The whole story of my 1936 Ford 3 window coupe "barn Find" and how I am preserving it

[VeryTangled]

Hey Big Z, We're starving for another installment. Any progress in the last couple of months?

-VT/Jeff

[Big Z]

It has been a while since I posted about the 36 because I have not had any time to work on it much in the last 2 months. Just a little bit here and there. Here is 2 pictures of some of the cool pieces on the car.






Here is the tarp stuck to the body, go gone won't touch it.





I had the chance to buy these Edmunds parts and who know if I will use them, but they wont spoil.

[Big Z]

I measured the old airplane shocks on the front of the car and looked in the Monroe book and found these that were close to the same size.



I replaced all the yokes and clevis pins on the brakes. This is the rear clevis pin on the center bar:



I thought I had a after picture on this heater hose fitting but I can't find it. It cleaned up like new.



I did not have the wire looms but found this set-up in a junk yard this summer before I had the 36. Glad I grabbed it.



New and old hoses:



Making progress, new plug wires installed.



I looked all over for the correct size belt. No stores in town had them. I found this one new at my dad's shop in our belt stash. Should have looked there first. The old one is red rubber. I bought the belt sizer at the swap at Back To The 50's. Handy tool to have around.



The original front bumper is pretty rough. I got this with my load of parts in the very first post. It cleaned up ok with some steel wool. I like the grille guard. It must be a Warshawski accessory.







Here is how the engine looks now. I just cleaned up the wiring and made some copper fuel lines. I was trying to make it look neat and tidy and period. I straightened the choke and throttle rods and installed new grommets on them.



The windshield wipers did not work mainly because the hose was broke. I took down the header panel to find this:





I sucked out all the mouse carcases and nest and ran a new vacuum hose and the wiper works! I pressure washed the header and put it back in.



The rear window channel was gone and the window just rattled around. My old buddy Willie picked me up a new channel and I installed it. I am not sure why the inner panel was brush painted yellow. Willie also cut me a new drivers door glass because the original was cracked from a bb gun. I am sure nobody did it. He came over and helped me install it Saturday. I forgot to get his picture.

[Big Z]

I had a few ask what I did with the tires. The tires were new in 1965. The tread was great and they all held air. The bad thing is that they were egg shaped and a little rotten.



I bought a very used set of Coker Classic and installed them Friday. I could not justify the $800 or so price tag just yet. The Cokers match the look of the car and drive decent for being worn. I am happy.
I spent Saturday buttoning things up to take it on a test drive. Willie was over helping install some glass he cut. I got it out and picked up my buddy Dave. I let him drive me around. It ran and drove great. After sitting and idling it got warm and pretty soon would not run. I spent a few hours messing with it only to discover the coil is bad. I put the coil on from my Model A truck and took it out again. Skip will be getting it in the mail this week to rebuild it. I was stranded about a 1/2 mile from home because the car would not stay running. After pulling it back home with the helo of my wife I got it back in the garage. I figured out that the fuel line in the tank was plugged. I had flushed the tank last fall but it must still be full of crud. I ordered a new one from Bob Drake.

So in the last few months I fixed or replaced the following:
front axle i.e. king pins, spring bushings, repacked wheel bearing front and back
fixed exhaust leak
turned armatures in generator and starter
removed all battery cables and cleaned and greased connections, replaced lugs
new yokes and clevis pins on brakes
patched wiring harness, everything now works!
new radiator & heater hoses
new belt
plugs and wires
replaced old tires with old tires
drivers door glass replaced
rear window channel
wiper vacuum hose
and I still need to replace the gas tank, new brake shoe linings, rebuild ignition coil, door and trunk rubber, floor mat, and wiper blade.

__________________

[Big Z]

Here are a few pictures from my drive Saturday. The Cokers are on it here.

[Hamtown Al]

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Looks like you are doing all the right things. I hope you are enjoying the ride to the road to reliability. Sometimes frustrating but always interesting a pure joy when "mission accomplished."

Thanks for sharing. Great pictures... except Willie!

All the best,
Al

[Jake H.]

Beautiful car and story!

I love it when nice guys finish first. And a '36 3W is in my top 3 Fords, ever.

If you really want to get those tarp remnants off, try using "Rapid Remover". You can get it at vinyl sign shop supply stores. It's citrus based and won't ruin your paint.

Just spray down the tarp chunks with it, let it marinate about 20 minutes, then apply a little bit of low heat with a heat gun. They will come right off, no b.s. You can even use some of those 3M plastic razor blades, also from sign supply shops, for easy removal.

[Firepower flyer]

Looking great Paul!!!

[Big Z]

After the problems I had a few weeks ago driving the car, I decided to pull the gas tank. I was constantly getting rust in the fuel filter and sediment bowl. I figured it would never end. I bought a new tank from Bob Drake. I dropped the old one and I was amazed at the crud inside.





Apparently I was not the first person in the gas tank. I would assume the bottle corks were not factory installed



Here is the new tank in it's place for a test fit. It is a match to the original. side note, I wish I had the whole sign used here. I think it is Orange Crush.



My buddy Willie said I had to remove the fender to get the filer neck out. I did not want to disturb the fender so I cut the filler and used a 2.25" id hose as a coupler. I brazed the ends so it could not leak between the filler neck and the nut.



I also ran new 1/4" steel line. I matched it up to the original as best as I could.



Do you remember that the front brakes were greased? Well the car stopped worse as the brakes heated up so I bought new woven linings from Mac's and borrowed Willies rivet tool to install them:





They turned out great. I cleaned and primed the shoes and lubed the rollers. The brakes work very well now.

[al's28/33]

Great pictures and thanks for posting your story. I wish I had 1/10 of your knowledge!! Best!

[Big Z]

Thanks, I don't have knowledge, just no fear to tear stuff apart and fix it myself.

I had coil trouble and sent the original to Skip to get rebuilt. I got it back the other day and installed it. Here are a few pics of it. On the right is the 2 year old made in china coil that does not work anymore.



This is the coil from my 1950 F1 that works great still. It was a temporary fix.



And this is the rebuilt by Skip coil. It looks brand new!

[vonpahrkur]

Great car! You're doin it right!

[FHFD]

Thanks for sharing your story..another fan of your '36.

[OLDTGUY]

The 36 is a great car, enjoyed the story, nice work getting her roadworthy again. Thanks for posting all the pics.
JJ

[woodiewagon46]

Dude, you didn't hit a home run, you hit a GRAND SLAM, and you are doing the right thing with the car, make the necessary repairs as you are doing and drive the wheels off. Oh by the way where can I get brake grease, wow!

[Nodakwalleyer]

Wow, Fantastic story and car, I will look for you and the 36 at Back to the 50's, good luck!

[V8COOPMAN]

Another very similar bumper accessory guard, interestingly, also on a '36 3-window. Note the rare accessory trim bars around hood. Loving YOUR '36! DD

[Big Z]

I took some time on Saturday to make a quick floor patch so I could install the rubber floor mat.
I made a cardboard template, cut out a piece of sheet stock with the grinder and screwed it in for now until I can weld it in later. Then I put in the new floor mat I bought from Mac's. What a difference that makes. Plus the water cant splash up on me anymore.

[VeryTangled]

Hey Big Z, enjoying the thread! Very cool heater.

While sorting out the brakes on our '36 we found an amazing amount of improvement by straightening even the smallest bends in the brake rods. We've also seen a lot of badly worn brake cross-shafts, I know a guy who refurbishes them.

-VT/Jeff

[Richard]

cool 1936 ford