Hmmm twin turbo flat head running on e85......
Rat rod truck with 747 tires....

Cool fire truck but not my thing. The re-chrome on the Caddy would be enough to break ya!
Friggin cool cars but buy one restored for 50 cents on the dollar because people can never recoup their investment on these...

Yeah...well most people don't do the resto for the "investment"...but for the pride and sense of accomplishment that go in bringing something back to nice condition.

The Fire truck will likely be taken back to U.S. Army OD green and get a repro stake/flatbed body and maybe troop benches on it.

Gonna leave the flathead in it though...as long as it will come back to life.

Gary I understand your position...but to me (and many others) this is way cooler than a Camaro behind velvet ropes.

Don, I hear ya. I've taken 2 cars from rust buckets to best of show and I'll never do another! They are a full time job!!! It is totally cool if ya want a parade car but my velvet rope mobile has been on the road course at Pacific Raceways and it "goes" as well as it "shows".
Personally If I was going to spend a shit load of money restoring another it would be a 55 Lincoln - Damn sexy car!

Do you ever find books (like, boxes of books) or old (pre-1945) newspapers? If you do, please let me know. I'll pay a flat amount of $50-$1000, cash, depending on the quantity.

I collect first edition, first run (first printing), signed books--the newspapers are just kind of a sideline. I don't resell. It's extremely difficult to find anything pre-1900 up here, primarily because books were one of the first things tossed when settlers were hauling their stuff over here, by land or by sea. I tend to have to go to auctions in the Midwest and South twice a year (or as often as I can), to find the real pearls amongst the rocks. I do have a proxy bidder/buyer in TN, but much prefer to do my own buying.

To say nothing of the fact this whole area wasn't widely settled until near the close of the 19th Century. There is a bookseller down in Pioneer Square that is a reliable source of Territorial paper and the like, as well as a dealer in Olympia. If I had the money I'd be collecting pre 1866 Territorial paper myself.

If Ford had built those 'flaties' with four exhaust ports on each side instead of the common center port there's a good likelihood they would still be built today.

We used to create some extra exhaust "flow" by drilling out and tapping the heat riser port on the top center of the block and adding some water-pipe to route the exaust out like straight headers.

On stationary engines used to run pumps or generators it made the head gaskets last longer.

True but some old farts just take up 'restorations' because they can't "wrinkle up the sheets with the old lady in the middle of the afternoon anymore".

They are expensive to restore, that is for sure. My 65 Fairlane cost me probably twice what it is worth, my 62 T-bird almost as much. Neither car had any rust issues thank God.

Not sure I wouldn't keep it in the 'survivor' category. I have no idea how pitted the chrome is but as long as it is serviceable I'd leave it along. Interior probably will be much more work.

It is true that anyone that restores a car probably is doing it more for love than to make money. I hate these 'flipping cars' shows because I can just see the shoddy work being done. They take some basket case and 'magically' fix it up to sell it for 5grand. I call BS on most of this.

I had a sixty four fairlaine! Labor of love.
Had a '67 cougar gt project in college. Built the mill in my living room...spent all my money and reduced to eating top ramen so that I could chrome all the suspension parts! (drag link, tie rods/end) Went to Boeing surplus and got foam from aircraft interiors to quiet down road noise.

What a colossal waste of $$$ but I was a happy clam, throwing wrenches.

Ok...so after a 1 year hiatus...I'm back.

Figured I'd give an update on the progress of the 37 Ford.

After much searching and research thru archives, I can't find any provenance that it was indeed an Army vehicle to begin with. Only that Civil Defense had possession of it during the WWII years. So I figured to just go ahead and do a "vintage restore" on it.

The motor turned out to be a hodgepodge of 30's and 40's parts. Several stuck valves and disgusting looking inside. So I went hunting for a correct 1937-1938-1/2, 21 stud motor. They only made this motor for 1-1/2 years so it wasn't/isn't an easy one to find. But I was fortunate enough to find a complete unmolested unit in southern Oregon that had come out of a Panel Delivery that was being hotrodded. The motor runs great and is completely original.

This has been a giant learning curve...1937 was a 1 year only production model and not many parts interchange with other years. It's been challenging to find nice, correct vintage parts for it. I actually found genuine NOS (new old stock) complete wiring harnesses on ebay, 79 years old, along with all the missing emblems, mirrors, trim, interior parts and etc.

After removing all the vintage fire gear I found a bent frame underneath...after that discovery I decided to try and locate a short wheelbase chassis and move all the rear drive system forward. Found the frame I wanted in western Montana. This will allow me to remove a short section of the running boards and then use the box that the tank was in as a pickup box. The plan when I'm done is to have a 1937 Ford 1-1/2 ton dually pickup with full length running boards and the sculpted factory fenders.

Glass and tires are the next investment...

If anyone knows of old vintage Ford trucks, parts or related I'm always interested.

I know nothing about this stuff ... but it fascinates me to follow along.

Welcome back Don

Welcome back! That is quite the project Don, keep us up to date on it.
Now what happened to the Caddy?

Caddy is still sitting there on blocks...She can't quite bring herself to let go of it yet.