Hemmings, Drag Racing and Pertronix

 Been a super long time (4+ years) but figured I would post an update of some type.  The car has been used very little and in I had decided to put it up for sale.  The part that stinks is that the bottom dropped out of the market and this isn't the most desirable car out there so I couldn't really sell it for what I would want to get out of it.  I had some interest but nothing solid.  The best interest I had one was a gentleman from Weare who came up with his wife one Sunday and it became one of the coolest encounters I've had.  

I get an initial call from a guy by the name of John Knox who explained that he has a goal of trying to have a Ford from every 1950's year and he was missing a 1952 and mine caught his eye.  He agrees to come up on a Sunday with his wife to take a look.  When he arrived, he had this calendar with him that looked like something made from Shutterfly but initially I didn't really understand why he brought it.  After looking over the car, he digs the calendar out and shows me that this is his collection of cars on the calendar. As he's thumbing the through the pages, and he shows me this car:

I immedately recognize this car because I knew I had seen it before at New England Dragway.  Come to find out, Country Girl was driven by his wife Rodalyn Knox who had an impressive racing career.  Take a look at this link to find out more about Rodalyn:  

http://horsepowerandheels.com/rodalyn-knox-the-country-girl/

Why I remembered this car so well is because I had pictures of it with my father and father-in-law when we took my oldest son to the drag races for the first time.  

This entire event, made my week even though he decided not to buy my car... :)

Fast forward to summer of 2020 - I burned up my coil and some other parts in the ignition so I got talked into converting the car to 12V and installing a Pertronix.  The summer of COVID kind of ruined everything else, so I now have a winter of 2020-2021 project in hopes of getting back on the road next spring!

Weird Bolts, Gas and JB Weld

So recently developed a gas leak.  When I crawled under the car, I found a large headed bolt that looked like a drain.  The bolt has a weird pattern and it is more like a female vs male bolt. I attempted JB Weld but that only slowed it down. This began my saga of trying to figure this thing out.  Here's what I found:

It wasn't a Torx - that's only six sides. 

It wasn't a triple square - that has 12 sides and is commonly found in German cars. 

It is called a double square - it has 8 sides and (apparently) was common in the 50's.  

I set out to find a double square wrench to try to tighten this drain plug up and found that (or didn't find) anybody who had it. I did get a suggestion that totally worked - a 1/2" ratchet seemed to fit like a glove.  I've snugged it up and so far so good.  Now to get the JB Weld off...

Another Gilmanton 4th of July Parade

We had another great time with the Ford being in the parade.  The kids absolutely have a blast doing this each year and I love how nostalgic and old school our town still is.  This parade is starting to get a draw from other communities as it feels very classic and nostalgic.  That's rare these days...

Jailbreak!!

The Ford came out of storage today and I'm totally excited!!!

...And then I realized that the inspection ran out and the first trip was to Alton Motorsports for a quick inspection and service!

So close and so far...

Fourth of July Parade in Gilmanton

We usually participate in the parade in our town.  Last year (2014) was the first year we had the Ford but the parade got rained out.  This year the Ford made it's debut in the parade and we had a blast.  I opted to take the skirts off to put the smooth chrome hubcaps on so I'm trying out a different look this summer...

Bike Week

We were cruising around during Bike Week and saw some signs for a website called Road Pics (www.roadpics.com).  I decided to check out their site and look for pictures taken around the time of day that we drove past the area in Gilford.  We liked the picture enough to buy it as it's not often we get an "action" shot with all five of us in the car.

Stuff Continues to "Break"

My day started out like any "normal" day in which I was completely lying to my wife to throw her off.  I was trying to surprise her for her birthday so I had an entire plan that was going to start the moment I left for work.  She didn't know I had taken the day off to surprise her but I had some stuff I needed to do before I let the cat out the bag (more on that in a moment).  That morning, the boys wanted to go to school in the Ford.  I really didn't want to run errands in the Ford but couldn't explain my aversion to taking it so off I went...

From there, I dropped the kids at school and headed to the party store where I got the balloons I ordered.  I dropped them at my parents house and they were going to sneak them into our house while we went to lunch.

 As I was heading between my parents and home, this happened.  I assumed the fuel pump was shot (see prior post) and didn't have time to diagnose it further.  Sent the car to my shop that I use and had to confess to my wife that I was not at work and that she needed to come get me.

The rest of the day went off without a hitch.  When I got a call from my mechanic (expecting "bad" news), he informed me that I had basically ran the car out of gas and on the hill I was on made the situation way worse.  Good outcome - Bad fuel gauge.  Time to go back to using mileage again...

The picture below is a random show we took the car to.  We got there late and didn't really participate in the show itself but I'm always thankful to park where I can see the car.

62 Year Old Stuff Breaks...

Having a 62 year old "toy" has had some challenges.  

1. That random toggle switch under the dash may not be so random?  I recently found out that the car has the original primary mechanical fuel pump and is augmented by an electric fuel pump under the car.  Now I didn't find out about this the easy way (like when the car was on a lift), I found out when the toggle switch wires came unhooked one day.  Not knowing the switch mattered, I ignored it and drove off.  As I turned on to Route 106 in Loudon, the car was essentially stalling out the faster I tried to go.  I limped to the gas station thinking I was out of gas, but I wasn't so I headed home.  When I turned onto Allen's Mill Road, the car got part of the way up the hill, stalled and wouldn't restart.  It was that moment that I knew that I knew the car was fuel starved but not sure what to do.  I rolled down to a driveway and let the carburetor fill back up with fuel.  This allowed me to travel back up to the next flat spot and fill the carburetor again with fuel.  I repeated this until I arrived home.  Needless to say, that I rewired the switch (and corrected some terrible wiring that was done "who knows when") and the car has been rolling fine ever since.  
2. That weird noise may not just be age?  I also recently found out that the car burns oil AND you can lose 2.5 quarts of oil (50% of all oil) and still not destroy everything...  I now obsessively check my oil regularly...
3. Overdrive is great but it shakes at low speed....  Not sure what I was feeling while I was driving with the mechanical overdrive running, I read the manual and found that at speeds below 30 MPH the overdrive essentially shuts off at slow speeds.  Pretty amazing technology for a mechanical process on a 62 year old car!  

Is Summer Really Over?

Been a crazy busy summer.  After some initial work being done to the Ford, we've been driving the tires off it.  Since I bought it, I added a set of lakes pipes and seatbelts for the kids.  Here is the car at my niece's wedding:

Other than that, been driving the tires off it (thankfully not literally).  

Cool Website - Kustomrama

Pretty cool website for 1952 Fords...

http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=1952_Ford

The Car - Finally!

We had seen this car at a couple of car shows and liked it.  It was at Dick Day Motors (www.dickdaymotors.com).  I wasn't sold on the color or the fact it was a flathead.  We decided to take another look at the car the same day we looked at the 1949 Ford.  Dick Day pulled it out of the trailer and I really took a liking to how it sounded as well as how it looked.  I was essentially sold!!

How did we get here?

The saga of how we got here is not very dramatic or interesting.  Essentially we were on the hunt for something bigger for our family toy.  We were starting to outgrow our 1968 Firebird as the kids were finding the back seat fairly tight.  In anticipation of where we were heading, we started on the hunt for something that would be a straight trade and/or a little money.
Our first trade consideration was the winter of 2012.  It was a 1957 Chevy that was a driver.

I loved the car but the deal never solidified.  He ended up trading for an older hot rod and some cash.  

The next trade was the summer of 2013 - A guy from Rhode Island was interested in trading for a 1946 Ford Rat Rod.  Pretty cool car (looking for pictures) but it was definitely not the best vehicle I've ever seen.  After trailering the Firebird all the way there, the deal fell apart in 15 minutes in his driveway.  Lesson learned....

The next trip was for a 1949 Ford in Southwick MA - easier to explain that it was the CT border.  I drove the car and liked it but it definitely wasn't clean for the money he was asking.  The one thing this car did was start to make me consider older cars (flatheads and 6 volt - old school)