The greatest (rod) story ever told

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Bonehead

Skull Master
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
12,242
Location
Fruita, Colorado
I have to start this story now, because it is so interesting. There is no ending yet, and it may be epic.

When I was coming back from an un-disclosed car show, I stopped in this little spot where I had seen old tin before. I was in my crewcab truck, and my son was in the back seat. We were driving slowly through a run down old town. I was calling out the years of old lead sleds I could identify, and my son was taking it all in. He says, "Dad, there's one that looks like the Buick".
(the 31 buick some of you may have seen). I asked where, and he says behind us, behind the fence. I turned around and drove slow. There was about a 2 foot gap in the fence, and I could see a sedan body of some kind on a small trailer. My wife says, "go knock on the door". So I drove to the front of the house and stopped. In the front yard was a man and a woman working on some small piece of equipment. I greated them, and explained why I had stopped. The man says he would sell it, and informs me it is a 31B model. I had no clue, but he says go back and look it over. The old guy (74 it turns out) is kind of excited to see me there. We shot the breeze while looking at the car for a while. Finally I asked how much he wanted for the car. The guy has a sparkle in his eye, and he says, "If you'll build it, I'll just give it to you". I told him no I should give him something for it, and he answers, I have a 4 cyl, with a turbo motor you can have too. That is what he was going to put in it. As a mater of fact, a whole donor car front, rear, motor, etc. Now granted, the body is in rough shape, and the donor car has been sitting for years, but the guy wants me to have it.
 

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Thats one of the coolest stories ever. I presume you are going for it.
I consulted my car book of knowlege. Ford made a 32 model b and a model 1b.
standard engine for the b was a 200.5 cid L4 and the 1b came with a 221 cid V8. Don't know if thats what it is or not but its a great find regardless.
I'll wait for the next chapter.
 
Oh, the story gets much better.....
(by the way, what is the 1b model?, no engine to look at here)

So the guy tells me that he and his wife were just talking about the sedan about 30 minutes before I got there. Since the town is empty of people, let alone strangers, he figures I am kind of meant to have the car. He says," it is by design". I got to say, I really genuinely, like this guy. Not just because he gave me the car, but we really hit it off. We are walking back to the front of the house and he points to some old doors along the fence, and says take those too. Upon closer inspection they are 30 buick doors, exactly like my 30 buick at home..... weird huh? He looks over a me smiles and says, "That's not all". He takes me over to a ditch about 150 yards from his house and shows me at least ten more cars. They have been sitting there for generations and are rusted pretty badly, but they are beee-utiful. He can see by the look on my face that I am building each one in my mind, as we walk along. And I can see by the look on his face, he is satisfied he is talking to the right guy. We dug up a bucket car but it is only half,(right down the middle) there. I need a little help with the ID on that one too. Not really buildable, but curiosity mostly. And yes, there is still much more!
 

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Twilight zone!?

We are walking back to the front of the house and he points to some old doors along the fence, and says take those too. Upon closer inspection they are 30 buick doors, exactly like my 30 buick at home..... weird huh? He looks over a me smiles and says, "That's not all".

Bonehead,
Dude... u must have really good karma! That '30 Buick car door connection is way too much for coincidence! That is definitely fate & a great story. I sure the old guy went to bed *smiling* that nite! U can only imagine! He was just waiting for u to come along! Calling Rod Serling!!!

BoB
 
What a great story. You probably made his day too, maybe you remind him of his Son or himself when he was younger. Sometimes in life you just run into people who are like that, and it renews your faith in people.

Keep us posted on how it is going with all the new tin.

Don
 
Okay, I need to interupt the story at this point to let you know that even though I have picked up the 31-32 b sedan and a few other parts, I went to a flea market today. Very surprising to me I was drawn to a motorcycle trailer. Not because I have a bike anymore, but because of what was under the trailer. It was built years ago with a dropped straight axle out of who knows what. It has Chevy emblems on the axle caps, looks to be a 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern with 16 inch wheels and Gates rubber and seems real narrow. It is set up with leaf springs, and there are no brakes at all. The steering arm looks like a little ball hitch. But for $75 bucks I figured I could not go wrong.


So here is the picture, who knows what?
 

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What a great story. You probably made his day too, maybe you remind him of his Son or himself when he was younger. Sometimes in life you just run into people who are like that, and it renews your faith in people.

Keep us posted on how it is going with all the new tin.

Don

Don, I really expected you to name that bucket, any ideas?
 
Wow what an amazing story. And the most amazing part to me is that the guy just happened to have some 30 Buick doors laying around. Seems like the Twilight Zone or something. Good on ya Bonehead.

Are you saying that that bucket is something other than a Ford Modet T?
 
Don, I really expected you to name that bucket, any ideas?


No, I don't know what it is. Trouble is, there were a zillion companys back then building cars, most long gone. It could be one of the big three, or some obscure company like Durant, Willys, etc. Look for some tag on the firewall or something on the dash maybe.

Sorry bud, wish I could help.


Don

Oh, I just noticed........no firewall. Scratch that idea.
 
I think so, but I am no expert on t's the seam along the side of the cowl throws me. I thought They were smooth there.

Bonehead take a look at this model T. It has a cowl seam and the windshield frame looks the same to me. The one you found even has the brackets for the cowl lights like this.

 
yep, you nailed it. I have seen others without that seam. maybe it is a model year change. Thanks for the research.
 
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Okay back to the task at hand, now where was I ?
Oh yes, The ditch, full of cars. Amazing. So then He asked me if I wanted to see something else. Well sure. We walk a well worn path to his neighbors house. He yells over the front gate that we were going to the shop. Inside the shop was a nice little rod project. Almost done, but looking like it had been a long build with years of hard work finally coming to an end. It was a 30 something convertable, nicely done in metal flake green paint. Olds engine dripping with chrome. In the small building next to that was a 33 ford pu, with a 350/4oo combo. This one was still in primer and the front end was in pieces. I met his neighbor, kind of a Charlie Daniels looking fellow with some obvious health problems, but a heart of gold, and love of hot rods.
So I walk back with the old guy back to his place. Now when I say "old guy" it probably gives you the wrong idea. This guy is still working for a living and looks fit and is obviously tuff as nails. anyway he points to a ford v6 laying over by the fence, and says I need to take it for the next project. He says he knows where there are a lot more cars. Asked me if I am interested. I wiped the drool of my chin, and said I was.
 
I bet you are pinching yourself the whole time. :D Bonehead, you have got to grab every morsel you can, even if you don't need it right now. It isn't like you are taking advantage of him, just the opposite. If you don't save this stuff, eventually it will go to the scrap yard if he passes away, or it will just rust into the ground. He realizes that, and has evidently taken a liking to you.

I'm excited for you.


Don
 
Before I get carried away with a story with so many cars and projects, let me tell you where this all stands now. I picked up the sedan. It sat upside down in the ditch for a long time. The roof was gone. It is the exact opposite of what we normally see in old cars. The lower sections of the doors and cowl are near perfect. However the bottom sections of the windows have a lot of rust. They caught and held rain water for years. The back of the cab, around the window has a big dent in it from whatever pushed it off in the ditch. The original plan was to take the whole roof off and cap the top edge. Kind of like a 4 seat bucket. When I got it home I started looking at the whole thing and realized it has a little twist in the body.
We have had a talk about chassis jigs before. I got an idea to build a portable jig I can use to un twist the body, then build a chassis on so I grabbed a 10 foot chunk of 18 inch I beam, (I just happend to have), and put wheels on it and a hitch. I starting cutting off fenders running boards.
Now the body is clamped down to the jig. I am not sure if I want to try to re build the roof or not at this point, but here are the pictures so far.

Speaking of pictures, this story would be a little hard to swallow if I did not have the pics, huh?
 

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I bet you are pinching yourself the whole time. :D Bonehead, you have got to grab every morsel you can, even if you don't need it right now. It isn't like you are taking advantage of him, just the opposite. If you don't save this stuff, eventually it will go to the scrap yard if he passes away, or it will just rust into the ground. He realizes that, and has evidently taken a liking to you.

I'm excited for you.


Don

I think you are right Don. He sees my eyes light up about this old rusty tin, and knows it won't be crushed. I was at the right place, at the right time, and I know how lucky I am.
 

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