Hi Chris. I don't sell many cars and besides that I have 14 Grand kids so I think the chances are slim Dave
I found out tonight where Gordon lived when he built the car and he stayed pretty much in the same area. Huntington Park below Los Angeles.
Great story! Thank you for sharing. Congratulations for being the next caretaker for such a cool car! You forwarded this to a mutual friend and he then forwarded it to me. I have met you a few times at different swap meets in Oregon. I can't wait to see this car driving in the future. ~ Brian
I had the local Oregon State Police come check the VIN numbers a couple days ago. They were the numbers the state of CA assigned to it in 1958. They are actually stamped on the plates welded to the frame that the front motor mounts bolt through. Not the best location since those were welded to the frame, but him being a car guy it wasn't a problem for him and Gordon said it was fine with CA DMV at that time. Hope I didn't piss off OR DMV by having him check that. They claimed I couldn't do it. He had the proper form which is now filled out and I have it.
I got the engine fired up this afternoon. Doesn't sound too bad nor does it smoke much. It may have 1 stuck valve but that's no biggie.
The ownership info on this car amazes me! The Original owner had it for 29 years, then Gordon got it in 1958. Gordon owned it twice for a total of 30 years, He sold it to Ben in 1972, after owning it for 14 years. Ben owned it for 28 years. He drove it for 6 or 7 years then parked it in his garage.Traded it and some cash back to Gordon in Nov 2000 for a restored 1930 Tudor. I am 62 now, add 28-30 on that! Don't think the pattern will repeat this time around! Doubt I will make 90 but ya never know, I guess. I do plan for it to stay in the family though. Next step I think is new fan belts and hoses after cleaning up the engine. Then flush the fuel tanks, put radiator and shell back on. Gordon drove this as a daily driver so he put long quiet mufflers on it. I like the sound of a flatty with dual reasonably loud exhaust so the big mufflers gotta go. In their place with be some glass packs. When Gordon built this in 1958 he put wide whites on it, big and little. The radials on it now don't really look right. I have some 6.50x16 and 5.50x16 Coker bias look radials I think I will put on it. I called Gordon this evening after I had it running and told him about it. He kept me on the phone for about an hour! He said I really made his day. That's a lot of why I bought this, to preserve it's history and to keep him in the loop. As soon as it is good enough, he will have to come drive it. It hasn't been driven since before 1980! The license expired in 1978. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do! Dave
What a great car! Loving the headlight bars – very unique with a terrific look showing the full face of the deuce grill!
Yeah, one thing I dislike is when headlights and grilles get pushed too far ahead of the front axle. Mostly seen on ugly RR's with S10 chassis and also on fenderless cars that used a Deuce grille pushed forward and then run a spring in front axle that moves the front wheels back several inches. This one has the grill 2" forward and headlights at stock position fore and aft, but lowered a little. I like the "Full Face" description as you said. Thanks John. Dave
I pulled the '29 out of the shop yesterday and Gunked the engine and compartment, along with the front axle. 58 years of crud! Then I pressure washed everything and got it pretty clean. As much as I hate to do it I am gonna need to paint the engine. The water pumps must have been replaced along the way as they were bare metal. Red is pretty much the only color for flatheads, as far as I am concerned, so I am glad this one already is. It will be painted the same color again. Now I have to pressure wash the concrete in front of the shop! It really was greasy in there! I don't really like the way the steering is set up. It is a cross steer but the steering box is in near stock location which makes the drag link run at a terrible angle to the right front wheel. Plus, it is a touch over 3 turns lock to lock and wheels centered is at 2 turns. Or 1 turn from the other direction. Drag link is pretty ugly with several welded joints. I want to at least replace the drag link and also center the steering. Hard to believe it has been like that for 58 years! He said it was like power steering! I am waiting for some new fan belts and a couple other parts. Got a couple more things to do then I want to take it for a little test drive.
Got the new fan belts, new motor mount biscuits, new coil, painted the engine as it was pretty rough looking and many places were not painted. Went back with Ford red. Have run it enough to find it is pretty much dead on 3rd cylinder back on drivers side. Both valves are going up and down so I assume 1 is probably burnt. Possibly it is just semi stuck and not closing all the way so I am not in too much hurry to pull the head and intake. I've had many stuck valves over the years and have a couple ways to free them up. I was told it was smoking or running rough, maybe it is just a valve and not worn out rings as it sure didn't smoke when I ran it. Valve is much easier! Here is a pic of the rebuilder tag. .080 makes it like 251.4 c.i. I think. He said it was a '48 Merc and was bigger than the Ford that was in it so I believe the previous engine was a '40 221c.i. . He said he bought the Merc short block which makes sense cuz it looks like the heads had the "A" ground off from the center on both heads. He used his old Heads and pan, etc. Pan looks '40 also. I know '42-'48 Ford and Merc had the same engine but all the other years the Merc was bigger. And a shot of the engine as it is going back together after cleaning and painting. I finally figured out the rear spring issue, car was listing badly to drivers side. Maybe I said earlier that the rear spring bolt was missing and 1 u-bolt was stripped on 1 nut. I replaced the center bolt and the bad u-bolt and it still set crooked. Finally figured out the very top short leaf was off to the side and not held in place by the center bolt! Now that is corrected and it sits as it should. Ordered a set of 22" Smithy mufflers today for the car. Sorry Gordon, I gotta hear that engine! No more super quiet mufflers. One had big cuts in it anyway! Tranny rubber biscuits need replaced too, they are squashed. Need to order the rear window and drivers side rear window as well. The rear window is missing and the rear side glass is cracked. I have been down sick for 12 days so not much has happened lately. Finally about 90% well. Big day tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Then maybe I can get back on it.
And with that simple comment I know you are the right person to own this rod ! Not sure how I missed this thread until now - Wow !! What a find, you are very fortunate to be it's caretaker ! Hopefully someday I'll be able to see it up close, thanks for sharing & look forward to following along.
Nice car! And so unusual to have all its history.Thank you for sharing.RE the turn signal light lenses- It looks from the pics like you could make them out of glass water traps off old fuel pumps? Just a thought.
Those lenses are only about 1 1/8" across. I have been watching for some other kinda of lens or bowl, glass vinegar stopper, etc. I'll find one someday, somewhere. Thanks, Dave
Gordon called me a few days ago, I told him I was sick and he didn't want this nasty bug. He has found the pics from 1958 and wants to bring them to me! He will bring them over when I am well enough. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Dave
Hey dwollam I really dig your Hot rod. I'm not a Patina lover, and I Really hate Rust!! But then there is nothing like a Hot Rod with a genuine "feel of life" in a mechanical object. I was a very constant follower of the Snoopy "resurrection", and I loved every minute of it! What really hurts my feeling is when people run a Survivor, that look totally clapped and with broken paint, and think that rust improves the value of the car. But I most confess that it hurts me almost as much when people pull good parts of a survivor to make them look more Traditional than Era Perfect. Like removing nerfbars, bike fenders, same size wheels bobbed rear fenders to blend more in. With all that being said, you and @Dennis1989 are really on to something, and I enjoy seeing all the little quirks keeped, enjoyed, and shown to the public. It can only be this good if you let it. The "only fix broken" is such an cool concept. And I will be following and share my opinion, because let's face it, I can't help it! Last but not least; keep the torch burning, keep the rod going and take AND share as many pics as possible, so us from the land fare fare away can share and enjoy the the ups and supporters your downs!!
Volvobrynk, this one had nerf bars on the rear, in fact the broken remains are still attached underneath. When I get the pics I plan to reconstruct those. Not sure why it had a stock bumper on the front and nerfs on the rear. Maybe Ben, the second owner, put that on. I was also given a stock rear bumper set but I won't run those. The rear pan treatment would have to be modified to do that and it is staying as is. I probably will build nerfs for the front too. Or none at all on either end. The front seat cushion is going to need to be removed and resewn. It is coming apart. Time to dig out my upholstery machine I guess. Then the rest of the vinyl interior needs serious cleaning. The wood panel on the dash will need to be replaced eventually as it is broken out in a couple places. Might be able to hide that somehow.
Actually after measuring the hole the lens goes in, it is 15/16" and the lens outer diameter is about 1 1/16" or slightly bigger. Dave
Gordon came over day before yesterday and brought a bunch of pics of the Model A in 1958-64, mostly b&w but a few smaller color pics. I dropped them off at a friend's who was also my high school Art and Photo class teacher many years ago. He is going to make hard copies and digital images. I will post them here when he gets done. The pics really answer a bunch of questions and was fun helping him relive the good ol' days! Dave
Pics not back yet from Robin but I expect them soon. One thing I did find out was the wheels were painted red and most of the time Gordon ran Moon discs and also flippers but I have not pics or proof of the flippers. Red wheels was what I hoped to do so that turned out good. Since I have more than a set of skinny Coker wide white 6.50x16 and 5.50x16 bias look radials that is what I am going to use. I am gathering up 16" early Ford disc wheels. Still need a couple. Any Oregonians near by that have any for sale? I have looked in vain to find any 3 or 4 bar flipper caps in 16" so I guess it is Moons discs. I have my '31 coupe and my '40 Tudor that I can swap wheels and tires back and forth for different combos. 5 sets total. One of the Smithy's mufflers showed up Friday by UPS. The other one got sent somewhere else and is scheduled to be here tomorrow, Monday. I think I am going to go ahead and pull the driver side head and see why that hole has no compression. I expect a burnt valve. Better to do it now before I get all the goodies bolted back on and antifreeze, etc. Which of course means intake too if valve is bad. Ohhh Please be just a valve!!
Today I pulled the drivers side head to see if I was correct in that the exhaust valve on the 3rd cylinder back was burnt. Here are some pics of the valve. Whatta ya think? Just a little grinding and it outta be good huh? Tomorrow I am going to see if I can find the valves and guides and stuff I pulled out of a freeze cracked engine some one had completely rebuilt then let it freeze. All new everything. Cam and all. It was from a '51 Ford moredoor I bought that had another rebuilt flatty already in it and they gave me the broken engine too. Ton of good pieces! This '48 engine in the '29 Tudor has the later valves and 1 piece guides. I am going to pull the intake valve on that same cylinder so I can clean it up too. The engine has a slight ring ridge but didn't seem to smoke so I am just doing this burnt valve and putting it all back together. I checked clearances on all the other valves and they are fine. I'm still waiting on the old b&w photos to be copied. I will check on their progress tomorrow too.
The Jalopy Journal
