I've been lurking around this site for a while and haven't done an introduction. I figured that sharing the story about picking up my '47 would be a good icebreaker. I have always wanted a 41'-'48 Ford, so I started looking around and balancing my budget. I posted my '64 Tbird on Craigslist and ended up getting a few bites right off the bat. I also had a '60 Buick that I figured I could drive around in the meantime. Well, I sold the Tbird and then the very next day I was driving the Buick and a guy flagged me down and offered me an amount I couldn't refuse. The only caveat: Those were my only two cars. The next day, I was car-less and off to Arizona to watch the Padres spring training. My girlfriend likes to remind me that I was glued to my phone, making calls, scouring the internet, and training the wheel and deal. We spent a week in the AZ heat and then headed back to her parents' place in Apple Valley.... And that's when I struck a deal on the '47. The next day, I asked my poor girlfriend to drive me out to Palmdale, where surfcaliforniasurf picked me up in his '59. From there, we made the 450 mile trip to the California/Reno border to pick up the car. We arrived around 9:30 pm and inspected the car until about 10. Everything checked out... Aside from the wiring... Which was, and admittedly, still is a nightmare. After a quick late-night steak dinner I owed surfcaliforniasurf at the local IHOP, we decided to hop on the road and drive her home. Shortly after dinner, we passed a group of three CHP officers on the side of a two-lane road who seemed to be too dumb founded by old cars in the middle of the night to notice that my drivers'-side headlight was out, or that my tags were about a decade expired. We kept on keeping on until I saw surfcaliforniasurf start drifting around the road a bit in an effort to stay awake. Two seconds later my phone was ringing and we arranged to head to a 24/7 Wal-Mart in Stockton where we would spend the night in the parking lot. I knew that there was a possibility that we would have to make camp on the way back, so I asked surfcaliforniasurf to bring sleeping bagS. He said 'no problem', so I figured that was that and everything was square. Well, when it was 40º in the middle of the night and he said he only brought one, I was a little dismayed. I ended up sleeping for an hour or two before wandering inside of the Wal-Mart to stay warm. Why I didn't buy a cheap sleeping bag while I was there? I don't know. Running on no sleep will do that. I woke surfcaliforniasurf up around sunrise and we both checked our vitals and fired up our cars. No problems there. We decided to gun it for the James Dean highway in order to cut across to Paso Robles. That's when things got interesting. Somewhere along the line I broke my fan belt. The temperature didn't surpass 220º, and even then went back to 190º as soon as I was heading back down hill. For the most part, the '47 was running around 160º the entire trip. At any rate. the car began to chug around Shell Beach... And I mean CHUG. I told surfcaliforniasurf it felt like I was on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. We pulled off the highway to check it out: My fan belt was wound around the fan, with indications that it had been slapping around my distributor/wires. No good. I was thankful that a few local guys stopped what they were doing to come out and help. They offered to help figure things out at a shop down in Santa Maria. The Shell Beach to Santa Maria drive was probably the longest, most nerve-wracking drive I've ever had. We started off by sailing at 45mph, then down to 30, then 20, until we literally limped into the garage under 5 mph (all on side roads, mind you ). After working and tinkering late into the night, we had nothing. New fuel pump, double, triple, and quadruple checking the wires.. Replacing the coil, ballast, and condenser... Nada. surfcaliforniasurf suggested it might be the cap, so that was worth a shot. He got on the line with some people and arranged to have guys deliver one in the morning. Everyone at the shop had prior engagements out of town that Sunday, so they split. I was once again left with the option of sleeping in my car. That sleeping bag was sounding extra-good right about then. I turned my phone on in the morning and was surprised by the countless texts and voicemails of local flathead guys who were willing to lend a hand. A local guy named Nick ended up coming out with a distributor cap. He ended up sitting there in the heat with me for a few hours trying to sort things out. At the end of the day, we still had the same problem. He was a nice dude and I hope to see him around to let him know how thankful I am. At this point, I'm stuck over 200 miles from home with a car that doesn't run. I arrange to leave the car in Santa Maria, and take the train home. Good thing the train left at 1pm and arrived in Oceanside at 9pm, right? To make things worse, it was my birthday and my girlfriend was pissed that I had stood her up all weekend for a car. To be honest, I was a bit surprised to find that I still had a girlfriend by that point. A week went by and the friend that I had left the car with called me and told me that I had to come and get it because he was going out of town on work for a few months. Great. I spoke to my uncle and asked to borrow his truck, then located a trailer. The next thing I knew I was on the road at 3am heading to Santa Maria. I picked the car up and hauled it down. On my way down I was thinking about stopping by Lucas Tire, and ran a quick search for 15x5 Ford wheels... And found some out in La Canada. I swung by there and ended up with wheels, tires, and various other knick knacks, all with the car still in tow. I hopped back on the road and made it to Oceanside around 4pm. Not bad. Unloaded the '47 by myself and parked it on the curb. The next week was spent re-wiring, re-testing, and plain out scratching my head. To begin, I remembered that the fuel reading was going crazy. Turns out the fuel regulator had gone bad and wasn't doing a thing. I ran new lines and replaced the regulator. I also picked up a new Power Valve for the Holley 94 because it was TOAST. I replaced the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, condenser, coil, ballast resistor, and ignition wires and I still had a miss, but no smoke. I wasn't losing coolant, either. surfcaliforniasurf kept telling me to swap out points, but I didn't have a line on a guy that could do the whole shebang. Out of nowhere I asked someone here around town and the referred me to a man named Dan out in Temecula. I dropped my distributor off with him and he had me sorted out the very next day. Nicest guy ever, with same rad cars to boot. Plopped that thing in and wham, the car ran like a top. He also sent me home with some longer shackles to lower the car, which I'd like to get around to doing pretty soon. So, here's to my new daily driver! My to-do list isn't very long, but with my student budget and limited amount of time/resources... It'll take me a bit of time: 1. Re-wire the car. 2. Install shackles, reverse eyes and remove leafs from rear pack. 3. Skirts 4. Drive it everywhere.
Welcome from Washington. You win 1st prize for the longest intro.! (lol) What better way to get initiated into this madness than the classic breakdown on the way home after purchasing the car of your dreams. With that out of the way, it will all be downhill from there, if you know what I mean. Looks like a cherry coupe; good luck with the project!
Great story. Great car. Looks like your previous owner and mine picked the same color swatch at the same paint shop.
The Jalopy Journal
