1942 Ford deluxe coupe project

Folks,
John stopped over with Cindy his 42. Its running great for him but sometimes doesnt start as well as he would like:
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John has about 250 miles on the fresh rebuild.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl
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I think we have one more good day of driving weather. Replaced the 18-12250 resistor under the dash with an US made one from Third Gen. Still had problems starting warm. Took the battery to be load tested and it went into the yellow. I was disappointed with that as it was bought 5/22. Bought a new battery. Starts great now hot or cold which is encouraging. Was the resistor part of it, I don't know. My guess is didn't hurt to change it.
 
phil 42.jpg I don't think I posted this before. Picture of my father-in-law next to the 42 last summer. One of his last really good days. The night he passed away he asked me to come sit and talk to him. He said "John, what's next on the 42?". I told him I was going to get the glass and upholstery done and I did. Four hours later he passed peacefully and at home. Made it to age 90. Not bad...
 
A great picture and story, so you have someone looking over your shoulder with each new project. May he be resting in peace.
 
Great picture, John,

I'm enjoying your posts and your car pics. Did you attend the meet at Franklin, Tn. where I met your friend Chris and saw the awesome '32 dump?

Al Hook
 
By the way, my '48 Super Deluxe Tudor has been in the family for over 50 years. It was a roller with no engine my brother received for doing some work on another car in the late '60's. It was parked behind the barn at the old home place for several years before I decided to rescue it, so my brother gave it to me around '76. I worked on it for a few years, until parking it in an unused garage after losing interest in it. Many years later around 2013, I started in on it again and got it back on the road, finally licensing and insuring it in 2015 I think. It was never mom's car but was stored on the farm where I grew up for several years. I have regretted many times, not taking a picture of her or dad with the car before he passed in '2003 at 82, and she passed in 2020 at 99.

Al Hook
 
1942deluxe said:
View attachment 532897 I don't think I posted this before. Picture of my father-in-law next to the 42 last summer. One of his last really good days. The night he passed away he asked me to come sit and talk to him. He said "John, what's next on the 42?". I told him I was going to get the glass and upholstery done and I did. Four hours later he passed peacefully and at home. Made it to age 90. Not bad...
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John,
Great picture of Phil with your 42! Glad I got to spend some time with you and him in your garage working on various car projects!
He would be very happy with how you have continued and improved things around your home.
We need to get that trailer in the shop to have it ready for the Auburn show!
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl
 
Al, I didn't make it to Franklin but am planning on going to Auburn this year. My 48 business coupe is much brighter and shiny than the 42 but I think the 42 might be more interesting. That Chris wasn't run off the place when he brought the 32 gives me hope. My Mom never saw the 42 in person, but I have taken it to the cemetery to visit her grave and my grandparents.
 
1942deluxe said:
Al, I didn't make it to Franklin but am planning on going to Auburn this year. My 48 business coupe is much brighter and shiny than the 42 but I think the 42 might be more interesting. That Chris wasn't run off the place when he brought the 32 gives me hope. My Mom never saw the 42 in person, but I have taken it to the cemetery to visit her grave and my grandparents.
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We would never run you off with either car. Usually, the cars with original paint and interiors get a lot of attention. We'd love to see you and any of your cars at a national meet.
 
Folks,
Been a while since I posted on John's thread. John and Cathy stopped to visit with 'Cindy' their 42 Deluxe. John worked on my Comet. Installing new parking light lenses and primary wiring cables.
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The 42 is looking good!
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Regards,
Chris and Cheryl
 
The 42 is running well and at this point pretty reliable. That day the speedometer needle stuck and pegged at one point at 100 MPH! Honestly, I've never lubricated it and was surprised it worked at all after sitting that long. Another maintenance project to be done. It settled back to normal on the way home but worst case I have a NOS unit that can be installed. When I installed the wiring harness I couldn't find where the socket went for the ignition switch light. After reading a question in the V8 times decided to take another look. Found the light hole(directly in line with the key about an inch up the dash). The I was able to find the hole for the socket behind the dash. Miserable to get to but that solved that mystery.
 
This project brings back some great memories of growing up in a small town in Montana. In 1960, there was a 42 Ford coupe that was owned,swapped, or traded by at least three young guys, all teenagers, until my buddy Jeff Proudfoot got ahold of it. It already had inherited a 48 engine, and Jeff put a 39 transmission in it. One of the previos owners had gone wild with a torch on the springs to lower it, took the sway bar off, but that was a thing in those days.
Just another old mans story of a good time enjoying the old cars when they, and we, were not so old!!
 
bssmnbll, I think you gave a great description of where the car is at this point. Not a show car but something a young kid would have had in 1960 or 1965. This one too has a 47-48 engine it (59 A-B) which would've been a logical replacement for the original engine by then. In 1960 the car would've been 18 years old. Today an 18 year old car is a 2006. Odd how that kind of stuff happens!
 
Why didn't Ford continue this '42 front-end in '46, '47? At least '46, I've thought. Thee last real grill! ('46-'48 ok but three years?) thank You!
 
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Speculation but I think Ford wanted something a little different style with the start of production after the war so they changed the grille. By 47, they may have started on the 49 restyle so sticking with the 47 grille for 48 was easy and cheap while they tooled up for the 49.

highbeams said:
Why didn't Ford continue this '42 front-end in '46, '47? At least '46, I've thought. Thee last real grill! ('46-'48 ok but three years?) thank You!
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I found two 1943 license plate tags yesterday. Pennsylvania did not issue a full metal license plate in 1943 in an effort to conserve metal for the war effort. Put one the plate of the 42. Amazing what is still out there....
 
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