Technical My shoebox build

Hi guys and gals,

After nearly 15 years of waiting and working and saving and selling and buying and trading, I've finally bought my dream, a 51 shoebox ford. She's a Tudor Custom sedan and is all original with 78,000 on her. The only major thing is that it had some interestingly half fast body work on it and a lacquer respray in the 70's from what I can tell. The newer paint is worn through in many spots but it all shined up pretty cool with a buff. I'll keep you guys posted and try to offer and help I can to the community!

 

Welcome to the HAMB. Neat Shoebox, love the color!

 

Nice Ford!

 

Welcome.

Looks like fun to me.

 

Welcome, nice Ford! 33,302 more posts and you'll be where PnB is today at this moment!
KK

 

Welcome aboard, great looking box, drive and enjoy it.

 

What a Grate place to Start. Can't wait to see what you do to it first, and after that.
The Wizzard

 

So far, I've replaced the radiator hoses and radiator cap, replaced the battery cables, made a custom battery tie down, installed a battery kill switch, installed a shoebox-central steering linkage, buffed the car, installed a digital flasher relay, painted the inside of the taillights with stopsign reflector paint, installed NOS glovebox and trunk key set, new trunk seals, new hood seals, replaced the rear third member with a rebuilt unit, installed a glass pack, replaced all the rear leaf bushings and front leaf mount pins, repaired the horn button, adjusted the brakes, and probably a few things I'm forgetting. The first visual thing I'm planning is a windshield visor. I'm chasing one in central NH right now for a solid deal. Thanks so much for the compliments guys! I had many many many years worth of plans for it, including drop spindles and new leafs, building a motor for it, and makin darn sure I install the three deuces that a good friend gave me for FREE. Yup, that's right, I told a friend that I bought a flattie and he said "hey, you want 3 deuces?" And I said "well who doesn't????" I guess they came off an old 32 that a friend of his had. Cool story. Anyway, thanks so much for the compliments!


Btw, I'm Aaron Botelho and live in Nashua Nh

 

Also, I'm trying to work out the details of putting a GM 4+3 Doug Nash behind the flattie and keeping it column shift. I'm in the very early stages and will keep you folks updated on that. My end goal is to daily my flattie in the modern world. I want to show people what style is in this world of unidentifiable blocks and blobs.

 

WELCOME TO THE HAMB ! Nice 51 my Granddad had a 49, the only car I remember him having. So enjoy your hamb time. I usually enjoy my hamb with eggs and coffee first thing in the morning .LOL

 

Three's a nice even number! Congrats and Welcome to the HAMB.

 

Great looking old ford. Thats alot of miles on that 8BA flathead, Welcome to the hamb

 

Welcome to the HAMB!

 

That Doug Nash 4+3 is a monster size wise, might take some hackage to get that in. Welcome to the JJ btw.

 

I certainly hope it's not too many miles as the motor certainly needs to last this year. I drove it a little over 100 miles home from the guys house and it ran real well. I'm a former mechanic and the temps across both heads read with a non-contact were all within 10 degrees of each other. It starts pretty easy cold, choke for a minute or so, then idles and runs smooth and Minty. Let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed for my "a lot of miles" 8BA

 

VERY NICE CAR!! Welcome to the Hamb and it looks like your off to a great start. Tim

 

Great looking shoebox. Is that Hawaiian Bronze? Welcome to the HAMB.

 

Welcome,first post is kind of like having a first child your in it for the long haul.

 

It IS Hawaiian Bronze! Great eye. I am having quite a bit of difficulty finding a modern formulation for the color. Since the EPA has pretty much made lacquer illegal, none of my local shops have an updated recipe for it using urethane.

 

Welcome and nice car. Hope you drove it to go vote today? Roads look clear in the photos. Drove mine home today in snow flurries in GA. Go figure?

 

reminds me of the 51 I had back in 1958-59. you hit a winner!!

 

The man does know his Fords.

 

Just checked here http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/ and they can mix it in acrylic lacquer. Go to web site and follow prompts!
KK

 

Welcome to the HAMB!
That's a nice car.
My 49 is a work in progress too. It runs and drives and finishing up the new wiring now.
Stopped over at Shoebox Central yesterday and picked up a volt gauge. Those folks have the parts you will need...........

 

Am I missing something or expecting to much here? I know it takes a little time to learn your way around a new sight some times. And by all means don't get me wrong, I do like your Car. Like I said "A grate place to start". You posted on the Custom page. To me that means up coming Custom work. What I've read is standard up keep for Old Gems, a Visor on the horizon and a trans change. I was expecting Body Mods of some kind even if Minor. Suttel is good when done right. Sounds more like a Ford Barn Special than a Kustom.
The Wizzard

 

He did mention dropped spindles and 3 deuces.

 

Didn't drive it today, the primaries around here aren't my thing. I'm an indep

Well Wizzard, I'm sorry that I'm not going to go on and on about what I plan to do 16 years down the road. I don't like to live in the future. I live in today. I DO plan to do quite a few custom things, but as this was just an introductory post, I didn't think I needed to list every single little thing I plan to do to the body, because I plan to handle the mechanicals first. But since you decided to "call me out" in my very first post on here, I'll entertain you. Just understand that if you're attitude is what I will be experiencing here, you won't be seeing many posts from me. So here goes:

I purchased this car as a "rust free driver" is all original condition. So far, I've spent time getting the vehicle in safe driving condition. I've updated the steering, performed some small and large maintenance, and repaired a few broken items. I prefer to be able to drive a car and get to know it before I hack it to bits and it spends a couple years in the garage while I put it back together nights and weekends. ALSO, I see absolutely no point in chopping, channeling, nosing, decking, louvering, sectioning, frenching, and all the other goodies of Custom cars unless the car actually runs and drives. Seems like I posted on a car forum, not a trailer queen forum, but maybe I was wrong, looks may be more important to you, Mr. Wizzard, but I digress.


As to my "future plans", I've already purchased 3 8BA motors in different condition and am currently checking them for cracks (I used to be an NDT technician and have over a thousand hours of Magnetic Particle and Dye penetrant inspection). Once I pick a block to use, I plan to build a nice, mid compression motor, with Navarro heads and intake with the 3 deuces I already have, with a stainless progressive linkage. I will be doing a mild port job on the block after I have it completely descaled. I also currently have a fourth block with several cracks in it that a good friend of mine is experimenting with different welding procedures as a bit of a challenge. He's been a certified pipeline welder for 35 years and hasn't failed an x-Ray in over 20. I'm hoping we can stumble upon something that no one else has yet, and if not, it was a junk block with split pan rails, so who cares. Ok, back on track. I also plan to drop the front with offset spindles, a custom swaybar, and progressive rate springs to get the exact drop that I want while maintaining handling and ride. In the rear, I'm going to use custom leaf springs with around a 3" drop, to match the stance I've settled on for the front. Then, I plan to install either a ford SROD 3 spd overdrive trans or a Doug Nash 4+3. Most likely the SROD if I can find one. Now you might have something to say about the "weak" SROD, but let's be real here Wiz, if I may call you that, I'm running a flattie that will have MAYBE 200hp, so the SROD will be fine. Next after the drivetrain is all set, I will be bringing my radiator and Heator Core to my buddy's shop in Hudson, Nh, Willards Radiator to have them boiled out and pressure tested. I then plan to convert all 4 corners to disk brakes with a split master and all stainless lines.

Once the drivetrain and all accessories are done, I plan to completely reupholster the interior with something close to original with some custom door panels. I prefer interiors pretty much the way ford designed.

Now, as far as the body goes, which seeing as how I'm a single, 30 year old homeowner, won't be in the budget for quite a few years, I plan to do a few classy upgrades. First, I plan to strip the whole body down to bare metal and redo all of the poor bodywork from the past. Once that's done, I will lead in a single frenched antenna, a la Mr. Hines, in the stock location. I plan to make the cup fully sealed on the bottom with 2 drains running down below the floor pans of the car, so as to prevent rust. And yes, I said lead it in, because I've never been any good with bondo, lead just works easier for me. Next, I plan to do around a 3" section to get the attitude right. I don't think I'll ever chop the car because I still want to be able to throw 5 or 6 people in it and rip up to the beach. I don't personally do shaving as one of my favorite things about these old cars is their chrome. As far as paint, I plan to keep the car original Hawaiian Bronze, but I would like to have my friend paisley the roof in a nice maroon over the bronze to tie in with the interior.

Now I'm sure that I have plenty of plans and idea for this car that I've left out, but honestly Mr. Wizzard, can I just save this post for introducing myself and you can see all my plans as they come to life? Thanks.

 

Nice

 

Well Bud you sure seem to have covered all your bases. As far as Calling you out or an Additude or insinuating a Trailer Queen, I think you miss took things. So you know, there is a special page for intro's. I seldom go there. There are 3 posting boards depending on what things are about plus the classifieds. You chose to post on the Custom page so I was looking for the Kustom mods up coming. 49-51 Fords have a special place for me and a Well done Kustom one really gets my attention. My avitar is just 1 of my daily drivers. Hardly a knock out Kustom but 100 percent Home Built for what ever that's worth and we drive the wheels off it as it should be. I have been a life long believer that the Best well Kept stocker is the best place to start for a nice Kustom, Screw Stock and Trailer Queens. So in the end with a little shaky start I think you and I can get along, that is if you can Exhale and agree.
The Wizzard

 

Wizz, I'm not angry, just not looking for people to be so critical so quick. I posted my intro in the custom section because I build custom cars and those tend to be my people. I am not as much into the hotrod scene although I do enjoy it. I was just trying to get the most people I would get along with to see my intro. I didn't expect Anyone to come out in my very first intro post complaining that I don't have enough custom plans yet because I've been focused on getting the car driving and I've only owned it for 3 weeks.