I’ll start this post by giving a little background on my building experience in boats, planes and now cars. By no means am I an expert in any of these categories but I have enough knowledge to get by. Most of my experience is in building and restoring airplanes. My first project was building a small homebuilt two seat plane after getting my pilots license in 1978. After that project I restored a few planes including two 1930 biplanes and a J3 Cub floatplane which I flew for years. Currently I’m building a plane for the EAA museum here in Oshkosh. I did restore a 1970’s race boat that the company I worked for built in the early 70’s. It is now on display in the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Daytona, FL.
I really thought that it would be my last project but now that I’m retired I decided that I wanted to do one more.
I really liked the hump back Fords so went looking for a 37 or 38 humpback. I ended up finding a 1937 Tudor Deluxe that had been sitting for over 40 years, outside. On the initial inspection I could tell that it was in poor shape. The positive thing was that it was still assembled and was all there. I could tell right away that the frame was bad. Luckily FlatJack9, also a Ford Barn member, and a wealth of information and help to me over the last few years, had a frame. Jack has been such an inspiration and friend since I got involved in cars. His knowledge, library, parts backup and Ford friends have saved me many mistakes so far and will continue to do so I’m sure.
It appears that I’m the third owner of this car. The second owner bought it in 1972 and drove it until 1977. After getting it I could see that he had done a lot of repairs while he owned it. By sitting outside for all the years I thought the corrosion damage was caused by this but actually it was caused by salt damage. The previous owner had done a lot of repairs and after I started to get into it I could see what he had done and decided that it all had to be replaced. I researched what was available for replacement panels and the car needed all of them and knowing that I had a frame, available from Jack, I purchased it.
What I would like to do, in these posts, is show my progress on the project and how I go about doing the repairs. Then all of you can critique my work and give me advice or criticism. I can live with both.
I will post some pictures of the project and will continue to update as time and progress permits.
My first car project was a 1939 Ford Tudor Deluxe. I purchased it in 2014 and got it back on the road in 2016. It was a pretty easy rebuild but it allowed me to gain a lot of basic building experience.
I really liked the hump back Fords so went looking for a 37 or 38 humpback. I ended up finding a 1937 Tudor Deluxe that had been sitting for over 40 years, outside. On the initial inspection I could tell that it was in poor shape. The positive thing was that it was still assembled and was all there. I could tell right away that the frame was bad. Luckily FlatJack9, also a Ford Barn member, and a wealth of information and help to me over the last few years, had a frame. Jack has been such an inspiration and friend since I got involved in cars. His knowledge, library, parts backup and Ford friends have saved me many mistakes so far and will continue to do so I’m sure.
It appears that I’m the third owner of this car. The second owner bought it in 1972 and drove it until 1977. After getting it I could see that he had done a lot of repairs while he owned it. By sitting outside for all the years I thought the corrosion damage was caused by this but actually it was caused by salt damage. The previous owner had done a lot of repairs and after I started to get into it I could see what he had done and decided that it all had to be replaced. I researched what was available for replacement panels and the car needed all of them and knowing that I had a frame, available from Jack, I purchased it.
What I would like to do, in these posts, is show my progress on the project and how I go about doing the repairs. Then all of you can critique my work and give me advice or criticism. I can live with both.
I will post some pictures of the project and will continue to update as time and progress permits.
