Olde Kustom Tyme... '49 Ford

[Tom Geiger]

Okay, many of you guys know I collect old customs, those crazy builds that we did as kids. I often find them in the bottom of parts boxes at shows, and people have started donating them to my collection. At the recent MidAtlantic NNL, a friend, Max Wolfthal, asked me to follow him out to his car. There he presented me with a bag with three old customs from the original release kits, no doubt built by a kid way back when. He said he knew most folks would just see them as $5 parts cars since both the Ford and Merc have been reissued eternally, but he knew I'd appreciate them and give them a good home. He got that right.

Here's the trio Max gave me. Very nicely built '49 Fords, both red and blue customs and a green '49 Merc. For some odd reason we'll never know, the original builder didn't put any glass in these. All three needed some clean up, minor assembly and missing accessories. Focusing on the red Ford, you can see it's missing a spotlight and maybe not apparent, two of the wheel centers on the drivers side.

And here we are all cleaned up! I added the spotlight from my parts bin. A model friend, Steve Linngrin, donated the wheel centers which he identified as from the 1960 Edsel kit.

A close up of the '60 Edsel wheel. All the tires had shrunk off the rims (no melting!) so I had to hone them out a bit to get them back on the wheels.

It's a clean custom build using parts that came with the kit, except for the Edsel wheels. I polished some scuffs out of it but other wise left the brush paint job alone. You can see the shine off the glass. The car couldn't be taken apart, so I managed to fish a windshield through the side window and into place. It took a bit of time, but it finally just snapped into place without any glue!

Rear view is also cool with custom tail lights. I added the rear glass too, this one from sheet plastic and held in place with two sided scrap book tape. I added an old period AutoWorld license plate.

Our original builder did some detail painting under the hood, but no wiring. This was the only one of the three that had engine detail. The other two have the hoods glued shut.

The chassis was half painted flat black so I finished it up.

So the red Ford is off to the Old Kustom Kollection showcase. The others still need minor work. Both need glass and the blue Ford was missing a skirt, so I need to figure out what paint was used on it to paint the replacement I have to match.

I do enjoy finding and cleaning up these old customs. They are time capsules of our youth and somehow have survived 50 or more years, so they deserve to be preserved for the next 50!

[rmvw guy]

Nice job on the red one. They all look great next to each other in the photos. I love what you are doing. I recently picked up a '49 Ford glue bomb at a show for $5 and have been working on it ever since. I probably should have done like you and just cleaned it up. Instead I totally stripped it and started over. My first radical '50s custom show car is where my journey is leading, still a lot of fun with very little invested. Thanks for sharing yours with us.

[Mrdarkmonkey96]

I curious as to how you would have dismantled it if it were a "glue bomb". Every glued piece I've separated has broken off pieces, or snapped. Do you soak in a solution, or time separates it?

[TooOld]

Very nice looking trio Tom ! They're decent enough to just clean up a bit and display as originals .

[rmvw guy]

I curious as to how you would have dismantled it if it were a "glue bomb". Every glued piece I've separated has broken off pieces, or snapped. Do you soak in a solution, or time separates it?

Very carefully. The '49 I bought had more glue on it than any model I have ever disassembled. The sides of the body were glued to the frame and floor pan all the way from front to rear. I decided to leave the seats attached to the frame for fear they would break the whole assembly if separated I put the model in the freezer first, ( I saw this tip somewhere), not sure if this process helped. It seemed to soften the glue in places. I soaked the entire model in Easy Off oven cleaner over night in a zip lock bag once I got the clear windows out, sometimes this process fogs the clear. The windows were glued to the top and probably the hardest part to remove. I had to cut them out in two pieces then grind the middle part out with the dremel tool. Way too much work but, all part of the fun. The only damage was at the very bottom of the body a couple of small chips, easy fix. Most of the time it's not this difficult. I will have to look a little closer next time before I buy a glue bomb, or just leave them original like Tom. I think he has a great idea, really!

[Tom Geiger]

I curious as to how you would have dismantled it if it were a "glue bomb". Every glued piece I've separated has broken off pieces, or snapped. Do you soak in a solution, or time separates it?

Ron pretty much covered it. I have used the freezer method. I've also scored parting lines with an eXacto blade to give the parts a starting point to break apart. And those posts that hold in glass and interiors? I've found it easier and more productive just to drill them out rather than trying to pry the pieces apart.

The decision to clean up / restore vs a complete rebuild? I've been collecting nice old customs for a while now. If a piece is exceptionally well done or a wild custom showing a lot of imagination, I try to keep them as original as possible since I see them as the folk art of our youth. While these three aren't earth shattering designs, they are cleanly built in a pleasing style. Knowing they have survived from the early 1960s, I chose to preserve the original builder's work.

And here's the "wild custom showing a lot of imagination" type build. Yes, I own this one too.

Edited May 25, 2013 by Tom Geiger

[Bill Edman]

nice

[slusher]

Very nice set of old builds. Nice work on the old ford. l did not know you did that Tom, thats cool...

[RatRod]

Man, this is so cool to see!!! Great job saving these old builds Tom.

[realgone58]

Very nice! The boy way back when had good taste for these kustoms. Nice colors too. Congrats for preserving them.

[Albie D]

Very neat old builds. I agree the builder had style and taste.

[Dyno Davo]

Great job, the pic of all three looks way cool

[Kris Morgan]

Pretty cool what you are doing here Tom. As far as the missing skirt on the blue car, Have you considered just adding a primered one? Just a thought.