Hi all, my name is Jon and I live in the pacific northwest. I took full ownership of my '71 W-30 several years back. My mom and dad bought it brand new in early '71 after the deal fell through on a '71 convertible Judge that they ordered due to the autoworkers strike.

The car is still in it's stock form. It was my moms daily driver until the mid 90's. My dad passed on at an early age in '87 and it took me that long to get her into something with a bit better gas mileage. On his passing it was in his will to receive his 1932 model A Ford. My mom asked me if I would rather have that or the Olds when she was ready to let it go. Well you all know the answer to that.

I had more history with my dad working on the Olds than with the Ford so the choice was easy. In reality this car holds no dollar value to me, it is far more memories as in wrenching with my father and many family road trips with a full back seat (2 sisters). I was 12 years old at the time of the cars purchase.

Car documentation (what does this really mean) - all paperwork and such is in a folder in a file cabinet, but it is all in my head anyway.

My youngest son (I have two) is about to start his last year at UW and it is time to do some work on this car. The car has never been abused other than the 20+ years it was used to stop all the other cars doors at the Safeway, shopping mall, bowling ally and restaurant's.

My dad and I rebuilt the engine around '83. I am going to start here and yard it out and freshen it up a bit (I guess I do need to pull the file as some of the specs for that rebuild are now faded in my grey matter).

Part of my dilemma is the car body - it is only original once, but it really does need some work, as well as the drivers seat.
So yes, some sort of restoration is due.

My head is full of a thousand thoughts, so I hope this didn't jump around to badly.

My mom passed on in 2003. The "JMJ" in my user ID are her initials. She did put her foot down many a time in it.

The car is Viking w/black stripes and blue inside and it does have a third pedal.



Jon

 

Welcome. That is a beautiful car and one that is special and one that you could not replace. Your Mom had to be a cool lady to drive the car as a driver that long. You will probably get a lot of different answers as to whether to restore it or not. If it were mine, I would probably freshen up the interior, fix the rust and put a nice paint job on it. Of course do anything it needs mechanically paying special attention to the brakes. Then I would drive it some and enjoy it. If you go and do a frame off you will probably be afraid to drive it. That is just what I would do. You may want to do a frame off and keep it as a tribute to your parents. Good luck with this special car and keep us posted. By the way, a 32 Ford was not a Model A. The last Model A was in 1931.

 

Nice Ride..... Welcome Aboard !

 

Thank you much. I have to say I am sure she had a very strong left leg. Yes the frame off has crossed through my head over and over.

Yes have heard the Model A statement before, but there were a few 1932 Model A 5 window coupes built from left over '31 parts, the Deuce coupe was a 3 window.
At least that was my dads answer.

 

Drive it just the way it is!

Ask Stick31 or dnmfranco how cool it is to drive a survivor

 

Welcome to this site! You will find a lot of great people here who will provide quality answers to your questions. If I were you, I would do the same thing as redoldsman recommended. You have an investment, not just a car, and it would be a good thing to keep your investment as fresh as you can!

My story is similar to yours. I got my dad's '68 4-4-2 convertible that he bought at an Olds dealership as a demo when the car was a year old. It stayed in the family ever since and, with a fresh restoration during the period 2005-2007, it's like a new car now.

My dad passed away last December and when he did, I inherited his 1931 Ford Model A. I've posted a couple of pictures below.

Where abouts in the PACNW are you? There are a lot of classicolds people on this site from here!

Randy C.

 

Nice rig!

 

Welcome aboard.
Great story and good luck with the resto.

 

Welcome to CO. Great car, unrestored & one family ownership make it a rare sight. A couple hundred pics please!! Did it always have the "all chrome" SSIs (also a by-product of the UAW strike)? Can you share the body tag/build date info?

 

The 32 Model B was a 4 cylinder and pretty much used the Model A driveline. Ford offered a 5 window and a 3 window coupe in 1932 with the 3 window coupe having suicide doors. I know the V-8 was available in all body styles but I am not sure about the Model B. They all had that beautiful radiator shell though.

 

Nice car, nice story welcome to CO.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome from NC. Nice car and a great story. Restore it to the level that you will be happy with but above all else drive it! I had a car that was too nice to drive once. After about 5 years of seeing it sit in the garage I started taking it out.........I had been missing the best part of what that car had to offer.

 

Thanks again.

RC - yes very similar including being very close to home, which is about 30 mi north Puyallup, I grew up in Tacoma and the car was bought at Russ Dunmire.

hurst68 - yes on the ss1's. what specific numerals and vin location do you wish to know, and please tell me what this is going to tell you specifically.

Yes this car (as all cars were meant to be) will be driven and not babied. I disagree with collectors making ART out of them. Just like my '66 hunk of GM fiberglass, if Chevrolet didn't want me to use all 427 cubic inches they would not have stuffed it under the hood.

Jon

 

I was just in your neck of the woods last week for the Good Guys show.
Which I will now be going to every year. Was your Vette (I assume by your 427 fiberglass Chev) there? There were so many Vettes and 427's I was speechless.

It's great to be a car guy in the NW!

 

Jon,

I followed (stalked, lol) you here from QW. Can't wait to follow this story. Still need the matching Vista Cruiser with allroad underpinnings…

Russ

 

My uncle remembers a gold/white interior/white stripe '71 W25 442 4-spd car in the showroom of a local Olds dealership - later it was regularly seen around town with a female driver - fast forward ~40 years & a number of owners, he now owns the car w/o any dealer/factory paperwork. It is wearing the "all chrome" 14x7.0" SSIs VS. the normal trim ring versions. He is in the process of a frame-off restoration.

It is my understanding that due to the UAW strike, trim ring (w/satin spokes) SSIs were in short supply at some point during the '71 model year. To remedy this situation, Oldsmobile purchased 14x7.0" "MAGNUM 500s" (w/bright spokes) off-the-shelf from Motor Wheel Corp. (same manufacturer that produced SSIs) to keep the assembly lines moving. I recall seeing a specific number of cars built with "all chrome" wheels & from memory it was a number < 300. If this info is accurate, then the time frame that "all chrome" SSIs appeared on '71 cars would be very date specific. A picture of the body tag or the 3-digit build week info would be sufficient. I thought I had pics of my uncle's 442/tag/etc., but I can't find them. I'll see if I can get the same info this weekend.

Got an original spare wheel & tire and/or any vintage pics?

 

Beautiful ride! As you stated, it is only original once.

 

Welcome, nice looking ride.

 

Yeah Russ that VC you showed me back then was a very very nice car.

I am thinking you will need to be watching this post for quite some time.

First, will be to pull the engine, after it is out I am not sure how far to go with it, I still need to dig up the specs from back when my day and I pulled it out and had it gone through, back before he passed away. The builder has done a few engines for me and several of my friends. My history goes years further back than that though. Oddly enough he was a school mate of my moms. He is now 76 and still thoroughly enjoys what he does. Also I went to school with his oldest son starting in kindergarten. So since it was my moms car and him going through it once already I would like him to freshen it and maybe a bit more.

 

I am not so certain my vette should be at that show, yes if it were a hot rod but not basically stock like it is. I was at the Friday night Good Guys Drags with a couple buddies, we has a great time and will be there next year.

 

I just went out get a pic for you, but I have a car up on my lift and I can't get a good shot where it is sitting at the moment.

Jon

 

Great history and nice ride!
Hard choice to make.....I would definitely spend as much time behind the wheel as possible!

Ted

 

SO jealous –*yes, I'll be checking in!

 

That car is so sleek... love that color scheme, too. I'm new as well, but welcome to the site!

 

The hood is off, but it will sit like this for a while. I wanted to get the engine out before my surgery.

Two weeks ago today I had rotator cuff surgery, recovery will be a few months. So that is where I am at at this time. Dang.

Jon

 

From another northwester. Great story and a great Olds