I purchased this beautiful 3 window coupe a few weeks back. I've never bought a "turn key" hotrod. I've always bought projects that needed built. we drove 600 miles to check out this car and when we pulled up I thought yup.... this is it!! looked around it for an hour or so, the owner and me took it for a slow spin around his neighborhood, he drove, we got back to the house and I committed to the purchase. Left a deposit, drove back down a couple of weeks later, loaded the car up and drove back home. 19 hours, 1050 miles round trip. the seller did tell me his mechanic said the rack and pinion rack would need work or replaced... I got the car home, repaired some wiring where the windows would go up and down then drove the car to a shop with a lift. Was difficult to keep in the road. When we got the car on the lift things went downhill from there. The rack was about to fall out. the welds where someone had put the front end under the car wasn't even burned in, looked like chicken shit. the frame is cracked on the x bracing close to the transmission bracket. then theres the floor pans... screwed together rusty sheet metal.. Needless to say I should have paid alot better attention before purchasing the vehicle. But I bought as-is so who's da dummy.. this past weekend I pulled the car apart. I'm guessing the first step is ordering floor pans.
Sorry for the disappointment. But I think I’d just remove the clip. Source a Ford front crossmember, dropped axle, etc and make it into a nice hotrod. Heck, you have it torn apart enough, a little more won’t hurt.
Nice looking car from first look. Now that you've torn it down, you can go through it, and correct faults, or change to your desire. Is that a Mopar torsion bar front end?
I am not recognizing the upper control arms (they don't appear to be the typical Ford based components) so I'd be looking into whether or not a rack came factory with whatever your unit is. If that rack has been added, I'd be taking a close look at the geometry as it might explain your steering issues.
I would get the frame fixed before doing any body work. It would be best to cut all of the independent suspension off and go back to the original front axle. Will drive a lot better and be safer for everyone on the road.
The chrome finned master cylinder should have been the tip off. Just kidding. I bought a rusty rusty rusty late 40s Ford Business Coupe years ago for twice what it was worth. Sold it for what it was worth lol. Yours is way better. It's a 1936 3W and definitely worth your effort. Really, I'm fairly jealous. Congratulations!
I feel your pain, My '40 coupe could have been worked on by the same type of "craftsman". Mine had a dropped axle but the front cx member was cut out for Alternator clearance because he wanted "old school" look to hid stuff also bubble gummed rear spring hangers and left the front floor board 2 inches short of the firewall and covered it with a rug!! He also ran the car without side windows!! for 10 years! I told my wife the car was "turn Key" she never lets me forget
Did you spend the hour inspecting it just gazing into the shiney paint?! I think many of us have done that heart v head thing, with eyes wide shut. Oh well! It'll be better in the end! I'm not familiar with MII extracted from its natural habitat but I don't see any spring on the bottom arm ( thus torsion bar?) and MII had rear facing strut rods. Chris
the paint job looked so good I thought to my self someone has done a fantastic job on this car.. no need to look any further. sold!! lol....
Bummer. Still a '36 3 Window though, so at least you'll have something when you're done. ironandsteele.com
Interesting comments. That car was built the way many were done in the past. We all have seen worse in modern days. If you can do the work without wrecking the paint, you have a winner. A person who is not a builder would have someone fix the steering and be driving done the road. You sound like a guy with exp. You'll be kicking yourself for a while but I don't think that's deserved. Most of us make some decisions that may have some errors in them. Those that say they would never do that haven't lived long enough.
Don't beat yourself up too bad.... most of us have made decisions with our small heads instead of the one on our shoulders. Most of us have also bought rigs that weren't (after close inspection that you only get to do once it's in your garage) up to our standards and have had to redo some stuff. The main issue is whether or not you got burned financially to the point that it makes repairs/improvement painful and not cost effective. You've obviously got the skills and knowledge to make it right, and what you want it to be, and in the long run you'll enjoy and appreciate it more because you'll have confidence in what it is. Good luck and keep us posted. And ask for opinions and advice whenever you want.....we LOVE spending other people's money!
Front suspension is Mopar, looks to be a torsion bar suspended front end, confusing part being those were all rear-steer using a steering box, suspensions that came with the rack-and-pinion are front-steer, the mash-up of parts would explain why you can't keep the car on the road. Unfortunately, from what I can see the car needs to be completely gone through to be made safe.
The Jalopy Journal
