Here are some pictures of my 34 Ford. The first, is when the family I bought it from, first brought it home. I still have that black & yellow plate. It was bought for a father/son project when Welder Bob, the person I bought it from, was 13, he is now 49. He and his dad put in a 327 out of a 66 Impala along with a powerglide. The next picture is when he was driving it in high school in the 70's. The second and third pictures is when he started tearing it down to do some "upgrades", Pinto front end with a 12 bolt posi, in the early 80's. So there it sat for 25 years until I was lucky enough buy it and bring it home. The next few pictures is picking it up and taking it to the shop that put the motor, front end and rear end in it. It eventually made it's way to Blue Collar Customs here in Sacramento and that's where Scott and his crew have been getting it together and on the road. Today I went to DMV and got it registered and licensed. So after 27 years the car is back on the road. Some information on the parts that I had gathered for it. The rear end is an early 50's Oldsmobile. It came out of a 1940 Ford coupe a friend found that had been sitting in a field on a pig farm. The motor and transmission is a 331 Industrial Hemi mated up to an old Ford C4 that came out of a T-bucket that was rear ended and totaled here in Sacramento. Last month is when they got it started and running. I had never heard it run until Scott started it up. It had been sitting for 7 years that I knew of. The front end is an old chrome 34 Ford dropped axle with chrome backing plates and drums. The guy got rid of it after having an Mustang II put in his coupe. It has the same gauges in it that Bob had when he was driving it. The speedometer is out of an early 50's Chevy and is froze up. If anyone has one for sale let me know. It is running Firestone 7.50x16 in the rear and 5.00x16 in front on 1939 Studebaker wheels. The wheels were bought at a swap meet and they caught my eye because of the inner trim ring has these little coves through out. You can see them in the one picture of the close up of the wheel. On a side note, Bob had the grill and bumpers re-chromed with money he saved from his job washing dishes when he was in high school in the early 70's. When I got the car the bumpers were still wrapped in 1983 newspapers.
The 1st picture is of the wheels with the inner trim ring that has the little coves. The 2nd & 3rd pictures are of the coupe at my place when I was contemplating trading it for a 31 roadster The 4th picture is of it at the Sacramento Autorama. The drive from Scott's shop to the autorama was the first drive after being put back together. The 5th picture is of the 34 plates that I used to register it today at DMV. I had just bought those plates at a swap meet last weekend. A bonus at the registration and ***le transfer process, the clerk didn't charge me any sales tax on the purchase price. The 6th picture is how the 331 looks now. For the interior I bought a middle seat out of a mini van and had it reupholstered in black and red as well as the door panels. The last few pictures are of the interior that I had done. Well that's my story on the 34 from 1969 until now.
I hate you, but like you too........ wish i could have been so lucky.. I'll look for it at some of the cruisin spots around Sac...
Wow... way to keep it in the family! I helped a guy retain his fathers original license plates on a 40 Ford coupe. The state wasn't going to allow him to transfer ***le with the original plates in Cali because the plates were currently being used... by his Dad... Duh!!!! Since his father was still alive I told him to have his Dad register him as a co-owner and then go through the line again taking his Father off the ***le! Worked very well to think outside the box with the DMV!!! You're very fortunate to have received a car in that good of condition... my 34 5 window coupe I bought in 1975 was an ex-drag car after it served as a dirt track car... where the rumble seat deck lid was welded to the body and the whole body was bondoed over to cover the rust holes and pop rivited panels that were also brazed to a nice warped finish... yep I'm jealous... hahaha...!
The 34 was an old bracket racer that Bob's dad bought from his friend for $150. Actually they bought a 33 and a 34 and used the best parts to put it together. I just can't imagine a 34 Ford going for $150. After getting the car together Bob's dad wanted to cut up the parts that were left over. I asked Bob why he would want to do that. Bob said his dad told he that it would "make his car more valuable". Some logic. Well he didn't cut up the parts but put them together, primered it and sold it for more than what he paid for the 34.
Thanks a lot. The credit should go to Welder Bob, the guy I bought the 34 from, Murphs Rod Shop, up in Marysville, that put in the rearend, motor, trans, and front end and to Scott and the guys at Blue Collar Customs in Sacramento. Those guys working on it, treated it as if it were their own car. A crew of very talented and honest guys.
A small update. When I got the 34 it hadn't been registered since 1982 and when I bought it 3 years ago I never transferred it into my name. It had fallen out of the DMV computer so I had to have the VIN verified. So while the car was at Blue Collar Customs, Scott needed a VIN verified on another car, we had a certified verifier come out to do the paperwork and verify the VIN's. This guy is an old hot rodder that has a really nice 33 Vicky. The paperwork was somewhat convoluted. Welder Bob had sold the car to his dad, so the back of the original pink had already been filled out in his dads name. The dad never registered the car and sold the car back to Welder Bob. So here I have a pink where the back is already filled out for transfer of ownership plus the car is out of the computer system. I had to get a bill of sale from Bobs dad selling the car back to Bob and than get a bill of sale from Welder Bob to me. I gathered all my paperwork together and my YOM license plates, that I wanted to use, and headed off to DMV After about a 1 1/2 hour wait my number was called. I give all the paperwork to the clerk. He looks at it and asks me some questions. He keeps asking me how much the car was worth now. I tell him what I think it's worth based on info from the NADA old car guide. He takes all the paperwork and goes to his supervisor. I'm thinking oh **** here we go. He comes back over and asks for my YOM plates, measures them and makes a copy of one. Comes back again totals everything up and says that will be $148. I ask if that was including the sales tax. He said that it's been so long since I bought it he wasn't going to charge me any sales tax. DMV was the most stressful part due to all the horror stories you hear plus I've had a couple of bad experiences. Last week I finally got my new ***le and registration using the YOM plates. The car is now at G12/Crabtree Bros. alignment shop and should be finished Monday.
The Jalopy Journal
