It used to be borderline sinful to hot rod a rare car. Restorers would spend years haunting swap meets and junk yards looking for the missing bits and pieces needed to bring a graveyard reject back from the dead. Unfortunately, scarcity of parts and the outrageous costs of a full restoration have made that decision much more moral. When you purchase a truck like this 1936 Ford sedan delivery, found on eBay in windswept Medicine Hat, Alberta, you really don’t have a lot of choices. The good news on this rough ride is that there still seem to be a lot of mechanical brake and factory suspension pieces that you could sell to a restorer. With a starting bid of $7,000, I hope restorers are willing to pay a premium for those parts! Thanks to reader Adam C for the Ford find!
Right off the bat, you need to know that the engine, transmission, and radiator are long gone. It was found in an old barn, and the seller believes that it is in very good condition for the year. It is also stated in the ad that the car comes with a very nice grill and good (hood) sides. Beauty is truly in the eye of the title holder.
Realistically, most of the fairly rare body itself is in good condition. The fenders and the hood sides can be replaced. Why part of the louvers are missing is a mystery. These are stamped into the hood side and are not separate pieces. The running boards are a bit rusty and tweaked, but you can get replacements for these with the rubber covering already molded on. The front wheels and hubs are still factory original, but the passenger rear hub looks strange for some reason.
The lower rear section appears to be a Bondo clad train wreck. The missing bumper is probably part of the problem. Chances are that this was a farm truck, and at least one driver came from the “back ’till you bump” driving school. Between replacing the rusted metal and straightening what is left, plan on some time and a lot of cash for an experienced metal man. At least the irreplaceable door looks to be in good shape except for what looks to be a missing spare tire mount. Anyone got any guesses?
Inside is the yin of an existing dash and gauges and the yang of a Flintstones floor and a missing windshield frame. Floor pans can be found for these trucks, as they were basically more car than truck. However, replacing them would be no easy task and fairly expensive. The steering wheel looks very restorable, and the doors don’t appear to be in bad shape either. There is definitely enough to work with.
And that is the story on this Ford in a nutshell: enough to work with. Flathead Fords and their transmissions are plentiful and can be had at a bargain if you look hard enough. The radiator, however, will cost you a pretty penny. In fact, all of the little bits and pieces on this truck that are either decomposed or missing altogether will add up quickly. Would hot rodding it be cheaper? I guess that depends on how far you went down the money hole. I think a mild period rod with 1940 Ford juice brakes, a later 24 stud flathead, and a T-5 conversion as a transmission with a banjo rear end wouldn’t break the bank too much.
Would you restore this truck or make it into a street rod?
I love to see something like this roll out of a barn. Looks like it started out as a Wedgewood Blue, one of the nicest finishes for 1936. You will quickly get upside down making this once beautiful cargo hauler into something great.
I sure wouldn’t blame the resto-mod crowd for taking this to the moon. Myself, it’s worth a full restoration. Too rare for anything else. I can agree with the later flathead, and I would use one until I could find an original version. This one would’ve been on the transition between poured babbit mains and precision. The vast majority of them were updated by the 50s. Even my ’35 and spare engine have the newer block. I might add that a flathead can keep pace with modern traffic quite easily…..
Considering most of the main elements appear to be intact on this `36, I’d fully restore it. The number of repo parts available for these is a serious help, and being car-based and not truck based, it would make for one sweet “Bakery” truck at any given car show! I picture this in a cream with green wheels, trim rings/caps, deluxe chrome front end, and a proper interior.
I think you may be on to something, there. When looking up images for resto-mod panel trucks, there seems to be more images pf people doing like you say, making an original delivery truck with their name on it. Maybe there’s hope for this one too.
It ain’t fully restored with a chrome front end.
I have never been one to rat rod a classic, but this one I would restore and make it into a ambulance for car shows. Now wouldn’t that be the talk of the show to see!!!!
All of the above, as long as it doesn’t get chopped and channeled, no harm now foul. Who ever buys this, my hope is they are experts at body restoration. Once the original bones are saved then the skys the limit.
Okay, I’m a ’32, ’36, ’40 guy, have owned quite a few of them over the decades in a variety of body styles. Yes, these are rare, but for whatever the strange reason(s), they haven’t been particularly desirable. To a few, yes, to the bulk of the hobbyists in this segment, not so much. This one has the added disadvantages of remote location and poor condition.
Jeff, the rear hubs you called into question are often referred to as “Rocky Mountain” brake drums, though Ford didn’t call them that. Presumably the openings in the face allowed extra air flow for cooling, thus the name. Model T aftermarket suppliers had such a product for just that reason under that nomenclature, so the name stuck. Not a correct call out, but understood by those in the know as a reference.
Probably the key missing part unique to the sedan delivery is the rear bumper, and that is where the “rare” raises it’s ugly head. They be difficult to find and correspondingly pricey. No spare mount on the door was offered, those holes are probably a previous owner’s attempt to mount a license plate and light. Calling either of those grilles “Very” nice is seller hype, though the one off the car is very savable as far as we can see. Unfortunately the bottom is important to full evaluation and doesn’t show on my screen. The other key is if it’s a factory original piece as the Argentine repops didn’t fit well.
With less than half a day left on the auction with no bids it doesn’t look good for the advertiser.
It sure is a money pit .But some people have more money than brains ))
a cleveland a top loader and a 9 inch. nuf said
You can take “Uncle Bob’s” comments to the bank, he knows early Fords!
Gracias, you are very kind sir.
I would be torn between to restore it to ” as built” to a mild ” custom” nothing outrageous small V/8 chrome wheels paint to be decided some sort of logo on the side but, it DOES need a lot of work good luck to whomever buys it
Yep Uncle Bob pretty much on the money….great that it survived and didn’t get cut in half for a storage shed.
Can you say Offenhauser? Wait, can I?
So many possibilities with this one, I love sedan deliveries and I love this early style. Ford Coupes of this era command top dollar, yet a similar body style for a Pontiac, Chevy, Plymouth or Dodge is a fraction of the price. (I know, I have a 39 Dodge coupe and a 39 Plymouth coupe, sold my 37 Plymouth and my 37 Pontiac coupe).
I have never seen vehicles from the Canadian mid west do well at all. Same with motorcycles. Id hate to haul this that far and you would REALLY want to have it bad to go that far.
Now,, if it was located near LA Calif or Bay area,,,?? That would be a different story. Bidding would be hot on this.
But just love the style of this one.
Definitely hot rod material!
“…if it was located near LA Calif or Bay area…”
it would already have paint, interior’n drivetrain
8^0
Considering how flatheads overheated, I would suggest the hood side louvres were cut out to keep it cool.