Well, I suppose I should start documenting the build of my 13-year-old son, Silas’s, newly acquired 50 Ford Custom both for updates along the way as well as to help me remember what all previous owners (and we) did later. First off, this is definitely a dream come true for what I assume would be many of us that we could both pass on the passion for these old cars to younger generations, plus the fact that I can spend lots of good father/son time both teaching how to do the work as well as talk life stuff along the way. This is actually the second car for this son. He had a two door 59 Biscayne since he was 5, but had decided it wasn't really what he wanted by the time he got closer to actually building something. We ended up selling the 59 so he would have some spending money to go toward something he really wanted to build. He ended up making $1800 selling the 59 that was free to start with, so that helped. I will begin with what I know about what we are starting with from what the guy in Bartlesville, Oklahoma told us when we picked it up. It is a 1950 Ford two door sedan that previous owners have done some work to already. When the guy we bought it from got it out of Mcloud, Oklahoma, it had already been converted to disk brakes on the front using Granada parts as well as had the Granada rear end installed. It had a 302 and C4 installed in it when he got it as well. Someone had put a Painless wiring kit in and started hooking up at least enough wires to make it run. He was told that it ran, but he was never able to prove that out before taking it apart. It also had later model Thunderbird seats including buckets in the front. All the original glass was in the car and it was a whole lot more together than it is now. The biggest mess that someone had made was to weld in a late 80’s or early 90’s Chevrolet pu extended cab floorpan to fix what I would have to assume was a rusted-out original one. That will likely be the first thing we cut out and throw in the scrap pile. Shortly after buying the car, the previous owner decided he wanted it chopped and chose Kenny Baker from Elmer, Missouri to do the chop based on the recommendation of another buddy of his that had his shoebox chopped by him. After getting on the waiting list and waiting a few months, he pulled all the glass and had Kenny do a mild chop of 3” in the front and 4” in the rear. In my opinion, it was done very nicely and will take little to finish it up. All the garnish moldings were also cut, but the stainless wasn’t yet and I will get to do that. Over the 5 or so years that the previous owner had the car, he started acquiring more parts for the build, but really didn’t do much other than take things apart. He bought a Volvo steering gear and adapter kit, but never installed it. He bought a set of Aerostar springs and shorter shocks that are still in the box. He bought a complete, running 302 out of a wrecked 68 Mustang that someone had put an Edelbrock Torker intake, Edelbrock carburetor, and installed MSD ignition including a 6AL box on. Otherwise, he was unsure of the condition of the engine. He also bought a rear seat out of a mid-60’s Thunderbird that wraps around that we may use and his buddy with the other chopped shoebox gave him a set of original seats for a shoebox. He also bought a new mid-60’s Mustang gas tank, but never installed it either. The car came with all the glass although it is still full size, all the stainless as best I can tell, and lots of boxes of stuff (haven’t even started going through it all yet). The bumpers are there including an extra, but are all pretty crusty. All in all, I am pretty sure we have most of what we need to build a really cool kustom in the end. I am sure that both Silas and I will learn a lot along the way, but hopefully will be making memories as much as anything as we try to figure out how to put this car together enough that he can drive it daily. The overall plan for this car is to eventually build a really kool bagged kustom. However, knowing Silas’s lack of patience as well as his lack of budget for a really nice build right now, we will likely just try to make a reliable driver first. Initial plans are to finish up all the metal work including building new floorpans, fixing the main crossmember where it was notched for clearance of the 302 oilpan, and whatever else needs finished as far as welding, etc. We will then focus on getting the brakes all working and figure out what we need to do to make one of the 302’s run decent. His goal is to drive this thing to the Stray Kat 500 in Dewey in May of 2018, so we will likely take the minimalist approach initially just cutting the original glass to install, etc. This should be a really kool ride in the end and I am thinking that Silas may be about the only 16-year-old kid driving a chopped 50 Ford kustom in about any circle he chooses to hang out in. Here are a few pics of what we are starting with and I will try to keep this updated as we go. Pics from the craigslist ad. Had to get a profile shot to show the chop proportions when we went to check it out. Went back the next day to load it and all the parts on the trailer, in the Yukon, in the car, etc... Me with my proud new owner. Had to stop in town for dinner to remind him of an incident that happened this past year while in Dewey... Also, standing with his younger brother that I will be concurrently building a 52 Chevy pu with. Yea, I have a lot to do in the next 3 years to make two daily drivers.
One of the first steps for me in about any build is to start working toward the final look. So, we found some original wheels and got them blasted and painted . And, found some wide whitewall rollers to help with the initial look thanks to Sid Drapal. I also found a nice 51 grill that we will likely try to get from my eye doctor since Silas REALLY wants this car to look like a 51 instead of a 50. I am not in full agreement, but also don't want this to be totally influenced my only my taste as I remember building my first car with my dad that I sold before we ever finished it... Also, got a pic of him "driving" the car and dreaming of that first real drive like so many of us have likely also done... Sid letting us use his tire machine to mount the rollers and then Silas putting them on. And, his first negotiations went really well. I had been talking to my eye doctor about this project knowing that he had a 51 woody when he mentioned he had a nice driver quality grill in his attic. He wanted Silas to make him an offer and wouldn't give us a price. Anyway, when we went to check out the grill, Silas ended up offering $100 and the seller said he wouldn't take that. He said he would only take $85. For one, I know that was a really good deal on a 51 grill, but also had to tell Silas that most negotiations don't go quite like that... One other small thing that we ended up with yesterday, was some universal seat covers from George Gordon that will be a budget way to have something to sit on while he saves his money for a nice interior. Progress will be slow at first on this build since football practice just started for the year and we now only have weekends to mess with it amongst all the other things that need to happen in life. But, I will try to keep this updated somewhat as we go. As mentioned, the goal is to drive it to Dewey for the Stray Kat 500 in May of 2018.
Very nice start and tell the kid it's great to see a youngster who has an interest. Wish him the best on the build. I wish I could have gotten my kids interested. One bit of advice... don't try to run that Torquer intake, particularly if running an automatic trans. While it's a good intake in the right application (stout rear gears and a 4-speed if trying to run it on the street), it's low-speed power output is terrible.
Passing the torch! Can't wait to see this come together. Hopefully Jackson and I can do something like this in a few years.
Congrats to a Cool young guy with a Cool project. your guidance to stay focused on keeping safety, running gear operational, etc priorities since it is easy to get side tracked/overwhelmed by any project no matter how big or small.
Awesome! Great car and always fun doing things with the kids. We bought a 1963 Fairlane 500 for our sons 14th birthday and had it ready when he turned 16. It was his daily driver all through High school. Oldest and coolest car in the parking lot! He's 28 now and still has it and drives it to school as he now teaches. The kids love it. Your sons will always remember the fun times with dad.
Thanks for the advice on the intake. I will keep that in mind. He actually wants this to be a standard, so I need to start collecting all the parts to make that happen. I do have an older hot rod buddy that is selling lots of stuff since he is fixing to move and he has a T10 4 speed out of a Mustang that he offered me a really good price on. I may go get that or initially use a 3-speed OD that I already have.
One small update. Got a freebie 51 Crown Victoria dash that we will probably use in place of the original dash.
Got through football season and am getting back on this project. I was able to get a shop built over the past couple weeks, so needed to get the car rolling again to get it into the shop. So, I machined the center hole in the original wheels so it would fit over the disk brake rotors and got the front wheels and tires on. Also, we were able to pick up a parts car for the rest of the 51 parts we needed as well as some other stuff. Hoping to start actual work soon.
Looks like a great start. cant wait to do this with my boys. A couple of more year and its a go. Its cool to see your leaning to what his vision is.
Still trying to get the shop setup, but did start lowering the car and picked up T10 transmission and a fairly new set of wheels and tires. Hoping to get the engine and transmission installed soon so we can start building a floor. The StrayKat 500 will be here before we know it.
Just a little more progress. We went ahead and installed the 302 and C4 mainly for mockup and weight to finish up getting the stance worked out so we can start replacing the floor and tunnel. Plus, getting the stance right helps with motivation. After putting in the engine and tranny, we went ahead and installed the Aerostar springs, but it is still at least a couple inches too high. Best I can tell, this thing has Granada spindles on it that I read in an article should lower it a couple inches. However, with the placement of the spindle between the ball joints, I am not seeing how it can be any better than the stock uprights. I may go ahead and build some blocks to put in the lower a-frames to get it down some more.
Another small update... A buddy brought the wheels and tires that we bought a while back in Texas up to Oklahoma yesterday, so we had to put them on. And, it gave us a set of tires that held air to be able to drag the parts car through the mud into the shop so we can start tearing it apart. Another buddy needs the doors and part of the rear quarters, so we need to get everything we need so we can pass it on.
Still not as much progress as we would like, but the parts car is stripped of what we need and ready to head to another friend that needs the doors and some of the quarters. And, a couple friends gave my son some more parts to go toward the build. He got a set of spacers for the a-frames, a bellhousing, flywheel, clutch fork, new Centerforce clutch and pressure plate, chrome valve covers, and an Accel electronic distributor. I am overwhelmed at the generosity of so many hot rod guys wanting to help my son with this build. This has to be one of the best groups of people associated with any hobby.
The Jalopy Journal
