1949 Ford Custom, Tudor

Custom Two door

239 Flathead V8

Manual

Clear

Gasoline

What you are looking at and going to read about is a true Montana survivor. Throughout the country car shows are increasingly offering a “Survivor” category. These are cars with faded paint, worn interiors, scratched chrome, cloudy glass, etc. but it must be the original paint and chrome, the original interior and the original power train. This is such a car. This little 1949 Ford Custom two door (Tudor) came off a ranch in Central Montana, where it was forty miles of dirt and gravel road to the city of Lewistown. Legend has it the rancher bought it for his wife, who did not care much for the car. They drove it for a few years and then he sat it aside. It must have sat partly inside a shed with the front end exposed to and baked by the Montana sun for a few years; hence the beautiful sun fading, which some call “patina”. As the legend continues, it was later put in the machine shop where it sat for over 40 years. I bought the car from the guy, who bought it from the guy, who bought it from the original family. The car is like a time capsule. MECHANICAL - It has its original 239 CID Flathead V8 and 3 speed running gear. The car starts and runs smoothly. The clutch operates correctly, and the car goes through all three gears just fine. It drives down the highway like a new car. The odometer read 15,789 miles when I bought it, It now reads 15,993. Last year on my frontage road the speedometer went whirr, whirr ker sprang, or maybe it was squawk, squawk, ker sprang and quit. I have probably put an additional 20 miles on it. The first thing I did was to completely rebuild the brakes. Also, under my watch I rebuilt the carburetor and added a new fuel pump. I did a complete engine, transmission and differential gear and oil change and lubed the car in accordance with the Ford service manual, which I will include. I forgot to lube the speedometer cable. BODY - The sheet metal is in fantastic condition. There is virtually no rust in the body, (see pictures). However, the trunk has rust, (see picture). There are three options for the trunk, you can leave it alone, MACs and other vendors sell correct patch panels for the truck or you can just weld in flat 18 gage sheet metal. If you have ever worked on these old cars, you know floor and trunk rust is the best kind to have, and easiest to repair. The car has its original paint; there is evidence of some body repair on the driver’s quarter panel, if you look closely, and apparently the hood flew up at some time as there are crinkles at the rear corners of the hood. The car was badly faded when I bought it. I went around it three times with a buffer, first with heavy cut compound, then polish and scratch remover, and finally Turtle Wax. With the patina and other blemishes, it makes a great car show example of a survivor. It still has all five original wheels color matched to the car to include the spare, original hub caps and beauty rings. The tires, while not new. have hardly any ware. Most amazing of all, here in Montana with 85% of our roads still being gravel, the car has all of its original glass, crack free, still with its original Ford logos. I have had people at car shows try to buy the back in the day front bumper guard. If I were to keep this car, I would leave the body exactly as it is now. I, like some car show judges, feel they are worth more with original paint and chrome including 69 years of dents, scratches, blemishes, and patina than one which is repainted and re-chromed. INTERIOR - Every aspect of the interior is just like it was when it went into storage. The front seat, headliner, and floor covering have the most ware and damage. You could replace the material on the front seat or do as I did, put a throw over the damage for car shows. As the 1949 Ford was the first new post WWII car, Ford added a futuristic touch in that they put a little art deco jet race car emblem in the center of trim. The same jet race car is on both original ignition and trunk keys. They may not come out very well, but I have included (pictures of each). For its day it was a highly optioned car – radio, clock, heater and cigarette lighter. The cigarette lighter still works as does the heater blower motor, also the horn and most of the gages. The wipers try to work, the brake lights work for daylight driving, but the running lights do not.. PAYMENT, DISCLAIMERS, STORAGE, and TRANSDPORTTION - I require a nonrefundable deposit of $500.00 within 48 hours of sale and the remainder prior to me sending you the title. I prefer bank to bank transfer or cash in person. Please only the initial $500 by PayPal, because of their 3% surcharge, unless you are willing to pay that fee. Well I have tried to represent the little car as honestly and accurately as I can. Please read my narrative in its entirity, and please look closely at the pictures. The car is sold as is, where is, and with no guarantee or warrantee implied or specified. I am very proud of my 100% feedback rating and will answer questions. I will post some of them so that others may benefit. If you have less than 10 bid history, or have some negative feedback, please contact me so I can be sure of your sincerity and ability to pay, or I will cancel your bid. I will help you with your shipping in any way I can. I would rather not store the car very long because of worry of liability and responsibility. Well thank you for looking at my 1949 survivor and good luck in your bidding. On May-07-18 at 07:51:46 PDT, seller added the following information: Addendum: 07 May 2018 - If you think you would be interested in repairing the seat with original material, I will leave in the car samples that I obtained from MACs and LeBaron Bonney Also in looking over my ad, I think I used the wrong word twice, it should have been wear not ware.