Here's some of the story in Tom's own words.
"I bought the car from a guy in Michigan sight unseen, 1st mistake. Pictures looked great, engine (239 Y Block) not so great. It was painted Ford Blue and that should have tipped me off. Anyway it arrived in the rain in New Jersey and it wasn’t until two days later when the rain stopped. I looked in the radiator and saw no coolant, bad, added coolant and all of a sudden chocolate milk started running out of the engine breather, cracked block! Twisted the guy in Michigan’s arm and got some $$ back, enough to buy a 292 Y block out of a 1960 Ford. So $$ for engine covered, no labor covered but It’s just as well because in changing out the engine I found that every nut and bolt was loose, some not even finger tight. Fast forward to having a running engine and a happy guy, not so fast. Turns out the title was wrong, a” Y” instead of a “V” in the VIN, station wagon not a two door hardtop, or maybe a flower planter if I couldn’t get the title straightened out. And the guy I bought the car from had never titled the car so I had to track down the owner before him, what a job. But that guy is a 1954 Ford aficionado; he has owned several 1954 Ford hardtops and was very willing to help me. So I had to do the VIN plate rubbing thing and send pictures out to him in Michigan and he did all the leg work and got the title corrected. So now I am back to square one, running, driving car, (need to pull the transmission because of leaks but at this point that will be easy). I need to check all the other bolted on pieces to be sure they are not loose, and some of the trim, just sitting there with no clips! I hope to be on the road by the middle of this summer barring any other unforeseen" difficulties!
Tom has this nice 1954 Ford Crestline Victoria.