Some cars just need to be restored, while others are prime candidates for hot or rat rodding. In the case of this 1934 Ford 5-Window Tudor, it’s hard to decide what to do with it. It doesn’t appear to have ever been modified, but it sure is rough. And that’s where the real dilemma is. If it were complete and rust, it would absolutely demand a full restoration, as you simply don’t find unmodified examples anymore. Between the missing drivetrain and the rust issues though, it seems like it would be more cost-effective to go the custom route. So, which would it be for you? Let’s take a closer look and decide! You can find this Ford here on eBay in Wylie, Texas with a $6,800 BIN and the option to make an offer.
As already stated, this thing is rusty. The floors are pretty much gone. It’s hard to tell if the frame is solid from photos, but hopefully, it isn’t as decayed as the floors. On the upside, you can get just about every part to fix this one. And you are going to need a lot of parts to fix this one.
Since the engine and transmission are gone, you’ll either need to track down an original V8 drivetrain or find a suitable replacement. The original flathead V8 was a substantial improvement over the outgoing 4-cylinder, but was still only good for 85 horsepower. A modern V8 would produce considerably more power while also being a lot easier to find.
There’s a lot of work to be done here, but you don’t come across unmodified 5-window that often. While it’s rough, it won’t be impossible to restore. Of course, it might be more cost-effective to go the custom route, but in the end, it’s going to be up to the next owner to decide what will be the best option for this one. So, what would you do with this Ford Tudor?
Not a coupe, it’s a Tudor sedan
Thanks for catching that!
It has also been modified at some point. The swing brake pedal at one time was through the toe board to operate the brake rods below. This car has hydraulic brakes from a later model.
Way to much money when you factor in the price of a new frame.
Just buy this fully restored 33 Tudor for 30K and enjoy it immediately.
See attached link:
https://tinyurl.com/ybcn6fgd
The floor concerns me!! I would be a little hesitant to take the body off the frame without welding some cross braces in!! Seem to me like a good hotrod considering most everything is gone like the interior and gauges!! Chop the top 3 inches and keep it a hiboy with some meaty tires in the back with a V-8 and standard transmission!!!
I’m with Tim. Not enough left to restore but the body itself on a new frame with Tim’s ideas and you might have something.
My thoughts exactly. Makes me wanna build a Ron Weeks tribute car out of it. To
this day, I can still Mr. weeks’s chopped ’34 Tudor as it rumbled down the street in
front of the Fox Theater in Peoria, Illinois
50 years ago next month. The car was
running a blown 394 Olds V-8 mated to a
Turbo 400 gearbox. It quite literally shook the ground beneath me as it passed by me by. It’s hard believe that he
drove the car from his home in Norwalk,
California to Peoria and home again. I
would read later in Rod & Custom Magazine cost him over $500 in fuel costs for the round trip to the first
annual Street Rod Nationals and back. Bear in mind that this was in 1970 money,
so just think how much that little jaunt
would cost today! If this car were mine,
I’d use a 231 GM V-6 mated to a 700R4
tranny for a drivetrain, add 4-wheel disc
brakes along with 4-wheel independent
suspension. The 231 is cheap to run and
is very reliable. Add some slotted mag rims and some big meats, and you have a winner. And while it’s not the thundering
’34 I’d seen as a young motorhead, it would be good enough for me.
Most definitely a Tudor sedan. Not a bad project although for a purist you might be better off trying to find something more complete. I’m a purist restorer but I also recognize some cases where you are given a project like this and you realize that the sky is the limit. Resto-rod with a warmed over Mercury flathead. Some really good gauge combinations you could install with a lot less hassle than trying to find an original one, and THEN fix it. I sure wouldn’t chop it just the same. Definitely have to replace the floors. Modernize it but keep the original lines. These were great cars but too many of them fell victims to a butcher’s torch…
I’d make a restomod out of it. I’d put a 300 six cylinder in it ( ford ) with a 5 speed trans and a 9” rear axle. I’d put disc brakes in it as well. The rest of it I’d go bone stock. I’m always amused by guys that worry about frame rust, this rust would only show up in a few places and could be repaired by a good welder fabricator. As for the floor it’s just sheet metal nothing to complex about fixing that either. The wrench in the gears is the price $1k tops for this heap of smouldering donkey dung that’s it.
Look very closely at the frame, a large portion of the bottom of the frame is totally missing and rotted away.
Joe is right, a five foot section of the frame is completely rotted away, see attached image.
https://i.postimg.cc/MG9BrHRg/Frame-Rot.jpg
@Josh…… after all this time ..??? That’s a Sedan, not a Coupe
I’m surprised it didn’t wind up on the sellers YouTube channel. He finds interesting cars.
Steve R
Unfortunately it’s too far gone. Parts for another build maybe, or just strip and sell parts.
God bless America
“Restore Or Hot-Rod?” How about ‘Restore, Hot-Rod or Crime Spree”? This thing screams Bonnie and Clyde to me! As we know, Clyde loved his Ford V8s.
To be specific a sedan is, a 2-door (tudor) ,4-door is a (sedan), coupes are , 3-window or 5-window ,designated by the number of windows, do not count winshield, coupes only have 2-doors. For our next class we will define, roadsters, phaetons, sport coupes, cabroilets, roadster pick-ups and then on to sedan delivery’s and delivery’s. Convertibles will be seperate catagory, as it was not a designation in 34 and we will skip commercial trucks. As you can see the next class, could get a little intense. Stay tooned.
As for this 2-door sedan, the seller needs to get in touch with thr real world, in that world, his price is astronomical.
defiinitely too far gone, by the time your done you will have $30 g,s in it, get a loan from your local credit union and go shopping for a drivable rod. I purchased a 34 2 door sedan for $385.00,rust free, it is almost finished,corvette driveline, ind rear axle,air, power brakes, eldorado power moon roof, $5 grand to paint it, adjustable torsion bars, interior done, my receipts $27 grand…. ps i purchased it in august, 1969, good luck to the new owner, tommyboy in florida