I have owned two 51 tudors in the past but never thought I would have a convertible until this came for sale this past June. I came in from working on the garage, washed up and figured I would check out the local classifieds. I was not planning on buying another car but just looking can be very dangerous. Well on the first page I see an ad for a 51 vert that is in a thousand pieces. The car looks very solid and there are pics of an abundance of new or restored parts. I send the guy an email and it turns out the car is up the street from me in a nice dry garage and it's been that way since 1999. The owner had passed and his family were ready to sell it. A deal was stuck and it came home in several trailer loads. I could not believe this car had been right under my nose all these years. Here are some picks of the car in the state I found it.
The car is about two days from the maiden voyage. I will post pics of the progress frome the last four months. The plan has been to get it as stock as possible prior to customizing in order to work out the bugs and as chance to experience what it would have been like to customize a nearly new car in the fifties. I have a decent inventory of parts I would like to use including 49 Merc grill shell with floating 51 kaiser grill bar, Appleton spots, Lincoln push buttons for starters. I would like this car to not venture past the 1955 mark in parts.
I started by getting some panels lined up and in to my pals shop for a quick spray. The left fender fits like crap and was repaired by a drunken sailer so it will be replaced by the time the real pain goes on.
The car turned out to be quite solid with some body repairs done in the typical shoebox places. The entire bottom of the car had the undercoating removed and was Recoated with Por15. The flathead appears to be a reman, with the typical smurf blue paint. The Fordomatic turned out to be too long because someone put a later center case in place of the original. I modified the crossmember 1.5 inches and had the drive shaft shortened the same amount.
It started out as a NJ car that moved to Toronto in the late 80's and underwent some repairs and paint at that point. I don't think it has spent much of its life outside.
I was finishing up some under hood items today and had a hell of a time trying to figure out where the neutral safety switch is. I have two wires neer the column and nothing to atatch them to. Does anyone have a pic of this or advice?
Eric.......you don't want that car....it doesn't even have a top! You should trade me for my Victoria!! (Congrats on finding a gem!) CB
A dash pick I took today. I still have a little under dash wiring to do. Does anyone know if the red center on the steering wheel came from the factory? I have two of them so I am a little confused.
If a continental kit is in your plans I have a complete unit that I took off my 51 for sale all painted black with a chrome tire ring.....pm me if interested..
My very stock 51 Convertible had a black wheel and centertop above the silvergrey. I paid $50 for it running and driving in Andalusia AL back in 1970. It is one of the ones that should have been kept at all costs.
Got a couple of sputters out of her today but was not able to get her running. I have spark and I think I have the distributer dropped in correctly. I dropped it in while the number 1 cylinder was at TDC on its compression stroke with the crank pulley dot lined up with the timing marker. The rotor is at the number one wire terminal at this point. I primed the carb and fuel line after the pump with a bit of gravity fed gas. I also poured a little gas down the carb and gave it a shot. Just a couple of pops so far. Am I missing anything?
It just fired up for a few seconds and it was very exiting. This is my first 6 volt car and the starter seems to turn slower tan what I'm used to. Is this normal for six volt cars? Will the pump prime my brand new fuel line or do I need to do something? Any advice would be great. Thanks Eric H
Well the car is running well and almost complete. It has turned out to be a very pretty car, maybe too pretty and original to cut on. (Ya, I might be one of those guys. LOL) I will be selling this car to someone who will enjoy this kind of thing and I will divert my attention back towards my 51 Ford Tudor project that I have no problem cutting on. I also placed a deposit on a 57 150 strait axle project today. Pics to come.
The Jalopy Journal
