Well guys I am now a new proud owner of a 49 Ford Coupe (shoebox)! I have had my eye on my old bosses chopped 49 for about 8 years now and FINALLY got rid of enough cars and got enough money together to purchase the thing! He has owned it for 30 years and has been sitting for most of the time. Him and a buddy chopped it I believe 3 inches (could be wrong, still need to measure it) and Brent from Fat Man Fab built the front end for it (MII with manual rack for steering). Brent and my old boss are good friends and they told me that this was the first MII Brent built and it was the test dummy you could say. It was featured in a magazine when the car was black for Fat Man Fab. Anyways the car needs about 3 weeks worth of work to get it on the road and I plan to change a LOT of things on it. Drivetrain wise: what I have going into it is a basic 350 sbc from an early 80's Corvette along with a 200-4R trans out of a 87 Monte Carlo SS (From my research this is one of the best 200's to build off of). The car has a nice Maverick rear end and the whole underside of this car is perfect (NO RUST). Now yes I know I will get hell for the small block Chevy but its what I have on hand and the mounts in the car are already set up for it. Body wise: it's of course chopped. The headlights and tail lights are frenched. Deck lid is shaved and 51 Ford hinges were used. Door handles are shaved and on poppers (VW starter solenoid used for poppers) and bear claw latches used on the doors. The hood is on a piano hinge (not sure I like this yet) to open up sideways like a late 40's Buick I believe. Tops of the fenders have a peak brought all the way to the front of the frenched head light bucket. Door corners are rounded, etc etc. List goes on. Also included are metal fender skirts. I cannot remember the names of them but they are full length about 3 feet long and supposedly very hard to find and very old but in perfect shape. Interior Wise: The original dash was not there so we made a 51 Ford Dash out of fiberglass reinforced with metal bracing underneath housed with basic aftermarket VDO gauges. 50 Ford bench seat up front with 67 Thunderbird wrap around rear seat. In the meantime I will be using what I think is the stock 49 heater. I pulled it apart and it's in great shape. I will replace the two wires going to the blower fan motor and a new heater core. We will be installing electric windows with vent window removed (full one piece glass already cut). Future plans: There are some things that were done to this car to modernize it in the 80's and 90's that I can't stand but I will slowly replace it all. One of the things that bothers me most is the trim around all the glass. I want to find all the exterior window trim for all glass and install it. Currently it is all basic black rubber and tinted glass. I plan to replace all glass to NON tinted as well. I also plan to weld up the holes in the bumpers which are already freshly rechromed and have them done again as well as a pair of lake pipes. Interior wise I plan to do a basic tuck and roll in black and white. The color is called Misty Lavender which is OK but will be changed next summer. In the light it looks basic white with pearl. In the shade it has a pink hue to it (yeah I know it's pink say what you want). Anyways I am stoked to have this car and plan to drive the HELL out of it (daily driver). The good thing is that it's not hacked to hell and a good job was done on the chop and assembly of the car with only a few corners cut that I plan to change...
kind of curious about how that hood hinges. buick set ups are the lateches actually hinge and open from both sides. this is kind of puzzling me.
car looks good but that hood hinged like that is gonna make it impossible to work on that side of the motor. anyway good luck and enjoy!
The hood is on a pianist hinge. Looks cool but like you guys mentioned, it will be a pain to work on that side. I plan to find original hinges or put the forward swinging kit on. Most likely will do the stocks. I have barely ANY money left over so am trying to get it on the road before messing with those kinds of things. It works for now so i will deal with it in the meantime. Quick question... I need a shifter, is American shifter company any good?
Great place to start, nice car! As for a shifter, either make one or go with Lokar... Ask me how I know.
I will keep you up dated for sure! I should have progress pictures just about every day... On the shifter do you guys think 23" is too tall in a chopped shoebox? I want it to be about even with center of the dash. I have an old 50's microphone that I plan to use as the shift knob too.
I really like the car and the chop has some really nice lines. I agree on it needing stainless window trim, but replacing all the tinted glass too? Nothing wrong with tinted glass. Go for the stainless trim and save for upholstery, then drive and enjoy for awhile. FWIW, I think the paint is pretty cool (might be a Babe magnet). You said you saved forever to get the car. Don't get too ambitious with new paint, upholstery and rechroming bumpers from the start. Enjoy it for awhile. Maybe pick up a straight set of bumpers and do the bolt weld mods and send them out for chrome. Then sell off the current bumpers to a Shoebox owner looking for a nice set of bumpers.
Interesting car. I like your plans for it too. The shifter thing is a personal thing but I don't see an issue with a 23 inch tall shift handle. You will probably grab the handle knee high to shift it anyhow. I wouldn't go crazy with changing the glass until I had driven it for a while. With the way the back window sits you might really want the tint on bright days. It might not look quite right or traditional but it might serve the purpose better than plain glass.
My 23" shifter ends up right in the center of the clock. It is pretty comfortable with the buckets I have also
A tall shifter with a big weight on the end will bounce out of gear with a big bump in the road. My gennie shifter in my 28 does that sometimes but are roads real suck up here.
I plan to daily drive it starting in about 4 weeks... When I start changing things I do not plan on tearing it down to the point I cant drive it. As for paint I am still unclear of the color. Maybe copper Orange, or the dark purple (cant think of the name right now) or just black. I don't mind the current color though...
very cool-get it on the road with the basics and do what you can when you can - never have enough money or time is the common thread here
Look at this thread for exhaust issues (and solutions) with a SBC in a Shoebox. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=525517
I plan to run angled rams horns. I hope I don't have problems with them in a sbc and MII front end...
Does anyone know where the VIN plate and numbers are located? The car does not have one and the front frame is a Fat Man so no number on frame. Also is the title VIN the number from the engine block or the chassis? The only number I have on the car is on the firewall/upper cowl on the drivers side but it does NOT match the VIN on the title and is only 9 numbers/letters long. Thanks for any info on this. BTW I got the bumpers on, rubber in the doors and trunk, steering column and steering in, dash installed and engine tore down. I ordered tall finned valve covers, breathers and 12" oval finned air cleaner. Also ordered an Isky cam and lifter kit (see too many problems with cheap castings from Comp and Lunati so going with Isky). Pictures soon to come of progress.
Nice shoebox !! Will watch your progress on this one. My 51 Vin tag is on the Firewall held in place by 4 small screws .. I am not sure on 49's and 50's
Heres a few updated pics... I forgot to take some before pictures of all the parts I sand blasted and engine but will grab some tomorrow!
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