Project 1949 Ford (56K Annihalation)

A friend of mine and I picked up an old '49 Ford in June. Here is some background information on the buildup. This car needed some serious TLC to say the least. He purchased the car for $1500(a fair price if you don't know much about these), and allowed me to help him get it back to the driving condition. We work well together(we just completed a 1928 Model A streetrod the previous winter) even though he is 64, and I am only 15. The man we purchased the car from had aqcuired it through a trade for something else, and didn't want it. We just happened to be looking for one for months, and this fit our bill nicely. Here are some pictures of the condition when it was rolled off the trailer and into the garage. I hope you guys(and gals) enjoy seeing this buildup as much as I do working on it.

Here are a few looks at the subject.
http://img95.exs.cx/img95/5840/49Ford00350.jpg
http://img95.exs.cx/img95/6301/49Ford00450.jpg http://img95.exs.cx/img95/2977/49Ford00750.jpg http://img95.exs.cx/img95/8258/49Ford00650.jpg http://img95.exs.cx/img95/5510/49Ford00550.jpg http://img95.exs.cx/img95/9955/49Ford00850.jpg

Looks like its in really good condition. I love the taillights on those. Having someone like that as a mentor type is great, I wish I would have had someone that would have helped me out and taught me stuff they had learned over the years. Most of the time you can learn 1000 times more from listening to older people's stories and advice than you can from any book.

What are you plans for the car? Kinda makes me want to go buy the 65 dodge polara I'v had my eye on for a while.

First of all I want to thank Mike for moving this for me. I think it might mean something to you guys, and maybe inspire and shed light on metal work. Here are some more pictures of the original condition.
http://img69.exs.cx/img69/9154/49Ford00150.jpg http://img69.exs.cx/img69/8910/49Ford50.jpg http://img69.exs.cx/img69/3506/49Ford00950.jpg http://img69.exs.cx/img69/689/49Ford01050.jpg http://img69.exs.cx/img69/2776/49Ford01350.jpg http://img69.exs.cx/img69/8549/49Ford01650.jpg http://img69.exs.cx/img69/9334/49Ford01750.jpg
If you can't tell what your looking at, this is whats left of the passenger side floor and rocker. Looks strong, eh?
http://img69.exs.cx/img69/1958/49Ford02050.jpg
And this is the drivers side, just below the pedals.
http://img69.exs.cx/img69/8391/49Ford02150.jpg
Passenger side floor and kick-up.
http://img69.exs.cx/img69/368/49Ford02650.jpg
I have the pictures, but downsizing them is very time consuming, so I will post more later. The actual fabrication part is next, and there is ALOT of it!

It is quite a project, but it is moving very fast considering it's condition. Having someone older really is nice. We work as a good team. He keeps my crazy ideas in check, and I throw fresh approaches to problems in to him. I really love saving the older cars that otherwise would have parted, or rotted out. The plans for it is a mild custom. It will have frenched taillights and headlights, shaved handles and emblems, a peaked hood, a peaked decklid, fender skirts, small block Chevy, either stock or '54 Chevy grille, and some other cool tricks. Polara sounds good too, love to see it's buildup if it happens. At this point, we are nearing the putty stage. Most metal is back in the car with the exception of the hood... Also, I learned to weld on this car, so the welds start out a little rough, but I like to think I am decent now. Hope everyone enjoys!

Do I spy a flathead?

You're pretty damn lucky that you have parents that will let you work on a heap of shit, (not insulting you). They see rustbucket hot rods as just that, shitty old rustbuckets that Moses drove the river.

BTW, the new pics ain't workin' for me.

You do spy a flathead. I have numerous pictures of it coming up. I figured my pictures would fail sometime... anyone else having problems? You are right, I am pretty lucky to have the chance to work on these cars. I guess the figure it keeps me out of bigger trouble. Now that I start thinking of projects, a whole load come to mind. The small block which will probably be used in the '49 is in my shed, and I hope to pick up a '35 4 door Ford. I am a little off track though now.Here are some more, hope they work!
And the fabrication of a whole new wheel well begins...
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/9308/49Ford01850.jpg
The left front fender is lifted off to find out what is hiding under it...
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/8725/49Ford01950.jpg
Does everyone remember the floor... or lack of floor I should say. This is the rear section under the rear seat of the drivers side... This is his welding, when he was teaching me( a little gas, a little wire-fed).
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/2252/49Ford02250.jpg
He left the keys to his garage for a couple hours, and voala! A floor has been born. This job is all mine, good and bad. Sorry, I am missing the rocker install, but you can see the basics of it in this one(its just surface rust on it).
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/7121/49Ford02350.jpg
Another picture of the whole floor, kickup and all. The kickup was fabbed out of a Toyota decklid, and the rest of the floor was fabbed out of a GM van top(notice the strengthened rolls). I also missed pics of the under supports of the floor, running from the supports to the frame.
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/9331/49Ford02450.jpg
Ahh yes, the legendary flathead that Chamber spyed.
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/5527/49Ford02850.jpg
A better look...
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/9471/49Ford02750.jpg
This is where the trim used to reside. It will be replaced with Buick side trim(not the wide).
http://img90.exs.cx/img90/962/49Ford02950.jpg
Thats all for now, but tommorrow I will post pics of the finished wheel well, finished passenger sided door and rocker, and finished trunk. I hope to run over and get some pics tonight. Right now it is down to bare metal, and nearing putty/primer. We hope to be into mudding by Thanksgiving. I know that this looks cheap, having not ordered the parts, but this is a REAL budget car. Also, it is being done correctly, with absolutely no fiberglass filler. We will be rolling undercoating on the floors soon, and then they will look perfect. Hope you guys are enjoying, and say something if you can't see the pics.

you can host the pictures here on the forums, click on the gallery link at the very top under the blue skyline. More reliable than the host your using.

I was trying to use that when I started, but wasn't able to, so Mike suggested using ImageShack. Sorry, but it is all I can get to work for me right now. :screwy:

If you send me a zip file with all the pictures in them, I'll resize them for them for you. [email protected]

Looks good R&C Grant. Man oh man, only if you had a sand blaster to blast the hell out those floor boards and frame.

You can say that again...

Hey man, I resized all the pictures so that this thread will be dailup friendly, I'll mail them to you if you want?

Yea that sounds good. I put the pics in a zip file and tried to send them to you, but it just kept loading them or something. Maybe I'll try again. Thanks for helping get these pics up right.

Buetiful car a 1949 ford. Glad ya saved it from rotten out. Tryin to get a Checker myself. You might want to get that ol thing blasted though..

hey man, did you ever get the pictures I sent you?

Sorry, but I didn't receive any pictures. My e-mail is messed up, and I haven't received anything in a long time. Lucky for me I have no use for it...until now. Good news and bad news...the car is coming along well, but I can't post pics to show you. I'll try again sometime soon. This really sucks because :useless: .

Get pics, or I'll ban you. :evillol:

very nice...you going for a full restoration or what? that car would look good with a good chop and section after you get it in drive safe condition... and get rid of all that cancer that would scare away even the most experenced of brain surgens...

and get rid of all that cancer that would scare away even the most experenced of brain surgens...

eh.. You must be looking at a differnt car, because that thing has very little rust compaired to most of its counterparts.

ehhh...maybe otehr cars of its era...not other cars in general... but it wasnt all too bad... still scares me...

ehhh...maybe otehr cars of its era...not other cars in general... but it wasnt all too bad... still scares me...

No kidding, newer cars have lest rust for many reasons. That '49 is in EXCELLENT shape for its age and has extremely little rust. The cars I've looked at around that age are more like a car buried in rust.

I hate to see what current cars, and cars of the last 10 years or so will look like after 50 years. The thin steel combinded with the high carbon content of the steel makes them expecially vonerable to rust.

Alright more pics are here. The fabrication REALLY begins now...The wheel wells were bad as you all remember, so new ones need to be made from scratch. These must be right, or we won't be able to fit skirts on as we plan to do.

Here is the wheel well which I showed the starting pictures of earlier.
http://img111.exs.cx/img111/1874/49Ford03050.jpg
The trunk needed some serious TLC also. This project was my doing. The half moon cut-out is for the sending unit, and the rust is just surface as you can see by the grind mark.
http://img111.exs.cx/img111/4535/49Ford03650.jpg
http://img111.exs.cx/img111/2656/49Ford03450.jpg http://img111.exs.cx/img111/871/49Ford03550.jpg
Progress is good. The headlights are frenched, and the tailight frenching-housings are made, and just need to be welded on. The decklid was declared useless to to the rusting through of the lip fold. We have a new(to us) decklid which is better and being repared now. The car is finally completely in bare metal. Our goal date to start the bodywork has been Thanksgiving, and we might make it. Sorry about the lack of pictures, I need to find the others, and get some new ones also. Till next time!

Looking better.

I can only imagine how many flap wheels your going to go through getting rid of that rust. Looks good though.

Sorry for not posting in so long! The car has really been moving! We made the Thanksgiving deadline of starting bodywork, and much of the car has mud on it now. Here is a very hard to find fender that he purchased for just $35. It looks really rusty in the picture, but its really just light surface. http://img99.exs.cx/img99/4114/003205tv.jpg
This pic is of the front valance, and a good example of all the fabrication done to it.
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/4273/49ford007207te.jpg
Here is a pic of the firewall that I smoothed. Only welded closed now, but will be ground and puttied just like the rest of the car in the end.
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/8033/49ford006200cr.jpg
Here are a couple of shots to give you an idea of what it(used to) look like.
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/2176/49ford004209qx.jpg
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/8453/49ford005208vo.jpg
More shots of the valance...(oh, and this piece was left to me for bodywork....)
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/9004/008201za.jpg
Can you say fender rebuild? (left front at bottom)
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/7306/49ford009207hd.jpg
Shot of the right rear tail after a long patch was welded in. All welding is mine, good and bad.
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/1244/49ford018205pv.jpg
[/IMG] Right rear fender... (By the way, we won't be using the replacement panel since we are done fabricating anyway)
http://img99.exs.cx/img99/1865/49ford011208tu.jpg
Here is a '54 Chevy grille that is under consideration for use. It is between this and the stocker.
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/325/49ford013203kd.jpg
Now we have a small parts pile... and some crap seats that were included with the car. Did he actually think that we would sit on that urine infested foam?
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/4343/49ford016209jd.jpg
Decklid transformation by yours truly! It was a different trunklid, because the other was unsalvageable, but this one had it's share of problems too. The large "patch" is just a fill for the license plate recession.
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/4646/49ford017200eb.jpg
This edge was salvaged off of the a different place on the old decklid since the rolled edge would have been nearly impossible to get right.
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/8060/49ford017209js.jpg
Here is a picture of the taillights with the frenched extensions taped up. These are in mud now.
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/6351/49ford019208lk.jpg
Hood repair.(also my doing)
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/2716/49ford021205oo.jpg
Hope you can see the pictures ok, and fully enjoy the update. These are very old pictures, but I plan for more soon. Bodywork is slow, so progress isn't a whole whole lot, but it is a considerable amount. Later.
UPDATED!!! No worries for 56k now! ALL PICTURES WILL NOW BE 20% DOWNSIZED(as these are).

Opened the thread for the first time ever, this is a great car your working on, the fabrication is fantastic. Hope to see more of the car too. Good job so far.

Sweet progress! Nice helmet, I need to paint my soon. But I cant figure out what I want to do to it.

Have fun getting rid of all that rust!

You really need to edit those pictures, it takes about half an hour for this thread to load on dailup. Your also using too many img tags, looks like your using two sets for every picture. Ok... after about 20 minutes of waiting all the pictures have loaded now, Looks pretty good.

Glad to see that the old man and I aren't the only ones to work like that. Everybody wants everything to be new. I say do what you can with what you have. I gotta say, that's in very good shape for the year. We've been working on and off on a '50 for the last few years.

We put the body on a '75 Chevrolet Biscayne chassis. That way when something in the running gear breaks, we won't have to special order anything. Surprisingly enough, it fit very well. We had to open the rear inner wells to allow for tire clearance, but the body mounts lined right up!

Here's the only pic that I have of it. It's in the background behind my Camaro (another project). We used that A-frame to drop the body down.
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/13391611-med.jpg

Kudos man, I'll be keeping an eye on this one!

UPDATE!!!! Finally, right??! Here are some long-awaited pictures of the frenched headlights. Progress is great, and nearly the whole car is finished with bodywork(minus the trunk lid, and hood). He ordered a new Fatman Fabrications front end that welds directly to the frame at a specific cut-off point, so more good updates will come. This new front end is already setup for a full Mustang II suspension, and we also have a power rack and pinion ready for it. The front disc-brake conversion setup is here(calipers, rotors, and everything) and also waiting for the front end install. The new front should drop it a bit, but there may be more fabrication for a more severe drop. We can't be for sure how it will sit as it doesn't have a motor, or the cut springs yet. It was going to get a top-chop... but some stainless steel window trim got in our way(it holds the window felt in). So here are the new(fairly) body pics! Enjoy!
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/820/49ford022204wm.jpg
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/7223/49ford023202qt.jpg
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/9853/49ford024205to.jpg
Headlight centered, spaced, and welded in place. The correct headlight to body gap is achieved by mounting the bucket INSIDE the mounting flanges instead of OUTSIDE. The bolts are then weled to the flange, and VOILA! the bucket slides on and off from the back when all four bolts are loosened. This takes a lot of massaging and time to achieve the correct gap. We could have used '54 Mercury stainless rings, but, to be different, we went this route. I may have a biased opinion, but I think it looks rather nice.
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/8304/49ford049204br.jpg
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/2871/49ford050207xo.jpg
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/2612/49ford051203es.jpg
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/7296/49ford052209ep.jpg
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/9415/49ford053207sg.jpg
This door and the headlight were mine. I don't get as much done since I can only work on weekends.
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/935/49ford054203zs.jpg
Here is a pic of the cleaned up firewall...
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/4647/49ford055208tq.jpg
He starts work on the other side of the fender that I was working on...
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/2258/49ford056200xm.jpg
Headlight still needs a lot of work in this shot, but I am getting there...
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/7636/49ford057201xi.jpg
Another pic of the headlight...
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/4756/49ford058200yy.jpg
Really hope you guys enjoy this set since it revealed so much progress. Really starting to look like a car, eh? The work is mostly done now, just haven't posted pictures lately. We will probably just be using a small block Chevy for power, with a 700R4, or TH350. Is this alot of fabrication, or what! WHEW! We will probably be going to try and deal on some fender skirts this weekend since it will cost too much to heat the 4 car garage. Wish us luck! I will leave you guys on some finished eye candy that I snapped up at a local Ford show. (Those headlight trim rings are the '54 Merc. Neat, but very common)
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/5418/gradutation046204kn.jpg
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/8310/207sz.jpg
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/2051/gradutation048203sq.jpg
http://img146.exs.cx/img146/8785/gradutation053201qt.jpg
I will try to be faster with a post this time, and make sure that even the 56k members can enter.

Holy shit you learned how to resize :thumbsup:. Looks like theres going to be more body filler than there is body though. Firewall looks real good.

Looks great. Although it looks like a lot of filler, Im sure its just a thin mud coat. Great work. If you dont mind, how much has this project set you back? Just wondering because I want to do the same to a 53 Pickup built before Summer of 06.

I say go with the 700R4. There great trannies, and no electronics (or is that a certain model of the 700R4, cant remember). Also great to bolt up to like a Chevy LS1, or 350.

Really hope you guys enjoy this set since it revealed so much progress. Really starting to look like a car, eh? The work is mostly done now, just haven't posted pictures lately. We will probably just be using a small block Chevy for power, with a 700R4, or TH350. Is this alot of fabrication, or what! WHEW! We will probably be going to try and deal on some fender skirts this weekend since it will cost too much to heat the 4 car garage. Wish us luck! I will leave you guys on some finished eye candy that I snapped up at a local Ford show. (Those headlight trim rings are the '54 Merc. Neat, but very common)


Chevy in a ford. You disgrace the Chevy name. A compliment to ford, however, that is should be so honored as to have a chevy power train. lol.
Looks Great!!
Wish i had the time and money to do such a project (well actually i have the money, and soon the time. but my mom wouldnt allow this a 50 year old car sitting in her already cluttered garadge)
What would be sweet if you could drop a nice fuel injected 5.0 in there. But hey, the carburated chevy 350 is like the universal motor, plus a 350 has more displacement than a 5.0. But i do like to see a ford in a ford.
after you finish it i will give you what is in my pocket ($13 and some change) and half a rice crispy treat. :grinno:
As for battleing the cold, we heat my dads shop with this thing called the heat tornado. its a big cylender, with heat sinks on the outside and a riffle sort of groove inside, that runs off of propane, there is a jet aimed at an angle inside it, it makes a swirl of flames. scary as hell to light. it heats our 20x32 2 story shop from 40 to 70 in about 20min. and only uses about 1/4 5gal propane tank. Just an idea. but you have to allow circulation because of carbon monoxide. and once its heated we turn the valve down to about 1/4 and it keeps it nice and toasty.

Holy shit you learned how to resize . Looks like theres going to be more body filler than there is body though. Firewall looks real good.
Yea, I was resizing before, but only to 75% because I wanted to retain the detail, but realized that it wasn't practical, so changed it to 20%. There is a bit of body filler, but it was the only way to correctly blend and cover up what was fixed, the only other choice was the very pricey lead option. The headlight mud was inevitable since we frenched it, as were the taillights. The pics with the car in primer are pics where the car is also covered in scratch putty(final glazing putty), not real putty to clear up any confusion.
And on to Mike's question. This car's sole thought foundation was to save a car that would have otherwise been junked, and in the process, make a nice, daily driven, vehicle at the same time. That is for everything from the crate motor(yes, he is now going to get a 350 crate) to the headliner. Looks like this weekend will be involving alot of measuring and leveling for the Fatman front clip. We have our work cut out for us for the next two years it seems. I mentioned having helped paint a Model A coupe last winter, and next winter this same coupe is coming back in for a color change. He(same guy) has also purchased a '49 Chevy 1/2 P/U, and that looks like it will be in the garage the winter after that. But we still have alot of work ahead of us on this project, let alone 2 others, so we will keep pushing, and I will keep updating.

Alright, the old front clip was fully leveled, marked, and cut after a good number of sawzall blades. The new front end has all the tabs welded on, as does the frame. They were fitted together, and are now spot welded up, completely level and lined up. That was our biggest accomplishment, but we also started rebuilding the used front suspension parts that we have. This included bushings and ball joints in the uppers, and bushings in the lowers. He should be doing that this week. We need to get 1 new lower though since it is in bad condition. All the new front disc brake parts should be installed soon. He also picked up some dummy spotlights, and lake pipes brand new at a local swap meet, so the eye candy is also rolling in. Luckiest find is a friends finding of some '59-'51 Ford fender skirts. These aren't the stock kind with the 3 ribs, but the cooler looking ones with a lower lip. They are also all steel, so we didn't have to give in to that fiberglass junk. Sorry no pictures. Hopefully another update soon.

I take offence to "fiberglass junk" heh.

Looks like you're taking on the same project I am. Good luck with it. I just purchased a 50 2door sedan... wish mine had a flatty but, the 302 will do. Again, good luck... good to see you're resurrecting it.

Whoops, sorry bout the fiberglass junk comment, but true customs have to be steel!

Thanks 6sic6 for the encouragement, and good luck with yours also. I am sorry to say that we are not using the flatty due to the cost of parts. You thought it wasn't cool to put a 302 in it? We'll be using a small block chevy, even more uncool. To make it extremely lame, it will be a crate. :mad: Oh well, they are great sources of power, and very reliable, just too popular for my taste. This is all becuase of the budget, which I said was about 6 g's. Our goal is to make it into a very nice driver. It may not have 30 thousand dollars invested, but it will turn heads, and be rock solid. This much can't be said for the car we started with. Another aim of the car is to be period correct. This means that the lake pipes and dummy spots are a must, along with frenched heads and tails, and nosed and decked. It should be a cool cruiser in a few months if were lucky.

Um... witch period?

The late 50's, early 60's custom period. To be fully correct we should chop the top, but we have the stainless around the windows so it will be too much trouble, and still may not come out right. The stainless would HAVE to be cut down and re-installed becuase it holds the window felt in place :mad:. The welds would have to be done out of the garage since it is welding stainless, and would need to be polished back out. Then we would have to hope they fit and looked right. By the end, a couple hundred(that we don't have laying around) would be spent, and the trim may not even hold the felt in correctly. Needless to say we will not be chopping the top even though it would be period correct. If you can't tell that makes me a little angry that the top won't be chopped, but there isn't anything I can do about it, so oh well! Well, I can't leave you guys over 3 posts without pics, so here is a pic of my dad's '68 Mustang, and our friend's(owner of Project '49) '39 Ford.
http://img239.exs.cx/img239/1423/balloonglow019205zn.th.jpg (http://img239.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img239&image=balloonglow019205zn.jpg)

Hey Hey Hey!! I have a front clip replacement and rebuild update. The Fatmans Fabrications front clip had the tabs welded on, along with the old frame, and it was slid into place(wasn't actually that easy, more like 1 hour's worth of pounding). It is now spotted up level, and all the drop points line up. The front end components are all rebuilt with new bushings and bearing sleeves. The paint on them is drying as I type this. This was a major hurdle on the car, and it is nearly finished. Along with this we are cleaning up the rest of the frame and patching spots to get it ready for some sort of a rubberized coating whether it be plain roofing tar, undercoating, or truck bedliner. The floor needed some welding on the underside where the patches were so that was taken care of also. It all seems to be coming together now. Without further adue here are the front clip pictures.

This is a decent shot of his newly acquired fender skirts. They are all steel NOS parts.
http://img232.exs.cx/img232/7034/49ford001307im.th.jpg (http://img232.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img232&image=49ford001307im.jpg)
The front clip is on!
http://img232.exs.cx/img232/8744/49ford002307nx.th.jpg (http://img232.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img232&image=49ford002307nx.jpg)
Closeup of the A-arms and spindle after rebuild. They are all cleaned up and painted now.
http://img232.exs.cx/img232/192/49ford003309il.th.jpg (http://img232.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img232&image=49ford003309il.jpg)
Wow, that old clip was much nicer than the new one...
http://img232.exs.cx/img232/658/49ford004301ab.th.jpg (http://img232.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img232&image=49ford004301ab.jpg)
Another shot of the freshly rebuilt front end components, and front clip.
http://img232.exs.cx/img232/8536/49ford005302dh.th.jpg (http://img232.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img232&image=49ford005302dh.jpg)
Want to know what happens to a vice when you try to press a stubborn bushing in?
http://img232.exs.cx/img232/4489/49ford006302vc.th.jpg (http://img232.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img232&image=49ford006302vc.jpg)

Thats all for now. This car should really be coming together in the coming months. It looks as though we will easily make our deadline of the 1 year turn-around. If you forgot, the car was purchased in June, and no one has touched this car except him and I(only on Saturdays), so that isn't a bad feat. Later.

What is the maximum amperage the welder you're using can weld at?

Nice updates. Looks like y'all are making some good progress. The new skirts will look good Im sure. And that front clip looks tons better.

How in the hell did you bust a vice like that? Um...and if you're trashing it, I might want that handle and Acme screw that makes the vise slide in and out.

Quote:"What is the maximum amperage the welder you're using can weld at?"(quote button won't work)
Not sure what amperage, but I can set it to 7 gauge metal if that helps any.

Quote:"What is the maximum amperage the welder you're using can weld at?"(quote button won't work)
Not sure what amperage, but I can set it to 7 gauge metal if that helps any.

180amps.

JUst what I am looking for !
Jerry 480 205 5778

JUst what I am looking for !

You mean you want to buy it?

You mean you want to buy it?


Yes I , I am in a search for a 49 - 51 club Coupe
Where is it and where are you on the money ?

Jerry

I went to his(the owner) house today, and talked to him about it. He was wanting this for a daily driver, but would consider selling(he'll sell anything). He said that if you wanted it right now, in it's current state which is primer, and ready for paint, then the price would be 7g, but if you wanted it done, and painted, it would be 15g. Location is in Illinois near St. Louis. If you are still interested, I will give him your number, and you guys can talk. If you were to buy the car now, the parts list is this:Fatman Fabrications front clip specifically for the car, Mustang II upper and lower control arms rebuilt with Heidt's rebuild kit, Mustang II spindles, brand new front disc brake rotors, brand new front disc brake calipers, stock rear-end cleaned up and painted with new pinion seal, fully rebuilt rear brakes, new brake lines bent and routed for connection with flexible line, the bodywork has been done(as you can see) the only bodywork that hasn't been done is a little on the rear deck, and the hood. Its up to you, doesn't matter to us either way.

Still interested
Jerry M. Carter
480 205 5778
623 815 9577
[email protected]

Send pictures!

Jer

All of the pictures that were taken are posted on pages 1-3. Also, I noticed that you mentioned a Club coupe. This may, or may not be what you are looking for as it is a 2 dr. Custom coupe. Also, the door handles have been shaved, and the car nosed and decked, so this car is not a good concourse restoration canidate, but more of a custom cruiser hot rod. The original grille and bumpers would need re-chromed if you wanted to use them, but his plans were to use a '54 Chevy grill and paint match it, and the bumpers. There is no interior, as the original was extremely far gone.. His plans were for late model buckets and center console.

Looks awesome man, you can tell alot of time has gone into this project. Your right, a chop top would be more era correct ( and boost the cool factor )...but then you'd have to section it aswell :iceslolan

The top was going to get chopped, but there is stainless trim around the window that can't be eliminated. This means that it too would have to be chopped and then welded with special stainless rod, then ground, and taken to a polisher...so the idea was thrown out. To JerryMCarter, I am leaving on vacation now until tommorow night, so I won't be able to reply until then. The owner is obviously a little skeptical, and wanted to make sure that you were really interested before he got all excited. If you are still interested after I posted up the last time about it being a custom coupe, and custom cruiser, then I will try to convince him to call you soon, and maybe you guys can work something up. By the way, if you want it, which way were you looking to have it, finished, or as-is? Just wondering. Catch you guys tommorow night.

Yes I really am looking for a club coupe but the Custom is second on my list. I looked hard at the pictures. I like the mild custom of handles nose headlights and smoothie trunk with frenched tailights. I hope that no one would ever chop the top. Sorry to your other reader but that was only a very few "Brill Cream" guys and the rest of us did mild custom with gorilla motors. I need to know what exactly has been done to the car. I am ready with a 550 horse big block ford - tubbing the rear end that will be streetable. I can see what has been done so far but what else has been worked on? Also, what was done to the metal other than covering it with bondo? And, has it had paint to stop H20 from traveling through the primer onto the metal? The reason that I would be interested is because I usually cannot stand most of the work that many beginners do to cars. Nothing worse than fabulious paint that shortly starts to let you know that your going to have to grind it all off and start over! Signed: "Tired of backyard mechanic hot rod wanta bee's".
Jerry 1-1-47

You are right about primer not holding water out extremely well, but this car has only been in primer for about a month and a half, and that was in a heated garage. When you get ready to paint the car, then you put a sealer on it to prevent that. Also, on the note of "backyard mechanics", this isn't a proffesional shop, but the owner has been doing hot rods and bodywork since 1956. He plans to paint the car black if that is any indication to the quality of it. Basically everything that was done to the car has been posted in detail, including rust repair, floor replacement, body mods, and front clip replacement. Also, I noticed that you lived in Arizona, and wondered why you couldn't find a nice rust-free car out there? Since he wasn't wanting to sell the car, but keep it for himself, the price is firm. Post back on what your thinking.

There were about 45,000 people here in 1950 - close to 5 million now but alsomost no old cars. I have searched for about 6 months and have not found one here. There is a guy in Scottsdale that has some woodies but no coupes.
Glad to here that someone can figure the rust.
Where is the car?
Since 1956 - he was working in a body shop 50 years ago - wowie.
Was the car etched , sandblasted or DP40 ? or ? But no epoxy sealer yet?
For me the car has a long way to go before ready to paint. Not the body, but the rest of the fabrication.
Jerry

Sorry if I was misleading. He hasn't been working in a proffesional bodyshop for 50 years, but has been doing bodywork as a hobbyist since '56. No sandblasting was done, all rust was removed by hand(fun), and it is coated in good 'ole laqcuer primer. The car is located in Alton Illinois right by St. Louis. There isn't any sealer yet because the body is still having it's final sanding stages done(minus the hood and trunk) with scratch putty.Also, all four windows have wing vents, and the cab glass and windshield are not good as webbing has set into them. The rear glass is good as far as we know. Yes, if you want to go pro street, then there is a considerable amount of work left, but no work that we have done thus far will be time wasted.

Good news! He found an '89 LTD with a 5.0 and AOD, so we have for sure found a motor, and luckily its Ford! Hopefully we will be able to use the EFI, but if it doesn't work out, we can always just use a 4 barrel manifold and carb. The odometer reads at only 60,xxx(can't remember) miles, and that seems to be true since the seats have no wear at all. Since we are buying the whole car, we will be using a lot of miscellaneous parts from the car such as interior pieces.