Ole Red Lives Again After 35 years

This is not a station wagon story. But it involves engines, cars, and dreams.
Our 1941 Ford is called Smiley. But I really don't name most of my cars and I only named this one to get your attention.

Ever since high school I dreamed of owning a 1940 Ford coupe. I got close. Found a 1939 coupe in the same cul-de-sac we lived in spring of 1972. New neighbors, young kid newlywed, had been driving it same place I worked at least two years. Wife wanted it gone.
Rumor is the previous owner had a big block in it and used it to drag race around Peoria,Ill. Appeared to be set up for racing. Beefy traction bars and dual carb log on firewall. Heavy duty electric fuel pump. Battery in the trunk. Buggy spring shackles reversed. When he decided to sell he sold the BB or swapped for what I was told a junk yard 55-57 SBC. We're now thinking he traded to a buddy who had the small block.
I didn't care because I was gonna put a Flathead back in it so never even payed attention to what engine it had. With the dual Cherry bombs it sounded like a flathead. I soon found out it ran decent and was dependable.
Drove it like a family car till spring 1979 when the radiator tank broke. Before that we went from near Peoria, Ill to Valparaiso, Ind to a large Chevy show, several big Peoria area shows, and what was to become the very first Street Rod Nationals held in a wheat field where we used to camp east of Peoria. Drove it 15 miles to work regularly in nice weather, a few trips above Chicago and even Wisconsin Dells. Yep it was our daily driver.
With the buggy springs and tiny tube shocks it rode decent on the highway but like a log wagon on bumps. Shocks too short!

So now my youngest is getting it ready to haul back home 1000 miles. First thing he wanted to do was replace the cast iron manifold and small 2-barrel with an aluminum 4-barrel and Edelbrock. Also wanted to stick an HEI on but saw there is no room without beating on the firewall. I told him I want to keep it like when I last drove it in 1979.
So that's the plan. Also In my latest plans are Smithey mufflers, new chrome 39 Ford bumpers, or Briz rippled bumpers, and wide white walls. As I've learned, plans change!
Up front it has a 1954 Chevy spindle and drum kit, in the back a 55-57 rearend with a kit using the buggy spring with reversed shackles. Plenty low for me.
Has original 14" Fenton mags and 40+ year old low mileage bias tires that are holding Illinois air. Gas tank had five gallons of 1979 fuel that looked and smelled like gas. Even the electric fuel pump was full of fuel.
I finally found two sets of skirts here in Florida. Maybe not 39 style but one set looks good on our 41 Ford 2-door so the other set will do on the 39.
Back in 1976 I repainted the deep green metalic paint with 1975 Ford truck red, just like my truck. Looked good till lately when several places started peeling. Could have been because I didn't get it clean or 40 years of weather changes.
Without a lot of facts and figures here is part of the puzzle solved. I always assumed my 1939 Ford had a 265 Chevy engine and Powerglide. This puzzle is actually being solved as I write. Slightly disappointing as are many things in life.

A few days ago my 25 year old son pulled my 1939 Ford coupe out from a 21 year sleep. Yep a barn find! Well my utility shed find. Since I've owned it since mid 1972 it really wasn't lost, just forgotten.
My favorite car, buried just because the tri-five Chevy radiator busted. Even the radiator appears to be mounted with a kit. No crappy shade tree assembly here. We even recently found out why the radiator split. I had replaced the 7# radiator cap with a 14#-17# cap. In heavy work traffic it overheated. While cooling in my driveway the top tank split. Rather than fix it I just played with other cars. happens!
In the next 21 years the old car has seen Florida daylight less than a few hours as it was unloaded and pushed into the shed. Before this it was stored in my Illinois main garage several years then moved to an addition behind the garage, basically forgotten for a total of 14 years.
That's 35+ years in hybernation. First several years I'd start and run it briefly, running the Powerglide thru the gears. Then it really was forgotten till 1994 when I started it and loaded it on my flatbed for a ride to Florida.
Now to the present. Son drug it out of the shed to see if he could get it running to load on my flatbed, take to Illinois, and maybe drive and enjoy once again. We bought a small home on a lane called Memory Lane. Time to start making memories again.
Remember it hadn't been started since around July 1994. First thing 25 year old son did this week was pull the plugs, squirt tranny fluid in the cylinders, and start checking things out. All hoses, belts, brake rubber parts are rotted. Even 21 years ago as I drove it up on my trailer I could see daylight thru the carb base gasket and there were no brakes.

First thing to do is see whether the SBC is still an engine or an anchor. Oil looked like new and there was still oil in valve train as seen thru the valve cover breather holes. Yep no oil fill tube, draft tube, no cartrige oil filter, and no off set valve cover bolts. Also my favorite, Rams Horn manifolds rather than those skinny logs. Not a 265.
Points looked like new. He'd soon discover they were stuck together and broke when trying to set them. Didn't matter, just wanted to spin engine over.
Hooked up a battery and the starter sounded like new. Engine spun over like it was ran yesterday. There's hope!
We bought a new Rochester 2-barrel repair kit, plugs, wires, dist cap, oil, filter, etc. Didn't need the points and condensor kit or rotor. They were hanging on the garage wall, dated 1972.
Wrong plugs. It needs the skinny ones. Wrong carb kit. Needs the smaller one. New carb is $220. Hoping for a kit. We still had no idea what engine it is but now knew it was newer than a 265. No oil fill tube and it has accessory holes on head fronts for brackets. This didn't come out till trucks in 1968.
We also discovered altho it has front engine mounts and modern filter the engine and tranny were mounted with a decent kit. The front mount is a one piece saddle affair bolting where the old flathead mounted to the frame. Even the powerglide has a custom mount to the "X" member.
The old buggy rear spring has heavy duty traction bars and kit type tri-five rear end mounts. Things I long forgot. It was done right! The powergliide shifter has PARK at the back set up for racing and speed shifting.
Since it still has the first year Ford hydraulic master cylinder we see where an early Mustang dual master is a bolt on with an adapter. We'll replace that and the wheel cylinders and drive it that way. Don't need no stinking power disc brakes.

But just what engine does it have? At first son checked on internet telling me it is a 71 327. Made me feel good. Still I bought the car in summer of 72 and I knew the neighbor drove it at least two years or more.
Checking the front pad number T910DD and the rear block numbers we came up with this. Not as happy but for a cruise nite car and fun driver I found it was okay. I kept telling my son whatever engine it was it wasn't a performance engine.
It was our fun driver and dailer driver from 1972 to spring 1979 in central Illinois. Will it be again?

Engine Sept 10, 1969. From an F, X, or A body GM. Made in the Tonawanda plant. It took me from 1972 until now to know because I really didn't care.
So I got what appeared to be a four year old stock 307 with obviously low mileage. Even now the 1939 odometer shows 40,000+ on the car. Like a fool I let it sit!
More useless junk. A supervisor at work had his 1940 coupe restored. My 39 had no bumpers or guards. He either gave me his 40 Ford silver painted bumpers or sold them cheap.
I was a trucker. A truck mechanic at the shop was begging to let him put in a stock MMII rack kit in a weekend for $500 total. That's what he had in his 1940 Ford coupe as my buddy did in a 46 sedan. Originally a sledge hammer and a welder was all it took.
All these years I've had many chances to sell our 39 Ford Deluxe coupe..... at give-away prices. I hung onto it mostly because it was always my dream vehicle and as long as I own it the dream goes on.
I gave it to my oldest son in Illinois who said he would try to get it running and enjoy it. But admitted he really wasn't interested. He's not a car guy so I told him he can still have it when I stop dreaming.

So, still no pictures to post and still waiting on a carb kit. Will the 39 Ford live again? Will I live long enough to enjoy it? Tune in for further updates.

 

You better stick around to enjoy it!

I actually think 1969 was the last year for 327's.

Keep us up to date on your progress...........

 

I'll try. That's why we are moving home eventually.
I think 1969 was when a lot of small block changes were made. Even this engine does not use any of the head mounting holes. No power steering and the alternator mounts on the "U" bracket on the driver side rams horn.
Funny I just never paid attention to the SBC engine in the old Ford. I always planned on swapping to a flathead. Even had a few buddys with decent flat head engines to buy.
From things I've heard the 307 was an economy engine used in some vans, Novas, etc. When I bought the 55 Chevy wagon back it had the other owner's 69 Nova 307 and Powerglide. Sold the 307 engine to the next owner of the Nova to restore and gave him the powerglide.

 

Chevy replaced the 283 with the 307 as their bread and butter small V8. The 307 is merely a stroked 283. Same bore, but has the crank from a 327. Made about the same HP, but more torque for the growing weight and power accessories on the late 60s-early 70s cars.

 

That was a nice read, Denny! Glad you have help to get it going and really, without dreams, what do we have?
I remember growing up changing engines with my dad in our vehicles. Not as a hobby but out of necessity so he could go to work. Drive in from work, truck knocking and smoking, go to the scrap pile and gather parts from various junk sbc's to piece together a engine, scrapped together enough money to buy a gasket set and go with it. We would go to car shows and my dad would point at a car or truck on display and say, "We will have one one day!" It was a fun dream he and I spent a many of day cleaning and collecting scrap metal and talking about the "hot rod" we would build one day!
We had as many as 6 at one time ranging from a original 1940 Chevy business coupe to my 1966 C-10. Some show worthy, some just neat old school beaters but these days, matter of fact, this week we have spent late nights in the garage working on the 3.42 Chevy 10 bolt posi rear he and I went in half on for our '55 and still have more to do on it this weekend but these days we remember those days and remember Dreams do come true!
Keep on living and dreaming, Denny!

Dennis

 

Still Dreamin.

Funny, this car sat for years. Now that I look out the window and see it on the trailer I'm acting like I did the day I bought it in 1972. My daughter came riding up the sidewalk on her trike excited saying "daddy that man said he will sell you his car for 25." I asked her 25 what? She said "$25". That's what I paid, $2500.00.

Thanks guys. About all we see and hear about are the gold chainers and the cars daddy buys for them. And as they luck out and get better jobs we hear about the cars they build from kits mostly by other shops.
We all know that many cars are built in home garages with new and used parts by hard working hot rodders. To me that's what it's all about.
When someone asks what kind of paint or what cam is in my car I want to be able to tell them, even if I didn't do all the work.
As for the 39 Ford I really still don't know a lot about it because I was lucky enough to buy it that way. My son is still surprised it is in such good shape and all I did was put gas, oil, and license on it in all those years. That and one set of tires.
The paint is worse than I expected but sanding and painting is about all I can do now. I figure for what I paid for the car and what I want to do I'll have a $5,000 solid 39 Ford coupe.
Prices vary. But this one seems to be around the $25000-$30,000 range running with the mechanical parts repaired. To me it's worth $1,000,000.

 

Dad had a '39 sedan he beat on like a red-headed bastard stepchild back when he graduated from HS and was working construction around Olympia, then drove to Cali when he was called up for Naval Reserve duty. His had an 85 HP flathead with a truck radiator. He tells the story about how he and his buddy having to get the rad fixed quickly when it was punctured running over bushes (yes, they were drunk). So his buddy used a pair of pliers to crimp the offending holes, then he dumped in a can of pepper (and yes, it really does work!) and topped it off. Dad said it wasn't showing any hotter temperature after that.

 

Nice read! Looking forward to pics and updates. Smiley will ride again!!!

 

Yah, there are a lot of people who buy their hot rods, and expect to win a trophy every time they go to a show. Myself, I can't afford to do that. Besides, it's more fun to put them together myself. It's more fun to dream and plan the whole car out. Time and money restraints are why it takes me so long to get one done. When I go to shows, I don't spend time around my car, I already know all about it. You'll find me in the swap meet, or looking at the other cars in attendance.
That said, there's room for every one in this hobby.

 

First I've heard of using pepper in a radiator leak. Seems like a friend did it in an emergency. I also had two 39 Ford 4-doors original condition.

About car shows, we were that way, especially at large shows. We wouldn't see our car all day long.
Plus I noticed I was more interested in one of mine while working on it. I always wanted to get it done to drive it. I'd end up parking it and start another.

Smiley is the yellow 41 Ford.
Ole Red looks like but is not this red 39 Ford.
Son plays on his phone 23 hours a day and has pictures of my cars. Yet he can't figure how to send them to me as emails. :banghead3:

 

A Picture is Worth something

1939 Ford Deluxe coupe.

These are not great but son finally figured how to send some cell phone pictures to me. There will be outside photos when I get them. At least I have proof I'm not just dreaming.
Keep in mind the car has sat over 35 years, 14 in a garage, then 21 in a shed here in Florida. It surprised me it is still reasonably clean.
These photos are just the way our son pulled it out and put it on my trailer, dirt, cobwebs, mouse messes and all. Oddly they only chewed the carpet foam that was on the floor and trunk.
Also starting the 307 SBC is on hold till we find a small GM 2-barrel carb kit. They have anew carb but no one has a kit handy. There was a small carb and a larger one. We got the large carb kit!
But after 35+ years I can wait.
Remember this is untouched after 35+ years. A little cleaner should make a difference.

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Almost AC

Windshield open and shut.

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Looks like a fun project, resurrecting your old Ford!

 

Bringing our 1939 Ford Deluxe coupe out of 35+ years Hybernation

From a long sleep. Still a long way to go.

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This is awesome, Cat!