Hello to all, What a great place! I was suggested the H.A.M.B. by a TDPRI member (also a fan of such stuff ). Have done some serious educational reading with lots of cool pictures since I got here. Thanks to all of you for that! I am getting more and more into the Shoebox Ford Thing. Actually , the 49-51 Ford has been in my mind some years already. I am now starting to want one more seriously. To have it chopped similar proportions like THEKID49 did it (cant get my eyes off from it !) http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379161 . A 2d (either coupe or sedan), original flattie with 3 spd overdrive, satin black, some shaving and headlight treatment, red steel rims with wide whites, ´not the most silent exhaust´ – nothing special, just an old school rod. I have lots of newbie-questions, just to get some imagination and education. I would be very glad to get answer(s) to any of them. So, here they come 1. Which year of them are easiest to find? (I guess that the most of them were made 49, to satisfy the massive demand for new post-war daily driver) 2. Does the 49 have significally bigger rust problems ? Have read about some panels fitment quality problems, hence the leaking and rust with bigger potential ... 3. Can you tell the changes between 49, 50 and 51 ? I know about the body panels fitment quality probs on 49s, i know the grilles stuff, hood ornament and dash (51´s dash being totally different from 49-50, right ?), and the fuel fill ( 49 had it just capped ). Are there any other significal changes done on the car? I have not found a very detailed history and specs site about the Shoebox – mostly the ´Ford´s save from bancrupcy´ and ´design milestone´ kind of talk. 4. What places, besides the H.A.M.B, would be good to start to look for one with good price? (I am so far also aware of fordbarn and get info to my emayl from a place named lemonfree but probably there are some more) 5. What would be the tips to get a Shoebox the cheapest? I mean, perhaps not to buy a a running complete car, but rather a solid decent rolling chassis with title and everithing complete except the motor and tranny , and buy these separately ? 6. How much would be reasonable price for the good condition 8ba flathead ready to fit ? 7. How much would be reasonable price for the flattie deal in such package , that everything is included ( from possibly crank bearings and piston rings, plus gaskets) , but no boring and crankshaft grinding neccesary – just clean it up and assembly ? 8. How much would be reasonable price for the good condition 3 speed with overdrive ? 9. What are the most typical weak spots of a shoebox, while picking up one ? Partst typically in need of replacing, rust zones , etc ... ? 10. What are the PITA parts to be found for Shoebox nowadays? 11. The Edelbrock Alu heads for 8ba ( noticed there are the ´vintage and current production) - do they raise compression ratio significally , or just better cooling , smoothing combustion chamber profile, etc ? There are lots of more questions, but getting answer to these ones would help me a lot already. Thank you very much for reading my post this far and I would be even more thankful to get some answers to any of those questions Best Regards, Telbert Twang Estonia PS, sry if I posted it wrong place
You missed to introduced you but welcome I can say so much that are most repruduction parts to 1950 there is difrence betwine the hood hinges on 49 they are weker than 50-51 the cars rost in the floor and in the trunk and the doors and the rockers look here Her can you see were i have change sheet metal you can even look at the forum on shoebox,com /Stefan
Welcome to the HAMB. As Stefan T suggested, www.shoeboxford.com is a forum that deals specifically with 49-51 Fords. Lots of information and a great resource for parts and whole shoeboxes here in the States. The first piece of advice they will give you is to find a copy of the "Green Bible"; the 49-51 Ford Service Manual. Aside from helping you restore a shoebox, it will also give you all the details about the differences among the three years. -Stefan (S)
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