Slow restro of a slow car... my '29 std coupe build thread

[DadOfTwo]

Guess I'll dive in here. 1st post. Thought about doing an intro post on myself, but you folks don't want to hear about me, so let's get to the good stuff:

My dad bought a '29 std coupe some 45 years or so ago, and 'bout 15 years ago I bought her from him. Even though I officially owned her, she remained in Colorado until a couple weeks ago when I drug her down to Texas (Austin area).

I'll see if I can get a pic of her, sitting in the garage, posted up later.

The car is far from a concourse competitor. She's had a lot of 'patches.' Maintenance by poor farmers whose primary goal was to fix problems and keep her running. A few months ago he had it running "like a top," but then the terminal block and some of the wiring caught fire as he was pulling it back into the shed. Job number one...

About the only major modification he did was to convert the trunk to rumble seat.

When I talked with dad on the phone the other day he said he can list the previous owners, including the guy who bought her new. I think I am number 5 on the list. I thought that would be pretty cool to record, so he said he'd write it down and mail it.

LATER THAT SAME DAY: Checked the mail when I got home, and got the title and best known facts. My dad bought her in 1973 for $1750.00. He thinks there were two owners before him, and gave me the names. I may have to see if I can confirm that. Wonder if the CO DMV has it on record? Also got two old registration certificates. One from '59 and one from '66. In '59 the registration fee was $3.75 and the tax was $1.50.

Always a SW Colorado car, so rust is minimal. Job two will be to ensure she doesn't have a rust runaway, now that she's been displaced from the high desert.

It's possible she had never been out of Colorado until I stole her away. However, since she was in the Four Corners area, she may have visited one or more of the other three.

My goals are going to be preservation and drivability. My daughters are 8 and 10, and I think they need lots of rumble seat time before I can't stand 'em any more and kick them out of the house.

If the car someday get's a full restoration, then all the better. But I ain't a waitin' around.
I visited the local A club last Saturday, and will be joining their local runs as soon as I get her running.

I brought down a lot of the extra parts dad had gathered up and left scattered around the various sheds, but I know I missed a lot. Gonna have to round up the rest some day. Right now in addition to the car, I have an unused passenger front fender, and most of a spare engine. And a big box of other stuff...

Oh, and wheels. When dad bought her she was sitting on a set of '30 wheels, but somewhere along the line dad got a set of the correct wheels. It's currently sitting on the correct rims with decent-looking tires. Problem is that the '29's all have spokes that have come loose where they were welded to the rim. One wheel has two spokes side-by-side that are disconnected. So, I guess job one-and-a-half is to get a set of '30 tires and put the better wheels back on it.

Got a lot of decisions to make along the path, but beware. I lean toward drivability / usability more than historical accuracy, so don't be surprised if I drift away from original. Having said that, though, I think I draw the line at doing anything that can't be undone. We'll see

I didn't think to get a picture of the '70's orange carpet I pulled off the floorboard. Since it was covered in mouse turds, I figured I'd better dispose of it. And the nest I found under the seat, as well. Can you say Hantavirus?