56' Vicky Part 1

My latest project a 1956 Ford Victoria, I picked up from Dan. This car basically sat in Dan's back yard since 95 (in a barn for the last year). The tires still held air, so we pushed it up on the trailer and brought it home. now I don't have exactly all the details of it's past, but from 67' to 94 it spent a good chunk of it's life in Kirkland, pre-67 was back here in Yakima.

 This car has done a lot of sitting in the last few decades, with a few runs in that 94 to 95 span. Dan did a good job getting rid of the wasps, but several generations of mice had made their home all over in the car. every nook and cranny for the first 3 weeks were pressure washed every day to knock out the burrows. More cleaning -- find a new set of nests -- more cleaning...... no I'm not surprised, you get into old cars, you have to expect this.

This model was the 292cid Thunderbird special with the 3 on the tree and automatic overdrive 4th gearing system. this was also the year Ford started its safety program, padded dashes (this one did, but was bubbled up and wasted so it was removed), seat belts (not present), double latch door latches, and some others I can't recall. The safety program basically backfired, as the public assumed that safety features meant the car was basically unsafe. I blame this view on what the big 3 did to tucker auto (look it up, or watch the movie).

From the moment this car pulled up to the shop my youngest was excited and actually wanted to help, what father could say no to that? let me show you son the pressure washer. 0_0

You gotta love that license plate. I guess the 'E' code stood for Yakima. Sigh, was not going to keep the plate, do to the laws in WA, I could, but the car could not be used as a daily driver.

Dan also offered up a couple of big boxes of stuff he had purchased for the car, before he put this project to the side. A good start on what would be needed to get the car road safe.

The carpet and seats were thoroughly gone, but I saved everything to be used as a template some day down the road.

I write most of this 4 weeks after first driving the car, 12 weeks after first getting the car. And let me tell you, that car is really fun. I'll cover the specs more later, like that I'm almost getting 16mpg; no worse then my jeep an there is a 50 year difference!