1952-59 Ford Finally Giving a Little Love to Ruth

Thanks! It’s actually Fiesta Red according to the paint code.

 

It really did clean up nicely. Looks great.

 

Looks really good.

 

Travis "Royboy" Scanlan got a good shot of me leading the pack on our Oklahoma Hot Rod Hundred a couple weeks ago, so I had to buy the download. Sits even lower with a couple 200+ lb guys in the front as well as a trunk full of stuff.

 

Looks as good in person as in the pics. Perfect patina on that orig. paint! Jeff on the right in yellow.

 

Lol...I just wish I had held up as good as the car. I’m not even as old as it is.

 

A buddy sent me this FB post this evening. I’m not on FB, but apparently a few folks recognized Ruth heading home from work today.

 

MEGAN FOX ??????? Jeff, you're famous!!! Doesn't look like a Lamborginni the pic was taken from, lol., but how many Megan Fox's can there be in this world.
Isn't it great to know people recognize your car.....I think it was Joe / Okiedokie a few years back that spotted my car on I40, and the wife of a '57 forum member spotted it on 287 north of Amarillo about 4 years ago shortly after I finished it.

 

Well, my transmission has been on its last leg since I got the car almost 10 years ago now. I have been limping it along and am praying for a few more miles out of it before I have to do something major. Anyway, pulled the pan and cleaned out the screen this evening in preparation for driving it up to the Gathering at the Roc next weekend. I sent in pic of the old beater and they approved it for entry. From some of the cars I have seen that will be there, it should be a pretty good show.

 

Hope to meet you Jeff, I will be in my 40 since Jason turned down my Sunliner???.

 

Hope to meet you too! I’m guessing the only reason Jason wouldn’t have approved the Sunliner must be the wheels? I’m not sure what all the criteria is since all they ask is one pic and no information. But it appears they want it to be a very traditional show or something from most of the cars I have seen they did approve.

 

I think he considers the 40 to be more traditional. I know of at least two very non- traditional cars that he approved because they are the only cars the owners have. He knew I had a choice and heck, I love driving my 40.

 

So...ended up with my car stuck on my lift fixing to put the transmission pan back on right when the power went out because of the ice storm here in Oklahoma...Tuesday afternoon. Finally had a somewhat warm day with some sun today so I went out to the shop to finish what I started Tuesday. Had to borrow a generator to run my lift to get the car down when I was done since I still have no power. Got it filled back up with transmission fluid and started up about 10:30 this evening...in the dark. Hoping to head up to the Gathering sometime tomorrow.

 

Good luck and safe journeys on the trip. I never had the opportunity to see the stock gauges lit up in my dash before swapping them for modern gauges and painting the stock speedo - man what a difference. Do you have yours dimmed?

 

Nope, mine are on as bright as they get. Yours are definitely easier to see!

 

Headed to the Gathering!

 

Is the speedo in km/h ? Appears that Ruth likes to get after it!

 

She cruises down the road ok for a stock 292 with 100k miles on it.

 

Found a decent pic of the car from the Gathering last month on Fuel Curve taken by Damon Lee...



Also, trying to ruin some more kids today taking them to paintball for my younger sons birthday celebration. One of the kids commented on how new cars should have comfortable back seats like this does.

 

Well, I guess this means that she is officially worn out or like new or something...

Oh, and also appears my oil pressure sender IS worn out since the mechanical gauge shows good.

 

So, in late January I had to use the 56 as a backup driver when I was working on the rear brakes on my Thunderbird. So, I drove it back and forth to work and then took my kid to a doctor's appointment down in OKC. All in all, it was about 150 miles that day in travel. It was a little chilly, so on the way home, my son decided to turn on the heater. I don't know that I had used the blower motor in several months, but didn't figure it would be any issue. Anyway, about the time my eyes started burning and I noticed smoke coming out from under the dash, I started to get concerned. So, we pulled over in a church parking lot, unhooked the battery and got the fire extinguisher out. I had a buddy lose a nice 66 vette 427 roadster from an under-dash fire years ago and haven't forgot that... Anyway, I couldn't figure out where the smoke was coming from so kinda limped it the rest of the way home and put it away for a while with the battery unhooked.

Fast forward to about a week ago when I decided I should look at what all wires had likely burned up under the dash so I could get it fixed. But, before doing that, I also decided to adjust the brakes since three pumps on the pedal was getting a little excessive... After thinking I was never going to get all four brakes adjusted out (since I apparently should do that more than every 20k miles or so ), I finally got to crawl under the dash and ***ess the damage. I was happy to see all the wires looking like new which also sort of puzzled me. And, by the way, I was amazed at how nice all the wiring in this car still is. I am sure we have all had examples of butchered up wiring on old cars. Anyway, with some further investigation, seems either I or my kid had inadvertently turned the original AM radio on and that apparently became the source of the smoke. So, I was happy to find things were not near as bad as I was expecting and now my brakes stop the car with no pumping needed. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to look at this stuff before I need to take off on about a 700 mile round trip coming up Easter weekend.

 

It's just like firing up the heater, in the house, the first cold snap of the season.......

 

Did some traveling this past weekend with some other mid-50’s Ford’s and a Mercury up in Missouri. Even had a guy stop by a Taco Bell we were eating at with a nice 55 Crown Victoria with a coyote motor in it when he saw our cars.

 

the shot of the camper from your ride is too dam cool

 

I like the boat cleverly integrated into the trailer.

 

Yep, that’s actually a production little trailer from the early 60’s. Pretty sure that wagon and trailer may be for sale before too long.

 

Then you can paint it Fiesta Red to match.

 

^^^^

 

Just a quick follow-up on the oil pressure light issue. Once I attached the wire back to the switch, it worked just like it was supposed to... Not sure how it came loose, but that was easier and less mess than swapping it out. Anyway, I now have a spare oil pressure switch if it does ever actually fail.

 

How did you manage to get a mechanical and factory light to both work? I've tried several attempts but no luck.