46-48 Ford..........

Anyone that has or previously had owned one of these I would love to start a discussion on some ideas. Pics would be great as well. Here is my most updated pic on mine. Since I have taken over, here are a few of the things off the top of my head. As you guys all know, its much more than this!

-Rearranged some of the engine (power steering pump, radiator hoses)
-Put in a kill power switch
- Painted firewall and surrounding pieces
- Rewired the entire car (headlights, turn signals, ect.)
- Patched up some of the body and put on the running boards
- New gages and new steering column

This pic is after I painted the section of body I had worked on and sanded out, primed it up

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...Ford/46029.jpg

Here is an updated shot of the front

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...Ford/46014.jpg

and an updated shot of the engine

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ouseCar024.jpg

Let me know what type of pictures you need on a Fat Fendered Ford and maybe I can help. I have always had a soft spot for these old Fords. here's a pic of mine Now.

RS

I've done a few customer's cars, same era you have. Mods have included suicide doors, filled cowl vent, lose the upper door and vent window, make it a hardtop, shaved door handles with keyless (or remote button) door solenoids and poppers, weld and mold the rear fenders to the body, replace the front and rear bumpers with nerf bars, and a whole host of other mods....

Nice car!!! Is that a bronze, or a burnt orange? I notice a color similar on another forum; it's a nice color. I have had a few cars that were close to the pictures but sometime the pictures don't give the true color. Thanks for posting them.

This was our 56, the guy that bought it added the wheels as soon as it arrived in Texas, it looked like a burnt orange in the sun light, but it was a metallic bronze.

Attachment 38168

As far as the coupe, I may need some measurements later when, and if I ever get started on mine. The Mustang ll was set too far forward, the wheel is not even close to where it should be. I'm guessing that you have a Mustang ll front end. Your Coupe is looking good. Any help would be appreciated. My Coupe is a 46 also.

Richard

Yep, thats one of them, the wheel as is sits on my far right, is that because of the front end? Also I am curious to where to put a radio. Dave if you happen to have any pics of some of that stuff it would be great!

Thanks

Sorry, these were done before I went digital on the camera and started taking a lot of pics. I do have some pics in my gallery of the Plymouth in the shop now, similar body design, big fenders with a skinny body shell....

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...t=build+server I'm trying to give you a link to My 48 coupe build

A '47 Convertible was my high school car long ago and wish I had it back! That was still in the last gasp of the flathead in the mid '50s. I dechromed it and had it painted "Aztec Red" from the Caddy El Dorado paint scheme. That color is so bright it sort of makes your eyes tired! All I can say is that model can be lowered easily with longer spring shackles, assuming you have the stock rear. However in the '50s you could buy longer shackles from Pep Boys for 53 cents a set! They came in 4", 5" and 6" but the 6" set allowed the body to sway too much sideways to the extent that the end of the shackles would rub on the inside of the tires and rapidly cut up the tire sidewall. I used 5" shackles which did not hit the tires and still gave a noticeable lowering effect. I think some of the '46-'48 models had a sway bar on the rear which limited the side sway but the '41s did not have a sway bar and a set of 6" shackles on a '41 could cut up the tires pretty quick. Fender skirts look pretty good on these models in my opinion but the only ones available at that time were the external type and I am not aware of any skirts that fit up flush with the fender edge which were available on many new GM cars from the later '50s. I had a chance to buy a '42 Merc convertible several years ago and nearly slobbered over it but it had a totally rusted out X-member in the frame and the rest of it was rough so I passed on it but now I have more actual work on my 'glass '29 kit. Note that the '42 model is essentially identical to the '46-'48 models except for the grill and yes there are a few '42s out there! It may be worth noting that the '42-'48 Mercs seem to have been identical to the Fords of the same years except for longer front fenders and hood but the Ford engine bay has enough space for later engines anyway so there is no reason to change to a Merc front end unless that is a question of finding parts. So many older Ford bodies are rusted that it would seem like a good idea to make some cuts here and there and a sunroof insert should be easy to do but a chop on the five window rear window model you have looks like a lot of work, so if it were my coupe I would put in a sunroof since I am a convertible fanatic! Nice car and real steel, neat and it would be a "time machine" for me!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don Shillady

A '47 Convertible was my high school car long ago and wish I had it back!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

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:CRY::CRY::CRY::CRY:Had we just known.....would have kept them all!!!!!!:CRY::CRY::CRY:

Well Dave, not only has time passed but the last time I priced a nice '47 convertible the owner wanted $48K, way out of my league. The problem is that they say that as we age the memories of our youth are the most intense, so that is why I remember that convert so well. I can't even remember all the cars I have had since then, but I do remember that one!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Here's my 48 - 302, C4, 8 inch. Power windows, seats, steering, brakes. License plate set into the trunk lid. Been running it almost 30 years (one redo).

Great lookin' drop top, Paul!!!! Betcha if cars could talk yours could tell some stories after 30 years of cruizin'!!!!!

Great car, bull nose with hood chrome cut back, fantastic time machine for me and the 302 keeps it all Ford; very nice.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

nice paul, would like to see more pics if ya got em

Good as it gets Paul, REEEEEAAAAAALLLLLL NICE. :D

Nice Fords, gents; Paul, that convertible is a real eye knocker. I, like some of you, also have a soft spot for late forties Fords and Mercs; when I was in high school, a buddy and I went in together on a '48 Merc 4 door, and registered it in his dad's name. Being kids with very limited resources, we hacked together some "pipes" for it, put some trim rings on the wheels, and started lowering it. We must have made a half dozen sashays at making longer and longer shackles for it, and one night my pal called me and said I had to come to his house 'cause he needed some help with the car, and his dad had told him he was on his own. I went over, and he had made some more "longer" shackles, and when he let the jack down, it was stuck under the car and we couldn't run the handle enough to jack it back up. Another "lesson" learned; I really don't know how we kept from knocking the axles out from under that thing; the "shackles" were only pieces of strap steel with no gussets or reinforcement, and they were so-o-o-o long.

Can anyone give me an estimate on value, need it for insurance. Thanks!

Dave

As I said above, I priced a restored '48 convertible and the guy was asking $48K so I would guess a nice rodded version like yours would be worth as much to a rodder or less to a restorer. Even so the price of such nice things is in the mind of the seller and buyer. If/when you haggle with a potential buyer he/she will talk down on petty details while inwardly slobbering over the nice stuff, such is the art of the haggler.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

check with your insurance co. I think you are going to need an appraisal from a co. they approve of they can give you a list of approved appraisers.......ted