Technical 1950 ford daily driver?

Hi all, first post on here so I hope I'm doing it in the right place. I currently own newish cars (2008-1987 Toyota). But grew up driving old cars. I want to get back into old cars, and wanted my dream car, a 1950 ford coupe. I am looking for a flathead V8, 3 speed with overdrive car. My questions are this.

1. Am I crazy to want to daily drive it and is it doable? (I guess I should mention I am a certified auto tech who restores cl***ics for work)

2. What would be a good budget to get a fairly nice, complete, running car? Not perfect but not something that will need a frame off?

All help is much appreciated.

 

Not a '49 or a '51?

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I've really got my heart set on a 1950, I don't like the changes for 1951. A 1949 would be close.

 

I have a '50 Chevy Coupe. I do like the Ford coupe, not the 2 door sedan though. Always thought it looked like a 4 door that someone welded the rear doors.

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Its a used car. Thousands were daily driven for years. Keep up on the maintenance, keep out of the fast lane, and be prepared for breakage. No reason not to.

 

I have had a '51 club coupe (the same thing mechanically) for over 30 years and used it as a daily driver in the summer for most of that time. I try to stay out of bad weather, but that is more to prevent water damage and getting it all dirty than any shortcoming of the car itself. Up until a year ago, I ran it bone stock, with re-pop Firestone bias ply tires. Since it was getting a little tired, I have just replaced the stock engine with a warmed over '51 Mercury engine. I have also replaced the old Firestones with a set of Coker Cl***ic radials. I expect this to make it an even better daily driver in the future. Several years ago, I took the car from the twin cities area to a car show in the Chicago area. I had no problem whatsoever. I took my time going there, taking the back roads, but took the interstate back in order to get back for work. Surprisingly, the car with no overdrive but 3.55 gears cruised effortlessly at 65 on the interstate.

Make sure everything is in good shape and you should be fine. I plan on taking my car on a 500 mile round trip to my 57th high school reunion this summer.

Of course, since you haven't specified where you live, things may be a little different, but up here in Minnesota, it's a great choice.

 

I totally agree. I do want a 2 door coupe instead of a 2 door sedan

 

I live in Oregon. Not in the rust belt, no harsh weather really. I would really like to do a road trip like you are talking about, it's a bucket list thing for me, just like the car hahaha

 

Once my '50 is done, I intend to use it as one. Like others have mentioned, people daily-drove them all the time in the '50s. Just have to be more alert and accept you may be in the slow lane most of the time if you keep it stock. They are also more maintenance-intensive than a Toyota, so you'll have to keep on top of that as well. Do you plan to get one and keep it stock, or make any improvements? Shoebox Central in Oklahoma City has just about every part you'll ever need (and if they don't have it on the shelf, they've got several parts cars out back they can take a part off of).

Budget-wise, it depends on what you're looking for and what you're wanting to do. There's a really nice bone-stock 2-door sedan near me for $10,500 which seems about right. There's also a builder-quality coupe near me for $5500, which seems a little high but the pictures do seem to show a car in good shape. There's another 2-door sedan near me that's chopped for the same price. Mine I bought for $500 and it's a complete basket case. They're not rare, so it shouldn't be difficult to find whatever you're looking for.

 

10 grand as the starting point.
You may can find a viable car cheaper (especially if you go Tudor Sedan) but not by much. Folks are asking a lot of money for junk or cars that will take much more than 10 grand to be road worthy. It seems once you cross that $10,000 mark you get into cars that are essentially turn key. In the end with it all said and done, you cannot build a project for that.

I had one. It was my teenage dream car. I sold it. Do I miss it? Sure, but the reality was not really the "dream". Life is like that I guess.

As far as a daily driver, it depends on your commute. Rural..small town OK. Suburban with a short no drama jaunt to town on the interstate...OK
Suburban/Urban interface, red light to red light congested, slow...break neck fast on the open spots....fighting semis, Soccer Moms...and urban idiots......Nope
If you have to have a pistol in the glove box....Nope
A 100+ mile daily commute.....Nope

The Fords are viable cars that can go pretty well with reasonable traffic. They do not like Hot days and slow crawling traffic.
V8 cars do well with their stock rear ratios 3.70 or so...Overdrive? personally I think that is something complicated...that may eventually need repair. I prefer the standard transmission cars.
Do not rule out the 7HA cars. The sixes were very good engines without the V8 quirks and with the right gearing would Go.

 

I drive a '49 Chevy 1/2 ton that I went over 100k miles last November daily driver only vehicle. The engine is a '56 235 with headers, dual intake. The transmission is a '69 Saginaw/Borg-Warner 3sp+od. No car payments and no catastrophic break downs. Just do it.

 

Finally got my 50 Club Coupe dragged home day before yesterday. It's a project, quite a ways from driving, but its gonna be the easiest old car I ever saved. I'm planning on it being my daily when I get even older and all my newer **** is wore out.

 

I agree with most of what you say, except for a couple of points. First of all, by the 8BA era, Ford had the cooling problems with the V8's pretty well figured out. When I first got my '51, I had some overeating problems. Luckily for me, a cooling system flush and a new radiator core straightened that all out. On my aforementioned trip to Chicago, I got caught in a traffic jam on a 95 degree day. Newer cars were peeling off to the curb, but I was able to get through no problem. With these cars at least, overheating is a matter of neglected maintenance, not basic design. Though my current car does not have overdrive, the one I had in high school did and it was a more driveable car. I have collected almost all of the parts I need to install an overdrive unit in my coupe. They are not that complicated; take a little time to familiarize yourself with them and you will see they are really quite simple. The main drawback with them is the price of some of the component parts. Relays and solenoids can be expensive these days. Over the years I have kept my eyes open at swap meets, etc. and am***ed quite a collection of spares. They are out there and available precisely because of the fact that people don't take the time to fully understand them.

As to the sixes, they probably are a better engine (when Tom McCahill tested them for Mechanix Illustrated back in the day, he actually prefered the six over the eight). But some how, to me it just ain't right. Can you imaging Chuck Berry singin' about "Maybelline in her 6 cylinder Ford"? I can't.

 

Had a 50 tudor that I drove regularly and have a banger powered 30 pickup that sits outside and is a daily driver. I live in a small town and leave my modern pickup sit and drive the A because I enjoy driving it. 50 Ford with a flathead and OD will keep up with traffic with no problems, make a good daily driver.

 

To OP
First things first, get rid of those Asian imports. They will funk up the mo-jo in and around your property.


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I think with this question you posted that you yourself must not have the confidence in your own work that your customers should have prior to having you lay your hands on there Cars. In other words if you can charge for work done it should be good enough for you as well.
I bought my 51 as a large Pile of pieces 20 years ago. It now has right at 60K on it since rebuild. My Wife drives it, my friends drive it and on many occasions customers have used it as a loaner car. No issues to date but have made a lot of people Sad when turning down offers of big $$$ in lou of repairing what they have brought to me. The next question is often "can you make mine drive like this"?
The sheet metal and build date has nothing to do with Quality repairs or dependability. Build it, drive it, when you have an issue Fix it then repeat. No big deal.
The Wizzard

 

Check out shoebox-central.com Probably will get some some good sources there.

 

I agree....In the story about developing the F1. Ford had planned to dump the 8 in favor of the six. The "Whiz Kids" (young engineers fresh out of the Service) explained that The V8 was Ford.....
Too this car saved Ford Motor Company. Ford was mismanaged during the War Years after Edsel's death in 43.

Rumor has it that the bullet nosed Ford Shoebox was actually a Mercury design. Since it was further along.....it became the flagship and the original Ford design elements became the Mercury.

I think he would be better off if he found a car with the overdrive in working order rather than adding to a standard car. Then he could gather the parts for replacements.

Flatheads 101...
Drive before you buy......

Look for steaming from a tail pipe. Sometimes this can be condensation but the car should not steam out the tail pipe after several minutes of driving in mild to warm weather.

When cool....open the radiator cap, it should smell like coolant not gasoline or exhaust.....

Whith the cap off at idle....gently rev the engine. If it blows water out the cap like Mt St. Helens.....bad sign.

If it gets hot after a short run....bad sign.

These were LOM system engines. If the car has aftermarket carberetors make sure the distributor has mechanical advance.....either Mallory or Chevy convesrsion. The LOM distributor only works with the stock carburetor.

These are really mid sized cars....roughly about the same size and weight as a 62-5 Ford Fairlane.
They do really well with original power.....much much better than Chevys of the same time period.

 

I was with you until the last sentence! As to adding an overdrive, in the process of deciding what I was going to do, I found that a non-overdrive car has dimples in the sheetmetal for the location of the kickdown switch and relay and "punch-outs" in the firewall for the power wire and lockout cable. Everything is available up to and including the rubber grommets for the holes in the firewall.

 

Do not get me wrong I like Stove Bolt Chevys....
I had a 50 Ford and 52 Chevy at the same time. Both were business coupes.
The Chevrolet was as reliable as the Ford as far as cranking and running. That 216 six was smooth. Maybe the smoothest running six I ever fooled with. Due to gears mainly, that car topped out at about 50. It really loved 45. It would go Highway speed but it felt like you were taxing it too much.
The Ford on the other hand...
I could jump in it and go with traffic like anything else.

The Chevy just felt like an old old car. Ran good though.

 

I have a '51 Ford pickup. It's not my daily driver all the time, but it could be. The low speed rear end in it could be a problem at times, but I would not hesitate to use it most places.

 

even though you are trying to keep your budget as low as possible, best to pay extra for a car in overall good condition with minimal rust, etc - reliability and safety top priorities - as stated, don't plan to run in the fast lane or stop like a late model car - all it takes is $, time, talent, luck and good friends/contacts - start by looking at ads here & place your own in Wanted section

 

One of the nicest cars I have had the privilege to drive was a 1951 Fordomatic Victoria. As much as love that Mitchum Bullet Nose that Victoria Hardtop was Nice.
That was ride....none nicer.

 

What, your camera broken?

Ben

 

All this talk about a Budget and the #2 question

Here is what I've learned and believe holds true across the board. Fun and Pride cost money. Plane and simple. If you set a limit and stick to it your going to be disappointed, plane and simple. If you cheep out to meet your budget you will never have that feeling of Pride. Again,, "Fun costs Money" get used to it.
Now that don't mean you gotta brake the bank. Each one of us has a different size Bank. Just be realistic with your dream. Know for sure what your qualified to do yourself. Be prepaired to pay more that you think for work you aren't qualified to do. Know going in that restoration is going to take at least twice as long on the calendar as you expect. Life just does that to ya if you have a life outside yourself.
I totally agree with spend more up front and search out and buy the Best car you can find. Back when I was a Young Gun no one had to start with S**** Iron to build a good Rod. They weren't used up yet. Most are now so it only stands to reason your going to spend way more today than in the past. Add to that we used to get a dollars worth of parts or labor for that Old Buck. Today you get maybe .25 cents worth compaired to back then. Have I mentioned Fun costs Money? The big question here is how much Fun can you afford? How much work can you do? Budgets just plane don't work and guys on the Cheep never need to point that out, it show's loud and clear in what they have.
The Wizzard

 

Can't speak to your sanity, that's a different department. But the answer is yes, it is doable. Even a Model T could be a daily driver. The issue is bringing the mechanicals up to at least OEM spec, in 1955 or 1960 the car was relatively new. It ain't now. Since you turn wrenches for a living the learning curve won't be too bad. The key is getting into the manuals and study them so you have a thorough understanding of how these obsolete systems work. Brakes, carburetion, ignition, charging, etc. Not too many people around anymore that do.

Keep in mind this is a hobby, nobody "needs" to drive a 70 year old car to work so the amount of time you spend on it isn't going to pay for itself. Take the time to do it right, use quality parts. Most of your time will be bringing worn out parts and systems back into line, everything will be clapped out. Then you can shake your head at the 2009 POS broke down on the side of the road.

 

Funny story about that. Henry Ford II was taken out of the Navy by the government and put in charge of the Ford company because by 1943 it was so badly managed they feared it would endanger war production.

The designers had been working on new models for 1943 but those plans were mothballed for the duration. After the war they went to work on them again. The plans were well along when they discovered that nobody had bothered to cost them out. They were shocked to find the new designs were too expensive to build and sell against the compe***ion.

So they moved each model up a step. The Ford became the Mercury, the Mercury became the Lincoln and the Lincoln became the Lincoln Cosmopolitan.

Then they hired George Walker to design the new 49 Ford. This explains why the Ford was so different from the rest of the line and more modern looking. It also explains how they ended up with 2 Lincolns.

There was also a mini Ford that was never produced. It ended up being made in France by Ford's overseas subsidiary.

 

I can't address the Ford specific choice but I drove a 54 Chev as a daily driver for 15 + years. Most of that in Oregon. I had no issues and drove year around but it was small town and rural. That said I avoided the freeways and can't imagine driving it in Portland traffic. Loved every minute of it and avoided car payments as well. I think the key is how and where it is used and doing the regular maintenance. Moved on to a '72 VW for the next 10 years. Sure, it can be done.

 

I drive my 1951 Ford club coupe daily for much of the year. It is a bit more modified than what you are talking about, but that is not relevant. The one thing that keeps my 51 from year round daily driver status is rubber. For the windows, doors and trunk, even new rubber is less than perfect, and leaks are a real problem for winter driving. I have gotten rid of most leaks but not all. A second factor making daily driving more difficult than a newer car is the defroster. Heat is not a problem, but older cars have poorly designed defrosters. Open windows are generally needed to improve defrosting.

That said, I think it is quite doable to have an older car as a daily driver for most of the year in most climate situations. But first get it into great mechanical and physical condition, and you will make the driving much more fun.

 

1950? That's a late model...this is my daily year round here in Seattle. They were daily drivers when new, why not now?