The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preserving it We have all heard the story about the car sitting in a garage that everyone and their brother has tried to buy for years and years and it was never for sale. I too have heard it hundreds of times but never put much faith in the stories. I have an 81 year old friend Willie that has been helping me out a bunch on my Model a truck build. He has a great stash of flathead parts and misc. pieces that are tough to find or expensive to buy. He has a few projects and can always use some extra cash. I try to help him out and buy stuff of him that I can use. Years ago (like 1950) he had 6 36 Fords. The city got after his mother for having old junk in the yard and he got rid of them. The cut up the cars with an axe and took them to the dump. He kept some stuff and even built a 36 Ford 3 window which he later sold. I always liked 36 Fords and I thought I would buy up the parts he had laying around. I dug in the rafters and found a truck load of stuff. Paid him fair market value and we were both happy.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps7448bf12.jpg Word got out that I bought his 36 parts and I heard “How did you get stuff from him? He would never sell anything!” My friend Roger told me that he knew where there was a 36 Ford 3 window coupe in a city 30 minutes to the north of me. He would not tell me where it was just that it was real nice and was sitting under a roof covered in paper mill felt. He had tried to buy it but could not close the deal. He offered a low ball amount and the old timer said he was already offered more but did not want to sell it anyhow. Same old story. I never could get it out of him where it was and I let it go. Fast forward 4 month. Roger stops by and tells me he could not take it anymore and that he had lied to me about the whereabouts of the 36 Ford coupe. He said it was in town and that Orville owned it but he would not sell it. I put it in the back of my brain and forgot about it. I was out driving on Orville’s end of town on day in August 2012. I thought what the heck and stopped by and rang the doorbell. Orville came to the door. He is 81 years old. I asked him about his old cars and got the nickel tour of them all. He showed me the 36 Ford coupe all covered up under the roof next to the shed. It was not visible from the road and I had a tough time seeing what it was when I was standing next to it. It was covered up with a tarp that rotted away and then another which was rotting away also. There were all kinds of stuff piled on and around the car. I was climbing around it trying to see what I could and saw a 59ab engine, what I thought was grey primer paint, nice left front fender and that was about it. He said it was time for me to go. I left him with a piece of paper with my name and number on it along with a price. I did not receive a call back so a week later I called and talked to his wife. I told her I had talked to Orville and I was interested in buying the 36. She said they may consider selling it. I thought great, here is my chance. I told her the price I was willing to pay and she said she would get back to me in 2 weeks. I gave her my number again. I called after 2 very long weeks and she was still not sure about selling the car. She said she needed to talk to her sons about it. She would get back to me. I know her older son, he did some engine work for me. I called him and left a message to call me about the car. I called again the next day and left another message. He called back later that day. He wanted to know why I wanted the car and what I was going to do with it. I told him I wanted to preserve the car and enjoy it with my family. He was very stern about my not reselling the car to anyone else and that doing so would negate any deal. I then happened upon the other son at my work. He called looking for some info and I asked if his mother talked to him about selling the 36? He said yes and wanted to know what I was going to do with it and why I wanted it. I told him the same answer I told his brother and then drove my Model A truck to his site and showed him what I built. We had a great talk about cars and hot rods. He said he would talk to his mother about me buying the 36. I thought great this may actually happen!! Then it got weird, I decided to walk away from the car and see how things settle out. So from the first time I talked to Orville the owner until now has been three weeks. Another week goes buy and I get a call form Orville’s wife on A Friday night: “I thought you would have called us back by now. Do you still want the car?” I say yes can I come over and take a picture of it the way it is sitting now? “Sure, come over Saturday morning but call first.” So I can hardly sleep that Friday night. I wake up and call her and I ask can I come over and take a few pictures? “no Call back Sunday” So I call Sunday and ask if I can come over and she says “ my son is here and he is digging out the car, I will call you later” Wow, it is going to happen I can’t believe it! So around 5 pm she calls and says “come and get your car” I said I will be right over! I hooked up the trailer and grabbed the winch and my dad and went to get it. On the way over I say to my dad you know I never really got a good look at the car, what if it is not worth it? I am already committed to buying it. He says “don’t worry, I will buy it if you don’t.” This is what we saw when we pulled into the driveway: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...79030014_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...98396395_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...99512263_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...62438348_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps8c5c72f7.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...03138496_n.jpg It was beautiful! I could not believe my eyes! I was the new owner of the beautiful car! We loaded it up and got the story behind the car. Here is a picture of Orville and I: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...89680405_n.jpg Here is where it was sitting. They put the tractor in its place. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...67444394_n.jpg |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Wow what a story!
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Where did it go?
I get it now, All my posts need to be approved by a moderator first. Not sure why. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Read it on the HAMB. If I knew how to post a link I would.
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...4722&showall=1
Here it is on the hamb. Not sure where it went here. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Great story, great car.
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Super cool! 3 window, Man you got a beautiful car!
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Great story! Beautiful car!
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin So here is what happened after I got it home. I determined that the engine was stuck and the rear axle was broke.
Monday September 24th 2012 Tore apart rear axle and found broken axle shaft http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...69896687_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...17382458_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...95715925_n.jpg Tuesday Go to Willie's and get a used axle from his stash and install in. I read about using a pipe wrench and a floor jack to loosen stuck engines. I was going to leave it jacked up overnight with the bores full of diesel fuel and transmission fluid but it broke free right away. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...32841659_n.jpg Wednesday Drag car down driveway in gear to free it up. Turns over good now. Thursday Rebuild carb and put on new fuel pump. Friday Try to start it! It runs but only on a few cylinders. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...05744558_n.jpg Saturday Pull heads and free stuck valves. Reassemble and it runs pretty good. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...55400303_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...04264123_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...40260723_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...23676627_n.jpg Saturday evening I called Orville and told him to come over. I took him for a ride down the street. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...40313122_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...51083693_n.jpg Here we are talking flatheads: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...21462022_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...50076668_n.jpg Last thing of the day, I took him for a long ride in my Model A truck. When we got back his wife wanted to go so I took here next. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Here is the history that I have uncovered so far. It seems all the old timers knew the car and I have talked to most of them. I had lots of visitors to the house who heard the the story and could not believe I had the car. I was told by several people that they were glad I got it and it could not have gone to a better person. I feel pretty humble.
As far back as i can find info on the car, it looks like Hildegard D. bought it used in 1947 and sold it in 1950. It was dark blue. Herb K. bought it and painted it grey and added the red and white interior. He sold it to Denny H. in 1960. All he did was drive it. He sold it to Orville in February 1965. The 21 stud engine was no good at this point and the car had 98,000 miles on it. Orville had a repair shop and on February 17th 1965 he installed a 3 3/16" bore 24 stud flat head that was a fresh rebuild. He wrote it on the hood with a grease pen. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...51919423_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps3749fe36.jpg He added fresh oil and put a sticker in the door jamb. It has almost 1000 miles on the engine since 1965! http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps443a8981.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...psfd023921.jpg So are you wondering why the axle was broke? Here is the story I got: This was dad nice car. Older son was 16 and just got his license. When mom and dad were gone he would take the car out and cruise with it. The road behind Fleet Farm was fresh blacktop in 1976 and he would take it there and drag race other cars. He said it did awesome burnouts. He would do full throttle clutch dumps and as luck would have it, the axle snapped one of those days. They pushed the car home and got an ass chewing. Orville was pissed and said he would not fix the car because the boys were just gonna wreck it. So it was parked under the lean to roof in the summer of 1976 and was there until September 2012. 36 years it sat there. Also the car was parked in '76 and it is 76 years old. Kinda weird how the numbers work out. __________________ |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Man Alive!
If that were mine I'd just get the safety side of things sorted out and drive it. Cars like that are only original once. Once tampered with they lose their uniqueness and their historic if not monetary value. Congratulations, on your acquistion, enjoy. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Neat!
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Persistance and luck! I envy you! Enjoy the car-John
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin What a find... Congrats..
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Here is more of the story:
Here are some interior shots. The moth balls must have worked. I could not believe there was no mouse nest in the glove box. I only found a few mice but they have been dead a while. There was some meds in the glove box for Orville. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...41933138_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...05063312_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...11511176_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...96809662_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...12102068_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...46664970_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...05925123_n.jpg |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin man that is a nice car. it sounds like you made a new friend, he has a big smile on his face, ear to ear!
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin That is one of the best stories I've read on here, thanks for the awesome storyline & pictures! I don't have a clue who owned my '36, it would be nice to know the history.
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin I bought this car in September and was meaning to type this up back then. I seem to forget the details already.
This is the car in my driveway Sunday night when I got home with it. I did not have time to unload it so it sat on the trailer overnight. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...psc87cc205.jpg I work 7-5 every day. I get to work and the phone is ringing. I answer it and it is my buddy & neighbor Dave. Where the hell did you get that 36? he says Orville I say I was trying to buy it a month ago and they would not sell it. How the heck did you get it? says Dave I have no idea. I guess they just picked me. It was like a month long interview for a high stress job. I reply Well I am glad you got it, I don't know what I would have done with it. Probably sold it. Says Dave. Dave was there Friday night when I got it running. He said all he wants to do is drive it. I let him drive it 2 weeks later. This conversation was repeated almost word for word with several local guys that had tried buying the car over the years and were not successful. Orville told me over 40 people offered to buy it. One group thought it was a 5 window and said I paid too much and came over to look at it and said Orville never had a 3 window. Oh I just remembered something. During the "interview Process" I told Orville I wanted to take the car to the MSRA Back to the 50's in June 2013. I want to cruise the fairgrounds with my family. They like the idea and I think that helped seal the deal. Back to my buddy Dave, He said he had never been to Back to the 50's but it was on his bucket list. I said if he shows up he can cruise with the 36. He will there he said. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Cool '36 3 window. It has all the goodies; banjo wheel , radio, and a glove box clock! Even has an aftermarket heater. Doesn't get any better than that.
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Just beautiful.what a amazing find
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin I am one of the guys that runs the Meltdown Drags. We told John Wells we would be at the Iron Invasion in Woodstock IL. October 6th. I decided I would not take my Fiat drag car down there and was just going to work our booth. Well since I had the 36 I planned on taking it after talking to John about it. So I had less than 2 weeks to get it ready to go. So the first week goes by and it now runs. Second week starts and it is time to make it run better. It ran ok but when it got hot it would die. I swapped out the Holley for a freshly rebuilt Stromberg 48. No better. I put on a new fuel pump, nothing. I drained the tank and put in fresh gas and added a fuel filter, nothing. I put in new plugs, nothing. I finally took off the distributer and the condenser was no good. I called Flatjack here on the hamb and had him rebuild a distributer. The plan was to pick it up in Oshkosh Wi on the way down to the Iron Invasion. I washed the car inside and out loaded it up and we headed down Friday Oct 5th. We swapped distributers in the parking lot at Flatjacks and the car ran 100% better.
Here is the interior after I washed it up: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...40914816_n.jpg Here is the engine: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...80538083_n.jpg We stayed overnight in Union Grove and headed out early Saturday in a caravan of trucks pulling trailers. Here we are getting gas predawn: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...66160695_n.jpg We made it to the invasion and had a good time. My wife went along and was not happy with the cold windy weather but she fell in love the with the 36 and it very well working heater http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/i...lies/smile.gif Here it is parked at the show: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...86276365_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...84426520_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...69458857_n.jpg We had fun and I even bought a hubcap for the car. We hung out with friends and had a good time. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Very nice car and things have a way of coming around to good people,
nice find,,,,, gump |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Great Car and Story !!!! Your a lucky Man !!! What are your plans for it ?
I would keep it like it is and use it !!! John Cochran |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Here are the rest of the pictures from October. I really like these. This was near the end of the season. I still did not have the title and tags back yet so it did not leave the yard. I took David to the bus one day after the tags came but then I stuffed it into the garage for the winter.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...29645388_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...58267768_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...55709134_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...02744857_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...63292224_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...28607011_n.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...psc4196f48.jpg __________________ |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin This whole story just gets better and better. Congratulations...
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Thanks for all the comments everyone. My plans are as follows for the car:
It already runs and drives, so I want to make it run better, stop better, and be reliable. I don't plan on changing much, just fix what needs fixing. So the first thing was to check out the brakes. They work but not perfect. I found a complete set of brakes here on the hamb that came off a restored 36. I was going to buy them if mine were shot. I finally had time and made room to jack up the car and get the wheels of of her. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps628a45c0.jpg When I pulled the rear drums I knew what I had from previously fixing the broken axle, so no surprises. When I pulled the front drums off, everything came apart really good because someone greased the hell out of the front brakes, not a bad grease seal, the brakes are greased. The only thing I can think of was the brakes squeaked and someone sold it and wanted them quiet many years ago. I am going to buy new woven shoes. Drums are great. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...pscd1e5573.jpg The kingpins are loose, spring bushing are shot, so I decided to pull the whole axle. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps37079067.jpg With it out I can adjust the steering box and fix the exhaust much easier. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps352686fd.jpg I think I am going to clean it up and just put it all back together. I was going to paint it, but I think that takes away from the car. Here it is sitting in the garage tonight http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps0225ba31.jpg __________________ |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin I did a brake job on my 36 pickup, I just cleaned off 76 years of grease and took a wire weal to everything. then just sprayed it down with WD40.one other thing I did was take the spring apart and ground it down so it would move again
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Well I had a little time and I disassembled the front end. I made a list of what parts I needed and talked to my buddy Willie first. I borrowed his spring spreader again and his kingpin bushing tool.
I gave him this list for parts: Brake shoes wheel seals king pins spring bushings brake levers brake rod rubber bushings This is what he had laying around: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps7574ee4e.jpg I can't believe he has nos king pin sets. The rest of the stuff I needed I bought from Mac's http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps5131c23f.jpg Here is a shot of the wear in the spring bushing: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...psbea90b7a.jpg All apart http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...psfde4de7e.jpg Installing and reaming bushings http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps3b19fc88.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps8b80dda5.jpg Spindles back on http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps3a071279.jpg __________________ |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin What a beauty! Congrats on the new car.
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin I worked on the 36 some more this weekend. Sunday was a good day to be in the garage. It was below zero outside.
Since the axle was out I decided to fix a few more things like the exhaust and starter. The exhaust joint was rusted out and leaking bad. I took it apart and patched it with the base of a Ford 8n muffler pipe. Good enough for now. I will weld it later along with the holes at the joint. I also turned the armature on the starter. It was in need of it badly. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps0ba252ef.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps81d2e2d8.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps75e04f2c.jpg http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps5642f1cb.jpg I also finished the axle repairs. I spent 1.5 hours degreasing the axle assembly. I installed spring bushings, king pins, brake rod bushings and yoke ends. Now I need the brake shoes I ordered from Mac's to arrive. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps86c5d1f2.jpg Here it is back in: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...ps5a21b358.jpg __________________ |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Congratulations on the car, great story, nice car.
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin I like what you are doing to the car. I took much the same approach when I was working on my 33 recently.
Mart. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Great progress.. What a fine ride . The 36 is such an icon. Well done on bringing back to life
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Awesome story. Love the car!
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin I notice the lh perch has a gap to the axle - my 33 was like this, were you able to deal with it ok?
Mart. |
Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Quote:
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Thanks for sharing the story good luck with the car
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin Thanks for sharing the story good luck with the car
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Re: The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preservin WOW what a great find and story! 36 3 window is my absolute favorite car!
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