Thanks! I totally agree it's Sid's car even if he kinda left it for dead and my goal is to make it right and do right by the car. I know slotted mags came out in the early 60s, and the car was running then, but I haven't developed an eye for this era yet and can't really tell one slot mag from another, and it probably wouldn't have had this style of wheel. BUT - I think I'm gonna go ahead and grab them. They probably will not stay on the car forever - I'd love to get a nice set of chrome reverse steelies - but I need wheels for the rear & these will fit. They are the size I want to run so I can go ahead and grab some new cheaters to throw on them and move the tires over to different wheels later. The important thing is they will go on right now and I have nothing else that will... and they are bitchin so I'll put them on something else eventually.
Owning an old “barn find” hot rod is both a blessing and a curse. Everyone tells you to keep it the way it was but if you want to use it for more than just car shows, you might find that it’s miserable to drive in it’s “as found” state. Like my Austin gasser, your car was a race car in its final days before retirement. Like my car it has some parts and fabrication that is far below today’s standards. Do what you need to do to make it fun for you and don’t worry about keeping it exactly like Sid ran it. Just by staying focused, getting it running and not letting it become just another stalled project you are honoring Sid and the cars legacy. Many much more important race cars have gone through changes through the years, both by the original builder or by subsequent owners but they are still around and appreciated. Stick to the period, think of what Sid might have done, but most of all make yourself happy with it.
This Statement is Very true!! When I bought my first 32 5 window it had been in the same family since new and had not seen daylight since 1954. The day I got it I took it to a local cruise night on my trailer in as found condition. Everyone knew the car as "Walts old Coupe" Crazy me having just signed a $21K promise note to the bank for some odd reason thought it was my car. I found out real quick by everyone I was wrong! I was told by many that I couldn't change it and should not make it my own as anything I changed or done to it would ruin it. I kept it as "Walts old coupe" for 2 years before finally I could not stand it any longer and sold it to a guy in New Zealand. Same rings true with the heavy Channeled 32 roadster I had. It was cool as hell that it had been an old hotrod from the late 40's-early 50's but it was Channeled hard and the doors had been gas welded shut and the way it was built just wasn't what I wanted so I sold it and let the next guy restore it to someone else's liking. A good friend of mine who has past now "Larry Kimball" Owned Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins original 1967 "Grumpy's Toy" Drag Camaro. When Larry and his Brother Raced it as The Kimball Bro's Camaro Sponsored by "Bill Allen Chevrolet" It still pretty much looked like it did when Grumpy had it. Larry Knew it would never be his car. It is now and will Always be one of "Grumpy's Toys" So as said above Finding something like this Model A is both a Blessing and a curse. Basicly if it is not exactly what you want or do not have the means to do right by the car it is best to find the right person and sell it to them. Just my Opinion anyhow.
Cars are to be enjoyed. The hunt, the build, the first drive, etc. If being a caretaker is not your thing, what hotrodlane said so well ' I couldn't stand it any longer so I sold it....' may be for you at some point. Life is short. Enjoy it while you can. Tim
It was Sid's car, Sid is gone. If my name was on the title, I'd make it my car. I would keep the general 50's theme, but make enough upgrades to make it a pleasure to drive. That way, I'd spend a lot more time driving it. In high school I wanted one of those 68-72 Ford short bed F100's that were new at the time. Of course I couldn't afford one. 30 years later, a pretty good one presented itself to me and I snapped it up. Cool looking little truck, but with manual steering and manual drum brakes, just not a pleasure to drive. After 6 months or so I changed to an integral power steering box, then added power disc brakes from a newer F150. The 240 six was swapped for a 300 six and overdrive transmission. That became my daily driver for years. Two finger steering, smooth shifts and straight fast stops with minimal pedal pressure. It was fun to drive and inexpensive. An airplane mechanic I knew had a 58 'vette. Pretty much original, newer engine and a 4 speed, but nice paint and interior. He told me, "It looks nice, but it's just not much fun to drive, so mostly it just sits there." He didn't want to alter it, so it didn't get driven very often. My point is, it's your car, do whatever you want but enjoy it. If the next guy want's it to be Sid's car let him put Sid's stuff back on it.
Doing right by the car would be getting it back on the road and not letting it sit in the garage. Keep the essence of what Sid built, but do your own things to make it your car. For example, If you cant afford that hopped up race engine that is sitting in storage don't be afraid to stick a small block in it. Buy the wheels you like and that will fit the look you want to go for. and most of all hurry up summer is coming
cool score! did the car have moon discs? kinda the era the car looks. check the rims with the drag slicks and see if there are 3 equal spaced screw holes
I agree with Fabber McGee up there. It's yours now and very few people will remember Sid. Change it how you want it and if you want to keep it "in the style of" how it was back in the day then go for it. I am just really excited for you and RMonty to get your cars done. Hell, even my old roadster project is in pieces getting some body work done here and there. Won't be too far off until we can all meet up and run our old cars around.
I just shared what little I knew about basic "workin' on shit" and you took the ball and ran with it! Let me know what you want to do with this ol' flathead and we can strike up a deal on it. Or it might have to power that Essex with the factory suicide doors! We gotta finish a couple of other things though ( my SD and your RPU) to make room in the shop. Better weather ahead, and hopefully this surgery week after next will be the last. Cross your fingers and lets get this car rolling down the highway (or drag strip!).
Been busy with weird weather and what not so I haven't had much time to mess with the car. Once it warms up, we'll get to work on the chassis paint situation. I want to get everything wire wheeled and painted so it will be stable as we work through the rest of it. I went ahead and pressed all the studs out of the drums since a bunch of them were fucked up - I will switch them both to right hand thread while I'm at it. The hub that keys to the axle just kind of sits on the drum and is retained by a tight fit on the studs. This doesn't seem like a factory setup. Tuesday I'm supposed to be going to the warehouse.
Stay safe, each year we hear about Texas and snow. Each year, lots of ground pilot error! Ask to video, ask about the history, ask about PARTS!
^^^^^^ This!! Ask all the questions about that car that you can think of while you're there! I bought a really hot flathead from a man that owned a marina, he was big into hydroplanes. He raced from 47 into the 60s. I heard rumors of this crazy flathead he had stashed under a work bench that held a record set some time in the late 40s. He and I worked out a deal and I bought it when I was 17 years old, never thought to ask questions or for photos. I wish I could have gotten my hands on more information about it as I still own the engine!
Had a rough morning (blew up the transmission in my daily driver truck) but all the stress melted away pretty quick. I took the AA out for a run just to get a dose of old iron in and then headed over to Fort Worth to meet Guy at the warehouse. How'd that go? Well... He's borrowing some shelf space at a warehouse owned by a friend of his and we spent some time picking through the stuff. He doesn't know that much about it all so on another day I'm going to meet him back over there and help him organize and list some of it. The engine is real... no Ardun heads on this one but it does have the Hillborn unit. I saw it, I touched it, I asked how much. Yep! I can't play. We found the exhaust that was on the car - pretty rough but he had pipes to the back for the street with dumps for the track. He did drive the car on the street at one time (probably before the Hillborn). There are also two sets of old Offy heads and a ton of intakes/carbs. Here is some of the stuff. Pictures are tough in here as everything's up on racks/in totes, but there's a fair bit. Not a massive hoard but impressive and cool to handle some of this stuff. My understanding is that Harmon-Collins crab distributor is something special? I'm not super well versed in these things. It looks like he was running an early Ford 3 speed behind it at least at some point. There were several cases there and I took a shift tower that has a fast-looking lever. Guy found this in a tote and handed it over with a big smile... Look close - Sid designed & cast this himself and he put his name on it so everyone would know. This was probably for one of his boats, but I think it'd be cool as hell in the car... an exact fit for my foot. I brought up that the car had what I thought was '39 Dodge brakes on the rear and Guy lit up with a smile and said he knew where those came from. Apparently at one time Sid had a '39 Dodge truck. Well, at 3 AM one morning, while pretty drunk, he fell asleep and drove it through the gates of Carswell AFB and totaled it. Guy remembers going with his mom to pick him up! The brakes must have come off that truck. I found part of that truck's rear end in the pile, too. Also, Guy said his grandmother (on his mom's side) sewed the interior for the car! He couldn't believe how the interior turned out.
So... I'm not getting that engine (unless I come up with 5 digits pretty quick) but Robin has the 8RT I started with, so it looks like that's gonna be what the car gets. Maybe with some Offy heads and a row of chrome 97s...? I have a 1937 Ford transmission, but have been offered a 1949 open drive top-load flathead transmission by Jody, who I met earlier in this thread & who knew a lot about the car and "Hard Head" Sid. I guess that '49 transmission is gonna be the way to go here. That engine, that tranny, a drive shaft and a little bit here and there and I'll have a running chopped AV8 hot rod. Easy, right?
That's a lot of money for the original mill I'm sure you could still find a cool built flattie so it's still similar to what it was back in the day and still have fun driving it cuz that's what it's all about bringing her back to life to start another chapter
So I'm a bit confused on the pictured expensive flattie. Is it the engine from your car back in the day or just a vintage actually done in the era engine? Either way it's cool
It's the last engine that ran in the car, but it needs to be totally gone through and would never be streetable. I'd love to have it but it'd just be something to sit on a stand, so for that kinda money I gotta leave it.
Too bad you couldn't get them to sell it without all the expensive bits at a reasonable price so you could still have the mechanicals heart history of it. Even if you never put it in the car. Id imagine that injection is a big junk of that price tag
I saw a ad for a rebuilt late model flathead short block for $5400 with new waterpumps . So they are asking way too much for a mill that needs rebuilt possibly the block might need replaced.
Started with a killer intro. And just keep adding more cool to the story and it's only been what like 3 weeks. You've done more in those 3 weeks than I've touched on mine in 3 months. Even cooler knowing done of the area from when we lived in Ft Worth. Actually reminds me of a dude I met when I asked fb for anyone local who might have an intake gasket for the 59a in my old sedan. Dude responds (from fairly close to Weatherford actually between there and Granbury) i drive out there and he's got shelves and shelves of flatheads on one wall. Gave me like 8 intake gaskets and a box of 94 carb parts. Wouldn't let me pay him for any of it just appreciated a young guy messing with the old stuff. Any way congrats on being selected by the hot rod gods and getting to own such a cool survivor. As for the change it or not talk. Get it back on the street by any means necessary. If you can do that without changing much great. If you can't great. At least it's not still buried in a barn or in a scrap pile somewhere. You're already preserving history. If it's not exactly as Sid had it so be it. Cheers
Hmmmm I need to see what I need for my Sedan Delivery.....some wide whites? A set of matching wheels. I dunno! But that flathead of mine that is in the shop is going to leave a huge empty spot in Trevor's wallet, errrmmmm I mean in my heart if it is leaving. *sniff* *alligator tears*
I don't want to air out all his business, but I get it. His dad was a hoarder and this was one of many. A lot of cars from his dad's property went to the crusher. There are some other things going on. I think he had a time limit and it was up. He is really glad the car got saved but he has some things that need to get paid for.
The Jalopy Journal
