Fordbarn is a great resource, just don't tell them you're rodding it Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I wouldn't buy anything from rufusranch in Brainard, Mn. unless your looking for high dollar misrepresented stuff. Self professed expert Model A dealer.
Check out this identification guide on the Mac's website: http://www.macsautoparts.com/store/model-a-specs/
I have 2 copies Original Owner, me, of "Henry's Lady" eighty bucks.. each.. too darn many $50-100 dollars hard bound books, guess its time to liquidate. touch my avatar and start conversation?
Having inquired about listings in the past, talking to them at swaps and others recounted experiences of dealings with them. Less than savory, your experience may differ.
saw a '31 Model A Deluxe Town Sedan For Sale today in Pleasanton, CA a stock 4 door driver that has lots done but, still needs work for $12,500
Apparently my best friend works with one of the Rufus ranch guys. I have showed him listings from them and he said those are my bosses cars. Do they just seem to be BSing you when you've inquired with them? I was thinking about inquiring, that's why I ask. Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Model A cost put in perspective ( no strings attached); !st car is a '31 roadster in a million pieces ( but 80% there) Cost to buy? $i500 bucks ( my lucky day, doesn't happen often) Total invested when done? 12.5 K- basically stock re-build ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd car-'30-31 coupe body I bought ; Cost to buy ? (BODY ONLY, with doors and decklid, and lots of little parts)- $ 3500 bucks ( I looked for a LONG time!) Total investment when done? over 18K ( I stopped counting)- all the whistles and bells, ATTACH=full]3436731[/ATTACH] etc.
Met a young guy building a 31 coupe 2 summers ago. Talented, intelligent guy. Built it well, 5.0 Ford/AOD trans. dropped axel, kicked and boxed frame, etc. However, the body was pretty ragged. Was able to do cowl/door patches well enough and OK body rails members work. Drove it, liked it and decided to go body shop hunting to do the more difficult work (see through pits, lace, around the windows, doors, upper body lines) and stuff like missing (rotted out) trunk lid rails, etc. Even after going to some reputable hot rod shops and some recommended garage shop guys, the body restoration work estimates were from 7k to 10k----in primer. The bottom line recommendation-----get a better body.
or learn how to weld. The thing is, this hobby is not ment to be easy, if it was easy everyone would have a cool car.
only half joking... I know that even with welding skills it still takes time and money to repair a body in poor shape. And that must be weighed aganist just buying a better car to start with.
To echo what a lot of people are saying regarding buying the best possible body you can find....my strategy is this. Look for an older/stalled/incomplete restoration...or original car in slight disrepair. Then sell off all the parts you don't want...fenders, splash aprons, banger, etc to a restorer. Out here, you can find a good starting point for $5K...less for the "less desirable" models....tudor sedans, sport coupes, RPU, etc.. You will pay more for 5w coupes and roadster.
Assuming you mean all 4 years of the Model A production the answer is yes. The '31 slant window is in my opinion the best as it had very little wood. Charlie Stephens
Yes, buying a complete car and selling off the extra parts is one way to go........if you have the space to store them, time to drag them to swap meets or list online, and wearwithall to deal with the multitude of flakes you will encounter. After decades of selling Model A parts, for me its getting real old. Nobody has any money and nobody is buying original mechanical parts or fenders. The only thing people want is bodies. And they dont want to pay anything for them. So my advice to you is to only buy what you need. If extra parts come with it that are basically free, then great. It really sucks to have all your cash tied up in stuff you dont need when that part you do need comes up but you cant buy it.
In regards to my young rodder friend Kevin, he is a pretty good welder and getting better all the time. The problem of fabrication does not come with welding in patch panels, and metal finishing them to skim coat ready. It comes down to fabricating the body line from the top of the door past the end of the character line, most of the length of the door. The body line across the rear of the seat area, and the rear deck body line where they meet. No pullmax available and no idea how to use it IF available. Even roughing it in CLOSE to correct with home made wooden bucks and shrinker/stretchers, its a long, tedious and infinitely frustrating learning curve. The guys here on the HAMB that CAN do that stuff will tell you----It don't come easy.
View attachment 3437153 But on the bright side; Test yourself and do what you want. Buy something and fix it up. You'll either decide you should have bought a set of golf clubs, or you'll fall in love with old cars, and a lot of shit won't be an issue anymore. I do this for fun (and it's about all I do) so money is kind of a moot point. The money I mentioned earlier was what PARTS and outside work cost (MACHINE WORK and stuff I CAN"T do myself). I spent 4 years part time building my coupe, and had that roadster together in 8 and a half months. Big difference in approach- one you rebuild or replace things, the other you take dissimilar car parts and make them work together. If it's not fun, it's work, and I like to have fun!! Take the plunge- life's too short . Do something you think you shouldn't; you might like it.
This has turned into quite the post. Thank you all for your input Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I paid $8,000 for a 31 coupe while in California in 2010. It is a complete running vehicle with all good glass. It also has a nice original type interior. The coupe has a clear title as well. The motor knocks so I do not drive it. Add the cost of getting it back to Louisiana, $2000. and I am in for about 10 However I do still have the trailer I bought to bring it here, so that reduces the cost a bit. After having it all this time, I have been offered 10,000 for the coupe. I bought it because I liked it. Not much chance of a profit if I was to sell.
It took all my inner strength not to sell 10 pints of blood, empty my bank account and spend my family's grocery money and my kids' catholic grade school tuition, and buy this last week: That's a friggin deal up here. I really want to tackle an A V8, especially a roadster. Although that one might be better with a hopped up banger.
Also, last summer I really liked this one, it was about $7000: I like Fordor as much as a Roadster. This one already had the flathead, stance, slant windshield. I'm just always broke. It seems like summer/fall are better times to score a deal. I think people wait till the weather breaks to try to sell. Wonder if the OP ever found anything
I paid$ 6200 for my 55a sedan but the body had two rust spots in bottom of wheel wells and one fender. with seats but no interior started one direction spent a couple k then change my mind on engines Ford in a Ford then got a bunch of C4s to get a good one I redid frame all mounts bought a new dropped axle then I got scare of the magnum axle then got an ford axle to drop .Point I am trying to make .I have well over 10K in a car that not finished.
This might help. http://www.ebay.com/sch/Cars-Trucks-/6001/i.html?Model=Model%20A&_dcat=6001&Make=Ford
IMO... if you are going to drop it on '32 rails, don't invest in a whole car... find the body, buy a frame that you want and that fits your body... in the old days every town had a couple restorers, allways willing to buy the fenders and chassis... now ?
No matter what you buy, and no matter what you pay for it, your best buddy will buy a nicer car, for a lot less money, within a month of your purchase.
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