History Help me find some old photos of this Cedar Rapids Iowa 1940 Ford Coupe

And being able to talk with another previous owner that is giving so much history of an over the top cool car is surreal!

 

Now you HAVE to do the Ardun and Columbia. Get Rick Schnell to build you an Ardun. He might even know of the engine from your car.

I bet the lumber guy's name is Weyerhauser.


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X2, that's what I was thinking as I use to haul lumber out of there back in my East Bound and Down days. They're definitely not a small poor business.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking...

 

Perfect stance for a 40` Ford. (IMHO)
Great story and history so-far, great car. I`ll be watching this one.

 

Crap, that Weyerhaeuser family!. I thought maybe the kids dad owned a few franchises, but I see they had roots in Minnesota. I'll have to do a little more research.

http://www.forbes.com/profile/weyerhaeuser/

 

Back to the Iowa history and some discussions with John Park. John recalled that the motor was a 331 extended bellhousing hemi and not a 392, and thought it had Chet Herbert roller tappet cam, non adjustable rockers, and was fairly certain it was running a Cad Lasalle transmission and Jack had made the column shift work, which would have been no small feat. He said the car was lightning fast and they raced for cash quite a bit on Airport road.

John had a coworker at a bodyshop that restored a green 40 Ford pickup, and he traded a 50/51 Mercury that he had picked up through an insurance repair (Car caught fire when while on a battery charger and being struck by lightning!) for the truck..

A guy with the last name Wilcox (who has since passed) had bought the Hemi from Jack S Brazier, and bought the 40 pickup from John, and bolted the hemi in the truck. He drove it for a few years, then pulled the hemi and sold it to Jerry Keeney. John tried to reunite the hemi back with the 40 but it was sold at an estate auction after Jerry passed away. He thought the motor went to Illinois? Maybe this thread will bring its whereabouts to light.

 

The 40 PU with the Hemi in it that Alchemy got the tach drive out of was a pretty stock looking GREEN PU from Cedar Rapids. I believe it had yellow steelie rims. The guy was pulling the Hemi out. I wonder if this was the same PU? Would John be able to tell you if the Hemi had a crank mounted tach drive?

 

It was pretty cool talking to John as it was the first time he had seen these pictures. This was a small car show and took place at the Me Too Supermarket. This was just a few blocks from Johns house. He had a 47 Ford tudor sedan powered by a Buick Nailhead.
The white 40 Coupe was owned by Gerg Michaels. His family ran Rapids Vending. He said the white 40 was a "show car" and ran a Olds motor, most likely a 56 or later 324. This car may be around.

 

Almost looks like it's visible here, the cable exiting toward the driver side.

 

Yep that's a tach drive.....Now that explains why Jack took this picture!. That a cool piece and necessary if you you want to run a tach in a car with Magneto that does not have a drive on it.
@alchemy do you still have it?

 

John thought the steering wheel was a from a boat which was a pretty popular thing to do.







Looks like this wheel is a 52/53 Ford Accessory Steering wheel. This looks really nice!

 

This three window belonged to Leon Evans. He was a self taught hot rodder that chopped the car himself, channeled it. It was a competition coupe, strip only car. On one pass down the strip one of the Suicide doors decided to unlatch and wrapped around the body and hit the tire. He asked John and other how to shrink metal and brought it back into shape so nice you couldn't tell.
He went on to become a NHRA certified inspector / welder, built some nice cars over the years. John said he ran a neat little get together in Fairfax and his kids are carrying on the tradition.

 

Several weeks ago I chatted with Frances Lebeda. Sounds like this guy is a really interesting jack of all trades. John said he is a machinist and inventor, maker of props, gattling guns, blunderbus, ring guns, etc. His father was the inventor and owner of Cal Engineering? Rotary Valve Carburetors that were advertised in the back of magazines in the 50's
Check out this new clip.
http://www.kcrg.com/cedar-rapids-man-making-props-for-major-motion-pictures-20140820

He owned a 35 Ford three window coupe that was fenderless, with the rear tail pan bobbed, Dodge Red Ram Hemi, with lake style headers, and three of his Dad's carbs.

 

Renee said her father Jack S Brazier would occasionally get laid off from his regular job and would work and manage Pazours Motorcycle Shop sometime for extended periods. Bob Pazour is still alive and Pazour Motor Sports is an active business.
John thought the triumph might have belonged to Shorty Dvorak

 

John is wealth of information. The chrome Buick Nailhead and the primered 32 three window belonged to John Lawrence, kind of a rich kid. He went to automotive tech school in St. Louis and worked in a plating shop, where he plated the Buick motor and eventually fully plated the Rochester fuel injection unit on the 32. The car eventually got a suicide front end and cycle wheels, then got turned into a 406 Ford powered dirt track car, before ending up in Van Dyks salvage. John eventually had a hand in bringing the car back to life as a street rod in the early 70's and it went to the Street rod natioanls in Peoria.

 

I would bet that that chrome plated Buick motor made its way up to Minneapolis and was put into this Show Car for the 1962 GSTA. Coincidentally the owner of this car owned my 32 three window for a brief period of time. The guy was super shady, lets leave it at that.

 

Glad you were able to connect with John Park. I see him a couple of times a week, and learn something new every time. Incredible memory for details. I dig his restored sprint cars! John is the real deal, old school hot rodder and race fiend.

 

That is some great history you have accumulated in a short time. Makes for some pretty interesting reading and should give you plenty of things to think about as you decide how to equip your 40. I am certain you will be a great caretaker of this car. Best of luck! I will be following along.

 

Yes, you'll have to pick his brain some more. I would like to bring my Dad down and check out the old modifieds and sprints, and meet up with some more people. I'd still like to see if we could shake some pictures loose.

 

I still have the tach drive, but I don't want to sell. But I will pull it out of the car and you can come down and take pics and measurements. If you can find another angle drive, the bracketry wouldn't be hard to replicate.

 

If you can get some better pics that would be great. Are you saying it was made or modified from a tach drive distributor or a right angle speedo drive?

 

The angle drive is a SW part, and the bracketry is made from steel strap and hex stock. It's just drilling and whittling to get them to this state.

Not sure I can get any better photos. It's a tight fit in the 32 it's now installed in.

 

No problem. I think I can search it out.

 

New shoes! I decided on chrome steelies, for something traditional, but just a little different than what it had.

 

Ugh,ugh... oh Jesus I'm not ready to go into the light, so much to do...
The sound of me having a heart attack!

 

Can`t go wrong with chrome steelies, they seem to fit the look of a 40` Ford.

 

Watching!!