A wire brush cup on a electric angle grinder will work but be sure to use Personal Protection and respirator. It’s a nasty job but you don’t remove any metal. They make a magnetic detector to let you measure how deep it’s is. Any P&B information you need contact me I only have 60+ years of experience. Frank
Sounds like I've been on the right track then, just been going at it with a bronze cup brush on a drill. I'll hit you up for sure when it comes time to get serious.
Not quite done, but done enough to assess the worst of it. I'm now thinking this body was assembled from two different cars, as none of the hot rod blue paint shows up on the driver side of the body and there is a vast difference in panel condition between the two. I have no idea what the hell happened to the cowl, but I think I can fix it good enough for my purposes. I was expecting it to be hiding some dirty secret but it will fix up fine. The door on the other hand... I had high hopes for this door before I got to work on it, and they were dashed as the bondo peeled away. It looks like it got shotgunned at some point and a panel was crudely stick-welded in to replace the most damaged section. The metal is quite thin on this door and there is a LOT of crush damage up around the middle hinge/A pillar area. The bondo was an attempt at concealing all of this. It seems structurally sound and square but I do not have panel beating skills whatsoever. I'm sure someone can save this, but it ain't me. The good news... I spent some time tinkering with the carburetor and I got the car running even better. I was out ripping around and it suddenly quit on me - once again acting like it was out of gas. If I gave it a few seconds it would pop, sputter, and die... just like it was when the fuel line was over-extending into the carburetor. This time I thought maybe it really was out of gas, so I went to crack the gas cap off and it sounded like opening a soda can! That's when the lightbulb came on - the gas cap is not vented. After that it ran fine until the next time suction built up in the tank. I would like to add, just for the record, that today is officially the first time I hit a bump so hard that I hit my head on the roof like a cartoon.
Super cool build thread. I myself am just a year younger than you, and it's nice to see other likeminded people my age. I'm hoping to piece together a 28-29 flathead powered roadster once I finish my C10 shop truck. Awesome coupe!
Some one put the radiator cap on the gas tank that’s why there is no hole in it. Use to be a common trick people did swap caps
Trevor I have an English wheel here if you want to try to make a new door skin. It would be fun to give it a try!
I'd love to! The door skin sounds like a great practice project. But I'm concerned about the damage to the upper part of the door (base of the A pillar). I don't know if that's repairable, it's all crumpled. It looks better than it is in the pictures.
Today was the first time I've been able to come home from work, fire up the hot rod with no prep, and go for a cruise. She's really running great now! Even got into a little bit of traffic and we did fine. I'm really excited to get the 12v generator wired up and charging to extend my range. I'm also planning to sell my fenders to hopefully mostly cover new tires for the car. That means the last major safety/legality point will be windshield and lights and after that it's all creature comforts like floors and heat insulation.
Here's eight minutes of footage, from outside and inside. I didn't cut anything so you can all mock how terrible I am at shifting. The car is doing great!
Haha! I was going to tell you that you need to learn to double clutch that bitch! You need to get Travis some floorboards!
Lots of people have told me I need to double-clutch in a Model A, but I'm not sure why. Seems like it just makes shifting take longer. I can usually go 1-2-3 without double clutching and it never grinds or bucks unless I'm doing something else wrong. I can usually go 3-2 without double clutching but getting back into 1st gear while rolling is hard no matter what I do. I just learned one of my front tires is around 70 years old, Allstate brand (not marked Sears, so apparently it dates to the early 50s?) No wonder this car shakes going down the road. The other front is a 60s vintage Goodyear. Not sure what the rears are, the only sidewall markings are the size, "SAFETY SERVICE", “NYLON” and "MADE IN USA." They are in very good, basically new condition so I'm going to move them to the front and run them when I get my 7.50s for the rear. The Allstate tires, however, are finally going to see retirement.
Uh, this whole thing is titled "Jumping In The Deep End". Before you go degrading your skills, remember that you have drive, ambition and the help of a bunch of fellow 'never done that befores' all the way up to a few 'do it for a livings'. What would a good door cost, what is the current door worth, and how much do you want to learn on something that can translate to a better outcome for the rest of the body? If you f#$k up a $100 door, but learned, that is CHEAP! Or, drive it over to the nearest chain body/paint shop and ask how much. www.snjparts.com/Model-A-Sheet-Metal/5109-a-308-bsr.html A couple months ago, it would have launched the body! Quick tip, don't wear a cap that has a center button! Also, floor boards so your feet don't drop through is a safety item. Two simple flat boards can help you start on making patterns, working with wood and making sure the body that has been fighting you and you now think is a Frankenstein is reasonably square at the bottom.
i got a few '30-'31 closed car cowls... need a right side, ? bad lowers, just as a patch ... free, let me know where to cut... pm me.
Wow! Great offer right there. I'll bring the mig or tig over to weld it in!! Trevor is a certified college learned welder....I've seen him do it and have pics to prove it. Don't let this young whippersnapper bullshit ya!!
I made this floorboard pattern working on a friend's Model A. If it helps you, it's yours! If I remember right, the angles on the sides are correct. I traced it off the original floorboard, cut the angles,, and that's as far as I got with it. You can see the pencil marks where the battery cover goes, I just never cut it out.
Finally got the lid off the old sardine can. Beat the hell out of myself in the process. Went for a celebration cruise afterward. I love watching people's faces... excitement, shock, disgust. So now it's time to look at the wood situation and I'm definitely not putting that stupid tin roof back up there after that, so it'll get a real roof insert at some point. Fair, fair! You're right, of course. I'm just reluctant to start cutting on old iron, even if it's already a POS. My feet can't fall through as long as one's on the clutch, the other on the gas. And now there's no muffler to burn my passenger! But yes, it's definitely on the agenda. I've been putting off fixing my scrollsaw because every time I'm in the garage I just wanna play with the car. PM inbound! So I actually do have a floor, it's just that it doesn't fit in the wonky, scabbed together subframe. The floor is also wonky. I think it was made for a sedan, so it may just not be the right shape at all... I haven't actually seriously messed with it beyond trying to drop it in there a long time ago, before I was driving the car. I will do some measuring/eyeballing and see what's up.
Went and dug the floor out... I remember the deal with it now. The guy gave it to me, his guy fucked it up while making it and it was not usable for a restoration. I trimmed it down to where it will work but it isn't something I'm going to want to keep forever.
Please make sure the subframe is right and the body is reasonably square before doing the roof wood. You sure don't want to do that job twice because the roof is holding the body twisted! Might even want to get all the body at least roughed out before replacement. It would suck to have to heat a section and torch your new wood. At least you won't hit your head for now...
Oh the subframe is completely jacked up, but the body is somehow square by my measurements. I'm not gonna question it - the doors open and shut good, the windshield fits in the frame, and the deck lid opening is the right size. Works for my purposes, especially given that I'm still trying to trade this body off anyway. If I could get away with just doing the header so I could hang the windshield I would, but it does need all the top wood unfortunately so I will suck it up and do it.
A couple notes on shifting. double clutching is not a difficult thing to master. To make it easier, do your shifting at a lower RPM than a modern car, use the tachometer in your ear. Remember, A's have a 60lb flywheel so it takes a bit to slow it down. I pretty much never use first gear unless really at a dead stop, or on a slight hill. If moving at all, use second, thats what the 60lb flywheel is for. If you really want to speed shift you can dump the advance lever back to zero to help the RPM's fall off faster. Thats how we shift a model T into high gear, it makes a big difference in a T, but I really never do it in my A's, I just wait....have a sip of beer, or a puff of smoke, then shift. Keep in mind how your legs feel when you shift a 10 speed bike, your legs being the crankshaft, and the rear wheel running at road speed dont match. Double clutching is to try and match road speed and crank speed to the same thing and then it slides into gear without a sound. You will get it after its more roadworthy and you get some miles on. Keep on havin fun, we all enjoy the journey !
I had the timing a bit off and I knew it 'cause the car only liked to run at full advance and would die at full retard. Reset the timing and it's running a lot better. HOWEVER... once warmed up, it started doing the thing again where it would cheerfully idle forever, but would die instantly if the throttle was opened even a little. It has been doing this periodically irrespective of timing and I'm not sure what's causing it. I figured out I could gently tease the engine RPM up by gently pumping the throttle. While doing this it gave me a heck of a backfire through the carb (which is the first time it's backfired through the carb that I've seen), then immediately cleared up and started running normally again. Any ideas?
First time I've posted in this thread, although I've followed it since the beginning. It's lean. I don't know these carbs, but it needs more fuel. You've adjusted timing, which affects vacuum, which affects the carb. Add fuel and it'll be happy. Devin
My working theory is the high speed circuit on the carb was clogged, and the backfire blew out whatever it was. When it's not in that "mood" the car runs great and makes lots of power. As far as the mixture goes I'm pretty sure I'm running rich since the plugs are sooty and I get black smoke when it's not breathing fire... I'm also starting to push this poor 6 volt coil to its limit I think. Car quit on me again during spirited driving but the battery had plenty of juice left to run the starter. Fuel was flowing fine - no spark whatsoever. I coasted home (downhill run ) and let it cool off and it's back to making spark. Problem is I can't seem to get a good 12 volt coil. Two in a row DOA, one Edelbrock and one Super Stock, both new... so I keep going back to the 6v coil of unknown vintage that was hanging on my V8 when I got it.
Fenders are gone- tires or wood? If I do the wood I can go ahead and hang the windshield, which will allow me to get the car inspected and street legal. But the front tires are dangerously old. Decisions, decisions...
Wood kits seem to be OOS everywhere, but I snagged a smokin deal on a deck lid. Not really what I needed right now but that will go a long way toward making this hoopty feel more like a car. It has some hail dings but nothing that can’t be massaged out I think. Original steel lid. Gonna strip it when it gets here and see what I’m working with… Finally got fed up and pulled the carb apart... no wonder it wasn't running right, the amount of crud floating around in the float chamber tells the story. Unfortunately the guy that rebuilt it used a spray adhesive when putting the gasket on so it did not come off cleanly and I don't have any spare. What I do have is a complete Zenith core and a Zenith rebuild kit, so I will practice rebuilding the Zenith and see if I can make that one run while waiting on the Tillotson gaskets to come in... Got to figure out what's with the crud too. I tentatively blame the sediment bowl as I cleaned the fuel tank obsessively and once I was satisfied, I filled it with water & drained it into a bucket and saw not even a speck of crud in the water. This sediment bowl is a POS, there's not really a way to clean it out like the glass units. I thought it was really cool at first but I quickly came to hate it, it is going away. I tried running the engine with the old carb and it runs but that carb has the Tilly whistle bad. Need to pull it apart too and flatten the mating surfaces. e: The Zenith was previously worked on by a gorilla and unfortunately some of the threads are pulled out, and all the screwdriver slots for the internals are destroyed so I can't get them out. Just for grins I reassembled it and slapped it on the car and it runs great - with the choke pulled out halfway, because so much fuel is escaping through the ruined fuel screen threads... too bad, back to the parts bin you go... Upon inspection I realized my other Tillotson carb has a badly warped upper half - simply surfacing it is not going to save it, it is banana'd - so I salvaged the gasket from it. Will need to source another carb when I go duals. What a pain!
The Jalopy Journal
