Classic Recollections reporter, Matthew Avery tells us that there are numerous reasons why classic car and hot rod enthusiasts choose to do full restorations on their rides; “There’s no shortage of fortuitous incidents that provide incentive for classic car owners to conduct massive overhauls of their beloved four-wheeled machines.”
Johnsburg, Illinois local Kurt Jensen has owned his ’32 Ford Tudor sedan since 1981, and he and his jet black Ford are no exception to the symptom described above by Avery. In fact, all it took for Jensen to decide to restore his rod, which was first redone in the ’80s, was a piece of metal resulting in a flat tire.
In ’09, Jensen was driving to an event in Kalamazoo, Michigan along the Indiana tollway when an unexpected turn of events would lead him to soon engage in an unplanned restoration project, “I picked up a piece of steel that went right through the right rear tire, punctured it and even entered the rear fender.”
Originally, Jensen had revamped his Tudor sedan to be a reliable driver, but the incident on the Indiana tollway led him to make the ’32 into a whole new creature all together. It was a severe mishap that led to a quality rebuild for Jensen, even to the point of abandoning the Ford’s original frame for a new platform from TCI.
A good foundation is a must for any buildup, both old and new. The fresh TCI chassis was retrofitted by Frame Up Wheel Works of Waukegan, Illinois, but it would be followed by a paint and body resto by Nostalgic Auto Body of Island Lake.
Deciding to keep the running gear that was already in the rod, Jensen went with a 355 Chevy small-block that’s good for 370 horses and 360 foot-pounds of torque.
Jensen describes his overall perception of ’32 Fords and his reasoning behind wanting to do a second restoration on his 355-powered, Tudor sedan, “I’ve always thought that the 1932 Ford was the quintessential hot rod…After the first restoration it was a lot of fun to drive, but even more so now…”
All image credit: Classic Recollections
