Hey HAMB. I've been out of the car game for awhile, been focusing on motorcycles for the last few years. Really been wanting something old again to cruise, and I always especially miss my 51 Plymouth Concord I blew up about 10 years ago. Of course, back then I was living in San Diego, and getting around a big city like that was difficult with an old rig. I've since moved to Fort Collins, CO a couple years ago, and love it out here. A fairly small town, and about a 1 mile commute to work makes an old driver reasonable to have. I've always though a shoebox would be rad, but wasn't specifically looking for one. Happened to see this car for sale on CL in Cheyenne, WY, about an hour away. I grabbed a buddy on Monday night and we headed up to check it out. Turned out it was much nicer than I expected. It's a 49 Ford 4 door. 50k original miles. Original flathead v8, 3 speed no overdrive. Older paint job, but not bad. Interiors been redone within the last 5 years I bet. Pretty new whitewalls on it (Firestones up front, Cokers in back). Pretty much all stock otherwise. I paid the man and drove it home, and had a blast. it was a great buy and will be alot of fun. It has a few issues, most pressing is dragging brakes when they heat up. All 4 wheels seem fine. Seems to be an issue with the master cylinder. Brake lights stay on when parked, there seems to be residual pressure in the system. I adjusted the eccentric bolt for the pedal to m/c to get some more free play at the brake pedal. This helped a little but didn't solve the problem. I don't want to mess with it, just ordered a new master cylinder from Shoebox Central and a few other parts. It'll get what it needs to be safe and fun around town. I'll use this thread to post pics and document what problems or mods I do while I drive the crap out of this thing. Glad to be back on the HAMB!
That is a really nice looking car.....appears to have been taken good care of over the years, Congratulations on a great find. Ray
When I read the first post, I thought "Yuck, another 4-gater". Once I saw the pictures though, I completely changed my mind. That is a great looking car and appears to be in good condition. Congratulations on your purchase. I'm sure you will really enjoy it once you get the kinks worked out. There is one thing that bugs me : I could never figure out why someone would spend almost $50 for reproduction radiator hoses, and then install regular old worm-drive hose clamps when the proper hose clamps are easy to get and cheap.
That's a great lookin' car. We love our '50. It's probably the most family-friendly old car we've ever had. Have fun with it!
That's a good lookin shoebox. It will sure stand out in a parking lot full of $hitbox jelly bean cars and SUVs!
You guys are awesome, thanks for the replies. I love the car already, it's a great driver. Unfortunately, brake problem got worse so I parked it today. Going to get the old master cylinder out this weekend, should have new parts in by Monday and will swap it out. I'm pretty sure it's the master cylinder causing the issue. When the brakes drag, they all do, not just one wheel. After driving it for 10-15 minutes the pedal feel gets harder and harder til they drag pretty bad. This is after adjusting in quite a bit a free play in the pedal from the eccentric bolt at the M/C. It was pretty crusty anyways, so I feel good replacing it regardless. Will probably rebuild the old one at some point and keep it as a spare. Will post some pics of the swap this weekend.
If the new master cylinder doesn't solve my problem, will pull apart all the wheels and inspect all cylinders and brake hardware. I really don't feel like that's the case at this point, but will definitely check if I still have problems. Thanks for the advice though I'll keep it in mind.
Looks like a well cared for 49, congrats. Wait till you see what you have to do to replace that master!
Thanks! Ya I saw the location of the master. That's going to be fun to do laying on the ground. Any tips for the job? Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Plan to get messy, leaked on, dirt in the eyes and face, skinned knuckles, swear a lot, get mad. Same old same old
Tips, yeah. Remove brake pedal pad, disconnect clutch pedal from clutch shaft. Remove clutch linkage holding screw at trans. Disconnect brake pedal return spring. Remove the master and brake pedal from the car. Best tip is to give yourself enough time, this isn't a two bolt and lines job
Well, yesterday was a pain in the ass! Thanks for the tips guys! Nifty One your info was dead on. I also found a great post on the Ford Shoebox facebook group, the guys pictures were excellent. I will make another post in a minute with his pictures and description (not trying to steal his content, all credit goes to him, it was just super helpful). I got the old mc out in about an hour. Definitely have to disconnect clutch pedal from the shaft, and remove both mc mounting bolts in order to til it enough to get clutch shaft to clear the transmission. Other than that, no real surprises. Good time to adjust clutch freeplay when you put it back together as well. Got the new mc from Shoebox Central back in, under an hour to put it all back together. Everything looked good. The problem seems to be a bunged up old junction block. I was reusing the old banjo bolt, it was in great shape. However, no matter what I tried (new copper washers, old washers, new brake pressure switch, old switch, etc) I got bad leaking from the pressure switch, and the from the banjo bolt around the washers at the face of the mc. At this point I assume something is screwed up with the junction block and it just won't seal. I'm going to replace the junction block, banjo bolt, and washers and see if I can get it sealed up. Just frustrating, gotta wait another 3-4 days for parts and see if that solves it. Oh well! Both headlights had also failed on my drive home last week....so in went a new pair of 6v sealed beams from Shoebox Central, and they're working great. I'll spend the time waiting for parts trying to sort out non-functional dash lights and running/brake lights. I definitely remember why I love and hate having (but mostly love) having an old car again!
Here is the really helpful posts by Mike Sharum in the Shoebox Fords facebook group. I couldn't find a way to share it without taking screenshots, you'd have to join the group to see it. Good pics and description of the order to do stuff to replace the mc.
The Jalopy Journal
