We see all manner of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other forms of transportation on Barn Finds. However, you would have to look back a long way in our archives to find a vehicle with not only no drivetrain but no wheels as well. The good news is that the missing major pieces may be easy to find for this 1936 Ford roadster for sale on eBay in Winchester, Indiana. This black primer-clad and trussed-up body is currently missing every single piece of its drivetrain along with nearly all of its interior. While this beautiful body is one of Ford’s finest styling achievements, the new owner will have to patiently collect the needed pieces over time to get this Ford back on the road in a reasonable amount of time. With bidding sitting at $7,100, is this a golden opportunity to put a beautiful roadster in your garage one piece at a time?
The seller is rather vague in telling us that this is the ultimate start for a person wanting to build an epic all-steel 1936 Ford roadster. We are further told that the hard work is done and now it is ready for a floor, drivetrain, and suspension. All of that appears to be accurate. However, where are all the missing parts and pieces? Usually, a project like this has all the old parts, as they were saved while the builder butchered up an original car to make a hot rod.
The good news here is that hot rod builders have created a seemingly never ending supply of stock drivetrain parts for prewar Ford. Places like the HAMB and Facebook Marketplace are filled with the bits and pieces required to put this car back on the road if you want to go the stock route. Given that this car hasn’t been cut up and the lines are so achingly gorgeous on 1936 Ford roadsters, this seems to be the most prudent way to go.
The trick is finding anything roadster-specific. Patience would probably also be an attribute you would need, as it will take a while to find it all. Heavy parts like a used motor, rear end, front axle, and other stuff over the 70-pound USPS weight limit would be best sourced locally. Other pieces, like a wiring harness and a convertible top and side curtains, can be ordered. The chrome trim for the sides? Good luck.
The biggest frustration would be tracking down all those little parts and pieces that will drive you nuts. Reproduction parts for these cars are usually made by one supplier, then sold to the others. No one company manufactures all of the parts. You will have to order what you can from each company based on price, sign up for backorders on the parts that are not in stock, and use the Ford parts book (commonly called “the Green Bible”) to figure out just what you need after that. It would be a big, annoying job, but what a car you could have when you finish.
Would you ever take on a project like this? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
If I were younger and more flush with cash, I’d love to take this on. It looks as if it should come in a box with “Revell” printed on it.
As Jeff says, all the parts one would need to complete this are out there, somewhere. Hitting the swap meets and a run to the big to-do at Hershey later in the year should provide more than a head start.
If it was mine, it would go back to original. Well, maybe a set of aluminum heads and a manifold with three Stromberg 97s, but other than that, it’d stay like it came from the factory.
There’s fiberglass for hot-rodders, Original sheet metal is finite.
Somebody wanted it…sold.
What I like ready to drive home or drive on a trailer
“Ended by the seller because there was an error in the listing” from EBay.
OMWwwrrroRD would i a loved to build that ! !
mmmm, i was havin visionz
just as happy to find it as to see it sold
what an
AWESOME Barn Finds !
and that 67 to start with
dammm theres some fine machines on here today
Its a beauté… I like the 36 Ford lines and a rag top is just cooler. I would paint it Mr Fords fave color…. drop a Coyote drive train….. go to a fave Machine and custom builder 3xW dot Cornfieldcustoms dot com by me to get a built suspension to put underneath…. Then drive it like I stole it…
I might take advantage of the Coyote power occasionally but too nice of a car to get silly in.
I remember a couple of rodders looking at my original Citroen Traction Avant and one observing that he “would take two, two and a half inches off the top”, I wanted to take that same amount off his tongue.
I’m a purist. If I had huge $$ I would want it just the way it rolled off the line.
I’m no expert on these cars but have always loved them. Very cool look. I had a chance to bid on a Roadster once but could afford the top bid so I had to drop out. BUT one thing that I noticed about the Roadster VS the Cabriolet was the windshield and the rumble seat. This looks like a Cab and not a Roadster. Am I right? The windshield posts look wrong to me and no rumble seat?