Thinking of accidentally buying it on purpose. Its appears to be all there original best I can tell. I talked to the owners wife. Gonna go back for more looky. All the gl*** is unbroken, all the hup caps, trim etc etc appear to be there. Unmolested, original, best I can tell. It runs and drives. Yeah its a 4 door and not a 2 door coupe. Im thinking its a pretty good deal or OBO . With the high price of cars now days. But I dont want to pay more than its worth, so not sure. Any opinions on value please. Location is a secret too 31 Ford Erased 3 by JD Miller posted Feb 29, 2024 at 8:36 PM
Looks like a good deal to me. Couldn’t buy a coupe body that nice, body alone, for that lately. @drdave built a pretty *****in 4 door out of something not so different
Does it have newer year rims and hub caps on it? Lug nuts are concealed, larger hub caps .... If it was a coupe I would be trailering it home right now
Looks like a good price for a good car. But give it a good going over. And under. Take a flashlight and look for rust and take a magnet with you to check for too much body filler. And of course take it for a good test drive. No major problems, good price for a good car. But still offer less. $4,000 and go from there.
I would hold out for a slant window (introduced slightly after the start of 1931), they had almost no wood in the body. Charlie Stephens
It is a slant windsheild. 1931 had a slant windshied . Owner has another exact 1931 car all restored with same slant windshield. Someone added that windshield visor. Just got back from looking at it again. Has '32 rims. Owner stole the original ford cowl lights, taillight and put on his restored car. Motor runs but is worn. I watched it. He said he pulled the head to free up the valves. Says he has ***le but he didnt show it to me. Owner Says his friend has first dibs and 2 weeks to come up with the cash, but he thinks the guy wont come up with any money and I got second grabs on it. I'll call him in a couple few days and tell him I have Cash in my hand. Ill have to see it roll and drive, listed for bad bearings, insist on seeing the ***le You can see the front p*** fender is tweeked bad. Appears to have hardly any rust. No rust in bottom of doors , I even checked inside, backside of the door. Little rust spot inside p*** side rear wheel well. Cab top has some one installed sheet metal long ago. Car Show ready
So the person selling the car, knows exactly what the car is worth, what he has in, has taken the parts he wanted from it, and knows how much those parts were worth and where he stands in the deal overall. The seller is not selling it to loose money or even break even. He will make money in the long run. It is still a nice looking car and a great starting point for a project. Only you know what the car is worth to you. But, don't buy it, because you feel you are getting a great deal. But, given what it is, where it is in relationship to you, and the likelihood of finding another comparable car in the future. Good luck with your project.
After looking at your photo again I still don't see the slant windshield. Do you have any pictures from the side? Early 1931 sedans were a straight window with a sun visor and they changed later to the slant. The importance goes beyond appearance. The 4-door cars with a straight window had a large amount of wood in the body/doors. Because of this they are difficult and expensive to restore if the wood is bad. The 4-door slant window had a very small amount of wood. Several years ago I was looking for a 1931 slant window but ended up with a 32 4-door which is very similar in the amount of wood. I have attached a picture of a slant window taken at a local show. Note the "bent spoke" Kelsey wheels. Check the ***le very carefully. The number on an old ***le should match the number on the engine. The number on the engine should have the correct font and not just be something that was stamped in there with number stamps from Harbor Freight. The same number should appear under the body on the frame but the body must be lifted to see it. Several years ago California stopped using the engine number and began attaching an id plate to the door jam, you may find something similar for your state. Second attached photo shows a California ID plate on the door jam of my Model A. Charlie Stephens
I know a fella just over the border in washington with a coupe for sale... not as nice but if youre gonna tear it down n build a rod anyway....
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