OK, top wood kit's on the way, and the car is running great with the carb cleaned out (duh). I also ordered a new sediment bowl that I can put a filter in. Getting serious now! We had some pretty heavy rain today but it had stopped by the time I got home and I couldn't resist taking the car for a rip on the wet roads. It's so much MORE fun! I can't wait to get the car buttoned up so that rain can't stop me from driving it.
Leaving for vacation tomorrow. It's drizzling, but I wanted to get the car out one more time. When I get home the deck lid and wood kit will be waiting for me... as well as a lead on possibly trading this coupe shell for a truck body. Would've been nice to get that offer before dropping almost a grand on the body. But I'm still game
So far so good. Had to stop here for now because I am severely sunburned and could no longer hide in the shade of my house.
I've received two offers to trade the coupe body for trucks - one an actual '31 truck and one is a converted sedan of unknown year. Both are solid, both have some complications. Hoping the '31 works out but I will probably settle for the cut down sedan if not, so for now I'm not doing any bodywork other than finishing cleaning up the trunk lid. Here's the '31... The complication is that it's in California and not currently owned by the guy offering it to me! He says he will buy it and bring it to me to trade for the coupe. I have done some trading with him before so I'm taking it seriously, but I'm not betting my life on it. We'll see. Here's the cut-down sedan: Unlike most cut-downs I've seen, the cab is virtually indistinguishable from a truck other than the beltline not quite matching, so I will settle for it if nothing else comes along. It's 30 minutes away. The complication with this one is that it is a smidge longer than a truck cab, so the bed will have to be scooted back a little on the frame. Not the end of the end of the world but it does mean the wheel arches won't line up.
I'm thinking just an inch or two from what the guy said. There's enough meat at the front of the bed to take out as much as needed to make it line up, but I'm worried about two things, one - messing with the proportions and two - making the already tiny bed even tinier. I do want to be able to chuck shit in the bed so the less room I leave the worse off I am.
One or two inches would be virtually nothing when it come to usable space. A bigger question is: will you be comfortable in a pickup?? Those cabs are might small, so if you are not vertically challenged (like I am) you may want to check out your comfort level in a pickup vs. a coupe. I've known a lot of guys that have parted with rigs (old pick -'em-ups and chopped Model A's) because they couldn't stand them for more than a half hour.
I sat in a truck and thought it was just perfect for me. I know they are a little cramped for most guys today. My build is pretty much what these things were built for I believe - I'm 5'7", 130 pounds soaking wet. I think I would even be comfortable taking a couple inches out of the pickup cab if I cut the seat down a little to match. But not too far or I wouldn't be able to see over the steering wheel!
This is my old 33 after taking 5.5" out of the top. It's also channeled over the height of the frame. I'm 5'9" with short legs...long body. I put a third seat from some kinda ford van in with the seat sitting on the floor....no slides needed. Before I chopped the top I sat in the seat while in the cab and had the neighbor kid measure from my head to the top of the cab...5.5" chop was just right.
I'm in the "cut the bed" camp. Easy peasy, done in a day, and onto something else. You do have other things to do to the car, (or truck?) don't you?
It will be a lot easier to take that inch or two out of the box and it will not be that noticeable, then you can chop it a bit to make it look really good!
New generator is ready to install. George showed me around his personal collection today and I got to see some really cool Model As and a couple other HAMB friendly things, plus a parts collection that made my mouth water. It's common to say people who know a lot have "forgotten more than I'll ever know" but I don't think George has ever forgotten a thing. His off-hand knowledge of every part and system of the Model A is incredible. He was able to get his hands on one of the brand new re-engineered five-bearing, full-pressure oiled Model A blocks and is building it to the gills. I'm really psyched to see how it turns out.
While you haven't put a ton of work into the current coupe body, I'd consider that cut down as not a straight trade, even if the guy did a bunch of work, unless it Is really ready to bolt on your chassis, subframe and all, Doors hinged, latched and aligned well, All inner trim is included, The sheetmetal is much better than yours. I know you want a PU and your body needs metal work. But you just bought the deck lid and wood kit. Sounds like this guy has metal skills to get the coupe body in shape. Maybe have him help fit the body on your frame and do the work to the bed to fit (subject to your approval) as part of the deal? Less down time and another set of hands for the swap. Oh, and the new decal stays with you!
I finally blew up the 6v ignition coil. This covered much of the engine compartment (insofar as it could be called a compartment) with PCB oil, so I blasted everything with degreaser and hosed it off. Went to NAPA, got a 12 volt coil. Dude at the counter had never heard of an ignition coil. He brought me some shit that looked like the international space station. He had to go get his manager who was like, dude, really?... anyway... The car has always shuddered/missed occasionally but today in lower lighting I noticed arcing between the brass clips and the distributor cap. I decided now was as good a time as any to upgrade and reached into my parts pile. I had to trim all the plug wires waaay down. I think #2 and #3 need to be even a smidge shorter. But the car is running better than ever. I butchered the super stock coil wire to make a coil wire out of what was the longest plug wire. Agreed it would be nice to press that kind of deal but I don't think this body is nice enough to be demanding haha. I'm definitely keeping the decal. I'm gonna go check it out this week. If I have to do any structural work to it, it's gonna be no deal. I don't mind patching rust holes but I have a solid square coupe body and it would make no sense to trade it for a ramshackle that will need fab work.
Point is, a coupe body is worth more than a pickup body, so don't be afraid to press for a better deal if the cut down body isn't really good!
I understand your frustration, but NAPA and the others pay about the same as the better fast food places, and the new person behind the counter doesn't get a lot of training, the computer is pretty poor even with Year, Make Model (YMM) and all the other questions. I worked at another parts store for just about a year. It was part-time, counter and fill-in for deliveries, they called me in every week on WED but wouldn't schedule it, messing with my other part time job and of course you are responsible for the drawer. I had a solid background in automotive, but the stuff coming in was all over the place, 1940s tractors to modern European electronics. I had 90% of it, but anyone who tells you they know it ALL is lying. Everyone else there had 10 years or more under their belts and would help if I got stuck when they had a chance, but they weren't making a real good salary either. A second income, a previously retired guy who was bored, and a guy that had been in the biz and hit a jackpot but didn't want to leave the job yet describe the co-workers. They had to routinely look stuff up too, in the computer or in books, 'cause they refused to get rid of them even though corporate really wanted them gone and swore the computer had it all. All of this for useless bennies, messed up scheduling, a weak paycheck, and to top it all off the company got hacked and leaked everyone's info so I still have a problem with the IRS every year. https://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/NAPA-Auto-Parts-COUNTER-SALES-Hourly-Pay-E118319_D_KO16,29.htm Try to be polite and helpful to any people who help you in any public-facing job. They are the lowest paid, with the least power to resolve problems, and they deal with everyone's baggage for the whole shift. You knew that you wanted a 12V positive EDIT negative ground ignition coil and that it never came on a 1931 Ford or any Ford through the mid-1950s. So you could have figured out what you did want and ask for a part # or a YMM. I can't think of a car that has used a regular ignition coil in the past 25-30 years, at least. Do you expect Costco to have tires for your car in their head or in the computer? We all want the crusty old guy that can rattle stuff off the top of his head, but he's gotta be working there and supporting himself for the past 30 years to do that, and you need to deal with his replacement learning for when he retires. That requires a wage and chance for advancement that isn't found behind the counter at most places. Sorry for the rant, but while it may be common for the people on this forum to know what would work, the person behind the counter is expected to know that AND for every other car forum online at a moment's notice, then include medium and heavy duty trucks, farm equipment and small engines too.
Haha I know Rod, I was nice to the dude. I work at walmart... trust me, I get it 100%. Just surprised me that someone at NAPA had never heard of a regular generic coil. He didn't get any disrespect except maybe from his manager (who he called, not me).
Thanks, man. Just needed to be said in this day and age of people spitting or worse because they didn't get what they expect, stat. I agree that a basic ignition coil should not have stumped him, but like I mentioned, they are no longer common. GM went to HEI in 1975, Ford's modular V8s (distributorless) came out in 1990, the mopar V8s stopped using standard coils in the 90s too. Oh, and this is as good a place as any... You know that computer the corporate people want to rely on? I have a long-time friend that did the same things I did (mechanic, then editor) who ended up working on the back end of one of those auto parts store programs fixing and adding to the database. Each month they would get a list of issues and problems (wrong parts, additional applications) from the stores. They would have to research and fix them manually. Each month, other programmers would overwrite with the latest info from the parts manufacturers. Next month the same problems would show up due to the overwrites! Job security, but certainly not job satisfaction! In the same vein, the local library has an online lookup for books and movies. I can search movies by say, director or star. The librarian using their internal program cannot!
Following @J.Ukrop's advice, I adjusted the steering. I never had any idea this car could steer so easily and precisely. I thought it drove OK before, but that was based on a preconception of how much wrenching and wrestling I would have to do to drive this jalopy. Now I can steer with my pinkie... it's like it's got power steering. Incredible! Having oil in the steering box probably contributes too. Got some other piddly shit done too... hung the new generator, haven't wired it yet though... frankly I don't understand the circuit and I'm still shit-scared to experiment with wiring. But since I'm gonna have an ammeter when I wire the generator I figured I'd better go ahead and bend the shift lever so it doesn't hit the instrument cluster when that's mounted. Think I got the angle perfect.
First time the car's seen a gas station in probably 50 years. I'm confident once I get the generator wired in the chassis will be ready to go anywhere. The body still needs some love. Ordered a wiring harness and terminal box. Got the title put in my name.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkXXFDbQHw4 www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ABt_y8iXnc This should cover you. I'm sure there are others, too. Keep chipping away at stuff and making that assembly of parts a real car!
You should probably think about putting those support rods in from the firewall to the radiator shell. You don't want stress cracks all over the mounting points on that!
Junction box cover was broken out of the box but the seller is making it right so no biggie. We're fully rewired. As of right now there is no plastic/rubber wiring in the car. I have also made the decision not to use the stock Model A light harness. I think I can do it better. I forgot to mention the generator made a terrific howling noise when running so I brought it back for him to look at. He fixed it and I am picking it up tomorrow. Have I mentioned I'm terrified of electricity?
Hooked up the generator. Feels good when stuff just works first try. Fired right up and the ammeter works. Now I just need to get the instrument panel mounted. Also need to buy a new battery because I switched from positive ground to negative ground (that's how the generator builder polarized it). The obvious solution here would be to just flip the battery around in the tray but this is a side post battery and if I do that the posts contact the frame rail which is not good.
I was gonna do that but I bought this battery off facebook for $20 a year ago for my engine run stand and it was already 5 years old then. It is a lawn tractor battery that has been run flat over and over and recharged with the quick-charge function on my battery maintainer. I think I've got my $20 out of it, I should just buy the right size battery with the right post configuration haha.
The Jalopy Journal
