Projects 29 Model A Couprielet, A Phantom Sleeper

any A bodies I have messed with did not have spot welded tabs from under the quarters...

 

The tabs must have simply been pressed, or hammered to form around the subrail. Or were they not there at all on the originals? My Brookville quarters had them all along the bottom edge underneath.

 

yes, the tabs were on the stockers...

 

Hey Guys.

I have been somewhat side tracked of late. The last weekend of February saw me at Ballarat for the Super Southern Swap Meet. I was there to buy and buy I did. Most of the stuff I got was to use as patterns to complete other projects that I need to sell to fund this one. I have now officially exhausted all funds so from now on, I have to work with what ever parts I have or I can fabricate.

 

I spent yesterday cleaning my house and moving parts down stairs into the the storage area under the house. The biggest thing to go was the front half of the 30 cab that has been taking up space in my lounge room. Not by choice I might add, the hinges were rusted in place so I could not separate the doors from the cowl making it was too heavy for me lift. Luckily my neighbor came around and we put it on a trolley and wheeled it down to the shed and lifted it into its new home. The 30 cab was part of a package deal when I got the Cabriolet body, but it will be a long time before I do anything with it so it will be in storage indefinitely.

 

Before the clean, I spent Saturday afternoon working on the buck for the sub rails. I found a square of 2mm thick steel plate that will slot into the high impact areas of the sub rails where the hammer forming will be most crucial. This mourning I recommenced them, this time drilling the holes that will line up with the cross rails. The holes will be filled with bolts that will attach the piece with the upper and lower bucks and stop it from shifting. With the holes drilled, I realized I had no bolts so I decided to move onto the cross rails. I have been wanting to shape them up for a while and this was how the front one turned out.

 

Another major change I made was to start work on the hood. I figured this was something I could do after hours as I already everything needed for its construction inside the house. This should speed build up a bit. With the cab under the house, the Cabriolet cowl was moved from the hallway into the lounge room to take its place. You will notice the hood sitting firmly in place over the grill shell.

 

It took me a while to figure out how to do this, I was originally going to recreate the front section of the frame, but came up with a simpler faster solution. Its a grill stand, with notches at the top to allow the grill to slot into it. Its free standing so it can be moved accordingly.

 

With the grill sitting firmly in place, I adjusted the hood so that it sat evenly between the grill shell and the cowl. This was really just to get the measurements needed for the modified hood that will need to be shaped up.

 

Just how modified, becomes apparent in the diagrams. The overall length will be 15 mm shorter to fit the longer 32 grill shell. The leading edge will also be narrower by about 10 mm each side to suit the narrower width of the 32 grill. The leading edge will of course be re-shaped to match the 32 contour. The other big change will be the relocation of the side hinges to the belt line making for a cleaner appearance and the replacement of the rod at the base of the side curtains with a swage line that will flow on from the one at the base of the cowl.

 

With everything ready to go, a paper pattern was taken, first of the Briggs hood and then of the front edge of the 32 hood. The 32 pattern was placed over Briggs pattern, moved back 15 mm and then traced over the top of the Briggs pattern, which then cut to its new shape. Magnets help to hold the paper in place.

 

The other important feature of the hood will be the three side vents. These will have a recessed housing with the actual vents having flanged edges. I have been practicing both on scrap metal after making up templates out of perspex to trace the patterns and a ply buck to shape the vents on. As far as shaping the top section, that will be done in the English Wheel.

 

I am giving myself a week to get this hood complete so that I can move back to working on the sub rails, so I will post up more photos in the next few days hopefully.

 

Hey Guys.
Just a quick update. I was planning to get the hood done in a week, but so far I have been hampered with gap fit with the leading edge of the hood tops I fabricated so far. None have fitted so I have had to rethink everything. I have been shaping up a forming buck out of 25mm ply using a cardboard template as a stencil. The cardboard template replicates the hood top with extra reinforcement along all the edges to keep it rigid. The template is made up from cardboard boxes which is harder to get a pattern with but the upside is that it does not sag down the same way the craft style cardboard does. I have given up on a time limit for the hood, my sole focus is to get it complete before I move onto other things. The hood will be the main feature of the finished build so I want to get it right and not have to redo it. I will have photos next week once I am ready to begin the fabrication, that's once the forming buck is finished.

 

c34, check your frame for level / flat, they tend to sag at the mid motor mounts, pooches the hood to cowl gaps... buddy pulled half the hair he had left out trying to figure it out...

 

I applaud your effort to build a neat car, especially with parts from several body styles. However, how do you stand for this ridiculous posturing by your state ? I guess we Americans are very lucky to have carte blanche, practically speaking, when it comes to creating our dreams. Other than a couple "ratrods" that I've been afraid to be near when they are moving down the street, I have yet to see any style ride that wasn't safe, and that means without government input. I really feel sorry for you guys who have to put up with that crap. Aussies and Ozies don't deserve that kind of interference into their personal lives. I wish every last one of you could just pickup stakes and move to "the land of the free BECAUSE of the brave. Good luck in your endeavor.

 

That's something I hope I don't have to do but I have been thinking about finally removing the tourer body from the frame, so I will get an opportunity to check for the straightness then. If there is a sag, it's a relatively straight forward process to correct.

 

I should not complain too much, I have heard that the regulation in some of the European countries is even more draconian. I have decided on a few changes to make the engineering process a little easier. the frame will have full boxing and a K member for added strength. The original transverse leaf spring at the rear will be retained, so there will be no change to the rear cross member. What ever rear end that goes under there will be modified to take the original Model A leaf spring and wishbone setup. I have also decided to retain the original Model A rims, rather than 32 rims, as I can run a mid fifties F100 rear end that the Model A rims will straight onto. I am pretty sure there are after market disc brake kits that will allow me to change over from the drums.

 

Ask the boys, but memory tells me there is a problem with how the early rims fit...
the A wheels fit over the A brake drums... the angled outer surface is supported by the drum...
with the ford 9", the wheels set against the drums ...
on the 9" they may flex.

 

It's yet another challenge, I will do some research.

 

Hey Guys.
Another long overdue update. Nothing done in the last week due to a pile of work. But this how the Model A looks now.

 

The 32 Grill shell is sitting neatly over the A radiator. I took about an inch off the bottom to get it to sit inline with the Radiator cap.

 

Even with the the grill in place, shaping the hood has been a real challenge, especially the leading edge which is way off.

 

I have been working on a cardboard template made from boxes. The more rigid cardboard means its easier to test fit. I also added strips of ply along the spine for extra strength.

 

.

 

The other big change has been adding the trolley to the rear of the frame so that I can roll it out of the garage which I been doing.

 

Test fitting the gap on the template.

 

The template is being used as a pattern to shape the forming buck. The leading edge is removeable for easy changover if the shape is incorrect. So far every one has been wrong but the leading edge on the cardboard template seems to be correct.

 

With fine tuning the hood will finally fit in place and i will have photos when it does.

 

i'll be watching...