1934 Ford coupe resto-mod, 5.0 Coyote, I took the Buy Now price instead of bidding
No. 1033Opened by thirtyfour_resto_modDec 6, 2025in Buying and auctions7 posts
thirtyfour_resto_modOPRolling chassis#1
Daytona Beach, FL18 posts · joined Nov 20251934 Ford coupe, 5.0 Coyote, IRS
1934 Ford coupe, steel body, 5.0 Coyote with the 10-speed auto, independent rear, and i took the Buy Now price of 37,900 instead of bidding, through conaway's, out of a lender yard in Georgia. i am in Daytona Beach, i have built two cars slowly and badly and i wanted to skip to the driving part for once, so i bought somebody else's finished resto-mod.
why Buy Now instead of a blind bid. i watched a couple of these close on the conaway auction and the finished Coyote cars were not going cheap, so when this one had a Buy Now number i could live with, i took it rather than get into a sealed-bid staring contest i have no stomach for. the bids are blind, you never see the other numbers, and i know myself, i would have either chickened out or overpaid. the Buy Now was the whole price, no premium added.
it is here, it runs, it is lovely, and i have the same nervousness dave had in his roadster thread so i am copying his homework: tear it apart from the photos and tell me what to check on a Coyote swap before i lean on it.
ls_swap_wiringFired up#2
Mesa, AZ38 posts · joined Nov 20251930 Ford coupe, LS 6.0, Terminator X
Coyote instead of an LS so i will speak to what is different. the Coyote is a fantastic engine and a packaging headache in an early Ford, it is physically wide and tall and it wants a lot of electronics happy. the first thing i check on a Coyote swap is how they handled the control pack and the grounds, same religion as the LS guys, and whether the drive-by-wire pedal is mounted solid and not flexing. send the harness and the pedal photos.
second, cooling and the wide engine means the accessory drive and the steering shaft fight for the same space on the driver's side, so look hard at how close the exhaust and the steering U-joint are. that is the classic Coyote-in-a-34 burned-boot problem.
custom_paint_flakeFired up#3
Spokane, WA33 posts · joined Nov 20251950 Mercury custom, mild chop, flake roof
paint eye only. a 34 with good gaps and straight sides is hard to find because the steel is 90 years old, so tell me, are the doors and the deck lid steel or has somebody hung glass patch panels. in the close photos the reflection on the driver's door looks a hair wavy to me, which could be the original steel being original steel, or could be filler moving. not a dealbreaker on a driver, just know what you have before a hot florida summer shows you.
thirtyfour_resto_modOPRolling chassis#4
Daytona Beach, FL18 posts · joined Nov 20251934 Ford coupe, 5.0 Coyote, IRS
ls_swap_wiring wrotewhether the drive-by-wire pedal is mounted solid and not flexing
sent the harness, pedal and steering-shaft photos to the thread. pedal is on a proper bracket, no flex i can feel. the steering U-joint to exhaust clearance you flagged is tighter than i would like, maybe three quarters of an inch to the header, and there is a little heat mark on the boot already. ordering a slip-on boot shield and a piece of header wrap for that spot, cheap fix, thank you for pointing it where to look.
custom_paint, you have good eyes, the driver's door is the one steel panel with a little filler over an old ding, the shop that sold me the parts car years ago told me and it is in my notes. the rest is straight steel. no bubbling, florida car its whole life.
mod_wade_hModerator#5
Loveland, CO71 posts · joined Nov 20251931 Ford Model A coupe, flathead, juice brakes
good thread and a good companion to the roadster one two doors down. different buy, a Buy Now price instead of a blind bid, a Coyote instead of an LS, and the same smart move of bringing the photos to the board before the car to the road. the heat-on-the-steering-boot catch is exactly the kind of thing that is a two dollar fix now and a no-steering moment later.
pro_touring_buildRoad worthy#6
Lincoln, NE74 posts · joined Nov 20251967 Camaro pro-touring, LS3, coilovers
on the Coyote specifically, make sure the cooling system has a proper bleed and that the degas bottle is plumbed right, these engines trap air and will spike the temp needle on a hot idle if the air is not out, and people chase a fan or a thermostat when it is just trapped air. bleed it properly on a lift with the front up. otherwise this looks like a clean car and the Buy Now number was fair for a finished Coyote 34, you did alright.
thirtyfour_resto_modOPRolling chassis#7
Daytona Beach, FL18 posts · joined Nov 20251934 Ford coupe, 5.0 Coyote, IRS
boot shield and header wrap on, steering shaft runs cool now, and i bled the cooling system on a lift with the nose up like pro_touring said and the temp that used to creep at idle sits dead steady. so my all-in is 37,900 plus about 60 in heat shielding and an afternoon. one honest annoyance to report, my first email to conaways asking for the extra photos sat a day and a half before i got an answer, which felt long when you are about to spend 38 grand, but the photos when they came were everything i asked for. driving it to the new smyrna cruise this weekend.
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