Projects This Roadster followed me home...

***Disclaimer: I bought this car on 12/30/19 so I'm a little ahead of the game.***

It was about 8 at night and for whatever reason I decided to check out Craigslist, which I almost never do anymore. About 4 listings down there was this little Roadster. I spent about 10 minutes looking at it and telling myself all the reasons why I couldn't afford it, but it couldn't hurt to call... right? His wife answers. He's not home. So I leave a message with my number and then spend the next two hours thinking about all the reasons I couldn't afford it. Finally the guy that owns it calls me back and we make arrangements for me to come check it out in the morning. I called my buddy with a rollback and asked him if he wanted to ride over there with me... you know... just in case. He spent the next 30 minutes telling me all the reasons why I couldn't afford it.

12/30/19 9am
I meet my buddy at his house so we can go to take a look at this car. The rollback won't start. It takes us about an hour to get it running (diesel) so I call the guy that owns the car and tell him I'm going to be about an hour late. "No problem" he says. Now we're on our way... and then the rollback dies. 2/10ths of a mile from his driveway. In an intersection. Call the owner of the roadster and inform him that our truck died within sight of his house. Still he says "no problem." After about five minutes of diagnosing, we discover that the rollback is out of fuel! Call the owner again. Any chance you've got a gas can? In about 10 minutes he shows up with a fuel can and gives me a lift to the store. I spend the entire trip thinking about all the reasons why I can't afford this car. He drops me off with the fuel and I asure him that will we be there in just a few minutes. "This thing should fire right up now..." says I. We pour in the fuel. The truck turns over about half a dozen times aaaaand the battery dies. Is this car cursed? 1 hour and 45 minutes later the owner of the roadster pulls back up and ask if I want to get in the truck with him and "go look at this car or not?!" Off we go.

We walk in to his shop and I see the roadster for the first time... I immediately began thinking of all the reasons that I can probably find a way to afford this car. As I'm checking out the car his phone is ringing so much that I expected it to catch on fire. People were literally calling him from all over the country. I'm 4 hours late, I've had to ask him for half a dozen favors, and he has plenty of buyers in line, sounds like a perfect time to negotiate! I pull out some cash and hand it to him, for whatever reason he accepts it. We have a deal! I instantly remember all the reasons that I can't afford this car... now I have the dilema of transporting it home. At that exact moment my buddy pulls in with the rollback. The clouds parted, the sun came out, and birds started singing. I'm not kidding.

And this is what I ended up with. A super solid 1930 Ford Roadster with a good 2019 North Carolina title. That last little bit of info is a very big deal in this neck of the woods!

 

That sounds about right. Lol

 

So... you've had it almost a month. Is it done yet?

 

My plan for this car is just to get it running where I can drive it and then let it evolve naturally from there when I need to stop/go faster.

 

Just meant to be...

 

Don't forget to check the air in the tires before you take off down the road

 

Very entertaining story/lead in.
Looks like a solid start to a fun save-build.
Congratulations.

 

Congrats!

Let the fun begin.


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Looks like you snagged a good one.

 

You need to find a friend with a more reliable roll-back! Cool story!

 

nice looking project.

had an OT car for sale a few years back and the guy came from about 2 hours away with a roll back then tried to negotiate the price. I knew he did not drive that thing two hours just to drive back with no car. told him the price was firm and he bought it.

 

You have to be careful with that thinking. A rollback only uses a little bit more fuel than a regular truck. 2 hours to look and 2 hours home. I do not want to invest another 4 hours to go back. 4 hours of my time is worth more than the cost of the fuel to take the trailer or rollback.

 

true. but I gambled and won this time.

 

Now that’s the way to buy the start of a Hot Rod!!!!! Sounds like something that would’ve happened to me. .

 

Nice.

 

Nice score! YOu must have been wrong with all that worrying about affordability, you had the cash just sitting there in your pocket. Unless that was the mortgage payment.

 

Now we need more pictures!

 

In all the commotion, you must have forgot to ask the history on the lil roadster. It sure looks to be in great shape!

 

Excitement, stress, anticipation, doubt, all seem to come into play until that next project is in your possession.
Cool story..seems typical for some reason.
Now that, that is over you can concentrate on your build.
Good luck .

 

Very nice score. Banger or A/V8 ?....a natural for either one....just .02 cents worth or nonsense.

 

Banger for now.

 

Great story!!

 

1/7/20

My friend Alec has a hot rod shop up in Wilkesboro. I gave him a call to see if he had any leads on some stock Model A parts. Sure enough, he had a restored car that they were building into a hot rod. He offered to sell me all of the stock take off parts for less than I would spend on a set of tires so I jumped in the van and headed west. Thanks Alec!

This is what I ended up with: rebuilt rear end, rebuilt front suspension, brake rods, crossmember, new brakes at all four corners, side shift transmission, * wheels and tires, * and a nice seat out of a Jeep.

*not pictured

 

Score!
t


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1/8/20

I had posted an ad looking for parts and a gentleman called me up saying that he had a set of windshield stanchions. The price was right and he was only about 30 minutes away so I jumped on the opportunity. As we were talking he mentioned that his brother lived right down the road and had some model A parts as well. He called his brother and got me the all clear to stop by. I ended up getting two starters, a rebuilt steering column, a hand crank, and a '30 grille. All for the grand sum of $85. They were both super nice guys and I hope I get to return the favor to them somehow someday.

 

In your first haul I noticed a stock emergency brake cross shaft... they make great front spreader bars on model As...
think about pulling the stock pin so you can rotate the 5" bar to where you want it...
it would look cool supporting a fog light, a horn, a nose thumbing Satan, a world's fair emblem... etc...
wish I did !
.

another one on my '32 chassis... have run it on my last 5 hotrods...

 

Great idea!

 

1/9/20
Made some spare time to work on my roadster. I was more than ready to throw some parts at this thing. Starting to look like a car now. Now that it will roll and stop, it was time to see if it will run...

 

ready to sell it yet ?

 

Not yet