Thread: A turn of sad events puts me in the SF Bay Area with a 1940 Ford Truck project

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Hello,
This is my first post. My screen name is gun papa. I am a gun guy primarily. I have been around the gun boards and e bay for almost 2 decades with the same screen name. I can work on cars but they are usually to get me to work.

My Father was killed at the end of May in a horrible industrial accident. He and my Mom live in the East Bay area near San Francisco. I live in Nevada.

My Dad was " The Best of the Best". He was Superman and his ability with diesel, hydraulics, and mechanical ability is second to none.

He has a 1940 Ford truck project and I cannot keep it. Is there a place to sell it?

The truck is located in his shop and the parts shown are stored in a cargo container. The engine and tranny are new, it is a 1996 Chevy 350 Turbo and 4 speed transmission. The motor has an RV camshaft.

He purchased a nice rolling chassis that has front disc brakes.

Any direction would be helpful. Thanks GP

I do not see any rear fenders. My Mom swears that it is all there, but I doubt my Mom listened to Dad about car stuff.

Your a bit far for me but looks like a good package to start with

So sorry to hear of your loss - hopefully someone here will be able to help you out or point in the right direction. Looks like it has the makings for a sweet project.

Best,
Glenn

Sorry for your loss.
Try posting it here;
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/...&query=hot+rod

I too am sorry for your loss. Such a sad story for your family.
Another place I'd suggest posting is here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/218215031660619/ You'll have to join the group, but it's got a wide coverage for '40's. Best of luck in finding a new home for it.

You're in a sad place, hope the healing will begin, time is your friend there.

Unfortunately time is not you friend with the truck. The love affair for these kinds of vehicles has a fairly specific audience...………………….old guys like many of us on here. We're in that age category where health issues and end of life are a very real thing. As a result the number of people willing to buy this type of car, and especially a project where the sellers only have passing knowledge, is a shrinking audience. Projects have always been more difficult to sell than running vehicles, but you've got what you've got. Some help with identifying some of the components: Looks like a TCI independent front end. TCI is a fairly well respected component manufacturer so that's a small plus, the rear axle looks like a 9" Ford on parallel mounted springs, perhaps TCI suspension at that end too. Chevrolet V8 and auto transmission. People will want to know if it's rebuilt, and if you have receipts/build documentation that would be a plus. Sheet metal looks reasonably good, though the grill looks like it's a reproduction which will be a turn off for the well informed/picky as those normally don't fit well. After that it's a matter of how many of the "little" parts are available because there are lots of them and costly to acquire bit by bit. The why behind the lower enthusiasm for projects and that reflects on the pricing.

And pricing will be the thing that will cause you the most grief. I'm going to get very blunt here, and you don't know me, so you likely won't like what I'll say. You're going to get suggested values from all sorts of well intentioned people who don't know what they're talking about. They think they do, and that makes them difficult to learn from. The market for these still has buyers in it, BUT you can't just advertise in one place because those buyers are hard to find and there are no silver bullet answers. Some people will tell you a low value number, and too many will give you an incorrect but tempting high value number. If somebody tells you it's worth $20k they're full of crap. They'll tell you that they've seen them frequently advertised for "big money". What they fail to realize/mention is that that was 15+20 years ago when the market was strong, or that yeah, sellers are asking that kind of money, but they're not finding buyers that agree with them. Asking prices mean nothing for the most part. I'll give you my opinion, but it's just that, an opinion of someone who is not a buyer. And the hard pill to swallow for some is, only those with money in their hand, standing in front of you, holding it out for you to take, are the ones who you will sell to. Talk it cheap, and there's more of it out there than useful. Personally, my belief is that in today's market, and it's going down steadily, meaning it will just keep going down, you'd be lucky to get somewhere between $5-10k. You may find a folder of receipts for way more than that, and you'll easily find people that say that's a crazy number, but I used the word "lucky" for a reason. You're smart to do some research to help you and your family, and keep doing that despite all the conflicting stuff you'll hear. But try to be realistic.

Wise words from Uncle Bob..

In support of Uncle Bob Parmenter, he ran his own shop out in the Great Northwest for ages upon ages and has put together a bunch of super nice rides. He & his bride moved to Texas a few years back, and last I recall (could be wrong, I'm old and forgetful) he's still got a nice '32 roadster that he picked up already done, an awesome '36 convertible(?) that he put together, and a Deuce Sedan that's a work in progress. Not too long ago a guy from Ontario came on here wondering if anyone could help him determine who had built the full fendered Duece Coupe that he'd bought, saying that the workmanship on it was amazing. Turned out it was one of Uncle Bob's cars that he'd sold many moons ago. Bottom line, he knows what he's talking about, and he doesn't feed anyone BS. You can trust what he tells you, hands down.

I agree with all that Bob said. If I got a $10,000 offer on it I would certainly take that. Unfortunately, there is probably no way you can recoupe all of what your dad had spent on it.

Any documentation and receipts you can find about the engine and transmission would be most helpful.

List it for sale in as many places as you can think of. This is one great place for it.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...rs-for-sale.7/

Thanks for the kind words guys, and especially Roger. BTW, I don't talk about it much nowadays, but I sold the '36 roadster three years ago. Last month I sold all three of the old cars I had, the 32 sedan and roadster, and a nice 40 coupe I had. Got okay money in today's world, but nothing like what silly people claim stuff should sell for. I'm living what I say because I watch and learn. For the first time in a looooonnnng time I have no hot rods, but it's what needed to be done in our case. I'm not dyin', just finally used up all my enthusiasm for these things.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Thanks for the kind words guys, and especially Roger. BTW, I don't talk about it much nowadays, but I sold the '36 roadster three years ago. Last month I sold all three of the old cars I had, the 32 sedan and roadster, and a nice 40 coupe I had. Got okay money in today's world, but nothing like what silly people claim stuff should sell for. I'm living what I say because I watch and learn. For the first time in a looooonnnng time I have no hot rods, but it's what needed to be done in our case. I'm not dyin', just finally used up all my enthusiasm for these things.

Go buy a Vette like I did

I'm not much of a Vette guy Ken, but do have a 2017 Mustang GT Convertible for similar distractions. And if I do kick the bucket all of a sudden the bride knows better how to deal with that car than the others.

My grandson was discharged from the Marine Corps about a week ago and now that he's home the Vette will get worked on and his 66 Mustang.

Gun Papa, very sorry to hear of your father being killed. I wish you luck with the sale. Those FB groups are probably the best place to sell stuff like this or the jalopy journal like these guys directed you to. It definitely looks like it has a lot of good components and is a really good start on having an awesome truck!