Winter Wonderland - Vintage tin in Canada and a new project

So we head out into the wilds of southern Manitoba to look at a 49 Prefect advertised in the Kijiji classified. We meet this great guy, Arnold and his wife. Arnolds a retired farmer and committed car guy. His wife has a gorgeous 58 vette in the back shed at the house. Unfortunately we didn't get close because of the snow drifts. This becomes a common theme of this trip.

We take a short trip to the farm and are instantly greated by a 48 Morris Minor panel delivery. This thing was so cool with it 4ftx4ft box on the back of a tiny Morris cab. Even better is that apparently... it runs !!! It just screams street rod with an Ice Cream truck theme to it.

The pictures of it show just how much snow we had to contend with. At times I was mid thigh in the white stuff. We came around a shed and saw 3 seperate lines of vintage cars under the drifts. This included a 1928 Dodge panel truck in suprising great shape. The long distance shot of the 2nd line up showed a bunch of late 30s and 40s sedans. There was another group of 40s trucks across from them but I could't get close enough for a shot. There was also a line of 60's farm trucks and equipment.

In the shed beside the Prefect we were told there was a collection of vintage fuel pumps and garage signs. Again, we couldn't get in to see because the snow. I have no doubt they are there since we could see a bit through the dirty windows and he has a couple of restored gravity pumps at the house. His shop has vintage garage signs on the side and hanging out front. I can't wait to go back out in the spring and have a better look.

As for the Prefect, the body is in great shape with only surface rust and some minor damage that is easily repairable. All the door glass is intact but the windshield is toast. The interior is mostly wood in these cars and that includes most of the floorboards and interior trim. This was all rotted out and the front seats are gone. The cloth and cardboard door panels are bad but simple to replicate and the cloth roof insert was no where to be seen. No big deal because we weren't planning to restore it.

So the plan is to build a race only companion for the Scout by going Gasser Style with the little 4 door. (A-la junior Thompson) We'll put in modern safety stuff like a 12 point cage but we'll also make sure we hang the back rubber out the sides and that it has the right stance with a Speedway straight axle and disc brake set up. Period correct rims are a given. The cab is so narrow that it will have to have the oh-so-cool gas pedal on the passenger side set up.

For power we're talking about building a stout 12.5-1 383 or 406 SBC with forged internalls and roller cam. I have a Hilborn injection set up that I had I had planned to use on the Scout but now we're thinking they will look a LOT better on the Prefect. Let's not forget a front mounted moon tank and a set of fenderwell headers

I'll have more pictures in the spring when the snow is gone and we can get a trailer in to pick it up. Please don't ask me for the guys name or number as he does not want to be overwhelmed with calls. He's not one of these whack job hoarders who hangs onto stuff just for the sake of having it. He knows what he has and he told us that when he wants to sell some stuff he'll put it up on the Kijiji classifieds under Manitoba / Classic Cars. (Best I can do... sorry)

 

I saw that Perfect on Kijiji. It looks cool. Gasser material for sure. Too bad it wasn't a 2 door. It would be nice to see up against the Scout at Gimli. I can't wait to go back to watch the Fri night racing this year. I missed your Scout on the last weekend. I went most of the Fri nights and liked the street cars duking it out. Should get better this year. Will you have the Scout at the East End Arena show.

 

The Prefect was way to good to pass up. Not good enough to restore but a great starting point for an old school race car. And we got it for a decent price. Personally I think the 4 doors give it character. Otherwise it's just another Anglia.

The Scout will be at the East End Arena for sure. The front end is apart and waiting on powder coating otherwise it's good to go. Still no body work to date so it'll be there in all it's barn-find glory. I plan to paint some of the exposed metal like the roll cage and maybe shoot some primer otherwise the plan is to make it pretty for 2012.

I'm only going to be at 1/2 of the Gimli events this year. I'm not chasing points so I don't care if I'm there every scheduled weekend. I want to be there for the long weekend stuff at the very least. The goal is to make a 10 second pass with the mild engine setup, then I'll drop a roller cam in it and go faster. I'll have trans brake set up so big wheel stands will be the order of the day. I keep telling the serious race guys in the shop, it's not a bracket racer, it's there to entertain and put a smile on my face.

I haven't yet been out for the Friday night stuff but I hear I'm missing a good show. I'll have to take it in at least once or twice.

Prefect vs. Scout match race for sure in 2012. We picked up a 358 with iron heads and a full roller cam and valve train that makes a legit 500hp. We figure that'll be enough to put the Prefect well into the 10's. That should be just about where the Scout will be running by then.

Good to hear from you... Still have the Pontiac ??

 

The Scout will be a crowd pleaser. With wheelstands it will be worth seeing. I love to see unique cars running fast. You should go on Friday nights, the crowd is bigger than Sundays. Lots of fast street cars and the fans are younger. I sold the Pontiac to a guy around Saskatoon. I did not keep in touch with him so I don't know what he is doing with it or how it turned out. He wasn't keeping it a gasser, all the parts were being put into a friends car. He wanted to build a chopped custom out of the Pontiac.