Now that I've laid eyes and hands on it, I'd like to present to the group the latest (coming) addition to the fleet. The Runion/Armentrout family heirloom, 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan.
The family history of this car can be traced all the way back to the original owner. It was purchased new by Alimo "Fats" Jones and used by him until 1955. He then sold it to Ivan "Doc" Runion, his niece's, Genevieve Runion's, husband.
Doc drove the car and used it as a farm truck for many years. His daughters grew up with and learned to drive in it. Upon his passing in the 1980s, it was willed to all the daughters. One of them Sara "Mom-mom" Runion-Armentrout, bought her sisters' shares of the car, and had it restored locally by what we're told was an antique Ford specialist. She drove the car very seldom, mainly to local shows and parades, and shipped it up to PA in the 90s to be used in her daughter's wedding.
Mom-mom very sadly passed away March 2021, and had willed the car to her son and daughter. At this point, it lived it's entire life in Virginia and still has the original plates from Doc's ownership, and she had kept Doc's 1955 title.
Her children, Kelly and Natalie, both love the car for what it represents of the family history, and so too do her surviving sister and her grandchildren. However, Mom-mom's youngest grandchild, Nick, has wanted the car since the first he ever saw of it as a child. Knowing no one else realistically has the resources and drive to take on an antique car that's been sitting disused for the better part of 15 years, Kelly and Natalie and the rest of the family made the decision to pass it on to us.
February 2022, the car was trailered from it's storage spot in a garage in Virginia to Nick's parent's house in SE PA, and yesterday was the first time I got to see and touch it.
Our plan is to relocate the car to our home near Detroit sometime next year, and then we will slowly work to mechanically restore it once again to running and driving condition. Then we can turn to cosmetic fixes. Already I've been in touch with the Model A Ford Club of America (MAFCA) for resources on this car and to understand what I can expect for needing to get it running again.
Today I took the first baby step, and cleaned up the 1980s Sears Allstate bias ply white walls, removing over a decade of dirt and grime to get them back to some semblance of white.
Feb '22 Today, halfway through one tire showing my in-laws the power of bleche-white. All mounted tires done (did not do spare yet). The list of what it needs I'm sure will be extensive once I get it home and dig into it. The MAFCA Facebook group agrees the car is a great starting point as it sits today and recommended some in depth diagnostic manuals, YouTuber Paul Shinn (whom I already follow and have spoken to), joining the local Model A club, and realistically not going through it here until I've got it home and gotten the rotating assembly moving again. Mom-mom started it monthly until about 2008, however her health declined shortly thereafter and her husband couldn't care less about the car, so it sat. It was last insured in mid 2009, expired mid 2010. Last year I put it on a collector car policy asking with my Special, to ensure it's covered in the event anything happens to it, with an agreed value of $15k.
I know the radiator core desperately needs help, full of crud from absolutely no winterization at all. It will also need a new radiator cap, the very expensive thermometer cap broke from it's mounting on the core a few months ago. I will try to clean it out before getting a new $800 core. I'm hoping the block is still clean.
Steering looks ok, I don't see major rust or wear in the knuckles or kingpins. I see fluid on the diff and trans drain plug, but no puddles where it's been sitting since Feb. Pan looks mostly dry and is full of clean oil. Very good sign. Fuel tank is bone dry with no fuel smell, so I wonder if it was emptied or if it leaked out.
Battery appears to be a 6V, and is crusty. It will be replaced. Fan belt doesn't look bad, but has zero tension.
Currently has a 4 blade fan. Original was a 2 blade unit that was known to rust and fail catastrophically, taking out hoods and radiator cores. There's debate if the aftermarket 4 blade units are much better, I may swap it out for an aluminum 2 blade unit along with a "leakless" water pump after cleaning out the cooling system and replacing the hoses. The tubes have surface rust, so they'll be cleaned up along with everything else that has surface rust under the hood.
All the stainless outside is pitted. I'll try to save what I can, but some will need to be replaced from rust. Metal was flaking from the headlights.
Wheels will need to be repainted. I'm sure the brakes need to be adjusted (all mechanical).
Mods may simply be minor modern conveniences, like an oil filter and air filter. I may not upgrade to 12V, but may replace the generator with an alternator.
Interior is fantastic for an 80's restoration, the car was largely an original restoration. Crawling around under it, I can see where corners were cut and saw a large hole in the floor under the rear seat that was painted over. Some of the blue paint has cracking going on and peeling, but we're not looking into a repaint anytime soon. I want to simply bring it back and show it as a 1980s restoration.
The family history of this car can be traced all the way back to the original owner. It was purchased new by Alimo "Fats" Jones and used by him until 1955. He then sold it to Ivan "Doc" Runion, his niece's, Genevieve Runion's, husband.
Doc drove the car and used it as a farm truck for many years. His daughters grew up with and learned to drive in it. Upon his passing in the 1980s, it was willed to all the daughters. One of them Sara "Mom-mom" Runion-Armentrout, bought her sisters' shares of the car, and had it restored locally by what we're told was an antique Ford specialist. She drove the car very seldom, mainly to local shows and parades, and shipped it up to PA in the 90s to be used in her daughter's wedding.
Mom-mom very sadly passed away March 2021, and had willed the car to her son and daughter. At this point, it lived it's entire life in Virginia and still has the original plates from Doc's ownership, and she had kept Doc's 1955 title.
Her children, Kelly and Natalie, both love the car for what it represents of the family history, and so too do her surviving sister and her grandchildren. However, Mom-mom's youngest grandchild, Nick, has wanted the car since the first he ever saw of it as a child. Knowing no one else realistically has the resources and drive to take on an antique car that's been sitting disused for the better part of 15 years, Kelly and Natalie and the rest of the family made the decision to pass it on to us.
February 2022, the car was trailered from it's storage spot in a garage in Virginia to Nick's parent's house in SE PA, and yesterday was the first time I got to see and touch it.
Our plan is to relocate the car to our home near Detroit sometime next year, and then we will slowly work to mechanically restore it once again to running and driving condition. Then we can turn to cosmetic fixes. Already I've been in touch with the Model A Ford Club of America (MAFCA) for resources on this car and to understand what I can expect for needing to get it running again.
Today I took the first baby step, and cleaned up the 1980s Sears Allstate bias ply white walls, removing over a decade of dirt and grime to get them back to some semblance of white.
Feb '22 Today, halfway through one tire showing my in-laws the power of bleche-white. All mounted tires done (did not do spare yet). The list of what it needs I'm sure will be extensive once I get it home and dig into it. The MAFCA Facebook group agrees the car is a great starting point as it sits today and recommended some in depth diagnostic manuals, YouTuber Paul Shinn (whom I already follow and have spoken to), joining the local Model A club, and realistically not going through it here until I've got it home and gotten the rotating assembly moving again. Mom-mom started it monthly until about 2008, however her health declined shortly thereafter and her husband couldn't care less about the car, so it sat. It was last insured in mid 2009, expired mid 2010. Last year I put it on a collector car policy asking with my Special, to ensure it's covered in the event anything happens to it, with an agreed value of $15k.
I know the radiator core desperately needs help, full of crud from absolutely no winterization at all. It will also need a new radiator cap, the very expensive thermometer cap broke from it's mounting on the core a few months ago. I will try to clean it out before getting a new $800 core. I'm hoping the block is still clean.
Steering looks ok, I don't see major rust or wear in the knuckles or kingpins. I see fluid on the diff and trans drain plug, but no puddles where it's been sitting since Feb. Pan looks mostly dry and is full of clean oil. Very good sign. Fuel tank is bone dry with no fuel smell, so I wonder if it was emptied or if it leaked out.
Battery appears to be a 6V, and is crusty. It will be replaced. Fan belt doesn't look bad, but has zero tension.
Currently has a 4 blade fan. Original was a 2 blade unit that was known to rust and fail catastrophically, taking out hoods and radiator cores. There's debate if the aftermarket 4 blade units are much better, I may swap it out for an aluminum 2 blade unit along with a "leakless" water pump after cleaning out the cooling system and replacing the hoses. The tubes have surface rust, so they'll be cleaned up along with everything else that has surface rust under the hood.
All the stainless outside is pitted. I'll try to save what I can, but some will need to be replaced from rust. Metal was flaking from the headlights.
Wheels will need to be repainted. I'm sure the brakes need to be adjusted (all mechanical).
Mods may simply be minor modern conveniences, like an oil filter and air filter. I may not upgrade to 12V, but may replace the generator with an alternator.
Interior is fantastic for an 80's restoration, the car was largely an original restoration. Crawling around under it, I can see where corners were cut and saw a large hole in the floor under the rear seat that was painted over. Some of the blue paint has cracking going on and peeling, but we're not looking into a repaint anytime soon. I want to simply bring it back and show it as a 1980s restoration.
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LUNA
2002 Chrysler 300M Special - Deep Sapphire Blue/Storm Gray Metallic - 142,000 miles
