Features Ayala-Barris Jack Stewart 1941 Ford RESTORATION has started.

Going to look much better this time around. Keep it up!

 

Thanks for the update Palle! Man I should really come by you one day and check the build out for real!!

 

Looking really good,keep on wrenching!Nice looking garage too.

 

Man, it might go easier if you bought a real english wheel! Haha.... Keep up the good work!

 

HI Palle, thanks for the update. I'll get Jack over here to see the latest pictures.
Keep up the good work!
cw.

 

Damn you guys do some nice work!

 

great build love to see more

 

Very nice work, keep going !!!!

 

so fixing the frame/ removing all the original welds and bringing it up to todays quality standards is not going against the restoration (taking away from how it was). I would do the same if it were mine, just not sure what the rules are for restoring a historic car. where are you allowed to improve and where do you keep it the same

 

Brilliant thread - please keep the updates coming.

 

I have never met someone qualified to write the rules on restoring historic cars. Heard a lot of opinions though.
Always thought this car was ahead of the curve. Keep up the good work.

 

This thread is so inspirational, keep up the great work.

 

This is not a case of "over restoring" at all.
You have to remember that the ch***is work on this car was done in 1948-1950, and the car has been on the road a lot in the 1970's thru the 1990's. A lot of the work done on the ch***is was getting tired, and needed to be freshened up to be safe for many more miles of fun. As much as possible of the original welds will remain on the frame and inside the body. Palle knows the significance of these cars, and never intend to make it up to todays standards.
But he also lives in Denmark, and the car needs to be registered to be able to drive on the road. And to be able to do that it has to meet certain rules, and those rules are not very strict, but they are there and the work done on the frame fits within those rules.

 

thanks guys!
about the 'over restoring'..RIK is right. it has been given a lot of thoughts, and i am trying to keep as much of the work on the frame. the old engine mounts is a thing that will remain.
but the body has never been off the frame, so it really needs love!
all ideas and opinions are more than welcome! i am not an expert in this!!
Craig..say hello to Jack!
-palle

heres my only headache on the frame. i find myself walking around this everyday..not really sure what to do!

 

Looking good keep it up ,maybe a new piece of frame in the back and a new crossmember

 

In many of these old customs (or hotrods for that matter), the frame and suspension work can be crude, poorly done or even dangerous. Seems to happen more on fully fendered customs where it wasn't easy to see it, crawl underneath it, etc. I don't see anything historically significant about preserving ****ty work that was done in the above manner - should have never been done like that in the first place, nobody would have been proud of it, etc.. Rework it to today's standards -- make it something that you're proud of.

Fix the frame as it should be fixed, chances are there aren't many welds you'd want to keep or that anybody even cares about. Just do the job right, better than it ever was and help ensure that this car is safe and will be around for many years.

The rear suspension work is a mess -- might as well fix it all. Redo the C-Channels, redo the rear cross, etc.. Why not . . . who the hell is going to be able to stick his/her head under there anyway. And thank God it was always low enough in the past that nobody could -- as they'd have ****ped themselves if they did.

Poor or shoddy craftsmanship is exactly that - no reason to keep it around

Great car, keep up the great work and don't look back.

 

Your eyes can see it a lot better than we can in pictures, so do what you have to, but make it safe.

Really enjoying the thread.

 

Hey,

If you were restoring the "Mona Liza" painting would ya change her (actually said to be a guy) nose simply because it's kinda big and weird?
I didn't think so either. 30-40 years from now, when someone rolls under her, who's history is someone gonna see? Add welds or metal as necessary to make repairs, but you're not building a silly street rod that will have mirrors under it at shows, it's a historically significant kustom! This is the same way I'd go at the metal work up topside, sure sound,metalfinished panels with little lead( you are going to replace what lead was used, arn't you?) used, but the truth is many early builds wern't finished to very high standards, metalwork wise, not to restoration/concourse standards anyway.
It looks like you guys are havin fun, and that's what's important!


" Meanwhyle back aboard The Tainted Pork "

 

thanxs guy s ill be watching

 

most of the frame work was done in the 40's...think about this: Jack just wanted to drive the car. the c notch is probably done as a quick job using a torch! and in someones driveway! i am impressed what those guys could do, with the tools they had!
so i am in no way trying to hide the remains of the history...but of course safety first!
thanks for the interest!
stay tuned!
-palle

 

I believe during the restoration of the Hirohata Merc, Jim McNeil kept as much of the "Bubble Gum" welds as possible on the ch***is modifications. He just cleaned up the unseen areas, and made the changes for safety's sake where they weren't as noticeable.

 

If you can put yourself behind young Jack's eyes as he built this car, in the early stages at least, it's easy to understand how his youthful enthusiasm might have outstripped his skill with tools, the result being the frame Palle is agonizing over today.

Would it be so bad to rebuild the ch***is as Jack would have built it if he could have, using the same ecclectic mix of parts, but with nice clean welds and gussets?

After all, he didn't see his dream with torch cuts and bubblegum welds in his mind's eye, he saw it as perfect. He just didn't have the means to turn his dream into reality.

Thankfully, that changed over the years as his current red "signature Deuce" is as nice as they come.

 

nicely put..................

 

Stuff like this is exactly why I have no ambition to own a "historically significant" car.

History needs to be preserved, but I could never bring myself to leave a mess like that under a car that I owned.

I just couldn't do it.

I'm glad that decision is yours and not mine.

 

keep the updates coming ! thanks for sharing Rik & Palle

 

Cool pile Palle.. respect!
- follow the McNeil Hirohata method as an example IMO.

 

Hey,

Actually a very easy decision to make.............there are still many 1941 Ford coupes around, there is ONLY ONE and will only ever be one Ayala/Barris Jack Steawart 1941 Ford!

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

look at it this way not every one did (work) like that in the 40's just like today some work is better than others so clean it up and make it safe.

 

Exactly! And if Jack had the tools, time, $$$, skills or whatever else was needed at th time - he'd have done it himself. No reason to preserve bad/dangerous fabrication . . . at least if you want to actually DRIVE the car.

Now if you just want to restore it, park it and gawk at it . . . leave all the ugly **** you want as you're not putting anybody else's life in danger when you go down the road.

 

Palle, my 37 Ford has the same black stuff under the floorboards. I found out from the guy that chopped it back in 1948 what it is. He told me it was a tar mixture that got hard as a rock after drying, they used it to deaden sound and stop rust. When I worked at a Chevy dealer back in the early sixtes we had a drum of this dated from 1950 and it was so hard you needed a hammer and chisel to break it up. Look forward to seeing pics of progress on your restro.