First model A 29 Ford Tudor

[oldwoodsman]

After shopping for 6 weeks with a dozen test drives of various sedans, I purchased this car back in October. I was looking for a good driver "not a show car" for a price I could afford. After looking underneath cars, behind panels, down inside doors, behind back seats , and test drives, this car seamed to be the best for the buck. It being one of the two best drivers and the best body. The car had a few issues with painted bumpers, repro horn, painted headlights, and no shocks, otherwise everything worked and drove well. the car was owned by the seller for 35 years and he and his dad restored it back in 1992. The engine was replaced with a short block rebuild at that time so the numbers don't match. the first questions is, are these headlights originals that have been painted, or repros, they have ford logo and two lite engraving on the buckets and lenses and the inside and lenses look vintage "but being new at this, "it's hard for me to tell the difference between 20 and 80 years". The next question is about the shocks, are the repro shocks sold by M&S Hydraulics http://www.antiqueshockabsorbers.com/new.asp a viable alternative for original rebuilt shocks, or the adds I've seen for friction shocks? Not sure what I'll do about the bumpers. Opinions on Headlights, shocks, and bumpers would be appreciated.
Thanks Oldwoodsman

[Christoph]

Well - I got to state, that i do like your car.

Glas of headlights seems to be original
Headlight-Housing seems to be repro
Originals do have a screw on the rear of
the housing to adjust (to focus) the lights...

First thing to change (from my point of view)
would be to change to a second rear light
which makes driving somewhat safe (r).

Next would be to check if there is (in minimum)
a main fuse on the starter (to protect your car
from burning once things go wrong).

Regarding shocks, you will need help from others...
I recommend to stay as original as possible

Have fun
Christoph

[1930artdeco]

Woodsman, that is a really nice looking car. If it was painted then it can be -unpainted like the light buckets and bumpers. The buckets look original to me, they just look painted. As far as the shocks go I have read here that originals are the way to go. They are spendy but worth having. Enjoy driving her and fix things as needed which minimizes down time.

Mike

[Pinstripe]

The shocks from M&S are not a recommended buy.You will be better off with rebuilt originals. There are several shock rebuilders you can contact. Look in the directory at the top of the main forum page.

[oldwoodsman]

Christoph.. Thanks for the compliment. here is another pic shows the adjusting screw on the rear after another look I'm thinking they are originals painted black or maybe they are off a commercial vehicle? the fuse is on the starter. thanks
Artdeco.. Thanks for the compliment and the input on the parts. Any ideas on the cost of new chrome on bumpers? I'm not sure what's under the paint.

Pinstripe .. the shocks aren't there so I will have to locate some along with the arms and links, before I can get some rebuilt.

[Tom Wesenberg]

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Even the trucks with black buckets still had nickel plated rims. Someone didn't want to spend the money on plating, so they painted the rims and buckets. You can cut a lot of the replating cost by doing the prep work yourself. They must be glass smooth to look good though. Rust pits really add to the work and cost.

[1930artdeco]

Woodsman, Take the bumpers off and see what is under the clamps. If they are chrome then just use a paint stripper and there you go. I paid $600 for all of mine but I live in the Bay Area of Ca. so it will be more expensive than for you.

Mike

[redmodelt]

Might be cheaper to buy the SS replacement bumper bars if there is no plating underneath the paint on the ones you have.

[oldwoodsman]

thank you for the input everybody.
Tim

[Fred K-OR]

Tim,

I used my old 29 rusty front bumper to use for a "core" and purchased a re plated bumper from Bert's in Denver. It looks great. I don't remember what the price was but I thought it was very reasonable.

I have a pair of M&S shocks on my 29 Huckster. At the time they were about 1/2 the price of original. The do come with all the arms you need. They may not be the best on the market, but they turned out to be a whole lot better than no shocks. So I am no expert on shocks, but for now the M&S shocks seem to do the job for me. I don't do a lot of touring with this rig so they work for me with the type of driving I do. But in the future I may look for other options.

BTW, nice looking rig. As you may see from my rigs, I like 29's.