Dez' 'fleet' thread. Another bl00dy transit!

So, No.1.


I’ve had this thing forever and built and rebuilt it so many times. I originally bought it in about 2003 I think? Threw most of it away and rebuilt. There was a huge thread on here about it but photobucket killed that.
Don’t think I’ll ever sell it, had it too long.
It’s currently Y-block powered through a mustang t-10 into a ford 9”, with a original 50s offenhauser 3x2 manifold. The whole thing is rare and cool parts Hoarded over 20 years in the business, and it’s largely all original parts rather than repro. Buick finned brakes, 30s dodge artillery wheels, entirely scratch built suspension and chassis based around model A and 30s ford bits. Stock-ish 1928 model A sedan body except for the 5” chop and 5” channel, and 30-31 visor.



It was almost finished up all
Nice, the fully painted and detailed chassis awaiting the body being done.
It got damaged in the fire though, luckily the body was in a storage container but the back of the chassis was badly Burned. Wrote off a 9” axle, a pair of rare wheels, a model A spring, some irreplaceable seats and a grands worth of tyres. But the motor and box were almost entirely unscathed, and the front end only has a bit of paint damage.

There’s a resurrection thread here-
forum.retro-rides.org/thread/214453/1928-ford-model-sedan-resurrection

But safe to say the keeping of this one is non-negotiatable, I’ve even managed to hang onto it when homeless in the past.

2. 1948 Chevy fleetmaster. Well, it was once.

This one has a bit of a story. It starts sept 2016 with the wolftruck. I got this offered this for free, only had to pay for the gearbox in it.


It was totally rust free and had one dent in it. The bed was immaculate, it has been ply lined from new. It had had some bits robbed off it though, mostly interior and handbrake parts.

By the following February it didn’t have wolves on, the head gasket had gone and I’d fixed it, it was on the road with missing bits replaced and I was bored of it.


On a total whim I offered it as a swap for a 1948 Chevy fleetmaster that was at the opposite side of the country. A week or so later I had a fleetmaster but not an S10. The other party did all the legwork.





Still not entirely sure if that was a good move or not, I do miss the s10 but it’s a bit late to worry about that now.

The fleetmaster was part restored, fairly solid, almost complete and had loads of nice bits with it like a really Good dash, original seats, and all the trim. It was a 216ci that turned over but didn’t run.



I usually wouldn’t touch a 4door, but The plan was a bombitas style lowrider, stock body but very low with all the accessories. The fire put paid to that though. I lost the dash, most of the trim, all the new chrome id bought and all the interior. I basically had a rolling shell with a motor with bits missing.

So i said f-k it and did this-

Chopped, 2doored, different fade-away bootlid so it didn’t look like a Morris minor. Basically went full Kustom.

A bit further down the line and it’s gained a Buick steering wheel, shoebox dash, 53 olds bumpers and grille, a late model 235ci Chevy six out of a truck(that’s been bored and decked ready to build), twin carbs and split manifolds, a Saginaw 4spd box and a ranger back axle, amongst other things.









Build thread-
forum.retro-rides.org/thread/212881/1948-chevy-full-kustom-project


The problem with this car is it’s place in my fleet is contentious. It’s far to close in overall build to no.3 on the list, which came first and I bought because I specifically wanted that vehicle. Although this one is further through it’s build now. This has evolved through circumstance into something different to what I intended, albeit a very cool car in its own right, but I am sort of forcing myself to choose between this and the next car on the list, and failing to do so.

To me, the Shoebox is a much cooler car to start with.

But the way they sit right now, I think the Chevy is ahead.

Because of what has already been done on it.

Making a choice on which one to keep would be tricky...


Also, having worked on both ( a '46 Sedan Delivery, and several Shoeboxes ) panel gap , etc. seemed a lot nicer on the Ford...

You'll just have to keep both, it's the only answer. The Chevy is in the lead for me, the work you've done on it and the transformation from what it was to now is quite remarkable, but then I'm a bit bias because as nice as the Shoebox is, they don't do much for me.

Rather you than me on deciding which one to keep, all the same, that's a tough call.

No.s 4 and 5 are easy to cover, as they’ve already been dealt with.

I went through a stage of hoarding ALL the 38-ish ford stuff that came up for sale a few years back. I was just buying up stuff cheap and stacking it up to make complete cars. At one point I had an almost complete sedan, a complete truck, and an extra cab.


In a fit of common sense after the fire, I sold a load of stuff off, including the spare cab which went to Switzerland, an entire flat-pack package of pickup body parts with a complete chassis and a front beam that went to a serial project non-finisher and half of which is now on eBay, and the entire sedan body package that went to wales and was sold on again shortly after.

This left me with another chassis that had also been flat packed, with some spares-


And a selection of running gear/axles that were more year correct for ‘36 than ‘38. This lot will reappear later....

But I’d crossed two off the list! Go me!

That list of parts and serial non finisher sound familiar! Constant wanted and for sale ads on the NSRA site?

Nice collection of cars/parts.

I'd keep the Chevy as it's a one-off. The Shoebox can be replaced with another, especially as you haven't done the chop yet and want to tidy up a lot of other stuff.

Moving on so quickly was what’s helped me deal with it so well. The longer something like that takes the worse it is and the more it effects you.

I see what you’re saying. Collecting the correct combo of parts again would be a ballache though.