Great project! You have a good vision of the end design, look forward to seeing you progress. Perhaps next spring you can join us for some meet-ups with your finished T. Best of luck John
Update.... Not much to look at still but I snap a bunch of pics for bread crumb purposes once building and assembly begin. @gwhite I'm working on some more paint pictures still, but will be leaving for Sema shortly. Considering you and I seem alike you need to throw a random brush hair in your paint when you brush subframes and such. Ya know, for prosperity, and original sake. This is the middle body bolt and appears to have never been removed although I focused on the hair. I have been cleaning the inside of the car with mild detergent but a lot of dust is embedded in the paint. I've been toiling a bit about the interior of the car considering it has been recovered and I discovered some original pieces..... My train of thought is the car would have been just over 20 years old at the time of the build so it should appear original. I kicked around the idea of trying to clean the recovered stuff but it has black overs spray on it, it's filthy, and honestly, I like the old car smell but this is quite pungent. I think it has bits of real panther so you know it's real. My feelings to look at what is under the recover got the best of me so off to the basement shop I went. This is where I will spend most of the winter working on rebuilding, and cleaning whatever small things I can work on. Here is the seat back. I really need to wear a mask doing this stuff. After pulling many tack nails I had to let a cloud settle before I pulled back the cover! This is the original gray with green stripes seat cover It seems like the original owner preferred to ride alone like me. The original left side door panel. And for the last pic... The very top of the door panel. I think the sewn edge is a cool detail and check out those stripes! I think they are pretty neat too. So.... After some thought. I think I will buy some reproduction material for the car and figure out away to add some age to it so it's all comfy and broken in. The frame of the seat is in pretty good shape and should need a little rebuilding to look pretty nice. Also, I'm faced with another decision which may involve a change to the car. I have someone interested in my chassis who has a bunch of model A stuff including a banger to offer which has me contemplating using an A frame for a little easier build, and running a banger while I build the Flathead... Part of me thinks it would be fun to take the car through pre-war, then post war upgrades but I'm not sure yet. Ugh... I hate when good parts pop up when I was pretty set on the stock frame with the flathead but I've never owned a banger and have a bit of a soft spot for them. Plus... It leaves me with almost enough stuff for two chassis.... Can someone say pre-war banger roadster once I put the flathead in the coupe! Decisions, decisions.
Rad! Love seeing the details...glad you're documenting all the little things as you go! Where on the body is the 'lost' bristle? IIRC, Ford 'sloshed' the sub rails, heel boards, & toe boards with M-142 (50% Gilsonite, 50% white spirits), so it wouldn't be a surprise to see all kinds of debris in the paint there. Good stuff, keep it up!
I agree with the other guys that the frame is weak and would need a bunch of reinforcement if you're going to apply any V8 but what really concerns me is your thoughts on keeping the stock gas tank. Huge fire hazard and you'll fill your motor with gas if you forget to shut off the petcock for any length of time which could lead to hydraulicing it. The voice of experience - been there, done that. Otherwise it's a great car and a cool plan. Just my 2cents
That is the subframe rail just under the rear of the seat bottom. The dark panel on the left is the riveted floor piece just above the exhaust. You can tell the paint was applied to the top of the bolt and flowed down forming a seal between the head and the subframe. It's never been cracked loose for sure. Whatchya think about the banger possibility? Thanks for the input Ragtop, I greatly appreciate it. Over the past few weeks I've given that some thought and have decided to move it to the trunk. Especially if I work out the deal on this A frame. I thought it was a neat idea at the time, but safety is a concern. I am probably going to make the change to laminated glass too.
Heck yeah on the banger. You might just decide to keep it and save the V8 for a late 40's style roadster
Just went back and re-read everything from the beginning; glad I did. Pretty interesting that you noticed checking in the paint (looks like that might be on one of the rear fenders)....I was pretty frustrated today to find that some of my asphaltum paint test panels were showing similar effects. They've gone through multiple heat/cold cycles over the last 10 days or so - 90* during the day and 50* at night, plus bouncing around in the bed of my truck Was wondering to myself this evening if Ford's paint checked in like manner....would be interested to see if any other spots on the car show evidence of checking. Here's the best pic I could get of the checking my 'best match' test panel;
@gwhite 10 days and that much checking / cracking? Something is up. I'll get more pictures for you and I'll start a thread in our group so I can keep my build thread on track.
I think it's sad to see a complete original stock Model T being hot rodded. There is so many other T's out there that would be good hot rods. it's a shame to take one like this apart. There isn't many 90 year old complete cars left, and with so many part cars to use. Yes, I turned my '27 coupe body into a hot rod, but I didn't wreck a desirable car, and with possible ties to the ford family. No Henry would not be proud of you for doing it. Back in to 20' yes, but not after it survived this long. It's a sad time for model T's owners & collectors to read this! Not just only my .02 worth! Pat
No one will miss that car.... They made over 15 million of these things.... they are about as common as they come. I'd literally been trying to give away stock T parts for over 2 years....no one wanted them, so now they are scrap... Sorry, not buying this "destroying a rare piece of history" bologna. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Should this car not be traditionally hot rodded it would just sit there and rot. Now, once completed it will be used an admired by those who love this kind of shit. I too respect the heritage of things but also enjoy creating an icon of hot rodding of days gone by. Hell, Henry did it, why can't we do it.
Hey guys. Long time since an update but spring is hitting so here it goes. First. I thought long an hard about building this car even though it is an original maintained piece. After a lot of consideration I don't see an issue with it, although concerns are noted. If someone walked up and offered me what I paid for it I might take it and try to get into a Model A but nobody is willing to pay what it's worth. The pictures in fact make the car look better than it really is, and a serious restoration effort would take much more money than it would be worth in the end. Now for the update.... Well, I didn't get to do one thing to it over the winter. In November I walked away from an 8 year relationship and had to start over all the way down to silverware and a new place to live which soaked up most of my budget for the build. At this moment I am settled into my new place, I have a decent garage and I refuse to sell the car cause it's my only level of content right now. I know I won't be able to build it exactly how I want but with any plan I will adapt, build it as least expensive as I can, try to get it up and driving for Sins of Steel, and get my Father out on Woodward in it. New Plan. Put together or find a Model A chassis with a banger, or use my flatty if it doesn't have to be rebuilt but I have to eliminate the crank driven 1940 fan, and use a top loader. (Mine is a side shift) Shorten fame to the proper wheelbase with rear wheels centered in well. Leave the body exactly how it is. Clean up and do the interior the best I can Drive it and try to have fun while I slowly peck away at little things. At this moment I have my stock chassis to work on a trade for a few parts with someone, and about $2500.00 total to produce a running car considering my drastically increase living expense. Wish me luck., I start tear down this week. If any Southeast Michigan guys have any cheap working Model A / Flatty stuff and want to get rid of it, please let me know.
Glad to see you back...sorry about the circumstances. Keep plugging, building this bad boy will be good for the soul! Send me a PM with the Model A stuff you're looking for; I might have some spares laying around
Good luck on getting your life back in order, and keep on keeping on with the Elza coupe, it will get there eventually. Keep your chin up and persevere
Thanks guys. My dad always told me to stand up and shake it off. This is no different. Thanks for the offer gwhite. As I get my head back in the project I'll send you a message. I only have what I have posted in this thread as of today.
Hope everything lands safely for you in life. Good to hear you're moving forward on the project, some how it seems to be the only stable thing in our lives. Good luck man.
If you swap the rear end housing side to side it will put the spring in front of the rear end, and you wont have to shorten the frame. I had a 26 T touring when I was young. I put a 4 cylinder Chevy II (Mercruiser) in it and drove the car everywhere. The little motor has a Chevy pattern on the back of the block, so you can adapt to a early Ford transmission if you want. They were 90 horse stock, and it will run like a clock.
Keep an eye out for someone hot rodding a car and selling a complete A chassis. I've gotten lucky before and bought a few for well under 1000 bucks. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks guys, and hey Hitchhiker! Finding an a chassis like you describe was part of my plan. I just missed out on one I could use for hardware minus motor for $150.00!!!! However, I took a little adventure today to work on my trade. As of today it's getting a banger and an almost complete A running gear. I still need to source a lot of the small crap, and come up with a carb but I'm more excited about the banger than I was about the flattie.
Heres a few thoughts for you Rail job I drove my stock A a few years then fixed Henrys annoying little shortcomings. First the stock A is embarrassing slow, so it got a 7:1 head. That really perked things up. I got the timing kit so I could set the timing with a timing light. I got Pertronix. Dropped axle, too. Then I fixed the shifting problem with a 84-87 F150 with overdrive transmission and you gotta have good brakes so I used Bendix brakes using Lincoln backing plates and 1940 drums with shoes and small parts for 71-76 chevy. I think the SU carburetors are the best ever so I made a stainless manifold and have driven the car for 18 years thru 4 states.
Thanks for the tip manyolcars. Life has been getting in the way and progress is slow. Seem to have met a pretty great gal as of late too. It's almost starting to look like a hotrod.
So true. Hahaha. Cool thing is, she's really into old stuff and loves the car. Quite refreshing, actually.
Glad to be back on it and very glad to have a space that is uninterrupted to work in. I should have the body off next week, then it's on from there.
The Jalopy Journal
