As regular readers of this column know, I have more projects than I'll most likely ever have time to do anything with. The last two of which are my '47 Ford sedan and the '56 Ford Victoria, both of which were pretty close to being driveable when I picked them up. You'll also know that I like to encourage R&C readers to drive something cool to work every day to help take some of the monotony out of our dreary daily commute.
I know this is easier said than done. Although I have the '32 roadster to drive, and I do cruise it to work on occasion, I'm almost ashamed to say that I'm afraid to drive it every day. If it was a Brookville body on a SO-CAL frame and built with all new parts, I don't think I would care if something happened to it, but being that it has been in the family for almost 50 years, it's getting to the point where it's irreplaceable.
I'm also guilty of succumbing to the reliability and gas mileage of my daily driver, dare I say, a '91 Honda Accord. When gas was over $3 a gallon, it was really easy to justify the 23-mpg it constantly knocked down. That was until Christmas morning when I got something I never thought I would. I got my daily driver stolen-while it was parked in front of church. Yes, let me repeat that. Some scumbag stole my car as it was parked in front of church on Christmas morning.
There are a lucky few who have gone through life without being the victim of some kind of theft. I've had some things taken out of my cars before, but this was the first time it's ever been the whole car. It's a surreal feeling walking to where you know you parked your car not an hour earlier and finding nothing. Luckily there was nothing in it I needed or deemed important. Not so lucky, I didn't have theft insurance on it because I had only paid a few thousand for it a couple of years ago and considered it somewhat of a disposable car. The insurance company wouldn't have given me much for it anyways.
So now my hand is forced. I can either go out and spend another few thousand to replace it or I can take that money and put it into something that will be a lot more fun to commute in. I think I'll take my own advice and go the latter route. I've been burning up the phone lines and my credit card getting parts ordered. I now have stacks of boxes in my office with suspension pieces from Jamco and Rare Parts to rebuild and drop the suspension on the Victoria. I also picked up a '57 four-barrel intake along with a Barry Grant carb to replace the original "tea pot" carb. An MSD distributor will complete the engine updating. Some part swapping and some elbow grease should get it looking a lot better and put it into duty rather quickly, I hope.
As a backup vehicle, I figured I'd yank the springs out of the '47, pull a couple of leaves out front and back, and get the eyes reversed. This, along with some new rolling stock, should get it looking a little more hot rod than stock. To get it running smoothly, I've ordered a rebuild kit for the stock carb. A new dual-carb Offenhauser intake from Sacramento Vintage Ford will replace the stock one as soon as I round up another good carb. I've been thinking about saving some money and trying to redo the interior myself, so I've been talking with Joel at EzBoy Rod Interior Products. Now I just need to decide on a style and color.
If everything goes as planned (which we all know that never happens), I'll have them both ready to serve within the month. And then as long as one of them is up and running, I'll be able to tear into the other and continue the modifications. Who knows, if I get them underway, I might be able to get some time to get the Galaxie back on the road and then start on the roadster pickup.