If you've been paying attention,
you may have noticed a small addition to our quiver of projects.
Here's the down and dirty backstory,
in typical PB&S detail...
Back in September,
a firefighter friend, Mario, was working,
which means saving people from bloody car wrecks,
or sifting through craigslist and garage sale websites for deals.
He texted me a picture and a link to this coupe body,
like there's any money to spare for another project.
By the time of the estate sale,
I had totally forgotten about the deal,
until Mario called and said,"hey get down there it's today!"
During this time a friend Aaron had hit me up about finding a car.
Nothing to keep,
but a project to fix up and flip.
When Mario passed on this one,
Aaron was the first guy to call.
We got there thinking it was going to be a $500 coupe body.
Well someone had opened up the little side barn,
okay it's a shed but it goes better with the title...
and it was chock full of all the missing parts.
Holey Chit...
The bummer was the price reflected this new found gold mine.
They estate sellers had a high out-the-door price,
but were willing to take a not-so-silent bid,
giving us the last highest amount offered.
The funny thing was they were waiting for Mario to call.
I guess he had contacted them enough times they figured he was game.
That night we were notified that the coupe was ours,
or really Aaron's.
Now we had to figure out how to get it northbound.
The parts were easy,
the van is a workhorse without the passenger seats.
The solution to the roller was a decrepit Craigslist car hauler.
Such a cool coincidence that a cheap single axle trailer was available,
even if it looked like a broken-backed glue-horse.
At least it made it the 20 miles home!
The coupe and trailer sat for a couple weeks in our alley,
totally pissing off our uptight neighbors,
who afterward called code enforcement on us for numerous imaginary infractions.
This was about the time of that black truck engine rebuild.
Finally the spot was open at the yard,
and instead of busting butt on the coupe,
the trailer was totally refurbished instead.
A couple important things were done,
like cracking open the 4-banger.
I thought the cylinders were going to look like new cans of ground coffee,
but instead we were lucky to see a low mileage rebuild,
with 10 over pistons and virtually no wear.
The engine was still stuck but this gave us a little hope.
I had an inkling the transmission was the culprit.
Nope.
The insides were like a well oiled watch.
Must be something in the flywheel/bellhousing area.
Finally the trailer work was finished.
The only other thing I had done was swap on the old wheels from the green 40,
oh yeah and bolted on the doors.
This is when I realized this project wasn't high on the priority list.
Aaron had a trip planned,
and my open time was very restricted.
The rusty 40 (tres huevos) seemed much more important to spend any free time on.
This is when the 40 and 30 traded places...
I haven't written about this,
but Aaron has a major disease - cystic fibrosis.
It's so serious he's on the lung transplant list.
Well to top off his woes,
he was forced to move to the San Francisco transplant list,
which meant relocating to the Sacramento area.
Dang.
This is when friends are valued more than things,
especially on a life or death matter like this.
I figured we would sell the coupe,
and maybe I could come up with enough scratch to keep the trailer.
Well I was blown away when we made a deal to keep the coupe.
Aaron needed the trailer to tow up our old BMW 2002,
and he figured the coupe would be in good hands with me.
Cool!
The Beemer fit the trailer perfectly.
Thanks Aaron and Rachel!!
With this change of events,
I started to drag all the model A parts home.
No reason to clutter up TR's shop/yard.
To keep our yard cleaner,
the parts were stashed in the garage,
which meant parking the green 40 (june bug) outside.
Holey Heck.
I couldn't stand seeing the coupe drenched with the wet fog water every morning.
Something had to be done to get the 40 back in the garage.
This is when the original plans backfired.
Instead of making the tranny hump on the green 40,
or finishing the hood on the chopped 40,
I had team Perich Brothers and Sister get to work on the 30.
Over the course of two weekends,
or really just the sundays,
the kids have helped reassemble the major parts of the model A.
The previous owner had dismantled every nut and bolt,
but had also kept every nut and bolt.
Once the parts and fasteners were roughly separated,
it was fun to reassemble the car with most of the original hardware.
Like a giant model or puzzle.
After one sunday,
the 40 returned to it's spot in the garage.
After the second sunday,
the coupe is looking less and less like a basketcase project.
We're really lucky with the overall condition.
Many of the pieces were wrapped in newspaper dating from 1975!
And the newest reproduction ID was from 1986!
Basically this thing has been sitting for close to 40 years.
Amazing that "barn finds" are still out there not too far from home.
As of tonight this is what the coupe looks like.
I still haven't figured out the engine,
maybe next weekend.
I'm on the fence on what to do with the car.
I'd love to chop it but then there's the gla$$ work.
It's almost too complete to hot rod,
but too rough to restore.
I guess that's a good problem to have!
TP
you may have noticed a small addition to our quiver of projects.
Here's the down and dirty backstory,
in typical PB&S detail...
Back in September,
a firefighter friend, Mario, was working,
which means saving people from bloody car wrecks,
or sifting through craigslist and garage sale websites for deals.
 |
| basketcase ford model A coupe |
He texted me a picture and a link to this coupe body,
like there's any money to spare for another project.
By the time of the estate sale,
I had totally forgotten about the deal,
until Mario called and said,"hey get down there it's today!"
 |
| chula vista estate sale |
During this time a friend Aaron had hit me up about finding a car.
Nothing to keep,
but a project to fix up and flip.
When Mario passed on this one,
Aaron was the first guy to call.
 |
| Aaron Vandemark - 1930 ford coupe |
We got there thinking it was going to be a $500 coupe body.
Well someone had opened up the little side barn,
okay it's a shed but it goes better with the title...
and it was chock full of all the missing parts.
Holey Chit...
 |
| barn find model a coupe |
The bummer was the price reflected this new found gold mine.
They estate sellers had a high out-the-door price,
but were willing to take a not-so-silent bid,
giving us the last highest amount offered.
The funny thing was they were waiting for Mario to call.
I guess he had contacted them enough times they figured he was game.
 |
| vannin' |
That night we were notified that the coupe was ours,
or really Aaron's.
Now we had to figure out how to get it northbound.
The parts were easy,
the van is a workhorse without the passenger seats.
 |
| holey chit |
The solution to the roller was a decrepit Craigslist car hauler.
Such a cool coincidence that a cheap single axle trailer was available,
even if it looked like a broken-backed glue-horse.
At least it made it the 20 miles home!
 |
| priorities |
The coupe and trailer sat for a couple weeks in our alley,
totally pissing off our uptight neighbors,
who afterward called code enforcement on us for numerous imaginary infractions.
This was about the time of that black truck engine rebuild.
Finally the spot was open at the yard,
and instead of busting butt on the coupe,
the trailer was totally refurbished instead.
 |
| model A 4-banger |
A couple important things were done,
like cracking open the 4-banger.
I thought the cylinders were going to look like new cans of ground coffee,
but instead we were lucky to see a low mileage rebuild,
with 10 over pistons and virtually no wear.
The engine was still stuck but this gave us a little hope.
 |
| good nite |
I had an inkling the transmission was the culprit.
Nope.
The insides were like a well oiled watch.
Must be something in the flywheel/bellhousing area.
 |
| model a transmission |
Finally the trailer work was finished.
The only other thing I had done was swap on the old wheels from the green 40,
oh yeah and bolted on the doors.
 |
| model a coupe project |
This is when I realized this project wasn't high on the priority list.
Aaron had a trip planned,
and my open time was very restricted.
The rusty 40 (tres huevos) seemed much more important to spend any free time on.
This is when the 40 and 30 traded places...
 |
| ford |
I haven't written about this,
but Aaron has a major disease - cystic fibrosis.
It's so serious he's on the lung transplant list.
Well to top off his woes,
he was forced to move to the San Francisco transplant list,
which meant relocating to the Sacramento area.
Dang.
This is when friends are valued more than things,
especially on a life or death matter like this.
I figured we would sell the coupe,
and maybe I could come up with enough scratch to keep the trailer.
 |
| Travis and Macey Perich, Aaron Vandemark |
Well I was blown away when we made a deal to keep the coupe.
Aaron needed the trailer to tow up our old BMW 2002,
and he figured the coupe would be in good hands with me.
Cool!
The Beemer fit the trailer perfectly.
Thanks Aaron and Rachel!!
 |
| Aaron Vandemark - Travis Perich 2013 |
With this change of events,
I started to drag all the model A parts home.
No reason to clutter up TR's shop/yard.
To keep our yard cleaner,
the parts were stashed in the garage,
which meant parking the green 40 (june bug) outside.
 |
| wet 1940 ford coupe |
Holey Heck.
I couldn't stand seeing the coupe drenched with the wet fog water every morning.
Something had to be done to get the 40 back in the garage.
 |
| Macey Perich sorting fasteners - 2013 |
This is when the original plans backfired.
Instead of making the tranny hump on the green 40,
or finishing the hood on the chopped 40,
I had team Perich Brothers and Sister get to work on the 30.
 |
| Jaxon Perich - 2013 |
Over the course of two weekends,
or really just the sundays,
the kids have helped reassemble the major parts of the model A.
 |
| Jaxon Perich - 2013 - grease monkey |
The previous owner had dismantled every nut and bolt,
but had also kept every nut and bolt.
Once the parts and fasteners were roughly separated,
it was fun to reassemble the car with most of the original hardware.
Like a giant model or puzzle.
 |
| 1930 ford model a coupe |
After one sunday,
the 40 returned to it's spot in the garage.
After the second sunday,
the coupe is looking less and less like a basketcase project.
 |
| 34 watt bulb |
We're really lucky with the overall condition.
Many of the pieces were wrapped in newspaper dating from 1975!
And the newest reproduction ID was from 1986!
Basically this thing has been sitting for close to 40 years.
Amazing that "barn finds" are still out there not too far from home.
 |
| 1930 ford model a coupe |
As of tonight this is what the coupe looks like.
I still haven't figured out the engine,
maybe next weekend.
I'm on the fence on what to do with the car.
I'd love to chop it but then there's the gla$$ work.
It's almost too complete to hot rod,
but too rough to restore.
I guess that's a good problem to have!
TP
ohhh..........nice pic........awesome
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