So I bought this cool old hot rod a little over a year back. It appealed to me because it stood the test of time, was built in a traditional sense and had a very cool drivetrain. It also is a car that's been driven... a lot, and as the previous owner described been driven hard and put away wet. As with most old cars, it needed some stuff. Originally built by long time New England hot rodder, Paul Aldrich in the 70's. It was built with an eye toward the past, back when it wasn't a popular thing to do. It features a 59 Buick 401 nailhead and a T-10 four speed transmission. Here it is leaving snowy New England. Arriving in Austin Tx. To be continued...
...mmmmmm...Bias Plys...OH and the rest is really cool too...Congrats @Silva...looking forward to the 'To be Continued' part and thanks for the teaser
I have seen Aldrich at some of Massachusetts traditional shows, but never met him. He has had some cool cars like the 52-54 Ford wagon with a early Olds Rocket that is used for towing a vintage airport drag car. I was surprised your 40 has a nailhead as I believe he still has a ton of early Olds stuff.
Nailhead and a 4 speed.........perfect. I have 40 fever. I want a coupe and I'm gonna get one. I've had several 2 door sedans but they didn't scratch my itch. Yours is good looking and understated.
Thanks for all your positive responses... So, I left off with delivery of the car to Austin. I met the transporter, because I live on a very tight and winding road near lake Travis. The drive home was uneventful and I made mental notes on the way. Shifts good, plenty of power, doesn't drive too bad, could use shocks, etc. The only negative was brake pedal is rock hard but stopping power is way off... Pulled in my driveway and the brakes failed. Happy I made it home safely and it is an old car I justified! Here it sits D.O.A.
I'm smiling ear to ear looking at that and it's not even in my driveway...glad your interesting drive was eventful but unscathed...time to Iron out some minor details...
Sits great! Fender openings outlining those wide whites like it was a sketch. I don't see a lot of painted headlight buckets, I like the look!
Wow, never pictured that car leaving New England. I've seen it in person once or twice over the years. Congrats! I'll be watching this thread
So no big deal right? It's all part of the "process" assess and repair. So, I did just that and decided while fixing the brakes, I'd change the front spring and install tube shocks from chassis engineering. I bought new Lincoln style brakes from the hub out, courtesy of Boling Bros. Replaced all hoses, lines, master cylinder, rear wheel cylinders etc. Oh and while we're there why not freshen things up with some chassis black...
Very nice, I would not change it too much, I have a thing for nasty ass fast cars that aren't too pretty.
40 standard is my pick of the 39/40 fords windscreen on a 40 is cool and I like the 39 style droopy hood , I've a 39 sloper ,you Tudor looks great
Ok, so brakes and front suspension sorted! but wait what's that smell? The undeniable odor of an electrical fire... A phone call to Rebel wire for a 9 + 3 wiring harness will take care of this issue. While re-wiring the car, I took the opportunity to clean up the dash and interior, while making some sympathetic changes. IE: swapping mismatched instruments, installing 49 Ford door handles and window cranks. SoCal speed shop 49 Ford style switch pulls. Compounding some of the striping off the dash, yet leaving enough, as a nod to the original builder. A thorough cleaning of the old vinyl...
I just got through redoing the wiring on my '40. There was some scary stuff going on. It's amazing it had not burnt to the ground. Yours looks very similar to what I found. Keep up the good work.
That's the only smoke that should be in the cabin......rub it 3 times and she turns into a live Pinup...Oh Yeah @Silva was that under the seat?
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