guys building cars that many would consider parts cars or un-fixable, but I would say you can definitely improve it, and you're already getting there.

 

Sorry about that, I meant save it from the look the previous owner had going on. I changed the thread name for you

 

No offense intented, all of the changes look good so far.

 

Chris, you do nice work ...

 

Great stuff Chris, car looks so much better, love the interior. It must be quite satisfying to see pretty much instant results.
I am not sure where you find the "spare time" but you use it well.
Gordon.

 

I don't either, with having a 1.5 year old. Usually late at night after everyone went to bed. But the whole reason behind this car is for us to use for family cruising.

 

I Like it!

 

Very nice transformation ....... so far!
I am sure as time allows it will get even better!
KK

 

I took it in its first "out of the neighborhood" drive last night. Did very well. Drives nice and runs pretty good. Has a very slight miss every once in a while I'll have to try and figure out. But all in all I'm impressed

 

Damn!
I like it!!!!!!!!

 

Nice looking car (now), good job, and a good eye.

 

Sweet!
When you're done, drive by where ya bought it and say "now, it's a hotrod!"

 

You are the only person I know that can buy a '46 Ford that is missing a front bumper and then find a rechromed one at the swap meet the next weekend and a gravel pan for it on Craigslist ... Love it brah!

 

That's how I roll?

 

Is this getting a 283? I noticed on the What cam for a 283 thread you asked what cam you should use...which btw, should be a factory 327/3oohp cam for all around drivability/mileage/power range, etc., and not the Duntov 30-30 that someone suggested...my .02 cents

 

Yes Larry eventually I'd like to put my 283 in this car. Keep the stock rear and trans, so nothing radical. Here is that engine mocked up in a coupe I had before this one. It's a 57 283 with power pack heads. Thanks for the cam advise, I've never built a chev before

 

Today was exciting, my friend Dusty came over and started wet sanding and buffing the car. It's turning out far better then I imagined. It's about half done

 

Wow,that paint comes out great!! You´ve done some awesome improvements on that coupe!

 

Lookin' great Chris...

 

You have definitely un-uglified the coupe. Are the wheels and tyres off your roadster? They suit the car just right.
When is it appearing in Car For Sale?
Thanks for sharing the 'upgrades/

 

listen to larry aside from being alittle cranky he is giving you good advice about the 283 that is the best cam combo you can use on the street especially in a car like that with stock driveline

 

Looking really good...

 

Hot damn tamales! Look at the shine!

I think if you did stop by where you bought it from, the guy wouldn't believe it is the same car at all. Beautiful transformation!

 

That looks great, you've paved the way for all the those flat paint jobs to be shiny again. Makes sense the flattening agent floats to the top and clouds the finish. Can't wait to see more, like where you're going with the car.