New member from Red Cliffs

It sure is cool, but sounds like parts will be very hard to find.

Cosmetic parts, possibly, but they did sell plenty of new cars in the USA in 1941 as they joined the war a bit later. Stuff can be found over there.
Mechanical parts should be common to any contemporary Chrysler product, or at least interchangeable to some extent.

I've seen worse fixed.

ASW.

Hi ASW,

As far as the body goes, it looks to be virtually rust free, we are hoping that it could be a rat truck candidate. Not in the 'hot rod' sense of the term, but as something that will look like it has been found in a shed and dusted off.
The rear section will require a fair bit of work though sadly, and mechanically we don't know what condition that is in.
We do know that they ran the (250ci ?) big flat 6 motor, just like my Dad used to run in his timber 'clinker' speedboats back in the 70's and early 80's.

And we know all about seeing worse fixed, case in point our current project.
A 1954 Ford Mainline Utility with 8ba 239ci Flathead V8.

Yes, that is the original motor.......jazzed up a bit

If anyone would like to see the story and a heap of pictures and video, here is a link to my page on the Shannon's enthusiast website.

www.shannons.com.au/club/enthusiasts/Rus.../1954-ford-mainline/

Brilliant stuff Rusty. The first shots of the ute would send most people off to Sims with it, but the finished vehicle is a credit to you.
When I was a kid at primary school there was a local bloke who had a single spinner, then a Starline, and we thought he was king driving around in them. Cheers

...great stuff Rusty .. aaaahh the old Mainline utes....great name for a transport company i reckon!!.......

....even that lovely shade of maroon makes me sigh a little

well done Rusty...

That old Mainline Ute would put on horn on a jelly fish....

Beautiful. Especially considering what you started with.
I've just preserved and reassembled a Stude Hawk as bad as that. I only did one really bad bit of structural rust, though and treated/brush painted the rest to stabilize it for later. I need some of your kind of courage

ASW.

Always great to hear some positive comments about the colour of my Mainline!! The colour choice was a bit contentious, Dad thought it a bit 'woggy' and others that visited just said they flat out didn't like it
To be honest I wanted it a bit more red in the sunlight as I had Candy Apple Red in mind but didn't want the expense of a candy paint. I'm a big fan of a nice metal flake job but thought that a bit much to live with so we went with this red pearl which is a Honda colour (don't ask me what model or year).
The idea was to have a paint that was darkish in the shade and popped in the sun

The metal mastery performed on our ute is not my doing sadly, never had the training but I would love to learn if the local TAFE ever get the restoration course running again. There's a lack of suitably qualified and willing teachers apparently.
The hours put into the bodywork was huge, body off, straightened and squared on a railway iron jig. Modifications were also made to prevent previous rust issues from appearing again, such as the rear mudguard area.

As an aside, any vintage caravan nuts out there might be interested to hear we have a full size early build 'Don' caravan to be restored to go behind our ute for vintage themed 'getaways'
The Don is an interesting Australian made caravan that had leadlight windows and the big models boasted a tin bath!!

There was a few 'Mainlines' in a paddock at Erica Vic. including '49 split screens when I passed though a few years ago. Don't know if they are still there or who owns them. Could be worth a follow up.

TDU

There was a few 'Mainlines' in a paddock at Erica Vic. including '49 split screens when I passed though a few years ago. Don't know if they are still there or who owns them. Could be worth a follow up.

TDU

Thanks Thunder, probably a bit far for us to check out in hope that they are still there, or for sale.
Would be interested to hear if anyone on the forum knows anything about them though?

What do you think of my creation?
It's an ornament on my parents roadside......

Need some little truck wheels to go under the front to complete the illusion.
But it got me thinking once we chopped the roof off it. How neat would a roadster utility look made out of a Mainline?? The folding roof would go through where the parcel shelf used to be........

This was a parts donor for my 54 Mainline by the way

Hey Rusty, I talked to you on the Email a few months ago, I had a red 53 (Anniversary model) for sale at the time.

Hey Rusty, I talked to you on the Email a few months ago, I had a red 53 (Anniversary model) for sale at the time.

G'day, what a small world it is!?
Did you end up selling your mainline?