Rolyn & Jan Dey '54 Ford

CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE






1954 Ford Story Rolyn & Jan Dey November 12, 2009 * THE 54 FORD STORY, I’ve always been interested in old cars. Particularly cars of the 50’s & 60’s. Jan and I would stop and look at all the cars whenever a car show was going on. When I was in High School , and Jan and I were going together, I had a 1956 Victoria. It was 2 door hardtop with a 292 C.I. Engine and 3 speed with overdrive. It was solid black with white & black interior and chrome reverse wheels. When I got serious about buying an old car I was looking for a 56 Victoria but never found one in good enough condition I could afford. One day Jan & I stopped by Memory Lane in Portland and saw this 1954 Ford. It was on consignment from a man in Washouglel, WA. I contacted him and he said he was the 3rd owner of the car. He had owned it for 8 years . He said it was bought new in Hillsboro, Or. The 2nd owner lived in Beaverton. The man in Beaverton owned the car from 1972 until 1993 when he sold it to the guy in Washougel. All maintenance records from 1972 were in the glove compartment. Everything that was done to the car including oil changes and service was listed. In the mid 70s he had it painted a lighter green and in 2001 when I purchased it was showing some age with scratches and minor dings. In 1978 he completely rebuilt the engine with new pistons, rings, bearings and had the heads worked over to burn regular gas. He also put in a new radiator core and new brakes. A year later he rebuilt the rear differential and redid the interior. That year he drove the car to Montana and back. When he sold the car in 1993 he had only put 20,000 miles on the rebuilt motor. The man in Washougle purchased the car to customize it but had other projects and never got around to it. In 2001 he was in the middle of restoring a 1959 Chevy Impala and needed money to finish it so decided to sell the Ford. The 8 years he owned the Ford he only put 2,000 miles on the car and kept it inside as did the first and 2nd owners. The car has always been garaged. When dealing on the car I could not find anything basically wrong with it, no signs of rust or leaks anywhere. The only thing I was concerned about was the salesman said it had a miss in the engine when you first started it, but went away when it warmed up. We took it for a drive and I was surprised how well it handled. The original miles on the car was 142,750 and only 22,000 on the overhaul. It wasn’t a 56 but it was so solid I couldn’t turn it down and we made the deal and I drove it home. While driving at highway speeds it had a small vibration and you could see the hood shake a little. The motor compartment was in fair shape but needed new decals on the valve covers. I took the left valve cover off and was surprised to see a push tube on the no.1 cylinder had dropped down in the motor. I took a magnet and fished it out. It was all intact so I put it back in and set the valves, started it up and all vibrations disappeared. It had been running on 7 cylinders. Over the next couple of years I tinkered with the car and made some minor changes to it. The first thing I did was put Petronix electronic points in the distributor and took out the manual points and condenser. It made it a lot faster starting with more spark. The best $45 I ever spent. The rear main seal went out on the way to the Coast and ruined the clutch. I put in a new clutch and new main seal. Later I replaced the fuel pump. I lowered the front end 3 inches and put Cragar Mags and wider tires on it. In early 2004 I got serious about a new paint job, thinking I could get a good one for around $2,000. Get real, my mind wasn’t thinking right at all. I took the car to 3 different paint shops., two of them didn’t want to give me a bid as they said the old cars just took too long and there were always worse than you think when you get into it. The one gave me an estimate of $8,500, that wasn’t firm depending what was found when they got it apart. I decided to try it myself. I did all the body work and primer in my garage. I took the car down to bare metal. Removed all glass and trim. I was lucky the only rust was at a trim bracket at the C pillar. A spot about the size of a dime. I then took the car to a friend of mine, Dave Owen and I talked him into spraying the base coat and clear coats. Dave has his own shop and paint booth. Afterwards I wet sanded it. Then machine polished it and finally did a had rub polish on it. The paint job came out great. It makes me feel good for doing all the hard work, as the car has won a total of 22 trophies to date. The car is all original except the paint, tires and wheels and dual exhaust with glass packs. It is still a 6v electrical system with oil bath air cleaner, original dash and head liner. Everything works on the car including the clock. Some day I would like to change it to 12v and put A 351 Cleveland in it. But for now it runs so well I’ll just enjoy it for a while longer. With some of the horror stories I’ve herd about buying old cars, I feel real lucky to end up with such a solid original car my first time out. It’s not a 56 Vicky but I think I’ll keep it.