Projects Model A, Hemi and the six inch chop

My 1930 Model A, in all its glory...



As you'll see this is not my day job, i'm just having fun at home and this build is going to take some time to finish… too long i'm guessing !

I couldn't bare to sell my Hemi 32 pickup… so i swapped the motor and kept it, it wasn't so hard to sell on the truck without the hemi.

I now have what i've wanted for years a 1930 Model A, totally running and driving stock car and pretty much rust free… from what i can see…. what to do… the choice is all mine !



And now i'm about to destroy it...

The idea is to fit the Hemi and keep the car looking as close as possible to what it looks like now, obviously i need to change a lot, but that's my goal. Going to keep the fenders on, i may change it in years to come as with anything else, i like to change things around as i go. I'm planning on keeping this one... as usual !!!

And something i've always wanted… to hammer the roof down low. My first car was chopped the usual amount, but i always wanted more. I don't have worries about fitting in 'cause i'm a short ass !

When i got the car the roof had a droopy look to it and the windshield hit the cowl. So i began stripping the interior to have a look and also if i could find any rust damage.

Looks like i needed a wood kit as it was in a state. But the body is in great shape.

So i was off on my quest, i started about 6 months ago, i had the interior out, busy swapping the timber… it seemed rude not to start chopping…

I'd bought a copy of Spritz by Fritz dvd - 'Chop a Model A at Home'. I watched it a few times over the winter. He chops out 2 1/4 inches. This was a great help as i've not done, or seen anyone do this before. Even though he says not too, i was going for six inches.

The time came when i had no excuse not to start, i'd bought extra tools, clamps, saws, and plenty of cutting and grinding discs and some steel tubing… gulp, it was time to brace up, mark out and start cutting.

As Fritz did, i went round the roof with some tape. And then with a reciprocating saw, maybe i should have practiced as the blade was bouncing around, hard to keep level. It stormed along the panels until it hit some thicker metal or wood then i was glad i wasn't trying to use a hack saw ! If there ever is a next time, i'll use my grinder on the panels !

Roughly guessing where to chop and where to strip paint





Oh heck i've just ruined my paintwork !















Braced up with some square tubing





Three lines of two inch tape… oh shit, i've made a cut !



And now i've gone and done it… It's the roadster moment !









Its the roof on the floor shot !



It's that stand back in amazement moment… what have we done !





Quick… get the roof on lets have a look !



Expecting it to come down straight… nothing lined up… aarrggghhh

All seemed straight forward until i whacked the top off… Wow chopping six inches out really adds to the work load and throws everything out of alignment !

Ooops… i was a bit worried, it sat with the roof resting on top for about a month, how the hell was i going to weld it back on ?!




But it does look mean !

 

Hard to keep a straight line cutting. Couldn't lift it off on my own so I jacked it up to tidy my wonky hacking

I'd gone pretty wonky in places and spent some time straightening my cuts out, so it's now a six inch plus, chop… ha ha !!





Trying to figure out what next, tried some ratchet straps on the pillars… looked better !



This pillar wasn't looking right at all, leaning forward ?!!



More bracing… pushing out the B pillar

It was going to need a bit of forcing back in to shape before i could start welding. So i chopped up some tubing and welded some nuts and bolts to make some adjustable props. I pushed out the B and C posts as the roof looked like it had grown a few inches… ooo that looks miles better, i'd made a leap forward at last !

The back of the roof also didn't line up when the B post was aligned. I was expecting it to come down straight, yet the roof had become longer !

I tried the bracing trick again and pushed the back out on the car. Yee haw ! Wrong or right, it now looked like i could finally begin joining it back together.



C pillar needs shoving out too



Back kind of looked ok, apart from the sides sticking out and then the B pillars were too far forward !







More bracing… push that sucker back out



A pillars, lots of hidden metal !



More tidying at the front





Hmmm i wanted to dowel the posts, i couldn't lift it off to drill so i tied it to the garage roof incase it fell off !



Just as the video I drilled out wood in the pillars and glued in some dowels. I was going to have to speed up… glue it, and get tacking !

Holes for dowels





Dowels glued in







I did the back too, but then i removed the rear wood. Still to fit back in.







A test fit with clamps



Getting closer !











Loads more to come, if it's not too boring ?!

 

Not boring at all. Keep posting progress.

 

Not as easy as you thought????????LOL I guess everyone has their own ideas on this chore..

 

Thanks, I'll dig out some more. Ha ha, yeah a real chore in a fun and frustrated kind of way

 

Looks good.. Now get busy and finish it...

 

Thanks !
Here's a bit more...


Jacks, braces, clamps and bits of wood















Hmmm nice over hang off the corner… not





Glued up and dropped down for the last time… trusty welder at the ready.



Last round of the clamps !





You will align again ya bastard !



Welding time. I started at the back, trying to keep the back window and t strips aligned.





Once i got the back aligned i had a quick zip on the B pillars



A bit hasty, i was thinking about the glue drying !, i cleaned off some of my tacks later and went round again !



C pillars next, nice shot of how it don't fit !







Coming round the side, oh heck i'm going to have to start slicing



Pure guess work, i've seen three before, so i just went for it, what a mess to have to sort out. Does the job though !



Those dots are multiplying !



Done one, not so fazed about the other side this time





Those darn windows are going to need some magic, the pixies haven't yet been in and sorted it.



Only one thing for it… more slicing



The top is now thinner than the bottom with the slight taper on everything. Started slicing up the sides now too !!

 

Its the ol slice up the side, squeeze in the bottom and push out the top trick.
Get that glass channel straight !





Starting to look ugly !





A little dab here and a little dab there !



Some one opened the garage door and a whole flock of pigeons came in











Hard to tell if the glass channel was straight, so i chopped out a window shape in some wood.









Getting fed up looking at all that do do, started grinding it down













Back round the other side… same again













The butcher's hand, how can i hold that and weld it !?



Checking its vaguely straight

 

Wow! That's a lot of work no matter how you slice it.
Well done. Thanks, and keep posting. Funny how
the car magazines make it look so easy.

 

Ha ha yeah sure is. Its the first time i've seen how hard it is !
Much respect to everyone else thats done it, especially sleds !!!

 

Oh what a mess, had a fair ol gap to fill as the bottom needed pushing out… loads a grinding !



Next… its A pillar time.
Not been looking forward to this as the two halves looked way out !

Started on the easy side as the other side needed some straightening.





The top points inward at the bottom and the pillar still on the car points straight up ?!!
Not sure how that happens !







Seeing what happens with both sides clamped



Decided to put a spoon on left side of the pillar on the car a give it a whack



Back view is close



Slice up the side on the top half… open wide !!



My big hit pushed the pillar over quite nicely !



Sliced n squeezed in the lower pillar







Almost aligns, apart from the front edges are at different angles





The other side was way out. My bracing didn't hold it in place, the bottom moved backwards about 5mm and made the top look really bad.

I waited until the B post was welded and braced off of it. Welded some more nuts n bolts n bits of tube into an adjustable prop and tightened it up. Yee haw… success !





Time to squeeze in the sides.

Props, clamps n ratchet straps !!



I like to work in a tidy fashion… not



After a few tacks behind and a few more clouts with the spoon n hammer, my nightmare B pillar was looking pretty good !



More slicing up the sides





Deep in surgery… beep… beep

 

At times, it looked a little like Frankenstein (in a good way) with all those scars. "It's alive...!" Amazing work and great fun to watch it 'come alive'.

 

takes a real man to cut one up......nice!!!

 

Ha ha Frankenstein for sure. Ugly as hell at times, but i like it !

Thanks folks. Man or fool... its a scary thing to do, lol

Next on the hit list… the dreaded doors !

Would they ever fit again ? would i ever be able open them or even wind down the window ?
Would they line up with the A pillars ?

Find out in another thrilling episode… zzz







Don't look too bad from that angle.. lol





Needs a little widening





Totally throws off the glass channel





Just resting in place… still trying to make a plan of attack



Needed a bit of wrestling so i decided to do it on the jack





Straight edge clamped on the front and a few tacks



Who the hell cut that !
The top was slightly longer just to be an extra pain.





I squeezed the top with my ratchet straps and zapped it with the mig









Well that wasn't so bad… its back on and opens and closes !



Now for the back. Extending straight up to keep the glass channel straight





A few more dribbles of snot



Same to do on the other end. Darn hinge is a bit in the way. Riveted on so that'll be staying.







Slice that edge off !









A bit of tidying



More dots… trying to miss the hinge, weld on the inside !





The ol slice trick, i couldn't decide to pie cut or just slice the whole top. No i couldn't be bothered so pie cuts with a wide start !

 

Back not so bad, just a little slice



Holly smokes its back on !



Tidy tidy



I've roughly knocked down all my welds, i'll leave it for another day, just getting it back together



I thought the door tops would need slicing, they are a separate piece, some how it fitted on the wider door… well pretty close. Decided to leave it and see later if it needs doing.

 

Blimey, after all the worry of how to get it back together.. the main stuff is done, apart from a repeat of
doing another door !





Meanwhile... lurking in the corner, getting buried under piles of crap, patiently waits my pet elephant !





A little trimming, i must have panicked and left a little extra when cutting !



Hmm i could have country house style doors, opening top or bottom





Naaa… Suddenly the door was attacked by a herd of clamps





A few dabs of goo later and the grinder was out again slicing.

Sure goes quicker the second time around !!











A shot of the first door… looks happy enough



Good visibility inside

 

Dots dots dots... extending the door tops to meet the bottom







And as if by magic… the doors tops are both on





And then this crazy madman came in and started slicing up the door sides



Open wide !







And you at the back… open up !







A little slither held in place with a handy magnet i forgot i had



Stitched back together



Out came the grinder for another tidy up









Hey presto… the doors are finished







More to come

 

Awesome, I love it. I can't wait to see this one finished, I've definitely got a soft spot for Model A Coupes!!!


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Very nice work....Thanks for posting detailed pics....

 

If your gonna cut one, cut a nice one! Subscribed!

 

I can totally relate to all the slicing and dicing needed to get it all to fit back together. Those window channels are the time consuming part. I chopped a whopping SEVEN AND A QUARTER inches out of my tudor. 400,000 tacks later....

 

Thanks. I may have over done the pics, but glad you enjoyed it so far.
That's a big chop 'choppedtudor' love the sound of that !!

 

Cant wait till the hemi goes in!

 

Awesome! Looks like you know what you are doing. Pics are good, too!

 

V8 Paul, One thing about it, you dont give up, and thats what it takes, Looking awesome. When I chopped my A coupe, thought I would never finish, but I did, just keep at it. One thing for sure, your tack welds definitely improved over the course of the project. Now, all you gotta do is "finish up" and your'll be driving your Hemi coupe. Good luck man, keep posting.....

BOutlaw

 

Thanks folks, yeah i'm looking forward to hemi time. Though i'm thinking i may try running around in it over the summer for a laugh. As i've not driven it yet. I've tried to leave it driveable just incase i had the urge !

No i'm not going to give up, i love it, just keep chipping away at the chop and the rest of it. Nearly done the bulk of the chop, it's a lot of effort, but i'm pleased with the results !. I changed my wire size which probably didn't help my welds, kept fiddling with the settings and with the warping worries, i was probably too cautious at the start.

Scary chopping up a nice car, but it had to be done... ha ha

 

This time i'm thinking… windows !





Step back in amazement moment… what have i done to my sweet little car !



Time to fit the windshield… would you believe the size of that thing !!!



Must have saved half the weight of glass !

]





After a bit… a lot of bashing with the mallet, it all came apart. Even the glass is in one piece !







Its got the horn !







Want to keep the windshield opening, but the brackets are now right in the way of fitting the top back on



Drilled out the rivets, stuck solid





Out came my chopper



Oh bugger… there's some steel bar down the tube where the top brackets need to slide in to. And its darn rusty !





Easy enough i thought, just drill out the spot weld



Fat chance, it wasn't going anywhere. Decided to just grind it out !





At last… its out… whats left of it !!!



Same on the other side... little devils !



Try it on for size… a little more trimming









A bit smaller than it was !

 

I thought i'd better put the square bar back in for the bracket, i didn't have any so i whittled down some thick plate that i had. Poked it down to the bottom of the frame.



And repaired my sides i chopped out





A bit of grinding later, its back to normal



Really want to rivet it back together but screws will have to do, maybe a dab of weld later will make them look like rivets















Just happened to be hole left over in the pillar. I was hoping i could use it for the bolt for the bracket







Drilled out the rivets



And bolted them in





Seems like the more i bolt in, the windshield gets smaller and smaller



Seems just right, opens out enough and the brackets still fit straight up when closed, with a few mill to spare !

 

Time the interior trim.

A pillar haircut



Hmmm… i was expecting to cut it in half and join it back together. Then i had a brain wave and noticed i might get away with using the top or bottom



Telmplate of the top, marked out to use the bottom half. Going to be close, with the screw holes !



After a bit of trimming backward and forward, it fits. The screw holes at the top are slightly out. One side has lost its thread so i'll re drill the pillar, sometime, save cutting the trim.





My lardy ass aint going through that in an accident…



Rear side windows next



Got some trimming to do !





Roughly chopped out for a trial fit



Going to need another chop





Sliced in three



Time for a puzzle



Not sure i chose the best place to cut first time around, struggled to get a nice bend. Not too bad though

 

Its the other side !
Chopping up window trim in to three bits, til it fits.



Funny how the second time goes quicker and better, my curvy bits flowed much nicer.



Out side looking in



Next on the hit list…. is the back window trim



Glued and popped the rear wood back in, ready the window trim's wee chop



Another six inches of metal on the floor !
Clamped on the bench to keep it flat.





Does my back window look big in this… lol



Hmmm couldn't decide what to do with the holes up the side… keep em, keep one and move em or delete them





In the end i just welded them up



Back in its spot







Came back to the front as i wasn't too pleased with the fit.

When i got the car, the wood was so rotten, the windshield frame was resting on the fuel tank. Not sure how well it would have fitted. The new wood seems a bit big. So i thought i'd chisel a slither off the front edge.



Which became quite a big slither !