It seems that in my excitement I ordered EAB pumps instead of 8RT pumps. It said 1950-53 Ford Car and 1953 Ford Truck and my brain took a dump. I got as far as going to fit one to the block before I realized I didn't have motor mounts. I feel like such an idiot! Oh well. Guess I’ll list them on the HAMB.
I'm still here, still plugging away slowly. Had a home inspection for a refi so all the car stuff kind of got "organized" (read: crammed into a corner in the garage) and I haven't had time to really dive back into it. I turned down a '30 pickup body from Wisconsin. It didn't seem cost effective for the amount of repair work it needed due to being a northern truck. Hopefully one will come by closer... I went to pick up my axle and newly reamed '40 spindles a couple days ago. While I was there and bullshitting with the owner he realized the spindles would fit in his sonic cleaner so he offered to dip them for me. Otherwise they are just about ready to go and, since I recently scored some '40 front brakes, all I need is to find me some drums and I'll have a front axle. Additionally today I completed my set of wheels with a pair of Model A wire wheels that I got for $50. They are true and round and just need tires. The dude I got them from has been hot rodding for ages and took me on a tour of his shop. He's got all kinds of cool shit going on in there, most of it off topic, but it was really educational, especially getting to look underneath a pretty traditional '33 coupe he had on his lift. One minor ding on the rim of the left wheel but it will be fine. These will clean up nicely. My copy of "How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod" is on the way and I understand it goes into more detail about this question, but in the meantime I am still trying to figure out the wishbone thing. My understanding is a stock Model A wishbone won't clear the pan on my V8. What should I be looking for to start with?
In the book it tells you to find a 33-34 wishbone, later the author said that was wrong and you needed a 32 wishbone. The 32 wishbone is correct. It all really depends on what you have though. I used a 39 front wishbone that I cut down to the proper length , then welded on a model A yoke. It cleared my 8ba.
You're right. I'm not sure why I said they were As, had a brain fart. (Been having those a lot lately.) They are 18" so 32s.
Seems like every time I get enough cash together to move forward something else comes along to take it away. Hopefully I'll scrape it together again in a couple months, til then I guess it's slumber time for the flathead. See yall then.
Sorry, that wasn't meant to sound as dramatic as it did. I rewrote the post halfway through to try and simplify it and lost an important part of it. Earlier in this thread I mentioned that my HVAC system had gone out and I had to blow my hot rod budget on having it replaced. The installers fucked it up badly and I got slapped with an enormous electric bill which is only going to be even bigger next month. It has been fixed but the bill is way way higher than I ever thought it could be (talking four digits) and I am not going to get a penny back from those assholes so all the cash I had saved up since the system went out is going to these bills. I really don't have the income for this hot rod stuff. The really bitter thing is that an all-steel 31 pickup cab just showed up (as part of a package deal with an AA chassis) and I was trying to move on it when this happened. Jrs saw it... it looked really solid.
Man, I'm sorry about the mixup and the bill. I'm still keeping my eyes peeled across the country looking for anything solid and affordable for ya. No matter how cheaply we try to build these things, they end up being unbelievably expensive. It's funny to look back at the lists I made the weekend I bought my chassis. There were 33 items, and little did I know that I was just scratching the surface... Keeping momentum is hard on any project. When I hit a rut, I usually try to focus on something small and completely different from what I was doing before. For example, when I was frustrated with the fuel system and waiting on parts, I focused on the interior and wiring. It sounds simple, but for me it works. Sometimes I even bring pieces into the house so I can work on them away from the car. It makes it seem like a completely different art project. Anyways, I know how exhausting it can be searching for a body—especially when money is tight. One will turn up. Just to keep the ball rolling, here's the gang terrorizing the neighborhood in their A-V8. We have a good year ahead of us, I can feel it!
Geez, talk about a jalopy. I will be lucky if mine looks half that good at this rate. Thanks for the pick me up. I'll never be able to call it quits on this thing with all the help I've received here. Just gotta set it aside for a bit.
Lol. None of us do. We are all living above our means! The A/C fiasco sucks. Remember I told you dealing with people is frustrating? Dealing with incompetence is all the more agrivating. Keep you chin up, you can't let the bastards get you down.
An old toothbrush and a gallon of mineral spirits is less than a ten spot. Progress is moving forward...
Agreed. When you get your Tardel book in, using it as a reference, you can start setting up your chassis. You have those wire rims. Cleaning them up and painting is a small but very rewarding step!
Considering the doom and gloom tone of my last post just yesterday it feels really odd to be writing this right now but a lot of things have happened in the past 24 hours and to keep it short, I ended up with more money than I had to begin with. Roll your eyes if you must! I was on my last break at work today and happened to check Facebook marketplace as I have gotten into the habit of doing. Posted just five minutes prior was this: This car looks very solid and quite complete with more pieces that aren't on it in these pictures, including I believe a full set of fenders, gas tank, hood and radiator shell. I am going tomorrow to pick it up. I'm so anxious and excited I could puke.
I know. I was almost too embarrassed to post. Money is still tight, so progress will be slow as hell, but it worked out just enough for me to scrape by on this. I might just try to get the banger in this thing running and zip around on it until I save up enough for the V8 conversion. My V8 still needs a lot of work and I will need a K member and have to totally rebuild my rear end and all that good stuff so I will probably be looking at another few grand just in parts before I can seriously look at finishing the V8 chassis. It's in Salado, I'm trying to work out the logistics of renting a U-haul and U-hauling ass over there first thing tomorrow. It's gonna be tight.
Well you have a frame already if I remember correctly. You have the banger to play around with, then have to second frame for the A V8 version. Now you are starting to sound like another youngster from farther out west..
Just got off the phone with the seller. The listing was actually posted by someone else on his behalf and he says she used pictures from when he had just got it, not the most recent ones. It does have all of the body metal including the gas tank and trunk lid and even has a seat. I have the cash and will be picking up a 16' trailer tomorrow... so the clock is ticking.
Dayum. Nice turn of events. Well done. I was going to suggest suing the HVAC morons in small claims to recoup your losses due to their ineptitude, but seems like you got it worked out. Plus, scoring the coupe. If you are tight on money, hammer welding is cheap. Have a great road trip.
A bitchin chop is on the agenda for sure. That looks just about what I had in mind. Nice touch removing the donkey. Can anyone tell from the pictures whether it has an A or B banger?
Yes, get it running as-is! There are a ton of Model A startups on the tube, just take your time and lube everything before even thinking about cranking it over. Really glad to hear you are able to get this milestone. Having a trunk lid is a good step in the right direction, so you are now on the lookout for a windshield frame and dash cluster?
This one is for sale online right now, a very nice stance! If you haven't already, start gathering pics of the ones that tickle your fancy to provide inspiration during the build ahead.
Of course, you mentioned while looking for a PU that you liked them sitting high. So here's one more old school...
I'm home! The drive was pretty uneventful. I have never pulled a trailer before, so what better way to learn than a 7 hour round trip, half of which would be spent pulling my dream car? I was a little worried about my Dodge as it has the smaller V8 and was thus far unproven in the towing department but it did admirably. Here's a bunch of pictures. It has this bitchin homemade steel top that I am probably going to keep. I got to "drive" it a little, balanced precariously on the crossmember while steering onto the trailer. There is some bondo, but it doesn't look too bad. It's not covering rust, just filling in a dent. I'm going to try to gouge all that shit out and see what the steel looks like under it. This was a REALLY long day, but now I'm that much closer to hitting the road. Other than what you see on the car, I got... - All the fenders. The rear fenders are rough (maybe not saveable) but the front fenders and splash guards are already painted and ready to rock. - Two gas tanks, one of which is painted and ready. - A grill shell. No insert, no big deal. - A hood that needs to be blasted and painted. - A pretty rotten trunk lid. Might be too far gone, but I'll get a better look at it in the daylight tomorrow. - A really nice... not sure what it's called, the part that goes between the trunk lid and the body. It's nice. - The bit of metal that goes across the cowl under the windshield. - Maybe two dashboards? I can't remember. - Headlights and the spreader bar. - A gauge cluster bezel thing but no gauges. - More bits of metal I haven't figured out what they are yet. - A TITLE. I'll get more pictures of all that junk tomorrow... I need door handles! I don't know how to open the doors without them. I have been crawling through the trunk to get into the car. I think I have the metal rods that the hood sits on but I feel like I'm missing something on the tank side for them to hook to? Anyway, for what I paid for the car, I think I did pretty good. The banger bars over but is missing the ignition coil and the little weird metal tabs that connect the plugs to the distributor. I will try to get that sorted out soon and see if it will start. I don't see any reason it wouldn't. Huge shoutout to my uncle for coming along. His brute strength and electric winch helped out a lot. I think this body may have been raced at one time; there are some kind of wonky homemade reinforcements inside and it has the remnants of a sticker that says "NATIONALS" in the back windshield.
The Jalopy Journal
