Thought i'd post up some pics of my Model A coupe i've been playing with for the last year or so... Bought this car from Northern California. I was told, and have no reason not to believe, that it had been in storage since 1959. I don't have a workshop at home, so a friend of mine generously offered me some space at his place of business. Thanks Leon! The car was in great condition when i got it The motor was missing parts of the distributor and carb, they were soon replaced and rebuilt, sump was removed and bottom end inspected, head was removed and cleaned and i did a 12 volt conversion with a 60's era generator. Mechanically everything else seemed ok, although now that i'm driving it the clutch/gearbox doesn't sound too well. (Question; with a stock running gear what speed should i be cruising at??) This first pic is after i had a new spring made to bring it down 3 inches in the rear. The wood kit up top was done for so i machined up some new bows, sides and the front piece out of some American Oak i had lying around. After getting the car running, i decided to remove the fenders and running boards...and then i started looking at the paint. It had been given a brush job at some point, but it had not stuck to the original paint very well at all, it was pretty much just flaking off. Got the pressure washer out and gave it a squirt. Fast forward a couple of weeks and i had the car back to original paint. It took way longer than expected to get paint removed from the swage lines and other hard to get bits. I do like it though... Finally, i painted up some 35 wires with 7.50's on the rear and 5.50's on the front. The steelies were just on there with spacers...its still mechanical brakes so the wires mated up to the drums the way they needed to. I also mounted some original guide light on top of some headlight stands i made out of a model A headlight bar. Also mounted some '37 tail lights and the number plate underneath the body at the rear. Just havin' fun doin whats already been done: Hope you like it! Dave.
I love it! That original black paint was well worth the effort in my opinion. I have been tinkering with taking off my fenders and your coupe might be my inspiration. Diggin it man.
Thought it looked bitchin in the first shot with the fenders but you can't go wrong either way. Sweet ride.
Cruising speed according to Henry was 47 mph,after that it'll have it's tongue hangin out. big tires might give ya an extra couple mph'z,most likely rear gear ratio is 378
Thanks...I'm not getting that much at the moment...might have to play with it a little. Thanks for all the positive comments fellas, glad you like it!
Super cool coupe !! Deffanty worth the time of taking it back to original paint love it with out the fenders
Dave, It looks as though you're ready for the dirt drags at the Chopped Hot Rod weekend BTW - where did you get the rear spring modified?
How awesome! Exactly what I'm planning to do also... Looking forward to seeing you line up at the CHOPPED dirt drags! HC.
that looks great ,get yourself a 32-36 axle for the front to get it down an inch and a half ,some 32 perch pins and you can use your mechanical brakes still ,just done this on my sons 28 coupe ,,ditto on the rear spring mod,,,ours is a bit high
Just went through the points and timing, and cruised comfortably at 75kph. Stoked! I got a new spring made at Carrolls in Campbellfield, took the og one in for reference, was shooting for a 4 inch drop but it came out at around 3.
Thanks for the info on the spring. Did they make a flatter main leaf, or just reverse the eyes? I'll give them a ring
Good start! Remember you need a spacer to correctly mate the mounting surfaces of the late wires to the A mechanicals
Just a flatter main leaf. The leaf stock is wider though, be prepared to take a couple mm from each side where it sits inside the crossmember.
At first I was like what the fuck is he doing?.....but then after seeing the end result I am on board. Definitely digging the new look!!!!
you need a spacer to mount early wires(35)to late drums. i just fitted 33 mechanical front brakes to my A with 35 wires,no spacer needed. btw,neat car,i'll have to line you up on the dirt at chopped.
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