Thread: Blame Roger.........

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........mainly because he threw down the "without pictures it didn't happen" gauntlet.

A couple years ago I sold off all my "toy" cars, the last of which were the '32 roadster and sedan, along with the '40 coupe. It was the first time in over 55 years I hadn't had any "collector" car in a garage for me to play with. I started to sell off the last of my hoard of extra parts, and there were a lot of them. While I've thinned down the extra parts in a big way there's still some lingering looking for a needy buyer to come along. There's a tale of woe to go with all that, but not worth the effort to repeat. Let's just say, the ol' itch needed to be scratched..................again.

About a month ago, while scanning ads for old cars...........you know............just to stay in the know about shifting values...........uh huh. Up pops this ad for a straight looking, (mostly) unmodified '32 Ford sedan. The description was intriguing (aren't they all?) so I contacted the guy. After a series of back and forths we ended up making a deal for me to buy the car. As you'll see in the pictures it looks mostly stock except for the Chrysler Imperial wheels, which it is. Right down to the B model four banger engine. The seats have been recovered and it has an old repaint in close to original colors (There's a thin edge of the original color inside the tilt out windshield opening that reveals it's just a shade off). Why did this one end up pulling me in? Condition. The body is all original Ford sheet metal, never been off the frame, with no rust or damage evident anywhere. And the frame may be what really set the hook on me. If you've ever crawled under an old car you've more than likely found a frame that is scarred in some way by the evil demon rust unless it's been restored to some degree or other, or had a newer aftermarket replacement frame install. Not this ol gal. The original frame has just a few specs of rust here and there where the old paint has worn/chipped, but the majority of the rails and crossmembers are practically like new. The odo shows just over 50k miles, and a variety of signs around the car would support that. Most likely it's been garaged it's whole life and not driven in harsh weather. The back story is some ol scrounger in Wisconsin found the car a number of years ago and put it in his "museum".............not a fancy marble floor kind of place, just a good ol' boy out building for his toys, but open to the public for their enjoyment. He would drive the car in the annual parade held in his little town. The only fly in this lovely ointment is that the car ended up sitting for a number of years as his health failed enroute to his passing. The upshot is the fuel system is gummed up pretty well, so I won't really know how well the banger runs until I get that cleaned up.

In the mean time I've started to gather up some bits and pieces to mildly rod this thing. It's a shame that in the past couple years I've sold off some pieces that would be good to have now, but such is life. I've picked up a set of hydraulic brakes, a '40 steering wheel, a dual carb manifold for the 4 banger, a set of new wide white tires and some steel rims along with some stylish '50's vintage hub caps........oh, and a stoker 286 cube flathead engine and '39 trans...........just in case the banger doesn't light my fire enough. The objective is a '50s style mild hot rod a kid might have done in high school. Yeah, ol habits don't change easily.