There we go! Sitting proper once again, with the big ones on the back, and little(er) ones on the front. What an awesome score! Jealous up here in Wisconsin...and looking forward to seeing and hearing more about your coupe! Steve
I grabbed those tires used at the tire shop for cheap rollers. It turns out the slicks didn't come off the rear, because the rear is 5x5 instead of 5x5.5 like the front, but I had to know what the car looked like so I set the slicks up there and draped the fenders over. Maybe Sid really was running slicks in the front lol. Anyway, I've got to find some rear wheels now... I had one 5x5 steelie but I think it's junk. Alternatively I wonder if my local machine shop can change the bolt pattern on the drums and make up a support ring for the wheel. Then I could use this set of matching 50s Ford wheels.
Honestly this being a merc rear, 5x5 doesn't make sense... that's what the tire shop told me though. I should get a second opinion.
I'm going to come take a look at your coupe tomorrow and I will bring this along to take the guesswork out of things.
Using a Merc rear can get you a 4.27 gear set [sw I think] and would be a Dana (#) but having tapered keyed hubs requiring safety clips?
I figured out the diff is a Dana 41... not sure what the brakes are yet... still digging. Hopefully parts are available for the 41.
Unreal story to read in these days, you must be living right. Congratulations ! Model A Coupes RULE !
Yeah and 49 to 51 Mercurys had a Dana 41 5x5.5.....so dunno?? and that should be 48 & 49 on the F-1's, 50 used a 44. I don't know that any 41's were 5x5 but somebody else might chime in on it.
I heard from someone that recognized the car and knew Sid... I saw his obituary. He died a couple of weeks ago. He was known aa Hard Head Sid for racing the car with a Ardun headed flathead when everyone else went to small block Chevys. Sid got his flatheads from street sweepers because they had thicker blocks. He would bore the blocks as much as possible and cast his own pistons. He said by the time he got to the end of a quarter mile he wouldn't have a drop of oil left in the engine. I grew up with Guy but haven't seen him in over 30 years.
If there's an Ardun... I know there's no way my wallet can play in those leagues... but I might need to talk to my banker...
Again, Congratulations! The Hotrod gods are shining on you. Wishing you continued success on learning the history of your car. It's amazing on how those seats are cleaning up.
We are pulling for you! I will say that a full race engine of any type is going to be a lot less usable and valuable for almost anyone. It won't work on the street, it will be a finicky lil bugger on track and if it's not run just right, will hurt itself. I'd explain that while you would really like to keep the engine with the car, it's really for display, not running. You could probably build a 9/10s engine and have it be much more usable. Just going through the max effort motor is going to snowball. At least, that's how I'd approach buying it, after you gather up all the other coupe parts in the warehouse!
Great score Trevor! Its awesome to see something good happen to good people! Don't give up that easy if there is a set of Arduns in the stash! I grew up always wanting a set, come to find out an older gentleman not 4 blocks from me had a set that popped up for sale. Me, thinking I could never afford them just blew it off. Then come to find out he let them go for Penny's thinking that the flathead days were long gone. This was back in the early 80s. Even if they are pricey, try to work out a deal even if you have to make up some sort of payment plan.
They are worth a great deal to the right buyer, IF they are in good original condition. A crafty guy that bored the snot out of a block and cast his own pistons would have worked his magic on every part. They may be useless for any other engine without major restoration. Again, this is to explain why they are not B-J auction money and should go with the car.
That paper was eaten by silverfish not mice. Considering the condition of the seats there probably were not many rodents living inside. What a find! Your new year has started very very well.
There ain't a damn thing wrong with that... the vinyl is still nice and pliable and soft. We are conditioning the vinyl and then we'll pull the covers off to clean the insides & re-stuff them.
The Jalopy Journal
