Featured Projects Bought a 51 Ford on Purpose

I would have said “on accident”, but I have used that one before. Anyway, a few weeks ago a buddy that I have known since high school because of cars sends me a text with a few bad pics of a 51 Ford with a note from the owner that was recently widowed almost a year ago. She was wanting to sell the car but also wanted someone to help her make sure it still ran and would also help her come up with a value. My buddy is mainly a 55-57 Chevy guy so didn’t know much about the shoebox Ford’s. Anyway, I decided to just call her and get the rest of the story. She said that they had bought the car out of Kentucky and her husband had then repainted it and had all the chrome replated. That’s about all she mentioned other than telling me about her husband that was a retired marine, was in Vietnam, and decided to become a bodyman after the war. She also mentioned that they had been married 57 years. So, I made an appointment to go check out the car last week that was about two hours from home. I loaded up all the stuff I thought I might need but when I got there, they had already put in a new battery. I shot some starting fluid in it and it fired right up. It seems to run smooth but the fuel pump was leaking so I didn’t run it long. I pushed the brakes and they went to the floor since it hadn’t really been driven since about when Covid started. I gave her a range of what I thought the car was worth and then she asked if I wanted it. I told her I would love to have it but also wasn’t looking. She asked me what I would give and I told her a price that was higher than I really wanted to give but it also became a sticky deal when the guy telling her what the value is also makes an offer. She said she wanted to think on it a couple days so I waited until last Friday to check back with her. When I called her, she said she wanted $1000 more than I offered which was honestly more than I wanted to pay and likely more than the car is worth. I told her I would need to pass and would help her sell it if she wanted help. Fast forward to today, when my phone rang at 6:30 am. She said she would take what I offered and wanted me to come get it whenever I could. So, this evening seemed like a good idea. That was until I hit torrential rains most of the way there and back. Thankfully it didn’t rain while I was loading the car. However, I did end up soaked when my signal to the trailer taillights lost connection at some point. Instead of spending forever troubleshooting that, I just ran a wire from the battery to the taillights while getting soaked.

Now that I have bored everyone with the story, here are some pics from what I originally saw and some I took tonight. More to come, but it’s a pretty clean car that seems to have 60k original miles as best I can tell.

Pics I saw from my buddy including a before paint pic.




Photos from this evening. It was a pretty emotional night for the owner but she later texted me and thanked me for treating her so nice. Pretty sure she is glad I ended up with it.



Not sure what all my plans are yet other than likely lowering it and swapping wheels and tires. Oh, and I need to fix the brakes and fuel pump.

 

Hey Hey Now May good luck be with your efforts.
No apologees for telling of adventure that makes one ( or should I say each ) of us wonder,,,
Is anyone else out there trying to have a good day?
When the conditions would make most holler hell and go watch TV.. `
Will be lookin' for updates. Ya done good.

 

Looks like a good one! COOL!

 

Jeff, that’s a good looking shoebox!

 

Nice car! Hows the interior?

 

It’s still all original as best I can tell. No tears in seats or anything, but some water stains. I’ll get some pics later this week when I have some time to get it unloaded off the trailer. Working late the next couple days which is part of why I went and got it last night.

 

Man I dunno Jeff. I only know one guy around my town who owns a shoebox, and they all say he's a real azz hole.... Lol.

Car looks awesome, will be watching for updates. Gotta post it in the shoebox owners thread if you ain't yet.

Our boy in the D sent me a Pic of his Bonnie just yesterday. Thing looks pretty sweet nowadays....

 

Interior pics since I had a minute before leaving for work this morning. I take back what I said about original seats. Looks like they have been redone. It is definitely functional and just needs some cleanup. I could be wrong on the original mileage, but sure seems possible.

 

sweeeeeet... love a shoebox

 

you done good....
the year I was born...so it should still have some good, trouble free miles left

 

Looks great!

I love these stories, the thrill of these types of acquisitions is so good.

 

That thing is clean! Nice score Jeff.

 

Wow very nice!!

 

Very nice car, I'm jealous. Looks just like one I had back in '62, except mine had rusty chrome and black primer everywhere but a patch of original pale blue on the driver's door where I ran out of paint. Watch out for the driver's side seat back. Mine would let me fall into the back seat when I tried to dump the clutch leaving a stop light.

 

Wow, solid looking ride! I drove a '49 for a number of years and really enjoyed it. I think you will be glad you made this move.

 

Good point on the paint. I didn’t get any, but just asked her if she had any left or at least a pic of the can so I know what is on it.

 

Seats are redone. Door panels look original. Nice '51!

Dave

 

Wow! What a kool find. I'm glad it found the right home. Your post are never boring, we are looking forward to your next update.

 

I will say that backing the car out of the garage on a somewhat steep downhill grade and then loading it on a trailer were somewhat exciting with no brakes. This is all while she watched. Pretty sure it might have gone bad if I messed up the car her husband had put all that work into. Thankfully the park brake worked well. Now, I just wish I was off work today so I could start fixing stuff and go for a drive!

 

That’s a really nice car and you’re going to enjoy it!! Fortunately almost everything is being reproduced so any little detail items can be easily found if you need them. Can’t wait to see what you do with this one

 

Thanks for all the comments guys! You know what it’s like to have a new toy. I’m excited to work on this one so far mainly because the end is near as compared to the 40 Merc project. And, I figure it will give me something to drive while I rebuild all the drivetrain on the 56.

Owner is supposed to look for any spare paint when she gets home today. I keep hoping that she will also trip across the original wheels as shown in the early pics. But, thinking her husband may have sold them or something.

 

Congrats on a very cool shoebox…looking forward to the lowered and new wheel pics. Oh, and how much you enjoyed the first drive.

 

Nice score Jeff. My first car in 1961 was 51, bare bones with a six. That dash brings back so many memories.

 

'tis a beauty!

 

Congrats - '51 my favorite Shoebox year - right place at the right time

 

I would think the mileage is original and not 160K. Nice looking

 

Radio work? Mine was spent when I got it and I always wanted a radio that would fit the dash. Couldn't find one tho....

 

Haven’t tried it yet. I’ll report back. On a related note, the radio in my 56 did work for a real short time after I got it. I replaced the fuse, and then it worked right up until the pop…when it never worked again. There isn’t much to listen to on AM anymore anyway.

 

"She's a beaut Clark", even the dome lights still work!