Right Time, Right Place: 1930 Ford Roadster
Being the kind of guy your friends know will come and grab a rusty hulk out of the barn can be a good thing – or it can lead to a lot of wasted time. Fortunately for one industrious Pennsylvania enthusiast, answering the call about getting an old car out of the barn was a smart move, as he found a 1930 Ford Roadster underneath. Find the full story here on SmokStak.com.
Check out that old-school camouflage paint job! The seller found a project, but one that rolls and steers with tires that still hold air. The convertible frame is there in pieces, and we can spy the classic rumble seat lid poking up. There’s no motor installed, but don’t worry – the buyer’s find gets better.
While scoping out the barn, he also found a flathead V8 sitting in the corner, which he scooped up as well. The 90-year-old owner still held the title to the Ford, so he came away with a clean-titled project and a motor to stuff in the front end. If it isn’t completely rusty underneath, this represents an afternoon well spent.
Popular for both restoration and rat-rodding, the Ford Roadster is a great foundation for a project. They also pull good money in either of the aforementioned forms, so assuming the seller didn’t lay out much more than a few hundred bucks for this project score, he should come out ahead in the end. Do any of you routinely get calls to come remove derelict project cars?
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Comments
A day well spent indeed if only for the yard art factor. Cool find!
The door’s definitely open on what to do with this one. It would make a good hot rod but on the other hand, it would also form the basis for a super nice restoration. It all depends on how much of the original car is actually still there. I do admit that dropping in a flathead can sure make something like this go. Myself, I prefer them stock. I can have a lot of fun with a totally bone stock roadster…..
How do you say “really cool” and “YIKES!” in the same sentence?
Awesome find!
Wow!!! That’s one I wouldn’t mind finding.
Jeff, is a 4 Banger no longer considered a motor?
Sure does Look like a motor in between them rails
I have had a deal like this one, I got a call one day from a friend of a friend so to speak. He was clearing out some sheds on his Grandfathers property, and said he found what he thought was an late 50’s early 60’s model Chevy Pickup, and wanted to know if I wanted it. I drove out in the middle of No-Where Missouri, well Oran, Missouri 2 miles past No-Where. Anyway I get out there and when I first saw it, the truck was nosed into the shed, covered with a huge tarp and covered with anything that could be thrown on it so it was hard to tell just what he had, but from the tail lights I could tell it was a late model GM truck. He had somewhat uncovered the back of the bed and it did not have a tail gate on it, why he thought it was a Chevy was because leaning up against a wall was a mid 50’s Chevy tailgate. I helped him for over 4 hours to clear the shed of junk until we were able to get to the front of it and move part of the tarp. There it was a 58 GMC 1/2 ton truck stepside, the next trick was to get it out of the shed, because over the years the shed had shifted a bit and had a really bad lean and it was going to be close to get it out of there. After we tried to bracing it up, the owner decided to just take that side of the shed apart and remove it that way, well by this time it is late and we are tired as all get out, so we decided to wait until the next weekend. I arrived earlier the following Saturday, and to my surprise the owner had most of the side of old shed apart, we worked very slow to remove the section of roof and the remainder of the sides, we discovered to our luck that this was a lean too that had been added to the shed so once we got the sides and roof off of it taking apart the rest of it was easy. Finally after 2 hard days of work there it sat, still cover for the mostly with the tarp, We cleared the rest of the stuff piled on top of it and removed the tarp there she sat a light Blue and White 1/2 ton GMC truck. We pulled it clear of the remains of the shed that was easy because we had discovered it had no motor or tranny in it, but oh well we had gone to far by now to quit, we pulled it into the driveway. There she sat with 1965 Missouri Farm plates still on the front bumper. Then the fun part checking it out, the interior wasn’t bad, the seats were roached, but the dash and floor looked good and strong, the keys were in like back them most people never took the keys out, the passenger window was crack but still rolled up. As I talked to the old boy about a price, I said if it still had the motor and tranny in it, then it would be worth a bit more, he said well we found some motors and a couple of transmissions over in another shed, you want to look at them. We climbed over a pile of stuff to get to a section of this other shed and there sat 4 engines on wood frames and 2 trannies laying on the floor next to them. After looking them over, I discovered I had 2-235’s 1-270 and 1-336, the trannies were both 3 speed and 1 with a in line 6 bell housing still attached to it and 1 for the V-8.
Well now the price changed, because I asked for everything, he did the good ole Southern Boy Think stances, looked down kicked the dirt some, then looked me straight in the eye and said $2000.00 for everything, I could not shake his hand fast enough.
Well now all I had to do was get it home. We loaded the truck and sat the straight 6’s on the back of the trailer and put the v-8 and trannies in the back of my truck. Just as I am getting ready to leave he said Oh I almost forgot I found the title in some of his papers sometime ago if I can find it again you want it? Well Yeah I would, he also goes I think I know where the tail gate for the truck is or might be for it, there is a old trailer down in the barn that has one on it, so we rode down to the barn and it wasn’t for the model of the truck, it was from a 60’s apache and it was ate up, so it stayed.
It took me 6 months to piece the truck back together after checking the Parts Identification Plate it came out with a 270 straight 6 in, it so I had the 270 straight 6 engine and tranny overhauled, after brake work, interior repairs, new gas tank and brake and fuel lines replacement, major wiring replacement, the bed floor temporarily replaced, she was on the road, that was in 2013, today the exterior still looks like the day we first washed the years of dirt off of it, and someday I might redo the paint, but she still turns head ever so often when I take her to a car show and show pictures of where she was pulled from.
Oh yeah just before I got it running I got a letter in the mail, inside was the title, his Grandfather bought it brand new from a GMC dealer in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on January 15, 1953.
The picture posted is what she looked like after I was able to first move her under her own power.
Stories like this is why I visit this site multiple times a day , great read and nice truck !