The 1946 FORD Page

46fat1.jpg (14819 bytes)

Updated March 2008

"The Coupe" at the Capitola Car Show, June 2007

Click here for a cool original 1946 Ford ad!

Larry Raivo of Seattle sent me this one!

The first car I ever drove was a '46 Ford...

Welcome to Boulder Bob's '46 Ford Page. I would steal my mother's '46 Ford Club Coupe and practice driving; always at night when my parents were out for the evening. I usually forgot to turn on the headlights for some reason. The year was 1958. We had recently moved from Mt. View. CA, to South Lake Tahoe, I was 14 years old. I don't remember getting caught doing this but I did get caught driving my parents friends '57 Olds around the block. It was shear panic when I returned home to find my dad's car in the driveway. I knew I was dead.

I bought it off the internet!

I bought the car from David Cantrell, the creator of Hot Rods World Wide. I started negotiations based a picture on the internet. David sent me a video detailing the car. He was totally honest about all aspects of the car. I decided not to fly out and see the car in person. We settled on a price, I mailed a check and made arrangements for the car to be picked up by an open car carrier. I was as excited as a kid on Christmas eve. The car arrived a few days later than expected but was in good shape and even dry inside. The driver told me it rained almost the entire trip. The side windows were temporary pieces of Plexiglas screwed into the window frames.

What it came with:

The top has been chopped 5 inches. The door pillars are slanted forward. Mustang II independent front suspension, Chevy Nova 10 bolt narrowed rear end. A custom dash made from the original with VDO gauges. The unfinished interior had Corvette bucket seats and console. The console would be replaced when the upholstery was done by Kendall's Custom Auto Upholstery in San Jose. There aren't any signs of rust anywhere on the car. The rusted out pieces have been replaced with fresh steel. The car had a trunk full of original trim pieces and parts, extra window frames, etc. The rear window was a piece of Plexiglas. The car came with two extra rear windows, neither one of which was in good enough shape (scratches) to go back in the car. The chop job on the top seems to be solid but looks real ugly from the inside. There seems to be a lot of body filler (Bondo) but there aren't any cracks. Considering that the construction of the car was started in 1985 and never finished, I think if the top would crack it would have done so by now. The fenders and seams are all welded and filled. The car is totally smoothed, no door handles, no trunk handle or hood ornaments. The headlights are frenched as are the '62 Impala taillights. It had Weld Draglite wheels and a GM tilt column with a Lacarra steering wheel. The car is really slammed. There is about 4 inches of ground clearance at the front cross member. The rear end was so low that it bottomed out on most bumps. I have already raised it 2 inches. The body needed a lot more body work than I had hoped. As you know, black shows every flaw in the body work. Michael J's body shop in San Jose, the guys who did the Roadster, did the body work and paint. Michael does amazing work! The body is now absolutely straight.

First things, first...make it run right!

Maybe if I include the links and logos to the products I bought first for "The Coupe" they'll mail me a big check. NOT! The engine is a 400 cubic inch small block Chevy. It had a stock Rochester four barrel carburetor and manifold and a points ignition. In the trunk of the car was an HEI distributor, will most of one, anyway. I had the distributor rebuilt and curved adding a Accell adjustable vacuum advance. The HEI module was removed and two wires replaced it to hook up to the MSD 6A box. The carburetor was replaced with a Holley 650 double pumper mounted on an Edelbrock Performer manifold. What a difference! The car picked up between 80 and 100 HP. Well, that's my guess and I'm sticking to it. Unfortunately the Turbo 400 transmission took a dump and had to be rebuilt. The same guy that did the transmission in the Roadster did the one in "The Coupe". While the engine and transmission are out, the car went to the body shop, for the engine compartment to be finished and painted. Since the engine was out anyway, it was taken to Steiner Racing for a rebuild. Nothing radical, cam, new pistons (.030" over), rings and balance. I added roller rockers after I got it back from Steiner Racing. It seems that Mr. Steiner used "seasoned" rockers (used) and I broke two before I changed them out. I have heard mixed reviews on the 400 engine. Some say the engine has gotten a bad rap; others say they will break if they get overheated. The car now has over 47,000 miles on it and the engine is just getting better all the time. I used Griffin radiator and its working great.

To get to the home page of any of these companies, just click on the logo. No, I am not getting paid. I like their products.

Finally, I fired it up...

The engine was fired for the first time on May 5, 1997. Steiner Racing did their usual great job on the engine Here's a picture of Gerry himself with the coupe engine. You can click on the small picture for a larger view. I now have over 40,000 miles on it! Boy I haven't updated this page in a long time. Lots of work has been done on the coupe in the past several of months. The cooling system works okay at this point, I took it to Reno for Hot August Nights and it reached 200 degrees crawling along in 95 degree heat. I have now moved the radiator down a couple inches and forward about 3 inches. I installed a big 'ol Flex-Fan and added a Walker shroud. I got rid of the condenser on front of the radiator and added a separate remote condenser mounted under the right front fender. I cut out large holes behind the grill so air could reach the condenser. This seems to have cured all of the overheating problems. The car went into the body shop on September 15, 1997 and didn't come out until February 15, 1998. The Coupe was actually painted on January 12, 1998. I finished installing the A/C on July 2, 1998, three days before the 1998 Americruise. The transmission was rebuilt with a B&M kit and a high performance torque converter. I painted the transmission the same color as everything else, black. I ended up finishing the installation of the power windows myself. I spend countless hours making the damn thing work. The power door openers and the trunk release is all in and working just fine. The RPM 3:7 remote unit from Balls Rod and Kustom is in and working great! The Vintage Air Conditioner works great after the first unit failed because of a defective evaporator. I got another one from Ron Attebury as a loaner but this one doesn't have defrost. The defective unit was sent back to Vintage Air. They said they tested the unit and didn't find any leaks. I got the unit back and swapped it out again, only to find that the damn thing still leaked like hell. This time Vintage Air sent me a new unit. I swapped it out again and once more, all is right with the world. I got the HFC-134a type refrigerant unit even if it doesn't cool as fast as the old R-12, it will be available into the next century. The headers from High Performance Coatings look great. I had the body shop mold in the vent. With the louvers on the hood I figured it really would do much other than stink up the car. The sound system is all Kenwood except the Bozoka sub-woofer. I got the Kenwood radio with the panel that flips around to look like there's no radio there when you turn off the key. A 10 disk CD changer fits under the back seat. It was ready for the first Goodguys show at Pleasanton, March 28 & 29, 1998 and took an award! I added American Torq Thurst II wheels. Of course they're the biggest ones that would fit under the rear fenders. BF Goodrich Comp T/A's 275/50/16 on the rear and 215/60/15 on the front.

Coming soon...NOT!

Well, boys and girls, the FATTI now has a new source of power, but it's not this boat anchor I bought through eBay. I out bid some guy trying to upgrade his '69 Camaro and paid $1800.00 for it. Turns out it had a crack in the block that allowed oil to leak into the coolant, ugly! I later bought a warranty pull out engine from a friend that turned out to already have a sleeved cylinder and bored .040" over, another boat anchor. I finally ended up with a brand new Merlin block from Summit Racing. Throw in Edelbrock polished aluminum heads, an Edelbrock a polished air-gap intake manifold with a Speed Demon 850 carburetor with mechanical secondaries, TRW flat top pistons, .030" over, roller cam and rockers, with the fabricated and polished valve covers, it looks as good as it runs!

Here is the completed engine on the dyno. When first tested it was only putting out 441 HP at the crank. It was discovered one cylinder had the valves adjusted too tight, not allowing them to close all the way. This fixed, the engine now puts out a very respectable 539 HP at 5900 RPM with a maximum torque of 543 at 4500 RPM. Dusty of Renteria Brothers Performance Engines in Gilroy did a great job building this engine. The throttle response is awesome! Click here for the engine performance chart.

Now in its new home and all cleaned up! I later removed the “Renteria Bros.” stickers as the started to flake off.

slammed.jpg (32557 bytes)

Very slammed indeed!!!

"The Coupe" at Hecker Pass Picnic in July 1999. For a picture of the guys that painted the coupe click here!

Check out the interior!

The date is March 26, 1998 and Kirby Kendall is finished with the interior. Please take a look at Kirby's great work.

First show, first award!

The day was Sunday March 29, 1998. The event was the Goodguys 16th Annual All-American Get-Together at Pleasanton. It was also my 54th (wow, is that old or what) birthday! I was just watching people going by on this crisp Spring morning. All of a sudden I notice two guys with clip boards in their hands looking at "The Coupe". They are writing things down. I go up to one of them and say "you're not going to give me some kind of award are you?" The guy puts his hand out behind his back pocket inferring he'll need some sort of payoff to give out an award and says "Just kidding, congratulations" and hands me a piece of paper saying Street Sweeper Pick! Was I excited or what! At the same event in 2001 the Coupe was shown indoors with the All Black Car Club and won "Slick and Smooth". For the first time the Coupe made the June 2001 issue of the Goodguys, Goodtimes Gazette (page 89).

Second show, second award!

The day was Sunday May 3, 1998. The event was Sunset Hot Rods 10th Annual Dam Run. It was also my daughters 33rd (wow, is she old or what) birthday! I was crawling around looking under a '41 Lincoln, admiring a nifty aluminum gas tank when two guys asked if I'd mind driving my car around a get in line. Yes "The Coupe" had it's second award! Was I pumped again or what!

And so it goes...

The Coupe has received awards at most of the events attended. In 1999 the Coupe was honored by being accepted to show at the 50th Annual Grand National Roadster Show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. It also won a "Class Winner" award, shown above. Click on the trophy for more details.

The reader’s pages!

Please note that if you sent in pictures and you don't see them here yet, sorry for the delay, I have been busy doing other things. Please be patient!

Bob McCarter sent in this picture of a great looking '46 Tudor. Bob is 24 years old and with a little help from his father, they did all the work themselves. The car has been completed for the past two years and has 25,000 miles on it.

Bill Justice has a great looking '48 Ford Club Coupe. The car and Bill are from Columbiana, Alabama. The coupe features a 350 Chevy engine. Bill had to sell the car and has now been able to buy it back with some improvements!

Brad Boudreau sent in these pictures of a '46 Business Coupe. Brad and his dad are from Indiania. Great looking Ford Brad!

Ken Arrowsmith of Missouri sent in these pictures of his basically stock 1947 Ford Club Coupe. It has a Columbia rear end.

Jim Elliott and his brother from Maryland have been very patient, waiting for me to put there '47 and '48 Fords on this web page. Sorry for the delay, boys. I hope the wait was worth it.

Mike Latus, a very patient man from Phoenix Arizona, sent me this great picture of his '48 Ford Fordor Sedan. He has it dressed up as a cop car in this picture.

The Nielsen's of Cypress, California, love to take their '46 4-Door out for cruise nights in Southern California. They get lots of opportunities in the Southland of California. I, on the other hand, live in the middle of the state and we get a lot more rain and it's not quite as warm.

Check out Brad Winters of Madera, California's great looking '46 Ford 2-Door Sedan. A very tasty car, indeed!

H. Irvin sent me this picture of his friend Jim Richmond's '47 Ford. Jim has had the car since high school.

Ron Walrod of Roseville, California got a great Christmas present by driving his '46 Ford for the first time on Christmas Day 1999. Great work Ron! I'm sure I will be seeing Ron on rod runs and car shows in the near future.

Dick Thompson of North Sacramento, sent me a picture of his '48 Ford Coupe. Dick's car is for sale if you are interested in having a great '48 Ford.

Ray Dufford of Loveland Colorado, sent me this link to his web page. No, it's not a Ford; it's a '47 Plymouth. I know it might not belong on a Ford page but I love it and is my damn page!

Nalle Eriksson of Stockholm, Sweden sent me this picture of his outstanding '46 Ford Deluxe Coupe.

Glenn Sinon, of Connecticut, sent me this picture of his beautiful 1947 Ford Coupe. Great looking car Glenn!

Dennis Freeman of Los Vegas, Nevada sent me this picture of his 1947 Ford Coupe. This mostly original car will be getting updated from it's original flathead six very soon.

Mike of Windsor Ontario, Canada, sent these pictures of his beautiful '46 Convertible. He works for Chrysler, he didn't give me his last name.

James Warren of Highland Village, Texas sent me this picture of his '46 Ford Coupe. James car is mostly stock!

Andy Loizou from England, sent me these pictures of his 50's style '47 Ford Business Coupe.

Ron Goodall for the Gold Coast of Australia sent these pictures of his VERY different '48 Ford Ute.

Chris Orwat sent this picture of his brother's great looking '47 Ford convertible. I don't know where they live.

Rex Killebrew sent in this picture of his outstanding '47 Ford Coupe.

Jerry Sims sent in these pictures of his brother great looking '47 Ford "Hardtop" racer.

Dominick Linares of Tampa Florida sent me pictures of his very Bad-ass '46 Coupe. He also has a very nice bike!

Jerry Lakatos of Painesville, Ohio, sent me these pictures of his outstanding '46 Ford Coupe! Lots of time and money have made this car great!

Jon and Rita Nelson of Johnson Kansas sent in this picture of their great looking '46 4 Door Sedan.

Jeff Crone from the land down under, sent me these pictures of he '47 Convertible.

Dean Berry from Medford Wisconsin sent in this picture of his radically chopped '48 Sedan.

Jack Butler from somewhere in California sent me these pictures of their '46 Ford Coupe. They took in on the Americruise last year.

Patty Tervo of Groton, MA sent me these pictures of their '47 Ford Business Coupe. Car was bought in May of 2001. Yes I actually do put pictures of "ugly" cars on this web site, especially if they cute kids in them.

Stefan Persson of Holmsund, SWEDEN send me this picture of his outstanding '46 Ford Coupe, twice. Nice flames!

Rich Miller of Fountain Valley, CA, sent these pictures of his TWO Fords! A '46 Fordor and a '47 Coupe. Both are running Flatheads.

Brooke Bremner and David Glueck of Chicago. IL, sent me this picture of their 1946 Ford Convertible. David bought it for Brooke on her last birthday. She is nice enough to let him drive it.

David Engle of Campbell, CA sent me this picture of his 1948 Ford convertible taken at Yosemite. Beautiful car Dave.

Harold Perry of Houston Texas sent me these pictures of his 1942 Ford Tudor. Great looking car Harold!

Kathy and John from somewhere in Wisconsin, sent me these picture of their 1946 Mercury. Well almost a Ford.

Gary Tomasetti of Pottstown, PA sent in these pictures of his great looking '47 Club Coupe.

Yvonne and Peter Russell from the land down under sent in this picture of their '48 Mercury Monarch.

Josh Flammer sent me this picture of his '46 Ford Tudor

Skip Allen sent in this picture of his great looking '46 Coupe

John Peck of Corpus Christi Texas sent in these picture of his outstanding '46 Tudor

Terry McHale of Fort McMurray, AB, Canada has TWO; a convertible and a coupe

Andrew Share sent me this picture of his very cool '46 business coupe

Ed Tozer of Auburn, CA sent me these pictures of his very unusual '47 3-window coupe and sedan trailer.

Jim Byrne of Dowagiac Michigan has an outstanding '46 business coupe, I really like it!

Bernie Casey of Newburyport, MA sent in these pictures of his outstanding '47 Coupe!

Ricardo Molina from Katy, Texas sent me this picture of his great looking '46 business coupe

Al Burwell sent me this picture of his '46 Tudor Sedan, don't know where his lives!

Rich Cefola from Tallahassee, Florida; sent me these pictures of perhaps the best looking '46 on the planet! I love this car and it all Ford!

Bill Barrand of Erie, Michigan sent me these picture of his great looking '47 Coupe.

Jim McAllister of Strathroy Ontario Canada; sent me these pictures of his outstanding '47 Business Coupe; VERY COOL!!!

Brian Buxton of Farmington, UT ; sent me these pictures of his Yellow '46 Club Coupe. Very nice car Brian!

Jim Abriel of Canada sent me these pictures of his '41 Ford Coupe. I know it's not a '46 through '48, but I like it!

Larry Presta of British Columbia, Canada sent in these pictures of his great looking ’46 Business Coupe!

Chris Ehrhardt of Orlando Florida sent me these pictures of his ’47 Tudor; it’s chopped 6 inches!

Do you have a '46 through '48 you are rather proud of? Send it along and I'll include it in this section. Yes, even if it's ugly! By the way if you have sent pictures in past please send them again. My old computer ate some of the old ones.

Your questions or comments are appreciated, e-mail Boulder Bob

More to follow in the coming weeks...stay tuned!

Go to Boulder Bob's Roadster page!

Boulder Bob's Links Page.

To download a FREE copy of Microsoft's Internet Explorer click on the icon below.

Joi ISP Dialup Provider