Motion Pictures Where Does Your Jalopy Take You?

why be ordinary?

 

Hello,

Much has been said about the fun and not so fun aspect of driving a 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. It was the easiest way to get a hauler, cruiser, hot rod, wagon all in one. You just had to adjust to the features of the small sedan delivery.

My first 40 Ford Sedan Delivery is/was simplicity at its finest for a cash strapped teenage surfer/hot rod enthusiast. Sure, I would have liked the big 348 that should have stayed in place after I bought it. I would have put on different wheels, a better sound system, etc. But, a simple am radio hanging from the dash, black rims with small hubcaps and beauty rings was the final look.

It made the image of a teenager just fit the surroundings where I traveled up and down the coast. The image of a couple of surfers driving a 40 Ford Sedan Delivery with a couple of surfboards stood out anywhere it went. That was extremely good for the teenage ego. But, how did the car run well? The previous owner had the big Chevy in it and was very fast. Now this Flathead was stock and just chugged along smoothly, except for having the need for a lot of oil.


Just about every gas station in So Cal had a 55 gallon drum with a crank spout in the back of the gas station lot. That was for recycled or reclaimed oil. My 40 sedan delivery used up a lot of oil. Although it did not smoke while running, it did not leak on my mom’s pristine concrete patio floor space where I parked, and never left any spots anywhere.

Even after a long and tiresome drive to San Diego or Santa Barbara from our home port of Long Beach, it did not hiccup, stall, or leak oil. It was just a slow, fun, enjoyable drive, in a cool cruiser. It certainly was the journey AND the destination.

Talk about mystery oil and usage…this was a big mystery. Every time I checked the oil, it was low or extremely low. So, a gallon of recycled oil was poured into place. We did use regular Valvoline cans at first, thinking it just leaked and burned oil. But, after months of investigation and testing, it was still a mystery and those single cans became costly.

The local, Flathead, motor specialist, mechanic was also stumped. Without the mystery smoke coming out of the exhaust, it was a normal, running motor, it just needed a lot of oil. A suggested total rebuild was out of the question because it would cost a lot of money, the motor ran so well, and it never leaked any oil. So, why?

The reclaimed/recycled oil was just pennies compared to the single cans from the auto parts store just down the street. Crank, pump, pour, store for the next trip home, etc...That was the daily/weekly scenario at those gas stations with the 55 gallon drums.

Driving in the rain in So Cal or anywhere was an exercise in awareness, with the ever present right side blind spot. But, there was this dirt field in nearby Wilmington where in later years, we would ride our Greeves Motorcycles. That huge dirt field was a challenge for the 40 sedan delivery in the rain and mud. Power slides and just plain, stupid fun…

The salmon pink/orange delivery was brown by the time we were finished. Boys will be boys… Afterwards, a trip to the $.25 cents hand held, pulsing spray, car wash and the Blue Coral Wax application took over.

This 40 Ford Sedan Delivery was built for the service industry and reliability was foremost. My sedan delivery never needed anything other than a gallon of recycled/reclaimed oil and a pat on the hood for a job well done.

After those long drives along the coastal fog, dew and salt air, moisture floating around, the sedan delivery also got its weekly hand wash and wax for protection. In a family of three cars with a two car garage, it had to sit outside and endure all kinds of coastal So Cal weather.

Jnaki

As a teenager, those long drives in the early morning dark roads were part of the excitement of traveling. Coffee, donuts, chips, sandwiches, cokes, all made the drive worthwhile. The destinations were the rewards for us surfers, but the drive was so cool that it is only experienced by similar cars and drives, even today. A nap before heading home also played into the enjoyment of driving a cool hot rod. Then, life called rapidly…draft, college, marriage, jobs, etc...

 

I had my un-Hamb friendly Biscayne wagon in service last week in my buddies hay field. It was the refreshment station and tool wagon when we put up 130 acres of hay. As a kid growing up here in Iowa in the sixties it was common for farmers to use a car in the field. I remember checking cows in a New 69 Impala hardtop 4 door and the farmer was running over multi-flora rose bushes like they were just weeds. One farmer used to haul calves to the vet in the back seat of his cars. I did learn to drive in a 50's Stude pick up when in exchange for helping an older farmer load hay I got to drive. The old boy he bought the hay from had a 34 Ford 2 door sedan and it is still in that family today.
Bent Valve

 

One of my best rides was a '65 Chevy C30 panel truck, it was an old Clark Lift service truck. Someone swapped in a Pontiac 215 6-banger, same as a 230 Chevy. Talk about oil usage, to the beach and back was 3 quarts of oil for a 16 mile run. But it held a bunch of weed-smoking surfers and was reliable. I took waste oil from work, poured it in a 2-gallon metal can, used a shop rag as a strainer. I would drain customer's old oil directly into my oil can.