whtbaron

...what he said.

Glad to hear you're making progress... seems to be a lot of stalled projects around here lately.

Obviously, but if the car gets properly restored and it's history properly documented, I would expect it to reach close to $80k the next time around. Hopefully it's in the hands of someone that knows what they are doing. If the body is in reasonably good condition this won't be a very costly car to restore. That old Ford powertrain could be rebuilt or replaced very easily.

It supposedly sold for $25k. If it did, it traded right at the bottom of the range I predicted. If it gets restored, I agree that it should go back to the original grille...looked much better.

She sounds pretty sweet revved up...wonder how fast he has to spin it before it starts dragging that Model TT backwards?

LOL...for a guy named Rusty, you sure spend a lot of time talking about oil!

Well 9 bidders have it up to $8,100 but still not meeting the reserve.

Which makes me wonder what's in the tranny for oil as well...go easy on him Rusty, lol, they don't know what real winter is down there...

There was obviously some issues with the original posting... could have been an honest mistake. Nevertheless it will be interesting to see where it ends up.

Well that's kinda cruel... is it for sale or is it priceless?

Yep, the Ford powertrain was the part I was reading too...maybe he'll be back with an even higher price estimate! If he could come up with any supporting literature, old magazine pics or anything, I could see that car going into the $25-50k range. I still think it looks kinda cool.

Ahh, you're already ahead of me.... mine's just a 48", but I keep eyeing up those pull-types to widen my swath.

Mow?? I'm sampling water from snow melt and there's more snow in the forecast for this weekend. Do what I did, get yourself a JD garden tractor with the widest mower you can afford. You can go wider with tow behinds, but they get pricey so I don't have one of those yet. Talk to the local golf course grounds keeper and see what's getting traded off. We've got to get you out of the grass and back to work on that car!

If it's really an early 50's custom, it's not a bad looking rig. I don't see any big price tags getting attached to it, but restored to it's original condition it would be a neat car. I'm a little too far away from Calif. to go looking at it though.

I'd pick it up and drive it as a beater until something expensive broke, then keep my eyes peeled for a sweet 2 door hard top of the same model and vintage. This could be a good parts car for the 2 door when your done with it.

Is the 54 a 4 door as well?

Check out this car crusher. Makes you wonder what kind of metal is in the teeth if it can eat engine blocks for breakfast.... http://devour.com/video/car-grinder/

Cool models. Back in the 60's I built a model of a Mustang fastback to look like it had just crashed into a tree. Didn't keep any pics of it, but I was only 12 and the quality of the build was nowhere close to what you are doing. I made flat tires with heat, and was able to do a fair job of crunching the "sheet metal", but I never achieved a convincing version of shattered glass.

Some very nice work going on there, and yes, it looks like a great shop too.

I've drooled longingly over those Chinese knockoff lathes but have yet to buy one ( up here it's Princess Auto instead of Harbor Freight, but looks like the same junk). I've been watching the auctions for something old enough and big enough to be good, but not totally worn out from being in an industrial setting. So far it looks like everyone else has the same idea and the premium units get bid up quite high. Also have to watch the voltage and type of power they were run on ( single phase as opposed to 3 phase electricity), there's some strange ones out there.

I"m guessing that port might be for incoming lubrication oil, which would then empty back into the crankcase via the drive opening. I've never seen that in an ag application either. Again it suggests a high hour application like aircraft.

Definitely a governor ( see them on old ag equipment all the time). I think the two added wires were somebody's attempt to limit the movement of the actuator... either to set the impact at idle or to keep it from over revving. I've never seen a "screw driver" shaped drive like that on ag equip.

I'd still do the same test... could be the center going out of one gear and it's jammed in a new position.

I was wondering about that too, seems to me it's similar to the electrolysis issues they had with combining household wiring that was both aluminum and copper. Then again he doesn't have our winter salt issues so if it's kept inside those issues could be decades down the road.

Could the timing chain be stretched enough to skip a cog (not sure, but it looks like it has one)? Try rocking it back and forth and looking at the distributor with the cap off. Should give you an idea of how much slack is there.