Good god that's cool! Can we get some more porn, er pix of this. It's pretty educational just looking at the pix. I'm in the partial restoration camp on this. Clean it up, try to find old material to redo the seats like they were originally. The paint on this isn't to good to look at as it is. Maybe a light sand with fine grit just to clean it up and a polish so you can keep stuff like the orginal pinstripping. I betting those magnesium rocker arms might be cracked by now too (I've never seen this before, was is common?). Killer find, congrats to the guy who got it.
Someone has to have info on this car, it was too nice. I'm with the rest of them, don't paint it. You can't create patina like that.
What do you think the guy that built this (or any other nice, detailed rod that was built "back when") would want you to do with it? I don't think they would really want to see the car they sweat blood to build slowly rusting to dust. I would probably try to put the car back in the same shape it was in in it's glory days. No updates, but no rust either. Larry T
ditto. Did you find that poor little roadster from the bottom of the ocean? All bolts stuck... Sad to see the condition of the former show car, however it has some stories to tell and you will lose them if repainted and chromed IMO. --mika
If he feels like me, he would want it to show every last battle scar, keep it in perfect mechanical condition, and DRIVE it! Rich
Mike. Glad you posted more pics! Does the former owner have any old pics? Where are you located? ....I wonder if the garage is locked..... oops, did I say that outloud??
I agree 100%--that is not a ratrod pile of scrap, it is a well finished 1950's rod that has badly deteriorated. Look at it--it was fully painted. It had a professionally done upholstery job. Homemade, very well crafted windshield and dash insert. Good parts that cost money--gauges, speed parts, etc. That car was clean and shiny after its buildup--and should be again. Some rods were built with as-is bodies, but that is sure as hell not one of them--AND no one would have used a fully rusted body anyhow, as half decent A's were common and cheap. Parenthetically, I have been hunting and scrounging early Ford stuff since maybe 1960, and that level of rust would have been pretty unusual on an A even in a scrapyard--A's had bonderized paint that really held to the metal and took a LONG time to wheater through except where water was trapped in sills. I think that car's finish is actually a victim of its buildup--I'd guess it was sanded to bare metal and the custom paint job lacked the adhesion and durability of the original stuff. That patina is from abandonment, not use, and has nothing to do with anything visible in '50's rodding.
Welcome, and Congrats. I agree on all counts, you have the find of a lifetime. You are on the right track in my opinion, document it with a million pics and restore it to the way it was. Like was said previously, interview the builder ASAP! You are the keeper of a historical artifact, if the chrome was intact and the rust was'nt so bad I would say preserve it, but it is on the downhill slide and needs to be restored. Just my .02.
''Why is there an electrical switch on the clutch master cylinder? Hmmmm.." Because it useta was a brake cylinder on the deceased '53 Ford that provided it and the pedal...and I think it still retains or plugs a hole in the retainer for the fitting beneath. Note no wires attached now--right one still switches the brake light.
interview the ole' guy and post it up here for us to read.... man, what a find! i agree, it's on the downhill slope right now.......restore it.....just don't take any liberties with it........use the exact same parts that were used.... if it were just faded paint, i'd say leave it alone.....
Definitely restore it, at least partially. There's a fine line between patina and just plain neglect and I'd say this one crosses it. You've got good parts, just make them purty again!
i'm in between clean up and resto on this car, if only because of the pinstriping on the gauge panel and grill shell. cars like this document a period of time, like a photograph left in the sun, it's faded from exposure and time. you can restore the photograph, too, but it's not the same as the original. would you photocopy the dead sea scrolls if it meant destroying the originals? what if you could reinforce the papyrus, changing the look and feel, but it made it sturdy enough to copy without damage? that's where i'm at on this one. it would be a shame to change any of the major stuff, but i might re-plate the chrome, detail the motor and re-do the interior...
I agree with the Antiques Roadshow comments also, restore the mechanical aspect, clean the car but don'tdestroy this time capsule. The car might be worth more, restored, but historical value seems more important than monetary value. To me at least.
This could be the score of the year. Do not, under any circumstances touch that car other than to get it running and driving.
looks to me like that car had a hood on it, did you get the hood with it, if it was my car i`d clean it all up and make it roadworthy, get all the running gear working like it should then if you do decide to restore it the bugs will have already been worked out of it, if the seats and vinyl have gone hard you can use some spray paint remover on a rag and wipe them all down, makes it soft like new. i say in 10 years your car should look like the day it was built and be on the road everyday.
Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, and there's plenty of them here. Here's my take. I think the value of the car is the way it is. I would like to see you be able to drive it but please don't over restore it. With digital cameras we have now document every nut and bolt with photographs. A 2 gig chip would hold lotsa pics, documentation is important and cheap. If you completely restore it you would have as much money in it as building a duplicate and its value would be no more than it is now. Be very thoughtful as to how you work on it. AWESOME!!
Several "Very Historical" cars have been restored and continue to be restored, cars that have had a little more historical past, cars built by guys like Doane Spence, Alex Xydias, Bob McGee, Vic Edelbrock, Ed Stewart, Tom McMullen, Pete Henderson, Doyle Grammel, Bill Niekamp, Joe Nitti, Ed Roth,....... Man the list is endless, They have all been restored ( some unfortunately over restored ) to there former glory,... the two cars that still have there original finish (that I can think of ) is the Ed Iskenderian T and the Frank Mack T but both retain most of the original finish in very good condition. This car might have some significant history, but probably not as much as those mentioned that have already been restored, so why not restore it to it's authentic period and let it be seen as the vision the original builder had for it ? Regardless it's the decision of the new owner what he wants to do with it,.... my argument is that there were a lot of cars built in that period without that level of skill and detail, IMHO it deserves to be restored to it's former glory,.... again this is just my opinion The Belly Tanker as found,........ Then Restored,...... Alex looks happy,.......
Owning a survivor car is cool but it gets old, every one and there dog telling you what you should do with it. Leave it alone get it running dont restore it!!! Restore it to its glory days!! Isnt that so and so's car !! I hear those all the time and it gets old real quick, Do what you want with the car and dont worry about anyone else I have owned mine for a few years and I changed it up a little to make it run and drove it that way for a while. and then I heard you ruined it because ??? Just because they were built back then dont mean they were done right or safe and how many was actually drove any distance at all compaired to what we drive them now? I am now doing the body work to mine because I want something shiney, Im sure Ill hear you should have left it alone I would not have done that. My point is a survivor car is one of the worst cars to own due to everyones opinions about them so do your own thing with it have fun and dont worry about what everyone says that you should do with it. It is a cool car and whatever you do with it it will still be cool. the main thing is to have fun with it!!!!
Thank you all for the responses. I did not expect to get the amount of info and opinions I have received. To answer a few of the questions... I am unable to find the hood, I thought it would be around the farm and it has yet to surface. I will keep looking. I am going to fully research the car and obtain as much info as I can and at the same time collect the repair parts for the items needing to be mechanically gone through. I am very good friends with the old fella that had this and I am trying to get as much info as possible, his age and hearing is getting a bit tough. I have pulled the heads to look at the engine, does not look too bad, no ridges still standard, I am guessing .10 over will do. I will most likely go through the car to get it running, brakes, etc... since it is pretty straight forward. I will then enjoy it as it is until such a time I feel it needs to go back to the way it was as a tribute to my friend. Since this has caused so much controversy lets talk about another subject that will have opinions galore. We all know a car is worth what someone wants to pay. I have been offered and told quite a few values when I was bringing it home, (everyone has an opinion on this one especially at gas stations). Based on what you all have seen on the market and at the shows, what would a good value for this one be as it is, and/or restored. I do not plan on selling this since helps complete a dream I have carried for a long time. I would appreciate your non-inflated from excitement estimates. I do have another surprise we can discuss when we finish with this car. Thanks again, Mike
I need to make sure I appreciate my good friend Tony for helping me recover this car. He will read this soon as I have sent him the link of the site. When I was looking for an extra set of wire wheels, (two of the ones on the car are beyond repair) he went out of his way to bring them back from North Kansas. Without hesitation he jumped in after a ten hour ride to help dig the car out and I could not have done it without him. Shake and Bake, your the man. Appreciate all of your help with this.
That's a killer find without a doubt, nice one! It's also obvious that it was a very smart piece that's had more than one guise I'd suspect? Blue & burgundy paint jobs? Here's my shout on what I might do, if it had been my catch. Video & photograph the hell out of it. As it stands, it is a very good historical record. Record this. Then slowly, but surely, work on it. Get to know it and it's history. Surely it appeared in some old 'zine or other? Then firstly get the mechanics running good. Replace what can't be restored with identical or best possible. Even try to use that old interior, if possible. Then after maybe three or four years an' saving the paint work 'til last, recreate what it might have looked like in it's best rendition but to your liking. It's your car/call. You can see how many folks around here would love the opportunity. Savour it. I for one would love to see what it looked like back in '55/'56 (my guess at it's prime), finished an' roarin' down the road! All the best, Koops.....
The Jalopy Journal
