Featured Projects Bought a 51 Ford on Purpose

Thanks for the encouragement. I’ll do it since it is only 5 miles or so from the house and it gives me something to do in evenings I don’t want to work in the shop. There was a nursing home in the town just south of me that had an event once a month or so that several old cars went to. I did that a few times and it did seem to be a memory trigger for lots of folks.

 

When my late Father in law was in the VA hospital in Wichita We drove the 57 Fairlane there a few times. The residents enjoyed seeing the car . The VA hospital hosted a car show once a year.

 

Man it’s hard to beat a shoebox ford for a blank canvas! Congrats

 

Very cool car man. Always love a lowered shoebox Ford. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

 

Thanks man! Not as cool as the chopped Merc you just got, but should be a fun driver.

Oh, and I got absolutely nothing done this evening other than picking up the front springs at the parts store. Work has been crazy lately and I just wasn’t up to working on it this evening. Maybe I’ll have more energy tomorrow evening.

 

Nice find Jeff. Looks to be a solid car. Amateur paint jobs are fine. It’s amateur rust repair that’s not and looks like this one doesn’t have that problem.

 

Was going to post this yesterday but left it drafted but not posted. Better late than never? Old timer's deal.
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Well, damn man, got a little twinge right there. OK. Yeah. Definitely. Please try that.

My wife's "Uncle Walt" was a crusty old fella, think Archie Bunker. He had a 50 Chevy, he called it his "Shivvy". He loved that thing. He's gone now, but passed after a stint in assisted living. My pa in law was in an assisted living deal during Covid, so the powers that be declared we couldn't visit him (all the cuss words here) but we were allowed to do a drive through, so we took my kid's Bronco and took off the roof and went through about 3 times. Very gratifying and memorable.

 

Nice car, and a neat story behind it. I agree with your plan that some lowering and cleanup, along with the minor repairs to make it driveable are all it needs. To get by cheap, run some full hubcaps on the wheels on the car? I like the whitewall tires, just matches the cruiser theme with skirts.

 

I thought about that. I need to take the wheels off and see how wide they are. I’m hoping they are 5” wide so the 6.70-15’s would look right.

 

Thanks Mark! I wondered how they would look on a little wider wheel than I was used to running.

 

I did try that on that 60 Thunderbird I had with no luck keeping them on. I couldn’t even back out of the shop without them falling off. I ended up settling for those bullet style center caps on the smoothies hitting the easy button. I have another set of those so could do that for a bit until I trip across some wheels.

 

I also got some paperwork in the mail today that seems to have the paint code, all the receipts for the chrome work, several receipts for parts from Dennis Carpenter, etc. That helps me better understand what all has been done.

 

Why not put the wheels off the 56 on with full wheel covers until you trip across a set of wheels?

 

Summit Racing has Chinesium GM Ralley wheels brand new for around $60 each. They are both bolt pattern (4.5 and 4.75) and work great to go under a full cap. It’s what I used on my coupe until I got the chrome reverse. But check them for runout before installing the tire…

I also have a set of aftermarket Dodge Lancer caps I’d be willing to part with. I also have some driver quality 55 olds caps.

This is the lancer cap with the summit wheel

 

You and @Moriarity think alike.

 

I’ll keep that in mind Dan.

 

Full caps.
The only thing rally wheels are made for

 

Went for the first drive just now and even got to take my grandson! Just down the road and back, but it has brakes! Video coming after I change my daughters oil, put more gas in, and go for a longer drive.

 

Not lowered yet though… Not sure I’ll be able to get the rear tires off once it’s lowered until I put the 6.70-15’s on. So…I’ll drive like this at least for a few days. Not legal yet, so can’t go too far until I get a tag on it next week.

 

That's a good question. If I don’t come across some wheels soon, I’ll likely just put those on.

 

I like it, great daily driver.

 

boy.....it sounds really good

 

Wow.....I need a car like that....that is really sweet Jeff....congrats! I am quite jealous!

 

Great score Jeff! Before I forget, I have a set of Z28 wheels that would look just tits in that car!

 

I did actually sell the ones that came with my 40 at a swap meet earlier this year. A buddy gave me three extras to throw in to sweeten up the deal for someone.

 

Pushing my luck with no tag…