Projects I just bought my last one.....a shoebox

They don’t make that stuff anymore. It’s fragile but I’m going to try and enjoy it as long as possible.

I’ll put a pad on the seat under my seat but eventually it will need attention.

Now the complete stained original headliner, sun visors, worn door panels, frayed windlace and grab handles, they’re staying.

 

Yep V8 and it still has the crossover pipe.

 

That’s so cool.

 

That is a great lookin 51. IMO 51 Was the best of the shoebox Fords. I especially like the dash and steering wheel on the 51 cars. Good luck with it!

 

My brother is coming to get the F1s tomorrow. I had no idea he had interest in it. I’m proud he wants it.
That joker is going to put a “Mystery Motor” in it.
Straight axle F1 with a 396...
Holy Moly!
“ You’ll shoot your eye out kid”

My brother found the Fairlane for me years ago and for that reason I’m hanging on to it.

Although my son kind of bailed on our ‘65 F 100 project, he wanted to keep it, so it’s staying too.

 

I did not realize until this day how advanced the ‘51 shoeboxes really were. I had a ‘49 and a ‘50.
The ‘51 is nearly a different car. I looked for the starter button. 51 was the first year for the key start. There’s a lot of other little things too.

 

Great looking car ---- have fun & stay safe

 

The moment I saw it...

I thought of

Bruce Lancaster.

I have a bunch of questions for that man.

 

Very cool! Is that an original 51 paint color? My first car was a 50 Crestliner and I've had a slew of shuboxes since! Great cars.

 

I’ve got to decode the VIN.

The color is close but somewhat “bluer” than what’s showing on the door jams and firewall. At first glance you would think it was the original color as it “almost” matches.

It may have beeen Silvertone Gray....That color shows as a subdued baby blue.

A quick look shows that Alpine Blue is pretty close, enough that the color difference to original may be the mix. I’ll know for sure when I find the code.

 

That car looks real solid, congratulations!
I finally got my 50 coupe running & was able to put some miles on it.
Unfortunately mine is nowhere near as solid.
My first car at 14 was a 1950 sedan, getting to drive this was like going back in time.

 

Cool, My dad bought a new 51 Ford two door post ( I don't know what model except it had a back seat) from the dealer that was here in town in 51. Traded in a 41 Buick Fastback on it. I got to go to the dealer with him when he picked it up.
I remember we made a road trip to San Diego in it to see my aunt that summer.
I still have a soft spot for shoeboxes. I've been thinking lately that I might sell the Model A I have if I found one that was together enough so that I could stick my flathead in it.

 

Amen...to that!


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

Sweet! That's a damn fine looking car, congrats

 

Well.....
Things just got interesting about the ‘51.

Stuff was not adding up.

Cut up floor and patches where there was no rust.

Strange holes cut in the floor in odd places.

The center of the firewall and toeboard plumb past the pedals has been cut away and patched back up.

The center of the front crossmember has been trimmed....

The car is still 6 volt and still has the original wiring except for some stuff under the hood.

A big bashed in area on the firewall where about the spot where a Y block or Lincoln distributor would be.

Ancient pieces of aluminum between the coils of the spring....just on the drivers side. This is to raise, not lower.

Interior, absolutely original including the smell.

The car is from the Cumberland Valley Tennessee manufactured in Louisville Kentucky.

Three main points....
The car was modified for a big engine in the 6 volt era.
The cars appearance was kept absolutely original down to the original interior.
Strange holes for no reason.

My conclusion......

I think it was a blockader.....whiskey car.

 

Im a 6 cylinder Chevy guy, but dang. Thats a nice car. Your first post was perfect too. Great car and great post. Drive the crap out of it. Now maybe I should find my old 38 coupe that I sold to someone in Maryville, TN.......

 

Amazing box. I agree 51 custom coupes are incredible, I also loved the front end before I had one. Here's mine...

 

Well I've dodged some bullets. I was able to make a repair that could have easily gone wrong.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
The front two exhaust ports on both sides were assembled with the wrong size "studs". On a Flathead the front 4 exhaust bolts ought to be 7/16. They glued in 3/8 studs with sealer.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

I was very fortunate to be able to make this repair. ( Chase and clean up the threads with the engine in chassis)
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
A access point on a shoebox, that's easily overlooked.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Left over from the '50.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Whew! What a job!
It's about the most tedious automotive repair I've done.
I do have a thread on just this repair.
Headers....
It's officially a hot rod now!
I had to adjust the idle down because it flowed so much better. That was surprising, but then again, not really.

 

I was going to be classy and not mention this but….

I bought this car from a bunch of liars.

Some of it was tongue in cheek like...
I knew they were lying. They of course, knew they were lying. I'm pretty sure they knew, I knew they were lying.
Why? because I'm not an idiot.

Those jokers were not giving me an inch. It was like the Emperor's New Clothes. Or if you prefer, the classic line from Josey Whales," Don't piss on my boot and tell me it's raining."

The car is a honest to goodness Coupe. The car spoke for itself. I was going to get the car. All their lying accomplished was me having a low opinion of them. They got their dough though.

It was the life safety stuff that really got to me.
"Aw Listen to how good it runs." BS, this car is running on 5 cylinders.
" You can get into this car and drive it home."...Only if I was an idiot.
" Look it's got turn signals, see the light is on." Yeah, but it's not blinking.
" All you need is a 8 volt battery, that's what the farmers around here use." Judging by the smoke coming from solenoid….How abought cleaning those connections.
" All the gauges work." That's funny one would think they would need to be connected to work. The Cluster lights do work though.
"The car drives great." Yes, yes it does but it does not stop good, it will stop, but not good.
The Biggie!
" I just got through going over the brakes, a total brake job."
B.S. B.S. B.S.
Going "Over" the brakes must mean sitting your butt over the master cylinder and pumping it 3 times.
Those brakes have not been checked in decades. Decades! The fluid had not been checked years.
I felt like Indiana Jones scraping away centuries of gunk, just to find the adjuster hole.
That one bothered me the most.

Why not be honest? Why not just tell the truth?

The truth was, They got the car 10 or more years ago. They rolled into a big building with their Ford Hoard. A week before the sale, They rolled it out and washed it. Here ya go. Here it is, as is.
I can accept that and that's premise I bought it on.
I knew it.
They knew it.
They knew, I knew it but they stuck to the game.
It's a good car. I'm tickled with it, but it's still not in the condition that played it to be.
Soon it will be but even better.
She's going to make a nice one!

 

All things considered, are You Happy with it? I see a nice mild custom (at least in the front), how about a shot of the rear? You know the drill, make it safe and Enjoy!

 

Oh, I'm very happy with it.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

 

When I got the car it would barely crank. Turn the key and this is what you got.
Wow...….Uh wow....wow....wow.....wow. Then it would start.
Once it warmed up if you shut it off, this is what it would do if you tried to start it hot....
Waaa. That was it.
It would not crank over hot.
I was expecting to rebuild the starter. A simple cleaning of all the primary leads was all it took.
When I turn the key now I get that familiar 6V Ford starter sound.
When it's hot, barely turn the key and she fires right up. I had to do a lot of work to get her there but right now it runs like a top.

 

Since you knew that they knew that you knew, I assume you didn't overpay. If that is the case, I think you got a good car. Better than something sitting on the ground out in the weather for 30 years.

 

My box was the same. Guy knew exactly what was wrong with it, but wasn't going to answer unless I asked the exact question. I could tell by the way he was acting. So when I bought it I knew I'd have a few things to do, but the price was right. I've completed those few things and could not be happier, like you. So, onward and upward.

You gotta post a video now so we can hear that flattie rumble...

 

This is part of the reason she ran so rough. Until I got it running right, I did not realize how bad it actually was.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Yep, 1951 Plug wires, copper core.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
A absolutely filthy and gunked up 94. You can see the fresh 94 on the engine in the background.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
The accelerator linkage was a nightmare. It was barely functional. This was one of the main things that made the car near undrivable.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
You gotta love the "porch door" return spring attached with bailing wire to the generator bolt.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
The '50 94 carburetor I rebuilt was not compatible with the linkage that was on it. I had to make a new throttle rod out of a old F1 rod I had. I had to cut it, thread it with a die and bend it to shape. I mounted a new spring set off a new spring bracket.

I still had major throttle problems. This was at the floor. I'll get to that later.
I have cleaned a lot of this up. The brass valve is what they used to "plug" the oil filter line.

This is what I had to do top get the car to run well.
I replaced the spark plugs and wires.
I replaced the points and set to specs.
I replaced the cap.
I rebuilt a '50 94 2bbl and repaired/replaced the linkage.
I adjusted the idle with a vacuum gauge.
I'm running 20inches off the wiper port.
I could not find the pulley mark with the light so I tuned as best I could off a vacuum gauge and by ear. I set the distributor about where the PO had it set.
After all this the car still had a miss.

I decided to install the oil filter set up off my 1950 engine. I thought it best to remove the exhaust to give me some room. This is when I ran into the exhaust bolt fiasco mentioned above.
While doing these repairs to the block and adding headers, I found the damper mark so I knew what to look for.
Fighting those headers I found out why I had no brake lights. The connectors for the switch are spent, they are just wore out. Inspecting the brake line wire nearly caused a fire. The insulation was gone and it arced against the frame rail. I got the battery unhooked. No Damage.
At the very least I know I need a new Brake line harness. I cut off the damaged harness and taped it up for now.

Back to the engine,
With new headers, new plugs, new cap, new wires, new points and a fresh carburetor it ran so much better but there was an annoying miss. A wandering miss.
Since I knew what to look for, I put it back on the timing light.

I found I was way, way advanced.
As I was moving the distributor, bringing the dot, to the pointer, The engine changed tone. The RPM dropped some.
Until that moment I did not realize how "Tinny" the engine sounded.
As I set it to the mark the tone went from that tinny sound to a deep steady "flathead" sound with no miss.
The reason for the miss...
It was out of time.
It runs beautiful now.

 

Bought a lot older cars and always figured in the basic necessary repairs , brakes, belts, tune up. Test drive, negotiate, yea or nay! Never fall in love at first glance.

 

I'll just say it.
I gave 10K for it. That's neither good nor bad. It's the most I have ever gave for a old car. I'm happy with that. Values are all over the place.
What would it take for me to get this

to this?
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

I had this truck for 20 years.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
I sold my '50 Coupe when hard times hit and I wound up with this truck. I like the truck.
I never really liked how it was set up. The truth is I did not have the passion for it. All I can say is my enthusiasm and plans were like a wandering ship, a ship without a rudder.
That truck was there in the hard times. The times that there was no money, none. In that time it really went down hill.
To do what I wanted to do with it led me to this one.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
To do the F1 like I wanted meant swapping frames, trying to repair the 50 sheet metal and going back with the flathead.
The red parts truck in the drive way sent my wife over the edge, over the edge in a good way.
After about a month of the parts truck in the driveway, she told me. If you liquidate those trucks, we'll get something nice.
Hence...
My new 51.
I was stuck with the F1 project. Maybe I just had it too long.
This blue Ford. That one I can handle.

I had to be honest with myself.
I can repair one, not build one.
I can repair the blue Ford.
In theory I could have built the F1, in reality maybe not.
I can handle the blue Ford, The F1 was just too much.

My wife even posted on her FB when the blue coupe was delivered. She called it.... Travis has got his Coupe back day.

My brother got the F1 and the parts truck. It's in good hands. He has lots of plans for it.

 

NICE

 

On with the accelerator issue. This was a major problem the linkage flat out would not work safely.
This is what I found...
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Somebody had cut out a piece of sheet aluminum and threaded a plastic nut and bolt through it. Then they drilled through the plastic bolt to make a bushing for the accelerator rod.
Here's the floor.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
They had used a heavy piece of aluminum sheet to "rebuild" that portion of the floor. This was not rust damage although the car has a little rust damage to the floor.
This was from a previous engine swap.

I had to hand form a proper panel and attach the accelerator pedal assembly correctly.
Bingo!
The gas pedal is repaired correctly, it now has a well functioning Go-Pedal.

Here some of the carnage from the engine swap...
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Got Clearance?
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

The toeboard looks like a patchwork quilt.
I know I gave the sellers hell in a previous post. I believe that they did not know about all this. All of this was hidden under the carpet and dash pad.

It took me a while to grasp what was going on with this car.
This is what I figure....
The car at one time ran some type of Overhead valve engine.

Later, someone tried to restore the car.

Later still, some jackleg does all kind of goofy stuff like....

The plastic bolt repair and putting the Fender skirts on with freaking 2 1/2 self tapping screws!

Just in case some of you think I'm bitching, I'm not. I'm fortunate to have a car like this. I just wanted to document the surprises and share the status thus far.