Just how dumb was I?
 

Well, let me tell you. When I was 16, I got a 5 or 6 year old '53 Ford convertible for $350. It was a V-8 with Fordomatic, and wasn't as fast as my buddies 53 tudor with a stick. I still raced anyone I could find, but was mad that it wouldn't burn rubber. Don't remember winning any races either.

One rainy day, I started from a stop sign where there was a big puddle, and when I punched it the wheels actually started to spin, so I kept it floored and enjoyed the rap from the twice pipes. Until, that is, there was a big clunk and the motor quit.

I had broken the crank in half and the cam into three pieces. It was gonna cost a bundle to fix it, so I bought a 52 Lincoln with the big Y block motor for about $100, and my buddy and I installed the motor and trans into the '53.

We had to butcher the frame to do it, since the pan was not the same configuration. Then we rebuilt the motor but never could get it running right.

After months of trying we gave up and sold it for the cost of motor parts, and it ended up in the junkyard.

Looking back years later, I have always wondered if we had the distributor 180 degrees off. Guess I will never know.

What I do know is that years later it dawned on me that it was the 50th anniversary edition, and I remembered the horn button that announced it. Years after that I found out the Ford convertible was also the Indy Pace Car for the '53 race.

Not that mine was special, but being a 50th anniversary car was kinda neat.

No wonder I'm grumpy.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

Youth is wasted on the young!!

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

It's not that you were 'dumb' but you had a lack of knowledge. :)

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

I hot rodded a 64-1/2 Mustang conv. in the early 70's. My buddies father said not to do it as it will be a collectors item someday. Did I listen???? of course not!

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

This may be off subject a bit.
When I was a young lad in 1974 I bought a used 1963 Gretsch white falcon guitar for 400 dollars. Traded it back in in less then 2 weeks for shiny new guitar..

That shiny new guitar is worth about 200 dollars today.. the Gretsch is worth over $80,000... oh if I had a time machine I would tell that young lad not to sell it.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

Stupid is as stupid does.


been there done that

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

I junked a 1949 Ford Convertible.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

In 1963 my Dad sold my 1946 Woodie for $150 when I went in the military.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

While in college I sold my 1939 120 Packard convertible to my roommate for $1000.00 so I could buy an engagement ring. Best decision I ever made !!
Pete

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

That's a whole other thread right there.......Good and bad decisions over women and cars !!!!.....Glad yours worked out !!.....Mark

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

Had a friend offer me his '68 Shelby KR500 for what he owed on it. That was $1300. Heck, I didn't want a Mustang for THAT kind of money! Back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Gotta' just keep moving forward.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

This is really interesting. I bought my first new car, a red '53 Ford, standard shift convertible. The dealer had hot rod meetings once a month in downtown Houston. This got me interested in something faster. About a year and a half later I sold the '53 and bought this '34 hot rod. I raced this on the streets and at the drag races until I got drafted in '57. My father drove the car to work every Friday (except when the weather was bad) but I sold it about 6 months after I got out of the army. I sure wish I had kept it but don't know that could be possible (marriage, kids and needing the money).
Anyway, you can see its replacement with the stock '34 roadster in my profile.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

I saved my paper route money and bought a '49 Ford Convertible off a used car lot for $263 including tax & license. I had to borrow $40 from my father to do it. One broken axle and one thrashed engine later, I paid a backyard mechanic $250 to put in an Olds with a Hydromatic. Should have stayed with the Ford V8 & 3 spd overdrive, 'cause you know why. It barely ran at all, but I got $20 for it at the junk yard.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

It seems like every time I sold a car for dirt cheap, the next month one of the magazines would run an article about what a valuable or desirable car they were, and the price would skyrocket.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

Yeah know the feeling. My father sold my perfect stock 50 Ford custom deluxe coupe without my knowledge for $300 two months before I got home from Vietnam. Took me 46 years to get another one.............life happens. Look forward not back huh?

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

Don't feel bad. If the distributor was 180 degrees out, it wouldn't have run at all. Now you know.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

When I was in high school I had a 57 F-100 with a mustang 302 in it. I raced that truck all over northern Michigan. I gave it to a guy I knew up there when I moved because I could not afford to bring it with me. Supposedly it sat at his house for a long time outside. This was 20 years ago. a high school friend is now his neighbor so I asked if it was still around. Turns out the engine and trans were pulled and the truck was scrapped. Bugs me to this day.

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

I bought my '53 Ford Crestline Sunliner with Ford-O-Matic, in 1973 for $125.00. I'm happy to say I still own the car, she's waiting for me to rebuild the Flathead (for the second time, first time was in 1975. :)

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

Bought my 33 Victoria for $100 in 1953. Hot rodded it in 1954-55. Then restored in about 1960. Have had several offers to double my money, but still turned them down. Many flatheads have come and gone but this one is a Keeper!!
Paul

Re: Just how dumb was I?
 

In 67 I bought a brand X Bel air conv. with a sweet running 62 283 for 200$. drove it for a year and bought a cream puff 63 Olds 2 dr ht. tried to sell the brand X for 200$ the guy beat me down to 175. I sold it as it would not do well out side in the north east, no garage:mad: