1937 Ford question

P

PHATBOY

Junior Member
Hello everyone!
I inherited a 1937 Ford Tudor Standard.
There are some things about it that are confusing me.
It is a slant back and originally had an F85 flathead.
What is confusing me is that it has 2 tail lights and I thought the standard only had one, and the most puzzling thing is that there is a piece of stainless steel trim that is running down the center of the hood.
I have been looking at pictures of other 37 Ford's and I have not seen another one with the trim down the Center of the hood?
Can anyone tell me why my car has this?
 

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Welcome PHATBOY, The answer is a previous owner wanted it to look that way. It's been modified from the day it left the factory as many have been. Notice the missing front bumper, that's another clue.

Add: "as many have been." Should have been written "as 99.9% of them have been."
 
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I am not a 1937 Ford expert, but from your picture it looks like the car has been modified as a mild hot rod, so they might be some mods done by the builder. The 1937 Ford Restoration book published by the the early Ford V8 club, could have some of the answers you are looking.

Good luck with finding your answers.

d65dc1e4d72868522f52da8559c2a77e.jpg



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PHATBOY said:
Hello everyone!
I inherited a 1937 Ford Tudor Standard.
It is a slant back and originally had an F85 flathead.
What is confusing me is that it has 2 tail lights and I thought the standard only had one, and the most puzzling thing is that there is a piece of stainless steel trim that is running down the center of the hood.
I have been looking at pictures of other 37 Ford's and I have not seen another one with the trim down the Center of the hood?
Can anyone tell me why my car has this?
Click to expand...
450019
 
I believe the right hand tail light was a dealer installed option, they were required in some locations. Also looks like the headlights have been covered to the 1940 style sealed beams.
 
A number of states required two tail lamps back then. If this car was built with the intention of being sold within one of those sates, it would have been equipped with two lamps at the factory.
 
Looks like it has later disc wheels and larger-than-original tires. It may well have had its original mechanically-actuated brakes converted to hydraulic brakes.
 
Your car is great looking! It also has the 1940 accessory headlight set-up using sealed beams. Getting the 1937 Book is recommended. It goes into much detail.
 
Put a front bumper with decent chrome and over-riders on it.
Install the original headlights and stainless rims..
They should add to it's appearance.
Also a chromed windscreen surround would be nice.
IMHO
 
.

Those headlight buckets are likely "Electroline" brand, aftermarket sealed-beam conversion pieces that actually ware made in a few 'different' styles. I always thought they were well-suited for becoming great time-pieces. DD

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44153
 
Hello Phatboy. Welcome to the Barn.

You've been left a very smart mildly street rodded 37 Ford sedan. I suspect that asking why it is different means you do not understand what has been done to the car. Nothing wrong with that, we all have different levels of knowledge. You state it originally had the 85HP flathead. That would imply it no longer has that unit.

So what are we dealing with here?

I suspect the second tail light and the extra chrome strip are nothing compared to the rest of the modifications the car has received.

Sometimes cars receive mild cosmetic changes but the running gear remains mostly stock. Flathead, 3 speed box, torque tube axle, drum brakes, often converted to later hydraulic units.

But the vast majority of cars of that typr were "street rodded" with typically a chevy motor, auto box, later axle and disc brakes often on an independant suspension unit.

If your car seems to fit that description and you didn't realise that it isn't stock, well we can tell you what you have, no problem. It's just not the type of car we normally deal with on this forum.

You're very lucky and must have been well thought of to have had that car left to you. It looks very well kept and was obviously the pride and joy of the person that owned it. Did that person buy it or build it?

If you would like to give us a few more details we might be able to tell you a bit more about the car.

All the best.

Mart.
 
PHATBOY said:
Hello everyone!
I inherited a 1937 Ford Tudor Standard.
There are some things about it that are confusing me.
It is a slant back and originally had an F85 flathead.
What is confusing me is that it has 2 tail lights and I thought the standard only had one, and the most puzzling thing is that there is a piece of stainless steel trim that is running down the center of the hood.
I have been looking at pictures of other 37 Ford's and I have not seen another one with the trim down the Center of the hood?
Can anyone tell me why my car has this?
Click to expand...

Phatboy, welcome to the Fordbarn. Great looking car!!
I've always liked the styling of those '37 flat back sedans. Would love to see more pics of your car, i.e. .....engine compartment, interior, undercarriage/running gear, etc. I second the concern about not having a front bumper....so easy to mess up that grille and those front fenders without one.
 
I like it. A few mods are just fine in my humble opinion. Just as long as it could be put back. I did some mods to my 34 since some modern changes make the car better not worse. Its your car so do what makes you smile. Just don't butcher it. Ken
 
Here is another picture of my car. I was the one who hot rodded it. When I inherited the car it was rusted very badly. The floors, rockers, rear fenders, tail panel, front cab mounts and lower cowl sections were completely rotted. The rear frame rails were rusted completely through and the cross member braces were smashed.
The front drivers fender had a big dent in it and the front bumper was pushed in. The flathead motor had been bored .40 over and had a 4 inch Mercury crank. It had 39' juice brakes on it.
In my 20 year old mind (at the time), I didn't feel like it was a good enough candidate for a restoration project.
So it became what it is today. I'm thankful to have it. It's my best friend.
 
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