Well the VIN problem I am hoping will be solved soon. I bought a Product Data Plate/ Serial Number plate (Ford) from Dennis Carpenter today. It has the blank at the top for serial number to be stamped in. I see where there was a plate on the firewall and not there anymore. My friend said he most likely removed it to paint the firewall and never put it back on and is long gone now... Anyways I will keep you guys updated on what happens if you care to know. I also wanted to get some opinions from you guys on what color to paint the engine? I am running a small block Chevy from a 81 Corvette but of course not doing Chevy Orange. I was going to run Ford red but not sure yet. The color of the car is called Misty Lavender and is white in the light but shade and cloudy days is pinkish/lavender in color as you can see in the pictures. I cannot thing of any color that would work. Red IMO doesn't work and I do not even like the red rims. I was thinking Gold possibly or teal maybe? I don't know. Any opinions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks again.
BTW, I am running finned valve covers and oval air cleaner which I plan to paint the same color between the fins as the block...
I will take that into consideration... Not sure what I think of that yet until I see one. I do know that I do not want black, it's too boring. I've done it on my 66 F100 and tired of it already.
Awesome starting point ! Please Don't change the side opening hood , its cool as ... And will be standout feature in a sea of chopped shoebox's . I think Go with a light blue for the block .... Black wheels and full caps . Git on it !
BLUDICE, I love your shoebox. Clean and simple looking. How did you do the light in the center? I am on the volunteer fire department here where I live and would love to do a light in the center but a strobe/red one to run calls hehe... If I remember correctly the old police cars in the day had this...??? Anyways as for my engine I decided to go Ford Red for now. When I repaint the car I will do the engine the same as the car color. I most likely am going to repaint it either copper orange, the dark metallic purple with white interior or basic black with white interior. If I go black I will leave the engine red. Any of the other two colors the engine will be painted the same as the exterior.
Here's a quick peek at the air cleaner painted Ford Red... Valve covers will be done tomorrow as well as the fuel tank stripped, sanded and painted/coated and heater box stripped, blasted and painted!
Update!... Well I finally got my 49 further along than the last time I posted and hope to have it wrapped up and somewhat drivable within 3 weeks. I got a buddy to fabricate a transmission tunnel to accommodate the bigger 200-4R OD trans unit I put in it. He did an amazing job and will post pictures tomorrow. Also had to take the original trans cross member, cut it and completely box in the correct mount and location (took lots of time but it's done and beefy as hell). Got the transmission in today, removed the dummy block/engine and put my motor in. I decided to go with stock ram horn exhaust manifolds. I blasted them and painted them with header paint (cast aluminum). I know people have issues with an MII front end, SBC and exhaust on these cars but mine is different. First off I do not have a crossmember MII kit, mine is an entire front subframe and the very first one Fat Man ever did. The engine mounts also move the engine forward and higher a little bit for HEI clearance, exhaust, etc. This still gives me enough room for flanges, exhaust, etc. I have access to transmission bolts, distributor and everything front the top of the engine so this thing will be easy to work on when needed. I am still stuck on what size exhaust to go with. I most likely will do 2" since I plan to run lake pipes (which I now have) with baffles to quite it down some. I will post pictures and more info tomorrow! I am hoping to get the 50 Ford bench seat installed tomorrow along with finishing the engine and installing the gas and brake pedal assemblies. There is still a LONG list of crap that needs to be done to even get this thing to start up and drive down the parking lot but I am hoping to knock as much out in the next 2 weeks as possible.
As promised... Some pictures! Nothing much but it's something. Still need to finish the engine later this week as far as water and fuel pump, pullies, etc go. Didn't get the 50 Ford seat in today nor the brake pedal assembly. I pulled the steering column out to put new bearings in it so kind of headed in a backward direction it seems. Next on my list is the start on the brakes, finish the engine, radiator then shifter...
I stripped the engine compartment as you can now see and painted it with black epoxy primer. The white was nice to match the exterior but next year I plan to change the color of the car and to me the black is plain, clean and simple. I did not do it to hide anything because the panels are pretty straight and clean. To me it makes the engine stand out. And for the period correct purists, yes that is an HEI distributor and a billet air breather which will be painted to match the valve covers. I went with what I have laying around. The intake is a old Holley Street Avenger that I ground off the Holley and Street Avenger logos. If there are things like HEI that I need to run to make the car reliable, I will run it.
Thanks for update - lesson on how things don't always move as fast as planned. but, they are moving, even if a little backwards at times - Ha!
I dig where this is going. If it were mine, which it's not, and I were low on funds, which I am, I would not place a whole lot of priority on a repaint or welding up holes in your rechromed bumpers. The color I could live with for a really long time, especially if I changed the dash and interior metal color - maybe white or pearl white w/o the lavender and stripe the dash... White tuck and roll, sombreros, done. But its not mine - do what you want. Nice job.
Thanks guys. I am leaving the bumpers and everything. I will paint the dash and interior panels white like suggested by snelson57 actually and I do plan to do a white tuck and roll (you kind of read my mind on this one). Interior will be in the winter most likely. For now the 50 Ford seat will go in and it's in great shape, I'll throw a blanket or sheet over it and let it roll. I will probably do insulation and sound deadener and a vinyl rubber mat on the floor but door panels, etc will come later. Jalopy Joker, your right about the time. I always figure how long I think it will take me and cost then quadruple that amount. Even then it never works out. One thing I am trying to figure out is wheel color. Not sure I like the red with the lavender/white... I know the engine matches but still. Most likely will do full caps though so who knows. It's all up in the air at the moment. Thanks for the compliments guys!
Yeah man...I was going to suggest losing the red wheels too but I figured you were into them since you painted the engine red. Maybe a dark purple or just plain old black. BTW - I also bought a car that was already purple and am trying to make the best of it. Its growing on me....my wife likes it at least. And my wheels suck and they are going!
I dig the purple actually (not the pin striping though)! Yeah I am thinking black wheels on mine. That or just do the full hubcaps and let it roll for now.
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