Projects Tommy R Attempts to Build a Hot Rod Model A

Here's a couple I took a few years ago soon after it was completed.




And me dreaming....and scared to shit I'm going to scratch something!

 

Many thanks for the pics..cheers[/QUOTE]

 

Recently my buddy who was working on the A came into some health issues and won't be able to continue working on the car. So he asked if I could come get it this past weekend. Here it is on the trailer coming home.


Unfortunately, I'm doing a major project on the Jeep right now so the garage is going to be tight quarters for the next couple weeks!


One interesting thing is that Gary sandblasted the body while he had it and he said he uncovered the original color. I said, "It was blue, right?" Nope. Turns out it was a deep red with black above the beltline. I did a little research and this is the color combo my car had originally.




Does anyone know the name for this burgundy/maroon color? I may consider it for the final color of the car.

Thanks!
Tommy

 

Hi Tommy,
Wondered how your A was progressing. Guess slowly since it back at home. Looks like the work done was good to nothing lost but time. It's in a lot better shape than when it left.

Woody

 

It's definitely in better shape now, that's for sure. The main things are that the chassis is a roller, it's boxed, and the motor is mounted. Main things left on the chassis are the panhard mount, trans mount, and to attach the tie rod end for the front bones. The body's rear subframe has been clearanced to set properly on the '32 rails, but no new subframe yet. The driver's side also has a new rear rocker and inner fender well. Passenger side is just cut out for now. Make no mistake, much still needs to be done, but it's in a much better state than when it left!

That being said, the removal of the paint revealed quite a bit of sheetmetal work that will need to be done. A bit more than I'd hoped, but that's okay. I've got to learn how to do bodywork sooner or later, right?

 

Any progress?

 

Tommy, I just stumbled on to this thread, looks like a great project. I did not see that you got your answer about the colors of the original car. The color is simply called Ford Maroon, black upper body, and vermilion pinstripe and wheels. It is actually a 1931 color combo. The maroon color code is IM-1011 which is an old DuPont color. Hope this helps some. This is a cool color in person.

 

Sadly, no... Been busting my ass on my Jeep and then summer hit and I decided to not work on much of anything other than maintenance on stuff. And now I've got a paying job to work on a buddy's Jeep that will likely take upwards of two months to complete so it'll unfortunately be a little bit longer 'til I work on the A.

Thanks so much for the information!! I really appreciate that. So I wonder if that would mean my car is really a '31, not a '30? Would you happen to know? I always thought it was a '30 because of the fenders that it came with, but maybe they were from a different car?

 

Serial number would be a surefire way. BUT over the years stuff might have been swapped around. Later '31's have a distinctive firewall indentation with the gas valve in the engine compartment. Also the steering column mount is a clue. '31's have a bracket attached high on body member not on the bottom of the tank. Again, after 80 years stuff could have been swapped. Your firewall does not have the indentation)

 

Back from the dead! Yes, I still have the coupe and yes, I am still planning to build it. I've been swamped with Jeep projects these days, but within the next week or three I should have my garage back and am looking forward to getting back onto the A. First order of business will be to build some subframes so I can get the body properly mounted to the rails.

But since the car is still essentially just a big pile of parts, I think it's time to start planning on upgrades for the motor, right? Ha!

A buddy of mine may have a lead on a 6-71 blower set up for a SBC. I don't like how low motors sit in non-channeled hot rods and always had this thought in the back of my head that a blower would give me the look I'm after. Of course, the added power would be kinda okay, too.

So here's my question... I'm a traditionalist, but am not a die-hard about it. How "traditional" is a 6-71 on a SBC for a late '50s style build? Were they on the street or just the track? Multi carb or single? What kind of linkages were they running? I'm excited about the power potential (just looking for ~500 hp eventually), but I'd like to keep this thing looking as period correct as is reasonably possible. So I'm looking for info. on this, but figured I'd post here and resurrect this thread to see if any of you had thoughts.

Cheers!
Tommy

 

A voice from the past. Good to hear you still got the A and are still planning to get it running again. Can't answer your ? about blowers in the 50's, but can say I have a friend that has a 31 Chevy 2 door with a blower on a SBC and it looks COOL!!!! and runs pretty good too.

 

Did you ever get this back to "being worked on"??
Sad about your buddy, hope he got better.