91/30 prices are creeping up

[Rongo]

I didn't do either car, both were purchased from the last owners estates, I have repaired a number of things on the A, like putting all the E brake stuff back on it, but otherwise the cars are good as is. When the market started to slide a few years back I liquidated everything and put it into guns and these two cars and my RV. I had been moving back in time with each old car I picked up, the 30's and 20's were next on the list, figured I had better do it while I could. These cars are simplicity itself to maintain. No brake lines to rust ( mechanical brakes) a lawnmower has a more complex carburetor, you can dismount the tires from the wheels and fix a hole in a tube in half an hour, or less as you get good at it. No electronic anything. The T is not the easiest or safest car to drive in modern traffic, it mostly sees the neighborhood, the A will handle it OK, and I am pretty sure it gets better gas mileage than most compact cars.

I would love to have one but cost keeps me from doing so. Looking to get a Ford N Series tractor this summer though. I would love to have it ready for this winter for snow removal. $2000 is a lot more affordable than $10,000+.

[Jolly Green Chopper]

After I got some replacement parts from J.C. Whitney and re-built my carb. and distributor, added a better coil and wires,modern plugs and fixed the spark advance I was able to get very good gas mileage from my 1931 2 Dr. sedan. I was 15 and had an old timer show me how to use the spark advance and timing settings,along with some carb.re-jetting alterations for altitude changes and his special blend of fuel mixtures from his private fuel source. (drip gas from a Texas oil well) and a crude still. All stuff he learned during the depression. That Model A was great. Had to sell it when I went in the service. But I got a small fortune for it. Only paid $65.00 in 1961. Just could not pass up the price but I wish I had it back of course. Yours are beautiful &,someday they could be the only type cars we can drive.(While shooting a Tommy Gun from the running board) JGC

[Junk Yard Dog]

If you keep an eye on Ebay sometimes you will see a rolling chassis selling for around a couple of grand, once you have the frame , suspension, and drivetrain you can build a body for it. Have a look at that youtube clip in the moonshiner post I put in the OT last week, that "A Model" popcorn is driving has a home built truck body on it. A body's used a lot of wood, some styles more than others, they had a fabric top insert, often the body's fell apart but the frame and running gear stay intact. At the moment I have a spare A long block with crank and pistons, a head, four transmissions, entire rear and front suspension, and am on the lookout for a frame. once I get it I will start a pickup project. T's and A's will run on 50 octane gasoline because that is what they had at that time, lamp oil, 'shine, you name it and someone has tried it in a T.
N series, nice, you out in farm country? Around here they are few and far between, the farms are all but gone.

[Jolly Green Chopper]

Is that "Popcorn Sutton" the moonshiner from Maggie Valley, NC. The one that ended his own life rather than spend the rest of it in jail after the gov't harazed him to death with a trumped up moonshine conviction.He was so cool and a local legend around here. They didn't like it that he got famous on TV with a History channel special on moonshiners and mountain culture.JGC

[WeldonHunter]

Nice choice if you mean an 8N or 9N. They're bullet proof. There's a bunch of those around here. There's one I do work on up the road. Replaced the intake/exhaust manifold and exhaust system as well as a bunch of other stuff including the radiator. Had been let go for about 30 years. The only problem I've heard of with them is once the PTO is engaged they seem to want to keep going forward even after you release the clutch.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Yes, that Popcorn, he had at least two A's, the other was a nice two door sedan.

[Rongo]

If you keep an eye on Ebay sometimes you will see a rolling chassis selling for around a couple of grand, once you have the frame , suspension, and drivetrain you can build a body for it. Have a look at that youtube clip in the moonshiner post I put in the OT last week, that "A Model" popcorn is driving has a home built truck body on it. A body's used a lot of wood, some styles more than others, they had a fabric top insert, often the body's fell apart but the frame and running gear stay intact. At the moment I have a spare A long block with crank and pistons, a head, four transmissions, entire rear and front suspension, and am on the lookout for a frame. once I get it I will start a pickup project. T's and A's will run on 50 octane gasoline because that is what they had at that time, lamp oil, 'shine, you name it and someone has tried it in a T.
N series, nice, you out in farm country? Around here they are few and far between, the farms are all but gone.

I have a rather large yard & a bigger driveway. I want it primarily to push snow.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Slap a quick mount plow on your Suburban, that will cost you about the same as a nice N series, and you will be able to plow in a heated truck like me

[Jolly Green Chopper]

My auto mechanic partner here in Asheville is called "The Jack the Jeep Man" he is a well known old style body man that likes to work on any old jeeps or model A and B's but specializes in old custom truck bodies. He helped Popcorn and his friends with many of their "custom" hauling rigs over the years. Some of Jacks rigs were invisible to the eye but could haul many extra gallons of "special" fuel .He retired about the same time Popcorn did but I see him all the time. I will find out who has Popcorn's Model A's. He was quite a character with many loyal long time customers and friends. Was sorry to watch him go down that way. The local gov't people should not have done it .

[Junk Yard Dog]

I am told it was the same shithead who was in charge of the Waco "incident" that led the charge against Popcorn. The judge held Popcorn to his pledge in the documentary were he said over and over "this is the last likker I am ever going to make" Hell, even I didn't believe him when he said that, cooking shine is all the man ever did, it was his profession, what the hell did they expect him to do to make a living. He was valuable cultural resource, a living picture of a bygone age, and a way of life that has all but vanished in America. He was an old man with a terminal disease, house arrest would have done well enough, were was he going to go? I believe Popcorn talked about an old jeep he had run once, and how he had to mix some shine in with the gas once when he ran low on a run.

[Rongo]

Slap a quick mount plow on your Suburban, that will cost you about the same as a nice N series, and you will be able to plow in a heated truck like me

The N would be more fun.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I once drove an IHC tractor with a plow blade mounted on it and no cab, fun for the first ten minutes, then the cold sets in and stays. I still move snow with the Michigan articulated loader, it has a cab, but the heat is near nonexistent, and the wind comes in from all over, cold son of a bitch.

[WeldonHunter]

I am told it was the same shithead who was in charge of the Waco "incident" that led the charge against Popcorn. The judge held Popcorn to his pledge in the documentary were he said over and over "this is the last likker I am ever going to make" Hell, even I didn't believe him when he said that, cooking shine is all the man ever did, it was his profession, what the hell did they expect him to do to make a living. He was valuable cultural resource, a living picture of a bygone age, and a way of life that has all but vanished in America. He was an old man with a terminal disease, house arrest would have done well enough, were was he going to go? I believe Popcorn talked about an old jeep he had run once, and how he had to mix some shine in with the gas once when he ran low on a run.

I've been thinking about this so I did a google search and sure enough it's the same guy I saw on PBS last year. I didn't know he was dead. Damn shame. We have to many laws in this country. If an old timer wants to make some of the finest shine ever made why the hell not let him. Govbmint gotta have it's nose into everything now days. This country was built in part on the whiskey industry. Hell Ole' honest Abe's family was in it and the Kennedys struck it rich during prohibition.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Forget about the Kennedy's, Joe's money came from running the stuff not making it, anybody can run it, but it's the making were the real skill comes in. Popcorn fired up his old green Ford, I think it was a Fairmont from the early 80's, ran a hose in the back window from the exhaust, lit a last smoke and went to sleep. He had a stone made to put on his grave ' Popcorn said F*** You" his grave is on his home place, I think they had to move him there so they could set the stone as he wanted. They caught him with a 500 gallon cooker, maybe two of them I forget, and a firearm of some sort, there was actually a photographer out to see him the day he committed suicide, the man took a bunch of pics, and the last one taken as he was leaving shows Popcorn firing up the green Ford that he shortly after died in. He was facing 18 months inside and he had been told that he was full of cancer.

[Rongo]

I once drove an IHC tractor with a plow blade mounted on it and no cab, fun for the first ten minutes, then the cold sets in and stays. I still move snow with the Michigan articulated loader, it has a cab, but the heat is near nonexistent, and the wind comes in from all over, cold son of a bitch.

Right now I use a John Deere LX277 yard tractor with a blade on the front. Been doing that for 12 years & it takes up to 1½ hours to clear a 10" snowfall off my very large driveway... Talk about freezing your Cojones off.

So the N series tractor with a good snow blade would b a vast improvement for me.

[Rongo]

Forget about the Kennedy's, Joe's money came from running the stuff not making it, anybody can run it, but it's the making were the real skill comes in. Popcorn fired up his old green Ford, I think it was a Fairmont from the early 80's, ran a hose in the back window from the exhaust, lit a last smoke and went to sleep. He had a stone made to put on his grave ' Popcorn said F*** You" his grave is on his home place, I think they had to move him there so they could set the stone as he wanted. They caught him with a 500 gallon cooker, maybe two of them I forget, and a firearm of some sort, there was actually a photographer out to see him the day he committed suicide, the man took a bunch of pics, and the last one taken as he was leaving shows Popcorn firing up the green Ford that he shortly after died in. He was facing 18 months inside and he had been told that he was full of cancer.

A damn shame...

[Jolly Green Chopper]

Yea he died last year. he smoked several packs of roll your own home grown North Carolina, Virginia blended tobacco that he and his friends grew themselves along with chew. He told my friend Jack he didn't want to be remembered as dying in no damn jail house. He had lost a lot of weight and was really sick cause he couldn't eat much. He worked hard at his trade and was always honest was what his friends remember. JGC

[Junk Yard Dog]

He said he started smoking when he was six years old, same year he had his first drink of whisky. He rarely bought lighters as he would light one cigg from the remains of the last one ( chain smoking) He suffered from a lifetime of hard work, his hip, back, and knees were shot but he still managed to get the job done. I knew a lot of men like him, all gone now, too bad I never got to meet him.

[Jolly Green Chopper]

I never got to met him either but he was friends with many people here in the mountains who were my customers in the autoshop and he did call my friend Jack for some truck parts and advice on fixing some of his friends vehicles. Many of the people around here fix their own and keep old pickups for many years. Salvage yards that keep some of the popular older models for parts do real well.That's how I got my start at 10 yrs. old pulling parts on weekends and at night.I loved the $$ in the salvage business. Lots of green cash without the paperwork.I also would take old guns for trade and barter. lots of ,22's and 16 ga. shotguns for some reason. JGC

[SA1911a1]

I am behind the 8 ball on all of this. Who is/was "Popcorn"?