Kelly Ingle surprised her husband, Rick with this 1946 Ford Super Deluxe coupe. She knew he was looking for a street rod project, so when she learned the car had been stashed away in a local storage unit when the previous owner died overseas, she bought it and presented it to him. It took them 11 years to get it back on the street, but the end result was worth the wait.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Dave Hanna and Tom Coulter of Sterling Classics took care of what little body work was needed on the coupe and topped it off with a generous coating of Washington Blue paint, a factory Ford color in 1946.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Rick Ingle says a fat-fendered Ford should have a Ford engine in it, so this mildly hot-rodded 302 V-8 mated to a C4 automatic, which replaced a locked-up flathead, is right at home between the frame rails of his `Fordy6.'
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Ingle's favorite view of his '46 coupe is from this angle. `I love the way the back of them is styled ... they are so round and curvaceous,' he says.
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Terry Ingle sewed up the new door panels for the Ford, using the original armrests, trim pieces and handles, keeping things close to the factory look.
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The nose-down stance accents the '46's horizontal-bar grille, with accents painted in red. Sterling Classics installed the 4-inch dropped tube axle and split wishbones front suspension, which features GM power steering and disc brakes.
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Rear rolling stock consists of a set of 255x60R17 Goodyear Eagles mounted on American Racing Torq Thrust II wheels.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The front and rear bumpers were in good enough condition that they only needed to be cleaned up and rechromed. Bill's American Muffler Shop crafted a set of custom-made dual pipes to connect the stainless steel headers to the Flowmaster mufflers and tailpipes.
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A pair of 225x60R16 Goodyears are mounted on matching American Racing wheels tucked inside the nice, wide fenders up front.
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One of the few replacement parts that had to be sourced was the beautiful chromed dash insert, a reproduction piece that replaced the deteriorated original plastic unit. The owner found a matching Omega speedometer and tachometer that filled the main bezels perfectly.
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The front seats were supplied by a late model Dodge Avenger and eventually will be reupholstered to match the rear seat.
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A Pontiac Grand Prix gave up its rear seat to make room for passengers in the Ingles' Ford coupe.
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Accessory gauges from Omega were fitted behind the original rectangular Ford bezels on the left side of the instrument panel.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
After the surprise gift of the car from his wife, Rick Ingle decided the project car deserved its own home, so he built the garage in the background, where most of the work on the `Fordy6' was done.
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