RSchnell

Made the annual visit to Daytona Speedway yesterday. Didn't take a lot of photos this round, most of the cars were the same as last year. The car corral had lots of the same cars as last year with the same inflated prices. Swap meet was huge, but there was nothing of real interest to me. I'm not interested in Chevy parts or "Slightly warm" power tools. Still a good day to get out and walk around. You never know what you'll see! I noticed they seem to have absolutely zero standard on what a "show car" is. I saw numerous new cars parked in with the show cars. I think that and the zero control over the scooters will ultimately doom the show. I saw numerous people get hit, tables getting knocked over by people on scooters. It's insane.

The Ram horn manifolds used on the F-350 & larger trucks won't fit passenger cars for a number of reasons. I'm using a set of the "wide" manifolds used on 57-60 Y-blocks. the '55-56 Dual exhaust manifolds are narrower and to me don't flow as well as the later ones. I'm pretty sure it's the original 272 the came in the car. Ford trucks used yellow paint, Mercury used green in '54 and a cream/yellow in 55-56. Ford stuck with Red for passenger car & T-bird from '55-58 or so.

I'm likely headed back out in late March to get some more stuff from Dave and make another pass thru the yard. The rain kinda messed up plans this trip!

Here's a few photos I took while picking up the Ford. These are all taken at Big M in Williams, CA. John the owner was gracious enough to let me roam around with my Nikon again.

Flew out to California to wrap up the deal on the '55 Fordor last week. I didn't have a lot of time but also managed to pickup a few pieces for the '55 Ford Convertible I bought out there back in June. The Fordor has been off the road since '79, and is pretty unmolested. The original factory inspection stamps are visible under the hood, still has the original rubber floor mat which I've only seen twice in the 40+ years I've been messing around with '55-56 Fords. No rust through except one rear floor pan has a hole the size of a silver dollar which I attribute to the rubber floor mat, they just trap moisture. Overall a very solid car that exceeded my expectations. The surface rust will get hit with some DX520 once I get it here in FL in a week or so. The single exhaust is going away, in favor of dual exhaust. The old Holley 94 will get replaced with an Autolite 2100 carb & the Loadomatic distributor will get replaced with a '57-up style distributor. That should wake the old Y-block up a bit & add a few easy HP at the same time. Both the engine oil & transmixer fluid looked & smelled good, I have no doubt it'll be a runner.

That's the plan. I've spent years restoring cars for myself & others (owned a resto shop for 26 years) back to better than new. I've always gotten the most enjoyment out of cars I could just get in and go & not worry about a rock chip or that I have the correct plating on a certain fastener with the appropriate markings.

Flying out to California here in a couple weeks to drag this ole girl home. Ran across this Ford in a junkyard in Northern California when hunting parts for the '55 Ford Convertible I picked up on my last trip out west. Aside from some surface rust, there's no rust through and the front crossmember is good. My goal is to be all in at $6500 or under from purchase to being on the road. It won't get a full repaint, I'll knock down the bad stuff, treat it and see how good my blending skills are to match the existing "patina" or take the easy way and detrim & give it a couple coats of tinted K93 or similar. I'll give the interior a good scrubbing & replace the headliner and carpet. Still kicking around ideas on seat covers. The last pic is kinda what I'm leaning towards the car looking like. I want something I'm not afraid to leave in a grocery store parking lot.

Sorry, just now saw this! They're employee badges. The letter denoted which department of the plant you worked in. This style used from 1937-1962

Appreciate the tip! I'm headed back that way in March so I'll be sure to check it out. I ended up driving across the state to visit the Gilmore Museum while I was in Dearborn. Well worth the drive!

I spent 4 days in Detroit hitting up Ford related sites which of course meant a visit to the Henry Ford Museum. In fact I was there within an hour or two of my plane landing lol. Here's some of the cars on display. Very highly recommended not only for the sheer size but vast array of topics under one roof. This is a small sampling of the 500+ photos I took. All photos shot with my dinosaur Nikon D7500.

Hit up Modelpalooza this morning. I wasn't really needing anything, but it's a nice way to spend a Saturday morning. These followed me home for less than $20 each. I couldn't refuse!

Spotted this AA Ford truck on a rural back road in northern Michigan. Of course I had to stop and take a couple photos!

Flew in from Detroit late last night after having spent 8 days in Michigan. A few Ford wares found their way home. This is a small sampling of what I bought while on my trip.

I'm heading back out to CA in Nov to pick this up. I first saw the car back in June when I was out there to get the '55 Ford Convertible I bought. '55 Ford Customline, Y-block with an automatic, no structural rust, even the front crossmember is good. Just has some surface rust & some parking lot rash which is nothing considering what I'm used to dealing with. I thought about this car on the plane ride home and for a couple weeks after that. Finally called the man and made a deal for it. The idea of building a Fordor for a driver is a novel concept for me, as I used to consider them parts cars & cut up several 55-56 Ford Fordors for parts over the years. This car appealed to me because it hasn't been messed with too much. I despise ungoobering a car! My plans are to make it into a lowbuck ride, something I don't mind leaving in the grocery store parking lot. I'm thinking I'll have 6K in the car all in. We'll see how far off I am LOL!

Hit Harbor Freight for a few things, found out they had one of their sales going on. Grabbed one of these Quinn socket sets for 40% off.. I have mostly SK sockets/ratchets but not much in the 1/4" line. Giving these a good look over, I think they'll do the job nicely.