I was finally able to reach the gentleman that I had bought the convertible from, he had a double heart valve replacement and had been given a blood thinner after the operation to prevent clotting, unfortunately it created a heavy amount of internal bleeding that retuned him to hospital, which is why I had not been able to contact him to confirm the pick up of the Ford. Once he had been releases again we were able to connect and I informed the gentleman that was going to pick up the car and transport it for me to Show Low.
He was able to line up a couple of other deliveries to fill out the trip and he arrived around 8:00 AM today with the Ford on his trailer.
The 40 Ford Convertible Arrives!
I am happy to report that the car is exactly as described by the seller on eBay and it more than meets my expectations. The patch panel work was done very well by a skilled metal worker. As near as I can tell with out getting out my long block, the body is quite straight. All of the pieces appear to be where the should be. The doors and fenders seem to fit very nicely and the frame appears to be in good shape. All in all I think I got a pretty decent value for the money that I spent on it.
It is now keeping the ’39 company in our main garage while the ’56 Dodge is spread out all over the shop and it’s garage. I spent some time today thinking about what direction I want to take the build in. After looking the car over I am pretty well convienced that it will end up being a restomod – stock body and trim, lowered, steel wheels and wide whites with an independent front suspension and Ford 9″ rear end on parallel leaf springs. I will also box the frame and beef up the cross member. Power disc brakes, power rack & pinion streering and A/C to round out the rest of the mechanicals. Still not decided on what I will use for a power train – it must have a very late model alloy fuel injected computer controlled engine along with a 5 or 6 speed overdrive transmission. I think it would be great if I could find a Ford donor that would work, if not it will probably end up being an LS-3 or 6 GM engine – very plentiful and very cheap!
I also need to freshen up the ’39 with at least a repaint and a few needed mods. Old Blue has been on the road 10 years this Labor Day and she has racked up around 80K miles – She probably deserves some love before the ’40 goes under the knife… well I certainly am not without things to do!
All in all it’s been a darn good week around here!