The Ford Barn - View Single Post

Flathead Fever · 04-19-2019, 03:26 PM

That is so sad. I remember my dad buying bolts from him when I was just a kid, decades later I was doing it. Every-time I ordered bolts I asked him question. He's talk to me for an hour on the phone. I don't know if he liked me or I had just ordered $400.00 worth of bolts? I bought a disassembled '34 pickup and all the bolts were gone. I went through Roy's catalog and ordered everything he had for that pickup. It was a lot of stuff. When it arrived not one bolt was missing or wrong.

I asked him how he got started selling Ford hardware? He said he worked for Ford, directly across the street from the Ford archives. He knew where Ford purchased their hardware. He had access to the archives to research anything he wanted. Most importantly he loved Early V8 Fords and he was able to combine his knowledge from working at Ford to help preserve these cars. If he couldn't buy it he had it made even in small quantities that no one else would have bothered to reproduce because it wouldn't have been very profitable. I got the feeling he wasn't in it for the money.

He was the nicest guy in the world. We talked about the decline of America and especially Detroit area. If this country is important to you or I should say, if you like how it use to be, this was a flag waving guy that felt the same way.

Early Ford bolts are special. Maybe because my Dad ,as a restorer drilled that it into me. He saved buckets of Ford bolts he gathered from friends. I "hate" seeing restored cars with modern fasteners. I've seen 300K to 400K supposedly period correct hot rods win their class at Pebble Beach, only to crawl underneath them and see modern bolts from the Home Depot.

I had a bolt question that I could not find the answer to so I called Roy up. I wanted to know what year bolt manufacturers started marking the heads with grade 5 or grade 8. So that if I were building a period correct hot rod or judging one, what year built hot rods would or would not have had any grade markings on the bolt heads?

He said years and years ago he was at a Thunderbird car show and that subject had came up. In that group of guys just happened to be a guy from The Society of Engineers. Every year they get together and discuss the changes in the automotive industry that need to be standardized the following year. One topic at that 1956 meeting was coming up with a way of identifying the grade of bolts. 1956 or 1957 would have seen the first use of the current identification marks we still use.

When these old guys go all that kind of knowledge is lost. The loss of the person is sad but so is the knowledge that they take with them.

He was such an important person for Early Ford restorers. I never met him in person but over the phone he felt like he would have been the kind of guy you would have loved to have as your next door neighbor.

I hope somebody is there to continue on with his business. Its just like Lebaron Bonney, these places that have been around forever and you just assume they always will be. Then one day they are gone and there is nobody to fill the gap. Its going to get harder and harder to restore these cars, even the reproduction parts will start to dry up.
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04-19-2019, 03:26 PM	#50
Flathead Fever Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Yucaipa, CA Posts: 1,095	Re: Roy Nacewicz That is so sad. I remember my dad buying bolts from him when I was just a kid, decades later I was doing it. Every-time I ordered bolts I asked him question. He's talk to me for an hour on the phone. I don't know if he liked me or I had just ordered $400.00 worth of bolts? I bought a disassembled '34 pickup and all the bolts were gone. I went through Roy's catalog and ordered everything he had for that pickup. It was a lot of stuff. When it arrived not one bolt was missing or wrong. I asked him how he got started selling Ford hardware? He said he worked for Ford, directly across the street from the Ford archives. He knew where Ford purchased their hardware. He had access to the archives to research anything he wanted. Most importantly he loved Early V8 Fords and he was able to combine his knowledge from working at Ford to help preserve these cars. If he couldn't buy it he had it made even in small quantities that no one else would have bothered to reproduce because it wouldn't have been very profitable. I got the feeling he wasn't in it for the money. He was the nicest guy in the world. We talked about the decline of America and especially Detroit area. If this country is important to you or I should say, if you like how it use to be, this was a flag waving guy that felt the same way. Early Ford bolts are special. Maybe because my Dad ,as a restorer drilled that it into me. He saved buckets of Ford bolts he gathered from friends. I "hate" seeing restored cars with modern fasteners. I've seen 300K to 400K supposedly period correct hot rods win their class at Pebble Beach, only to crawl underneath them and see modern bolts from the Home Depot. I had a bolt question that I could not find the answer to so I called Roy up. I wanted to know what year bolt manufacturers started marking the heads with grade 5 or grade 8. So that if I were building a period correct hot rod or judging one, what year built hot rods would or would not have had any grade markings on the bolt heads? He said years and years ago he was at a Thunderbird car show and that subject had came up. In that group of guys just happened to be a guy from The Society of Engineers. Every year they get together and discuss the changes in the automotive industry that need to be standardized the following year. One topic at that 1956 meeting was coming up with a way of identifying the grade of bolts. 1956 or 1957 would have seen the first use of the current identification marks we still use. When these old guys go all that kind of knowledge is lost. The loss of the person is sad but so is the knowledge that they take with them. He was such an important person for Early Ford restorers. I never met him in person but over the phone he felt like he would have been the kind of guy you would have loved to have as your next door neighbor. I hope somebody is there to continue on with his business. Its just like Lebaron Bonney, these places that have been around forever and you just assume they always will be. Then one day they are gone and there is nobody to fill the gap. Its going to get harder and harder to restore these cars, even the reproduction parts will start to dry up. .