Looking to get my dad something out of the 30s in a few years... need suggestions

[SadbutTrue]

My dad has been complaining forever about how he wants to restore something out of the 30s. In 4 years, when he turns 60, I want to roll up in front of the house with some piece of junk from the 30s (though something from the 20s or 40s might work too... he mentions he likes 'gangster' type cars etc) so that we can restore it before he's too old to do it.

I know that even pieces of junk from that era can go for exorbitant prices, and I'll be buying most of it (ideally with a little help from my brothers, but I'm likely the guy whose gonna be fronting the bulk of the cash). So I'm looking for recommendations for cars to look at.

Factors to be considered... price to purchase, price to restore, avaliability of restored parts, and like I said, preferably something from the 30s. I know some of the easier to find cars are also the more expensive ones, and the cheaper/less in demand ones are also going to be harder to find parts for.

Beyond that, I welcome any suggestions. Not brand-specific at all, please. Thanks!

 

[Pakrat]

Beyond that, I welcome any suggestions. Not brand-specific at all, please. Thanks!

Hmmm, I'm not sure how to do that, what's left to recommend if you can't specify a make and model?

How about a kit car instead of an actual relic? There are currently several companies that make beautiful 30's-40's style cars out of an all aluminum or fiberglass body that can be fitted with any engine/driveline/suspension system you want from mild to wild so it opens the book up as far as budgets are concerned.

 

[SadbutTrue]

I basically meant that I'm open to all brands/makes/models potentially... ie i won't place a heathen curse on your children if you recommend I look at a GM product or something.

I'm pretty sure that if its an American car from the 30s (or 20s or 40s, possibly, if its particularly accessible/not extraordinarily expensive/not extraordinarily hard to find parts for) he'd love it. Just doing some really rough brainstorming at this point.

 

[Tony R]

I have done some looking for a Model A truck and have found that the international is a more cost frienly choice. I want to restore a 28 to 30 pick up some day. My dad owns a 28 Model A car and he says that it is relatively easy to find some parts. You may have to fabricate some of the body parts though.

 

[zookeeper]

Just a few suggestions: stay away form '30's Chevys. They are not for the first-timer as they are essentially wood=bodied cars with sheetmetal tacked on the outside. They are a nightmare to get right and parts are harder to come by. Early Dodges are well-built cars and not too tough to find stuff for, but they are a little expensive due to low numbers. In all honesty, nothing beats a Model A Ford for parts availability, price and huge numbers. They are very easy to work on, lots of parts interchanges ('28-'31 chassis are all the same) and although they aren't free, compared to any other vintage cars, they are very reasonable. You can find an older restoration or an abandoned resto for well under $8,000. Before you go into sticker shock and buy a basketcase for half that, be warned that like any project, the higher-priced, more complete cars pay off later on when it's time to buy all the little parts. In fact, I've seen bare bodies that are not what I'd consider saveable sell on ebay for $4500, so $8,000 for a mostly complete Model A is a bargain. But before you spend any money, I'll tell you right now that stock Model A's drive terribly and aside form cruising town at a sedate pace, they are less practical than a blown pro streeter.

 

[1320stang]

Well, a model A has wood throughout the body as well.

I too would suggest the Fiberglass route, unless you're looking to do a full restoration, if so, find the most complete, put together car you can.

 

[Pakrat]

I've have from time to time wondered if I didn't want to get out of the Mustang and into something more old school hot roddish and if that was ever the case I would seriously have to consder something like this "A" roadster replica. Looking at the costs it is a very viable and cool project. I'll bet their 5 window would be pretty cool as well but I'll always be a top down guy.

http://www.retrolaneautoworks.com/html/replica_cars.html

I can remember having a Cheetah match box car too like 35 years ago that I loved even though I did not know what it was at the time. As opposed to all the cobra type kits out there I'll bet that would be a real cool car to build too, with a ford engine of course, totally wrong era for you but cool none the less for something not genuine.

 

[jlangholzj]

does he like the rat-rods??

personally that is one of my projects up on the board (after a '69 of course )

the reason i ask is b/c there is such a wide variety of cars that were used from model a's to 4 door sedans. it would give you more to work with, and if its not perfect, the better!!

 

[SadbutTrue]

I'd probably mention all these to him (and definitely keep it coming), but in general he likes old cars for the sake of them being old cars... I almost think he basically doesn't care about how streetable or practical one of these cars is. He mostly loves the process of restoring the car and tends to like a lot of the little things that make an old car and old car (even if those little things are also what makes that car inferior to today's cars).

For example, while he has helped me do most of the stuff I've done to my mustang, if it were his car it'd still be a C-code 289 (well, we got the car with a stock 2 barrel 351w in it, by now he probably would have gone for a 289), C4, 8inch rear, stock wheels/suspension... the only 'mod' on my car that he did before it became mine was the front disc conversion. He has later admitted some of my mods (the T5 swap in particular) were good ideas, but they never would have happened if the car was still his.

Of course, a car from 1930 was almost as old in 1966 as my 66 is now, so he might decide that a few visually undetectable upgrades might be a good idea.

We saw a stock-looking '36 Ford on the 101 yesterday that he basically stalked for 10 miles, if that gives you any idea of where his tastes and interests lie.

Keep the ideas coming, I think I'm gonna try to pick up a Hemmings magazine for ideas and a general idea of how much these things cost.

 

[JC6715]

I am helping my brother hot rod a '29 Ford Tudor... Chopped 5.5 inches, channeled 4.5 inches, z'd frame, ford nine inch rear, (SBC 383)... Coming along nicely...

Like mentioned earlier LOTS of parts availability... He got the body for $800...

 

[SadbutTrue]

does he like the rat-rods??

personally that is one of my projects up on the board (after a '69 of course )

the reason i ask is b/c there is such a wide variety of cars that were used from model a's to 4 door sedans. it would give you more to work with, and if its not perfect, the better!!

I am helping my brother hot rod a '29 Ford Tudor... Chopped 5.5 inches, channeled 4.5 inches, z'd frame, ford nine inch rear, (SBC 383)... Coming along nicely...

Like mentioned earlier LOTS of parts availability... He got the body for $800...

Like I alluded to, I don't think he's a big hot-rod guy. That said, I know he would get a huge kick out of a late 20s-early 30s Ford or something similar. Thanks everyone for the input, Im getting a lot more feedback here than the other forums I've asked.

Also, for whatever its worth, while my dad doesn't have a lot of experience building hot-rods or the high-performance versions of old cars that most people on this site (including myself) are into, he's veeerry capable of doing just about anything as far as a restoration goes. He's restored my mustang, a 65 six-banger, an old plymouth wayfarer, a mercedes turbodiesel, 85 vette... something like 10-15 actual restorations since he's been married to my mom (24 years).

Unless its something huge, he always insists on doing it himself (and drives his blood pressure up a bunch I'm sure, trying to keep all these older cars on life support instead of plopping cash down on something new ). So projects that aren't for the novice aren't out of the question (though projects where parts are impossible to find probably are).

 

[zookeeper]

Well, a model A has wood throughout the body as well.

I too would suggest the Fiberglass route, unless you're looking to do a full restoration, if so, find the most complete, put together car you can.

While it's true that Model A's have wood tack strips for the top and upholstery, the body doesn't depend soley on wood for it's rigidity. As anyone who's ever seen the innards of an early '30's Chevy and they'll tell you the same. The entire body is literally wood and the sheetmetal is little more than a decoration. They are in no way even remotely the same as a Ford.

 

[Tony R]

I know a couple of old timers that are into restoring old tractors. I dont know what the resale is but you can find them for a decent price. I dont know about after market parts either.