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The very first thing I did after getting Baby home was to order new tires from Coker Tire. They have the best selection of vintage tire sizes. I could have gotten a set from Taiwan for almost half the money, but of nowhere near the same quality and support as Coker. Their whitewall tires are consistent in width and are true whitewalls, not white paint on a black tire. This isn't a commercial, it's just an appreciation for quality. I also take tires seriously, and won't risk my life or the life of my vehicles on cheap junk. For those of you who buy cheap junk tires and experience good results and now find yourself oddly offended personally by my statements, you'll be fine. It's just one man's opinion on tires. Carry on.
But before the tire truck showed up, I got the car up on the lift to take some pictures of the undercarriage as it was when I got it. Actually, It won't look much different when I'm ready to sell, since there isn't really much to do!
The old whitewalls were Goodyear tires no longer available for purchase, but date coded pre-2000. Definitely time for new shoes.
I was interested to note the "R" and "L" on the front drums, the multiple tracings indicating they have probably been turned a time or two. The brakes are functioning very well, however, so since its not broke, I won't fix it.
The hubs under the center caps show full and clean with grease, as if someone has been caring about this car.
The entire underneath of the car is coated by a protective undercoating. It was a common practice for cars destined for northern use to protect the car from premature corrosion cause by salted winter roads. In this case, it perhaps wasn't really necessary, since this particular car was a convertible and in Minnesota not too many folks spend the winter driving without a roof. Most people who own convertibles up here, park them inside all winter, which it seems was the fate of this car. Everything underneath is free of the dreaded rot, which is so cool to see. The undercoating may have been overkill, but it resulted in an even better car than one might expect.
This tag on the Ford 9 inch rear end indicates a 3.00:1 ratio. Great for highway cruising, ask me how I know.
What we are looking at here is the blue filter housing which hangs beneath the fuel pump right next to the oil filter. Ultimately, this pump gave up the ghost and was replaced after only 100 miles into my ownership. That's one reason I drive every car as much as possible. I want to flesh out as many problems as I can before passing a great car on to the next caretaker.
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