# 1951 Ford Finished!



## Reverie (Aug 9, 2004)

After 3 and 1/2 years of work we have finally finished a complete, frame-off restoration of my Father-In-Law's 1951 Ford Custom Deluxe Tudor Coupe. I worked with a number of specialists to make this happen. The body guy did the majority of the grunt work, an interior guy stretched the fabric. I worked with front end specialists, brake specialists and especially one, extraordinary engine guy to turn this thing out. I hunted and located parts from one end of the country to the other.

I cannot locate the before pictures but take it from me, it was a basket case. The car had not been driven since the early '70s and had been stored in a lean-to shed on the farm. It was exposed to the elements and had become the home to lots of wildlife and was actually used to store wood inside for a while. About seven years ago my Brother-In-Law tried to restore it. Once he took the interior apart he decided it wasn't "his type of job" and just stuck it back in the barn, unassembled. When I took the job on I had a jigsaw puzzle for the ages.

Understand, practically nobody restores '51 Fords. The parts just aren't available and the amount of money requires you to spend twice what it is worth. What made it worthwhile this time was the fact that my Father-In-Law was the original and only owner of that car. He still has the original bill of sale but the window sticker is lost.

I trailered it to a town about 15 miles from his house and unloaded the car. I dropped a new 6 volt battery in it and started driving toward the In-Law's house. I stopped about a mile away and called my wife with a 15 minute warning. I installed the Fender Skirts and used a California Brush to wipe away the dust. When I drove up my Mother In Law burst into tears and my Father In Law couldn't quit smiling.

My kids piled into the backseat and my In-Laws took off on their first trip. They drove down to Broad River just like when they first bought the car and on the way back had to lock the brakes to avoid a Deer.

My Father-In-Law asked me to drive him to see his brother, who is infirm and pretty much confined to his house. On the way there we ran out of gas! After a delay we fired it back up and headed over to "Uncle Marshalls". Uncle Marshall had stored the car whenever my FIL was overseas during his USAF career. We helped Uncle Marshall out of the house and he used his walker to come over and take a look. He and Aunt Mary were thrilled.

Sorry for going on but this has been a pretty good day and I thought I would share it with you. Look below for a couple of pictures...





































Thanks for letting me share this with you.

Reverie


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## glennbo (Jun 27, 2006)

Nice story and sweet looking car! Congratulations on the restoration!


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## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

You're a good man Nick. I'm sure that seeing the smiles on the faces made it worth every moment of time and every penny you put into this project. A true "Labor of Love"


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

wish someone could that much time and money restoring MY body......


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Beautiful! What a gift of love!!!!


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## Pakeboy2 (Aug 13, 2005)

Sweet...GREAT job...GREAT story...


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Awesome job Nick
Glad to hear you got it finished
Sure looks great























Don


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Wonderful job and great story to share! Thanks


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

What a beautiful story Reverie!
I love happy endings, the smiles on their faces must have been priceless


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Wow, Nick!! That's a GREAT JOB!!







Bet the in-laws didn't want to take their eyes off it!! It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line!!
Congrats on your wonderful turnout!!
Darlene


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

Sweet! Great car and a great job. Is the starter button on the floor? If not, at least the high beam button is. Standard 3 on the column? Wow - the memories this conjures. Man, people haven't even seen 3 on the column. I can understand why it was such a great day for you. How cool that your f-i-l wanted to show his brother.


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## Bill H (Nov 25, 2006)

That is truly a great story.... Nice job!


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## happycamper (Jul 26, 2005)

Thanks for sharing. I have chills from reading the story. Jim


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## cookie9933 (Feb 26, 2005)

Thanks for sharing. You did a wonderful thing resurrecting that old Ford. The effort that goes into such a project has great rewards, especially for your in-laws to see their old car looking sweet again. Good job!

Bill


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## campingnut18 (Mar 11, 2004)

nick great job. you have been telling me about the car for sometime now.
glad i got to see pictures of the new car.
im sure he will never forget what you did for him. it will last him the rest of his life.

great job... 
now i had a 65 mustang that i sat in many .many years ago.
would you mind fixing that up for me????








lamar


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I had a 50 Ford back in 77, the 49 and 50 fords only had a single grill bump. Loved the room in it. The flat head V8 was only 100 horse power so had to put in an engine with more power. Broke lots of things running that poor car hard back in high school. Good thing was there were lots of them in wreaking yards back then so parts were easy to come by. I could not imagine trying to find parts for it now.

Nice job.


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## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

That's a great story! I wonder if my kids will restore my 2005 Mustang for me, someday


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Beautiful restoration, Nick! Well done!









Are you planning on showing it?

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Crawfish (Sep 14, 2005)

Great job Nick. Car looks brand new. I know your FIL will be driving it all the time now, I would. I bet there are a lot of stories on the restoration too.

Leon


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Glad you shared it with us









A real life version of the commercial on television. Beautiful car

John


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## Rubrhammer (Nov 27, 2006)

Hey Nick, 
Nice resto. Did yo use any parts from Macs? They are local to me.
I helped a neighbor hop up a 51 by buildiing a 283 chevy and installing it. It was a very docile small block that was a rock solid cruiser. It was a neat car but I think your job looks more professional.
Sweet.
Bob


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## Camping Fan (Dec 18, 2005)

Sweeeet!







Nice job Reverie, the old Ford looks great!


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## biga (Apr 17, 2006)

Well done. You are right, everyone seems to want the '49 Fords. Some want the '50's, but noone seems to care for the '51's. Were you able to paint it with lacquer or were you forced to use a base/clear?

My dad has worked some on my granddad's 1950 4 door custom. It was stored in a barn but it all original with 48000 miles. Flat head strait six runs so smooth you can hardly hear it running with the hood open. He cleaned the points, repaired the brakes, cleaned up the interior (painted a few parts that were worn pretty bad), replaced the tires and muffler, and wheeled out the paint. He usually gets good reaction at the shows and cruise nights he goes to. The paint is getting thin and worn, but a painter that dad works with can get lacquer paint to shoot it with, so they are planning to repaint it soon.

My granddad loved the car, but never drove it. It stayed in a barn for as long as I can remember. I tried to get him to let me clean it up and take it to some shows a few times, but the closest I ever got to that was pulling it out and washing it. It did not take me long to convince dad to get to work on it after granddad died a few years ago.


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## Dreamtimers (Mar 7, 2005)

Nick;
It was great hearing some of the stories during the rebuild, but this is priceless. I hope someone had a movie camera to capture the moment, one none of you will ever forget. GREAT WORK!

BTW


campingnut18 said:


> great job...
> now i had a 65 mustang that i sat in many .many years ago.
> would you mind fixing that up for me????
> 
> ...


If there is a line forming, I still have  a 67 GTO Sport Coupe that could use your touch. The parts are much easier to find.







You never know when that urge to do another one will hit, Just want to be there to help, you know I'm only thinking of *you*!









Dave


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## MykeC (Jan 16, 2007)

Thats a sweet looking ride. Great story. I know the FIL will always remember what you did. Good job on the restoration.


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## Reverie (Aug 9, 2004)

Dave,

All it takes is a trunk full of US Currency, patience, internet access (bless you eBay) and the number of an excellent Divorce Attorney.

Reverie


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## Dreamtimers (Mar 7, 2005)

Reverie said:


> Dave,
> 
> All it takes is a trunk full of US Currency, patience, internet access (bless you eBay) and the number of an excellent Divorce Attorney.
> 
> Reverie

















Well since you have all those things already...







When do we start?























Can't wait to







it again.







Is it deep enough yet?!
















Dave
_
When you show you can work miracles, Everyone comes to expect them._


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## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

wolfwood said:


> Beautiful! What a gift of love!!!!


Exactly what I was thinking!! Good for you Nick to have been able to do this & great for them to have had the opportunity see it.









Tami


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

Very nice job there.. Great car and story also. I know how much work they are! Much respect here!

I have restored a '71 blazer which I had 17k in and done all the work myself.. Won lots of shows with it. Put the down payment on my house with.. Sold it for 15k.

I restored a '72 Nova back when I was a kid, the girls loved it!

'70 Challenger RT 340/6pack, with pistol grip 4 speed, purple and white to boot(factory)... If I had that car now, I could pay off my house. That was a great car.

A '73 Roadrunner with a 440.. Fast Car! Too fast!

And a '75 Nova SS, which was cool also.

Carey


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## the eubies (Sep 7, 2006)

Great car, I like the story even better.

What a touching and meaningful memory for the whole family.

Beth


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Rev

You got it wrong....

Thank-you for sharing







...what a great story
















Thor


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## Sluggo54 (Jun 15, 2005)

Rev, what a beautiful labor of love! I see that one has all the whistles and chrome - I learned to drive in a '50 bottom line flathead six, we also had a loaded '49.

"He still has the original bill of sale but the window sticker is lost." Um - It must be nice to be so young - window stickers didn't come along until, I think, 1959!

Wonderful job, and thanks for resisting the urge to "improve" it. It is super the way Henry made it.

Sluggo


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