Bought a really bad project- so now what?

is there safe parking where your gal would taking a car like this
also her 1st car is one to learn in
working together is a great idea but is this a proper 1st car??

 

I can see where you might hope a 2500 chassis might be the way, but I would have a local hamber with Ford transverse experience, look at your car first. I am sure someone will give a look.

I still say that pulling the body will lead to more despair and turn into a major project.

From what little I can see, I still think this was a very nice, well kept original car until recently.

I would be putting Ford parts back in. There are still quite easy to find around here. Upgrade the donor 33-36 front axle to 40 brakes or discs. Use a semi modern drum brake rear with transverse spring and either ladders or 35/36 rear arms. Not much in cost outlay if you get a mentor to guide you to the right parts.



On other issues; The car is not worthless as is. It is still a decent car from what I can see. A full day would have all the bad stuff removed...it won't take much cutting on those few cold welds.

Posting the sellers name..why? Get to rebuilding instead..move forward rather than dwelling on yesterday.

 

33-34 front axles can be had for $100-$200 with the wishbone. 40 frt brakes are another buck or so.
I'd look for a complete straight axle set up out of somebody's abandoned project. I've seen them at swap meets for well under a grand.
A Ford 8' rr axle with springs can be snagged out of an old Mustang pretty cheap, move the perches & fit it in.

I think that you can salvage this rod for a couple-three grand. Then you're not upside-down in this project & can still re-coup your investment some day...

 

Back at home finally. The builder's name, per the bill of sale and registration, is Richard Ashby, Jr.

I'll put it on stands and start ripping stuff off tomorrow. Thanks for everyone's help! Even if I don't finish it, at least it'll be closer to a tradable item....

 

You can do it. Once you get started it wont take you long, just ask questions and you shouldnt have any problem, your in the right place to get any information, and parts you should need, good luck.

Keep us posted on how its going.

 

That name would end up engraved forever on the hotrod Wall of Shame as one of the all time worst cobblers, if such existed. I am glad you have shared both the name, and the experience, as a reality check to any and everyone that you don't buy anything solely upon someone's word, or slick sounding story.

 

Howdy, folks. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend. I've had a good Saturday. Got the car home last night and was able to pull the suspension today. Still have the transmission and engine to pull- maybe Monday or so. Good news- it was easy to pull most everything (only had 1 weld to cut). Bad news- the frame is original, got some rust issues in the floor panels and frame. Pictures attached. Looks like it'll be a long year to get this up and running.

 

I think you are off to a good start.
The car looks better already

RIP ED

 

you got a good jump on it , keep up the good work , at least in the end you will know what was done to it , and it should be a lot nicer ,

 

Lemme guess. All it took to get that suspension off was a broken screwdriver and gravity.
Seriously, that was some really shoddy work and I'm glad you caught it before someone was hurt or killed. Hang in there, you got a whole world of HAMBers supporting ya. The body itself doesn't look bad at all, definably something to work with.

 

Now you need to build a big dollie to roll it around .Like everyone else is saying You dont need all new stuff .Plenty of goodused iron here at the classified ,Its a shame I just sold a 34 truck Front axle about a month ago ,+ radius rods Remember 32-36 are the same axle .Radius rods differ ,If using juice truck brakes ,You want the 46 inch axle ,And you will have to forget about the stock axle

 

Man put some wooden blocks or spare tires under the car and don't trust only the jack stands.
It is going to be a great car when you get it straightened out.

 

It looks like 8K worth of '34 Fordor now!

JH

 

Harrison PLEASE change you avatar, its killin me Unless she is a friend and you can send me her MSN LOL.

Good start mate. Maybe think about removing the fenders as will be easier to work on (you wont bang your head so often) lol. The grill etc should come off to make it easier to rip the the motor and tranny out. Did you leave enough room in front of the car to get the engine hoist in etc?

If you can get it inside as will be much nicer to work on a proper floor.

Keep at it, there will be set backs but in the end you'll get there.

 

Your car looks a TON better already! Your off to a great start with your project. At least you don't have to worry about metal work to your body? It's in awesome shape!

 

I second this...While pulling a transmission out, I shook the car off the jack stands while I was under it, if I had the wheels off..it would have crushed me..

I've seen others use huge (12" X 12") or larger rail-road ties or similar as back ups under the frame in case you jar it off the jack stands.

Good job getting all the old stuff ripped out and heading down the road to getting your car back on the road safely.

Dave

 

I have just read all 12 pages and feel for you but in saying that I believe you have made the correct disussion in having a go at rebuilding your car. You mentioned that you had a stick welder plus a mig at home so you must have some skill in there use so as everybody has mentioned,get out there and give it a damn good go at it.

 

Here is what I have learned. When you get a bad project or sad project fix the worst thing right away no matter how unpleasant. Secondly just because some one says it is the worst hack job they have ever seen that doesnt mean anything. All it means is they think at least in their mind they could do it better. Maybe they can but most likely not. Critics are a dime a dozen. Craftsmen are rare.
Thirdly you keep talking about so many K for this and so many K for that. Wow! A couple of hundred is more than i would spend on any one thing. Where do you guys live? I will open up the shop again if you want to part with that much gold.
Don

 

Don, didn't say I wanted to part with that much- those are Posey and Speedline new gear prices, shoots the hell out of my budget so I'll have to do something else. 1 kid in college, 2nd one (the car's for her) in 10th- my own 2 little money vacuums, so the wife is limiting my budget.

I pulled the other blocks for a cleaner photo but have been using the tires and wedged up blocks tight for more support. Dropping the car on my head wouldn't be a good thing. I have enough room for an engine hoist in front, have to go rent one when I get mostly disconnected.

Any good plans here for a roller assembly or setup for the frame? I've got to figure how to set up clearances so it won't interfere with axle etc installations... Thanks.

 

I would tend to go this way although it is a shed load of work

 

I am happy to see that you are righting this wrong. As has been mentioned before, we've all got your back!

 

You Can Do It !

 

Doug:Glad to see ya made some progress. If you need a hand pulling the motor let me know. Don't have a hoist but do have an engine stand if you need it!

 

You have 90% of the bad suspension crap out of it . . . now is the time to think about putting it back to maybe a more traditional state. It is not that expensive to put a simple dropped I-Beam suspension back in it . . . with some hydraulic brakes, split wishbones, etc.. If you want to go traditional - maybe back to a 59AB style flathead, 39 style transmission and an original style rear-end with hydraulic brakes. I'll bet that if you do a bit of scrounging and use parts that are designed to fit, you'll be able to get the whole running gear (minus the engine) back in solid shape for about $2000 - that should certainly be doable and you'd have a solid suspension that will work well, will last for years and anybody can work on.

Find a good running flathead -- from somebody you know and/or trust . . . don't go wild, maybe some nice heads a 2-pot manifold --- if you did your homework and found the right deal . . . maybe $2,000 to $3,000 total in the engine. If you stay stock 59AB, should be able to find a good runner that has been rebuilt at some time for $1000 - 1200.

Anyway, it will take time . . . just need to be patient and look for good deals and have some friends help out along the way.

I'll be happy to lend some help on anything flathead . . . just PM me. Also, I've worked on 34's for many years and can steer you the right direction in parts, what fits, etc..

You can do it!

Dale

 

Looks like you are on your way to building a REAL hot rod and not the abortion you started with. Good on ya!

 

Thanks for the advice and good cheer, everyone. After I pulled up the glued in carpet, found a bunch of 24 guage galvanized, put together like HVAC ducting, hence all the screws poking through.... And he didn't do any body work, the "builder" just painted right over grease, rust, and everything. Looks like an original steel body but I haven't gone over it with a magnet to look for bondo yet.

Bored and Stroke, thanks for the offer! Long haul for youn though. I'm going to have to do some digging for parts, for sure. Simple but safe and able to run at highway speeds is my goal.

Mikeco, if you can make it down to Freddy I'll pay for your gas and provide pizza and beer. I was able to drop the transmission today and got most of the engine stuff free. - pulled the grill and radiator but the tire well bolts are frozen. I think I can get an engine hoist or dolly from one of the places around here, tried to raise and lower it following the Aerostar manual but didn't work. I'd like somebody smart like you to do an inspection and mentor me some on a good path forward (frame's a little hacked, does it need bolster plates welded in; what parts of the frame are missing, looks like at least 1 crossmember; fair bit of surface rust but frame and underbody panels look solid enough- do I need to run any boxing plates for a 6 cylinder with this frame in it's current shape, etc).

Heh heh, my daughter was reading out a nice rod for sale with 400 HP and is sure she wants to be a dragster now- I can hear the bail bondsman calling my name already...I think 150 :HP will be juuuuust fine.

Thanks!

Doug

 

Good for you for taking the plunge. Seriously, a lot of people would of dumped, or let it sit in their driveway.

That Aerostar rear axle looks like it fit realitively well; are you planning on reusing it? Buy a new drop axle, new spindles, and a disc brake kit for front. Don't bother with 40 drums on your daughters car. Ebay or the classifieds will probably yield some wishbones to finish out the front.

If the engine runs good, run it. You already own it. Maybe a parallel leaf kit for the back using your Aerostar axle.

 

Don't panic about the surface rust on the frame. Get some Rust Encapsulator and a wire frush and go to town. Try some PB Blaster on those frozen nuts. You are on your way!

 

Been reading this since the first.

My first rod was no where near as good as I thought.

It puked the trans the day after I brought it. I found that I had some awesome friends that stepped up and helped and educated me. Took the car back to a rolling body and put it back together.

Good luck with this.

 

Looks ton better aleardy.

my advice, dont dig into the body too much, just get the drivetrain taken care of, many people jus start digging into too much at one time, focus on getting it running and driving again, then in a year or two worry about the body work end of it.

your floors and frame actually look very good, one pic you have marked as floor patch, it is but its actually where the battery use to go, so they just stuck some galvi over the battery hole.

http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/images/pages1631.pdf

part number 8034h $405

heres a link to the posies rear parallel suspsension kit for the rear, its really reasonably priced and easy to do and fast.

its not as traditional as some people like but it sounds like you want a car that drive good and is dependable, flatheads and banjo rear ends are cool but it just doesnt sound like what you want.

id go sbc turbo trans and a 9" or 8" ford rear end.

with the front id go with a dropped axle and youd proably want disc brakes etc etc,

speedway motors would be a great place to get all the front end stuff you need.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Front-End-Assembly-for-Model-A-Frame-I-Beam,7768.html

heres a nice front end kit $629 its says A but would work fine in your 34.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Ford-Front-Axle-Steering-and-Brake-Kit-48-Inch-Axle,35260.html

and then the spindles disc brakes steering arm and tie rod that fit the front end $600

hope some of this info helps out some.

theres some of the front end stuff you could scroung and find better deals on im just not sure of your scrounging skills or knowledge of early ford parts.

jeff