Shoebox Ford
Latest news...
At this time the shoebox is back up on jackstands... well Quickjacks to be precise! We are currently working on an all new suspension build that should give us some serious adjustment and performance. Videos will begin in early 2022 on this next stage of the build!
2 years wrapped into 1 video
All roads led us to this; our first proper feature and wrap of the 2 years of building Jake's 1950 Ford Custom (shoebox). Enjoy!
1950 Ford Custom
"Shoebox" is a term given the 1949-1951 Ford cares because, well, they are shaped like shoeboxes. The Ford cars from this era were the first of their kind by breaking away from the removable fenders used up to that point. Ford made these sleek "slab-sided" cars called the Ford Custom. The Custom came in several variants; business coupe, tudor and fordor. These terms can be a little confusing by modern standards where coupe and sedan are used to identify how many doors a car has, but back in this era a sedan could actually have 2 doors and is referred to as a "Tudor".
The Dad Mods Ford Custom was purchased from a lovely older couple who lived in rural Iowa. The car is mostly original and had a light resto done about 20 years ago. This family owned the car for over 30 years so they knew every little detail of what was done to upkeep the car and what it needed.
The shoebox is powered by a Flathead V8 8BA. This is a 239cu valve-in-block engine! In 1932 Ford debuted the flathead engine which in many ways revolutionized Ford's development. In a pursuit to push performance to the next levels Ford rolled out the Flathead V8. This particular flatty is all original (to a fault), which resulted in a tow roughly 50 miles from Duluth on it's maden voyage home. After we dug into it further we discovered collapsed points and very poor electrical connections/grounds.
We take you on a small journey when Jake and Donnie travel to purchase the 1950 Ford in this video!
Episode #5 of the shoebox series
In this episode you can watch us go through the process of trying powerplants, some successful and some not successful...
... in the end we land with a solid drivetrain for us to begin the drivetrain build! Much more to come!
Re-engineering the front end
In 1949 Ford unveiled the latest update in suspension technology with the king-pin spindles. At the time this was a game-changer as these cars rode smoother and steered easier. They utilized anti-sway bars and a were said to be so easy to drive that anyone can do it.
Fast forward 70 years later and this technology has since been surpassed many times over by newer designs each pushing the benchmark further. And in many cases the original steering has aged and the steering boxes often have massive slop. Jake's shoebox is precisely that; slop.
After a great deal of research and consulting it was determined that a front clip swap was a necessity to bring this car up to date. It was decided that a S10 clip was the best cost-to-benefit platform to graft on.
Take a look below for all our current episodes on this build!
Episode 1 of the build begins!
In Episode 1 we kick things off with an introduction to the anticipated build of Jake's 1950 Ford. We tear the car down and prep for major changes! Stay tuned for Episode 2 where we show viewers how we chop the front end and do a clip swap.
S10 Clip Swap
You ever took a sawzall to the front end of a classic car? Yeah before this, we hadn't either but there's only one way to learn and that is to research it then dive in.
In this upload we show you how we did the whole front clip swap and what it takes to add 60 years of engineering to a classic car.