Barn find 1940 ford conv. Value

If you always wanted a convertible and are going to keep it, and if it is as solid as it looks in the picture, $7,500 - $10,000...

If you are just trying to flip it for a profit then - ?,???.??
 
All this number crunching is really useless until the car is inspected and all the problem areas are checked. From the picture you can see the '47-48 front bumper,missing grille and belt line trim. It also appears there is red overspray on the chrome wiper transmissions (quicky cover up paint job ?). But most drastic is the obvious misalignment showing at the left door and rear quarter panel. (severe rust problem causing SAG ?).
 
I would rather have the 40 ford. It does not matter what kind of car you have if you put to much into it you won't get it back.
 
Compared to what I'm working on, that's a minter! Put me down for 3 of those at $2500, thanks.

However as others have mentioned, there's a lot that one photo DOESN'T tell us about the car - definitely buyer beware.

I drove a 1500km round trip to check out my basket case before buying, but as we don't have a lot of choice out here, I still decided to buy, and am just happy to have it in the garage, slooowly getting worked on. But I knew what I was getting myself in for, mostly...
 
checked the car out tonight, not as good as it looks in the pictures. made him an offer and he said he would think about it. i think he is starting to have an emotional attachment after all these years, so i dont expect to get a phone call! oh well, on to the next one. thanks for all the opinions though!
 
Keep bugging him. You never know he might come around once he sees how much it will cost to fix. If he is even going to try to fix it.
 
Actually I ran across this by accident. :) But the 40 ford is mine. It was my Dad's car. He bought it in the late 50's,early 60's and it's been in the family ever since. Dad parked it in the middle to late 70's because the brakes were trashed and it need all new drums, shoes, lines, about the whole brake system needed redone. Then I was born and he never did anything with it after that. Other than he went out every six months or so and turned the motor over. We were poor growing up and barely had money for other things, so this was the least of our worries.


I have the grille, I have the missing piece of chrome not in the pic. All chrome is there as well as hubcaps. I also have extra pieces for certain spots. I have another 85HP flat head motor that I know ran right before Dad died. As we fired it up together. And I have other misc parts Dad had. I think the car is pretty well complete. I know I'm missing the winshield wiper arms and maybe a few small things, but everything that is important I think I have unless you guys see something else.


I listed it for sale at $20,000 a couple days ago. Sprystang came over today and noticed some things I did not know that were wrong. There are a few small areas of rust in the floorboard and trunk area. Not gaping holes, but the size of an inch or two in 2 or 3 spots, one on the floorboard, one in the tool area of the trunk and on on the inner fender well on the left hand side. The drivers Door would need most likely replaced, as the bottom hinge is rusted off. It looks like Dad might have welded a brace in there to bolt it together. But either it would be a lot of fabbing to get it to work, or probably easier to find another door if you can find replacements out there. Also he pointed out the inside of the trunk lid support was cut out in about a six inch spot and welded back in. Right where the handle went. No idea what Dad did there, maybe a dent he couldn't get to and he cut the support out, pounded out the dent, and welded it back in. It's hard telling with Dad. The frame is in good shape as the floor pans look good from underneath. The passenger side is in better shape than the driver's side. He couldn't find any faults with it. It's just pushed up to the side of the building as it's on wheel dollies.


The car has never sat outside, since my dad got it, so that is good. The garage it is in now was damaged in that huge wind storm we got here a couple weeks ago. So it looks sort of beat up, but that is because of the damage. Otherwise it's on a concrete floor and always has been. My stupid brother has some dumb chickens in the one corner in a pin, so I think that is feed, and mud on the floor.


I actually wouldn't mind finding out more about the car. I've rebuilt a lot of 60's cars, and actually Dad was a Painter at a dealership for most of his life. So we always painted cars at our house on the side. So I can do about anything bodywork or paint wise. I still paint cars some, but don't enjoy it the way I used to. And sort of avoid if I can. The bodywork on the car would be very easy. Except for the drivers door. I would replace that if I could find another one. Otherwise everything else is very simple that can be seen, the car feels very solid, but I think if I would do it, I would have it blasted to the bear metal to see if there are any suprises anywhere. But I would be very, very suprised if there was. But for a car 72 years old, it's pretty dang solid from what I can see. Especially one in the rust belt and compared to some of the rust bucket 60's cars I've restored.


The one thing I'm worried about and it has probably stopped me from doing anything on it, is I know nothing of a car this old. How much different a flat head is compared to a V-8, I have no idea. Or how different the suspension is or anything like that. Dad was always going to restore this with me, as it was supposed to be a bonding time, but he passed away suddently 10 years ago, so I really haven't done anything with it, as it's just been sort of hard to think about doing it myself. Plus I wonder what it would be to even get it running? As far as I know the engine isn't stuck. But in my whole life (32) I've never known anyone to put a battery in it, and try it. I would be afraid to, because I have no idea what condition the wiring is or anything like that.

Here are more pics, and I can get you as many pics as you want. Let me know what you want to see and I can get them for you. The car is at my Moms/Brothers house, but I can get more pics the next time I get over if you need to see something on it.


Here you go guys. What do you guys think of it?


http://s621.photobucket.com/albums/tt293/cplnorton2/1940%20Ford/
 
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SPRYSTANG said:
checked the car out tonight, not as good as it looks in the pictures. made him an offer and he said he would think about it. i think he is starting to have an emotional attachment after all these years, so i dont expect to get a phone call! oh well, on to the next one. thanks for all the opinions though!
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With what we now know ('not as good as') If you were a fisherman, I'd say that you 'got a nibble':D! Hang onto that pole son...and be ready to pull the trigger, if you really meant what you offered! Evidently, you didn't insult ..with you offer and that's good! That 'emotional attachment' response is his way of examining the bait to see if he will take the whole $bait$ or if you will rebait with larger:) ! I'm excited for your chances,eh!!

Hey Stang,
Yup...we now know that 'emotional attachment' , in this case, is worth 20K..as a starting point ! Add another 25K for your mental well being and restoration and you've got a LOT into this car. Wow...glad you looked at it up close tho.
 
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You know, I think I will pull the car out, wash it really well (It hasn't been washed since the mid 90's), clean out all the crap in the trunk and interior and get you guys some better pics of everyside. I guess I should really do that anyways to see what I have.

Like I said I listed it the other day as an afterthought, and I've got about 10 or so emails on it, and truthfully I don't know for sure what I have.
 
Thats a nice car but a pretty big gamble. I would have it media blasted or dipped to see what all you have under there. You would be amazed what paint will cover up. I saw a 57 chevy body that looked prety good until it was blasted and then it looked like swiss cheese.
 
bart78 said:
Thats a nice car but a pretty big gamble. I would have it media blasted or dipped to see what all you have under there. You would be amazed what paint will cover up. I saw a 57 chevy body that looked prety good until it was blasted and then it looked like swiss cheese.
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I know you can never say 100% for sure, but this is what I know on the body condition.

I know Dad painted it Red back in the late 50's, or 60's, right when he got it, and right before he became a painter at a Ford dealership. Dad grew up in a junkyard so he was always painting/tinkering with cars and made it a career. He said it was white or a cream color when he got it, which he always believed was the original color as he couldn't find any other paint on it.

I know he did not strip off the old paint, as in spots it's peeling, and you can still see the white still underneath the red. And I know Dad, he hated to strip paint.


I know he said there were no holes or anything in it, and no major rust at that time, but he talked about a couple dents in it that he had a hell of a time pounding out, because the metal was thick, and he had to find a bigger hammer to pound them out. He always joked he used a small sledge instead of his body hammer, as his body hammer did nothing on the metal when he hit it. Maybe the dent he was talking about was the trunk lid where the brace was cut out, I don't know for sure. I wish he was around to ask. :(


But Dad hated filler, and I really don't know for sure if they had it back then in the late 50's or early 60's. He was the old generation and to the day he died he woudn't touch touch it. He believed in using lead as a filler if he ever had to use it, but I only saw him do lead on occasions where he was mending a puncture hole in a car, or doing something custom like shaving door handles or antennas. He would cuss me out if he ever caught me putting anytype of filler in a car as he always said you either straighten the panel to where it is perfect without filler, or you replace the panel. You don't use filler as it will never last.

I would never say 100% for sure he didn't maybe use some early in his career when he painted this, but knowing the man it would suprise the heck out of me and I would bet about anything I own there isn't any filler in the car, at least not bondo that is.

Plus the paint is at least 50 years old, any filler I think with the extreme temperature changes from hot to cold would have surfaced by now.
 
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Oh and someone mentioned why was the grille taken out?

When I was like 12 or 13, I took it out and hung it on the wall of my room. I thought it looked neat. So hopefully that explains that. :)
 
Nice looking car,welcome to the barn cplnorton! Of course I'm not there in person to see the car and for what its worth, I bought my 40 Coupe 7 years ago as a 100% complete but basket case. I was able to see all the metal conditions and problems, saved time taking it apart too. The car came with alot of extra new parts too. Times were better then and I paid 8K. I have over 25K into it now and did the work myself. I know converts are worth more but not quite that much to me. I would expect to pay between 10-16 for that car. Either way good luck and if someone from this site buys it please keep us up to date.
Cplnorton.....before you put a battery in it and try to crank it look up here in the forums about cranking an engine that has sat for a long time. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site and you could damage something. (pull the plugs squirt some oil in there, crank it lightly by hand.) This subject has came up before and will explain how to crank the oil pump by removing the distributor along with many other steps.
Good Luck to all.
 
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Ol' Ron said:
I might go up to 5K
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lol, I think I will pass. Ever since the 70's I think every Tom, Dick, or Harry that has found out we have had the car has has made us an offer on it.

Dad used to have a running joke for people who stop by out house and want to buy it.

He would pull out a shoe box full of business cards, names and numbers, and tell them to add their name to the list. Most of them just walked away.

If anyone of you would have known my Dad, he was always a jokester. It's memories like that, that I will always cherish.
 
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Sentimental attachments are hard to break. Cplnorton, If you get started cleaning it up, you may start to fix this and then that and after a time you may find yourself reattached.

I don't know how long the spark plugs have been out of the motor or the air cleaner off for that matter. Your Dad may have been squirting oil in there now and then but someone should have put the plugs & cleaner back in place. If you have a spare, then at least there are back up parts.

I can see a car in need of a total restoration. A very worthy project but a long one for old fuds like me. I've started with a lot worse. You may very well get what you are asking for it but for guys who've been there & done a resto before and on a limited budget, will likely pass just due to the economics of it.

Best of luck whatever the outcome.
 
There seems to be two extremes in pricing in the hobby; Barrett-Jackson and EBay. When I saw some person of questionable intelligence and taste pay 100,000 for a Crosley escapee from a Shriner's Parade just to have a moment where he could wave at an appalled crowd, I knew I'd seen the zenith at one end. EBay asks people to buy some very expensive items sight unseen. No wonder few cars sell there. I look all the time there, but I'd never buy without seeing a car in person. I've heard too many horror stories.

I think the owner's asking price is reasonable. What it actually fetches is his decision. In most cases, there's some wiggle room in the price and it's up to the buyer to find out how much "wiggle" there is. As for Ol' Ron; "Ron, whatya got for sale?" If his selling prices are like his buying prices, I'm gonna be picking up some real bargains.
 
SPRYSTANG said:
checked the car out tonight, not as good as it looks in the pictures. made him an offer and he said he would think about it. i think he is starting to have an emotional attachment after all these years, so i dont expect to get a phone call! oh well, on to the next one. thanks for all the opinions though!
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So what did you offer that he didn't jump on?
 
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