petersen43
New member
Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum, and this is my first post. Thanks for having me! I have always had an interest in Model A's but never had the nerve to go out and buy one, my oldest Ford to date was a '39 Ford coupe with a '49 flathead in it.
I've been in touch with a few sellers recently, and have looked at a couple of cars already. I'm specifically looking for a 2 door sedan. Being that Model A's are such a departure from what I'm used to looking at, I've come here for a little advice.
My wife and I answered an ad for one in New England this weekend which amounted to a hellish nearly 5 hour ride in holiday traffic. We met this older gentleman at his house, and followed him to the barn where he stores the car. At first glance, it looked like it was in fairly nice shape. It had a little bondo to fill small holes at the lower cowling, and some old fender cracks repaired in its day. the interior had been redone, and while it was sound, looked like the lining of a coffin. The top was old and there were bumps beneath it similar to when you might find rust blisters under a leaking vinyl top of a '60s or 70's era car.
The most startling part and the reason I'm writing this, was the fit of the hood....On the right side, the hood had a gap against the cowling 3/4" wide, while where it meets the grille shell, the hood overlapped. The left side was shifted to the rear. The firewall radiator rod anchors, had been ripped loose at some point. The car had obviously been hit.
The crossmember on the passenger side looked to have been shifted back which sheared the factory rivets holding it in and was poorly welded in one small spot to the frame roughly 3/4" back from where it was supposed to be, based on the now offset location of the rivet holes. The passenger fender brace was stamped steel while the left fender brace was cast. While I was looking at this car in dark barn with a flashlight, the frame looked perfect, with zero evidence of any tweaking. No stretched metal, nothing. It looked perfectly straight, even the fenders fit nicely, with matching fit on both sides.
Thinking it over, it seems the hood misalignment is entirely due to the crossmember misalignment, which in turn misaligned the grille shell. Bearing in mind it's an 82 year old car, I expect damage. I'm just wondering if you guys come across this kind of thing often, or if this is a big flag. Additionally, the drivetrain leaks like a sieve, the bumper chrome is peeling and the tires probably need to be replaced. Aside from the collision damage, it was exactly what I was looking for.
Now I'm not sure of the sellers angle, but given that it's in a rented wooden barn, he said he wasn't comfortable starting the car in the event it backfired and started a fire. And despite the fact he knew I was driving so far to see the car, he didn't make an effort to make the car more accessible. It was blocked in by other vehicles preventing me from getting it out this weekend even if I did want to buy it.
After getting a little annoyed at both the seller and the car, we left. I still want the car, but am wondering what might be a fair price for it. While the photos don't help to show the hood fit, they give an ok idea of condition. Any comments?
I'm new to the forum, and this is my first post. Thanks for having me! I have always had an interest in Model A's but never had the nerve to go out and buy one, my oldest Ford to date was a '39 Ford coupe with a '49 flathead in it.
I've been in touch with a few sellers recently, and have looked at a couple of cars already. I'm specifically looking for a 2 door sedan. Being that Model A's are such a departure from what I'm used to looking at, I've come here for a little advice.
My wife and I answered an ad for one in New England this weekend which amounted to a hellish nearly 5 hour ride in holiday traffic. We met this older gentleman at his house, and followed him to the barn where he stores the car. At first glance, it looked like it was in fairly nice shape. It had a little bondo to fill small holes at the lower cowling, and some old fender cracks repaired in its day. the interior had been redone, and while it was sound, looked like the lining of a coffin. The top was old and there were bumps beneath it similar to when you might find rust blisters under a leaking vinyl top of a '60s or 70's era car.
The most startling part and the reason I'm writing this, was the fit of the hood....On the right side, the hood had a gap against the cowling 3/4" wide, while where it meets the grille shell, the hood overlapped. The left side was shifted to the rear. The firewall radiator rod anchors, had been ripped loose at some point. The car had obviously been hit.
The crossmember on the passenger side looked to have been shifted back which sheared the factory rivets holding it in and was poorly welded in one small spot to the frame roughly 3/4" back from where it was supposed to be, based on the now offset location of the rivet holes. The passenger fender brace was stamped steel while the left fender brace was cast. While I was looking at this car in dark barn with a flashlight, the frame looked perfect, with zero evidence of any tweaking. No stretched metal, nothing. It looked perfectly straight, even the fenders fit nicely, with matching fit on both sides.
Thinking it over, it seems the hood misalignment is entirely due to the crossmember misalignment, which in turn misaligned the grille shell. Bearing in mind it's an 82 year old car, I expect damage. I'm just wondering if you guys come across this kind of thing often, or if this is a big flag. Additionally, the drivetrain leaks like a sieve, the bumper chrome is peeling and the tires probably need to be replaced. Aside from the collision damage, it was exactly what I was looking for.
Now I'm not sure of the sellers angle, but given that it's in a rented wooden barn, he said he wasn't comfortable starting the car in the event it backfired and started a fire. And despite the fact he knew I was driving so far to see the car, he didn't make an effort to make the car more accessible. It was blocked in by other vehicles preventing me from getting it out this weekend even if I did want to buy it.
After getting a little annoyed at both the seller and the car, we left. I still want the car, but am wondering what might be a fair price for it. While the photos don't help to show the hood fit, they give an ok idea of condition. Any comments?
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