2016 Show SchedulePortland Swap Meet Portland, OR April 1-3 Hall E 4623-4627Order by March 25th to have your part delivered to the show.

LA RoadstersPomona, CA June 18-19 Bldg 4 NC1-5 SC1-5 Order by June 10th to have your part delivered to the show.

NSRA Street Rod NationalsLouisville, KY Aug. 4-7 1028-1031 & 1130-1134

Hershey Hershey, PA Oct. 5-8 C4H 35-44 & C4G 35-44

SEMALas Vegas, NV Nov. 1-4 TBD

What’s Inside

Drake Made Explained Pg. 2

Ford SignsPgs. 3-5

1939-41 RadiatorPg. 6

Bob’s New CollectiblesPg. 7

The Old Ford and Hot Rod News

Early FordGrapevineSpring 2016 ©2016 Bob Drake Reproductions

FollOw the Leader in

Early Ford Parts

What’s Cooking at Drake’sHere’s the recipe for a great catalog: mix together beautiful automotive art, thousands of early Ford and Hot Rod parts, lots of photos and diagrams, helpful descriptions and tips, add a spattering of collectibles, trivia and whatever else suits our fancy.

There ya have it, sounds pretty simple, but actually takes a great deal of dedication, research and plain old hard work.

This secret family recipe isn’t really much of a secret, because we keep sharing it with our loyal customers, catalog after catalog.

What’s currently cooking is our new Catalog #30 for the 1932 to ’48 early V8 crowd. This should be off to the printers, oops I mean oven, by late spring. So look for it soon. For dessert this year we have a special treat. This new dish includes a sampling of tastes from the late 40’s through the 50’s. Yes, that’s right, a 1949 to ’59 collection of goodies is being mixed up in the Drake catalog kitchen right now. We hope to have this ready for the oven soon too!

Get on our email listto be notified when these new catalogs are released

1932 -48 Ford parts

1949-59 Ford parts

SPRING 2016EARLY FORD GRAPEVINE

What Does “Bob Drake Made” Mean?The Drake made logo on a product means it was developed by our own Research and Development Team right here in Grants Pass, Oregon. The team includes engineers, a tool and die specialist, CAD drawer, a materials specialist and a product designer. This group takes great pride in their work and it shows in the quality of the parts we produce.

We have a reputation for enjoying challenges, so everything from a simple clip or bracket to a major undertaking like a grille, radiator or running board is fair game for this talented team. A lot of thought goes into researching and choosing items for development. We consider factors like which parts or assemblies are prone to wear or subject to deterioration by the elements. As the years go by this list of parts grows as 60+ year old cars continue to age and need maintenance. Sometimes we just know certain parts are popular for hot rodding the cars we are so fond of.

Once the choice is made, the research begins. We check our “gold room” with its 40 years worth of collected original Ford parts or we hit the swap meets, run ads and contact other collectors to find the parts we need. Our team also pays special attention at car shows, gathering photos, taking notes and measurements and asking

around for information to lead them to the rare parts we seek. Not only do we

need the parts, but often the original surfaces these parts will mate to. This is where our passion for what we do

really shows, making sure our parts fit your car and look as good, or better, than the originals. We take as much pride in the quality and finish of the back side of a

part as we do the front.

When it comes to mechanical parts we don’t stop at copying the original. With modern technology on our side, we can often improve upon Ford’s design and develop more durable parts that will provide years of trouble free performance. Just take our Water Pumps as one example, or check out the quality, detail and vastly improved design of our new 1939-48 Handbrake Cables.

From the idea to the computer drawing boards and on to the development, tooling and production, our eyes are always on the prize: a beautiful finished part we can be proud of. Once completed, many parts undergo rigorous testing and inspection to guarantee the quality, durability and fit of our products. But our quality control does not end there, as we also take our packaging very seriously to ensure your part arrives safe, ready to install and guaranteed to enhance your special ride. If it’s Bob Drake Made, it must be the best!

MADE

A sampling of Bob’s donor parts and cars. Bob at the Portland Swap Meet.

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SPRING 2016EARLY FORD GRAPEVINE

In the early 1960’s when I was working in the Aerospace industry in Southern California, my wife and I zigzagged across the country numerous times on our vacation trips to visit relatives in Wisconsin. I enjoyed planning out these trips in advance, trying to avoid the major four-lane highways and travel the back roads through small town America.

We liked driving through the beautiful rural countryside enjoying the friendly casual atmosphere of the many small communities, but I must admit I had another motive for these back-road adventures. Being a dyed-in-the-wool early-Ford nut, I was searching for small town Ford dealers and whatever parts and collectibles I might dig up. Many of the Ford dealers had lots of early Ford treasures hiding away in attics, basements, storage closets, sheds, back alleys, etc.

I approached these dealers saying I was looking to see what obsolete Ford parts they might have. Once I got a look at what they had hiding away, I often ended up filling the back of my truck for $40 to $60 with various

year Ford parts and collectibles. It makes me sad remembering the stuff I left behind that was too bulky for my truck, lots of running boards, grilles, fenders and other sheet metal parts just had to be passed up.

It was during these back-road trips my interest in early Ford collectibles really took off. Much of my current collection was accumulated during these family trips. Not only did I score truckloads of Ford parts, I discovered a forgotten wealth of advertising materials, factory photos, portraits of Henry, counter displays, tools, books, clocks, banners and of course, signs.

When Ford changed to their new “Coat of Arms” logo in 1950, these small town dealers began replacing the original Ford script neon signs with the new logo,

© 2016 Bob Drake Reproductions, Inc. All rights reserved.

FORD SIGNS of a Bygone Era

Here's my collection of goodies from one Ford dealer. Through the window you can see an old Ford script neon sign collecting dust in a back corner.

By Bob Drake

A midwest small-town Ford dealer still using a Ford oval sign in the 1960’s.

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SIGNS continuedSPRING 2016EARLY FORD GRAPEVINE

featuring Ford in block letters instead of the old familiar script. The old but beautiful Ford script works of art were taken down and shoved aside, many broken and collecting dust for more than a decade.

On my visits to these dealers I saw many of the old signs once gracing the fronts of the old brick buildings or hung proudly over Main St. America not so long ago. There were also many of the large neon arrow “service” signs formerly pointing the way to the dealer’s service entrance. I was disappointed that most of the signs were too large and heavy to easily collect, and with neon falling out of fashion, shops to repair them were quickly disappearing. Even if I could rescue them, what would I do with them since they were mostly considered junk at the time?

I did manage to save some of the smaller porcelain and neon Ford signs and some of the pressed paper Ford oval logo signs. If I had any insight into what the old neon signs would be worth today, I would have tried a little harder to salvage them. I now know that diehard collectors will pay a small fortune for one.

Among my current collection are some sign company catalogs from the 1930’s and 40’s and you wouldn’t believe the prices. A 3ft. x 6ft. double sided, projecting

Ford logo sign sold for $109.50 in 1935. To add your firm’s name to the sign cost from $5.75 to $8.25 per letter depending on size. Wow. We are talking neon signs and letters here, not some stick-on vinyl decals.

Years later some of these old relics started showing up again. I have purchased many at the Hershey, PA Fall Swap Meet and found some through private collectors. My collection now includes many early Ford signs of various shapes, sizes, colors and materials. My favorite is a large unlighted porcelain sign with a blue oval Ford logo at the top and the V8 logo underneath. All our large neon signs are now suspended from the ceilings in our R & D and Shipping departments. When all of these signs are lit up it’s a beautiful sight to see. They truly create a feeling of being in man-caves for Ford enthusiasts.

When I think back on those trips now, I’m saddened by the thought that an important era has passed us by. Many of the Ford dealerships I visited are now vacant brick and mortar hulks; a reminder of the bustling small town commerce they were once part of. During the post war economic & baby boom, small town rural America reached its peak. The 50’s and 60’s saw the expansion of suburbs and the beginning of a movement toward

The Ford coat of arms logo introduced in 1950. This one is a 2 ft. high cast aluminum wall sign.

This 6 ft. double-sided neon sign would direct you to your authorized Ford service department.

The favorite of my collection, an unlighted 6 1/2 ft. tall

double sided porcelain sign from the 1930’s.

This fancy 5 ft. neon window display sign was a common sight at post war Ford dealers.

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Here are my old sign catalogs from 1935 & 1948.

This 8 ft. double sided sign from the Mulholland Co. exhibits the red side stripes that were added in the post war 1940’s. Note the white Ford script and red oval stripe. The earlier neon signs had the Ford script in red with a blue oval stripe.

Want to see more signs? Check out www.bobdrake.com

SPRING 2016EARLY FORD GRAPEVINE

Another gem of my collection this 6 ft. double sided neon Ford script oval sign from the 1930’s.

shopping centers and strip malls to bring goods to our growing population. It was the beginning of the end for many a small town.

The dealers and other businesses moved into the larger, growing cities, or to the highway bypasses that now skirted the small communities. As this trend accelerated over the decades, we have seen the car dealerships building new car superstores side by side in “dealer rows” on the outskirts of cities or large Auto Malls in the city centers. It seems we have now created boring,

cookie cutter cities, towns and suburbs from one coast to the other.

I’m lucky to be old enough to have seen the heyday of small town America as a boy and will always remember my trips in the 60’s to those once thriving towns. As I walk down my own memory lane I see a bustling downtown street of red brick buildings built in the 20’s and 30’s and I see a glowing, neon Ford dealer sign just ahead, welcoming me home. Wouldn’t we all like to turn back the clock?

A modern day dealer-row Ford dealer.

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SPRING 2016EARLY FORD GRAPEVINE

The 1939-41 Dual Core Radiator - NEW from DrakeThe dual core radiator is a key component to the Flathead Ford cooling system, however, the originals are hard to find, expensive and often highly corroded. When Bob discovered no one was manufacturing these vital parts, he decided to take on a new project.

This project started about two years ago and was fairly complex. First, the Research and Development Team gathered many original radiators and started disassembling to reverse engineer, a tedious job undertaken by Will, the R&D engineer.

Then, Bob and the R&D Team found out there was no method for mass reproduction available for the dual core radiators. They would have to employ the same methods Ford used in the 1940's which meant extensive hand assembly. All the soldering is done by hand and the fins are checked manually to ensure correct spacing and straightness.

There were challenges along the way that delayed the project. The inlet/outlet tubes are a good example. The

R&D Team’s research revealed not only are the tubes angled, they were also riveted and soldered. This small detail added another 3 months to the project.

However, Bob and the R&D Team stayed true to their vision and keep the project going and the 1939-41 Dual Core Radiator is now in production. These radiators are all brass and have all the correct markings. Every detail from the fin number and spacing to the headlight channel wire crossover and mounting brackets is true to the original Ford design.

These radiators will be available for shipment in May. Call to reserve one today.

Bob is pleased with the top tank progress.

Every detail down to the fin spacing is checked.

for better Cooling

91A-8005-B $850.00 each 6

SPRING 2016EARLY FORD GRAPEVINE

Bob’s Collectibles

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See bobdrake.com for Videos & Slideshows

Water Pump Wheel Wizard & More

A sampling of new additions to the collection

To see more collectibles and information about them, go to

Bob’s Corner on www.bobdrake.com

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From Bob Drake ReproductionsSPRING 2016EARLY FORD GRAPEVINE

Stainless

We have some

Lincoln parts too!

Coming Soon!

01A-2853 Shown

1939 Car & 1940-41 Pickup . . . 01C-28531940 Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01A-28531941-48 Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11A-2853

LINCOLN UNIVERSAL JOINT

HB-7090 $100.00 eachDOOR HINGE MIRROR48-18403

$30.00 each

1956 Mainline, Customline Car & All Station WagonTRUNK EMBLEM BEZEL

B6A-7043500-A $75.00 each

1939-48 Car, 1939-47 Pickup & 1948-51 F2 Pickup

HAND BRAKE PIN KIT91A-2105-K $11.00 kit

1942-48 Car & 1942-52 PickupFAN HUB

The old original hubs require regular service and oil to maintain lubrication and smooth operation – neglecting your original hub is asking for trouble and could seriously harm your fan and radiator. The Drake team took the old original down to the bits for a thorough examination and designed a worry-free, no-service-needed unit with modern sealed bearings, a top grade aluminum body, and high strength steel shaft for years of dependable service. There is no better unit to keep your fan spinning and flathead running. Includes fan mounting hardware.

21A-8600-K $160.00 kit

EMERGENCY BRAKE HANDLE CABLES

Your Choice $55.00 each

1937-48 Car & PickupKICK PANEL RETAINER TRIM

78-7002354 $25.00 each

Patent pending

Call for our current

list of parts

Fits ’28-48

Ford too!

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