Projects 60's Era Street/Strip Model A Coupe

That’s the business right there .

 

Model A Frame Boxing and Starting the Trusses

The inspiration for running the trusses came from The Freakin' A. That chassis was inspired by drag tube chassis design of the day.

For example, take a look at these Lyndwoods.





With this frame the plan was to keep it simple. The finish work after the fabrication is like artwork on The Freakin' A. Plus, I like visible welds.

There's plenty more to do...



I'll post detail pics as I get them.

 

Glad to see them with tires on Brent. Enjoy, and run the Hell out of them. I assume you received the block off plates as well?

 

Very neat

 

Yep, they're on the shelf in the garage, untouched.

Appreciate it, man! You can be certain these things will get run.

 

Man, this thing is awesome! Great work you're doing. Will keep checking back for MORE.....

 

I'll have some detail pics, Tuesday. We haven't progressed any more, yet, but we'll be able to better show what's already been done. I know a few guys have been wondering about the fitment of the plates when they're inset.

Beside that, this car popped on eBay. It's one of those cars that an inspiration for me. I've only ever seen the few photos where it was staged coming out of a building and sitting outside. I never knew any details but the car has presence.

Here are some detail pics:











Look at that trunk! People think I'm crazy for focusing so much on mine but I can appreciate well thought out areas that most people don't give a second thought to.









There are a few killer parts on this car.

 

Stoked for you. This car is going to be TOUGH!


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Model A Boxing Plates and Modification for F1 Steering Box

The "teeth" along the edge of the plate were ground off so they could be inset.



Some steel tabs were welded into the frame so the plate could sit against them. The plates are inset at about 1/4".





I wanted to run an F1 Box and boxing plates. I wanted to keep it simple, too. I've seen folks cut holes and sleeve the holes and it seems to me like that's way more work. The spirit of this frame build is to be tough, inspired by drag chassis of the era and be artful/creative while keeping it simple.

To address the gap in boxing we have a plan I think will be pretty neat. More on that down the road.

 

Very cool build.

 

Model A Frame Trusses

Some of these pics may be duplicates but they'll help tell the story in this post.

To start, this car will run a pretty basic 327. In time, I'd love to put a much hotter SBC mill in. And since the car will be a thrasher, we want to build a chassis that will take abuse.

Overall look (it's upside down). The layout of the hairpin mounts, which will go under the front truss "stands" are set to the same length as the Freakin' A, which also has trusses.



From the front. Ryan took his time during layout to get it dead-nuts even/square/straight.



From the side. The stands are much simpler than the Freakin' A's. This chassis will have a lot less frills.



If nobody ever told you, you'd never know that these stands are the width of the frame on the frame side and taper to tubing width on the tube side. Ryan put a small pie cut and tapered them in. We're the only ones that will ever see it... except if the car's on a lift... then some lucky guy will see them too... and never know what the hell is going on.



Closer view. The work they took to fit is far of less an effort than pieces that Ryan designed on the other car. These stands allowed for the tubing to be all one piece, too.



A local race shop bent the tubing to Ryan's dimensions. They left an extra foot run on the ends so it could be fit exactly.







At this point, everything is tacked. We have a tentative plan for the cross-members and mounts. Ryan succinctly said it perfectly on the phone last week when we were talking about our thoughts for the mid crossmember. It'll be "racecar shit" ... which might be the best description for making it tough, keeping it simple, and sticking to the design elements we both admire.

 

Thanks, Root! I appreciate it.

Thanks! When I really got down to it, I realized some of my favorite cars were all imperfect. I want a car I can thrash around in and not worry about the paint. I'll get the body in better shape than it is when it comes time to prep for paint but, still, it'll be a fun driver rather than a beauty queen. That said... I am going to have a bunch of chrome.

Thanks! I'll update it whenever there's progress. Probably some time next week.

 

Awesome work! I'm with you on a driver, if you have to worry about chipping paint or polishing for 2 hours before you drive it, it takes the fun out of it.

 

This is my style of Hot Rod

 

Kinda sums up the whole car. Still loving it

 

Yeah, Mike, I've had vehicles with exceptional paint and I agree about the worry. Keeping the mindset that this car will be a thrasher has helped me not dwell over the little things. We'll do our best. I think a car built to our best abilities will allow me as much fun as I can imagine.

I can't wait to see it as a roller. I can picture it in my head but it's not the same!!!

Thanks, Brad! I'll do my best. Looking forward to what you think as it progresses.

 

The frame work is starting to get welded in. No pics of it, yet, though.

Instead, here's a part we're going to make work. There's a guy (he's likely a HAMBer) who I follow on IG that made this great e-brake kit for his T Coupe that also has a Muncie.

Here's his kit:

It uses a Model A handle.


And an old Model A pedal modified as a swing arm. Smart stuff.



Here's the kit going in my car:

 

Always loved these two cars....

 

Frame Welding Details

Here's a minor update. Little by little the chassis is coming along.

 

That's some beautiful TIG welding.

 

Text book welds!

 

Great build, great HOT ROD

 

Comin' right along Brent!
Any chance that's a small journal 327?
Best motor I ever ran in my '31 A.
With a forged crank, nothing seemed too much.
Punch it!

 

It is a SJ 327. I was planning on a single 4 barrel but a dual quad, early Weiand has popped up. Not sure what to do.

 

I don't have anything to add, no progress has been made. However, I've been kicking dust around the shop and daydreaming about paint color and such.

Whenever I'm bouncing around the Internet, I'm looking at 60s factory colors. I really think this A needs to be something like Granada Gold like this Chevy II:



It isn't an in-you-face-color, which will allow other details to do the talking.

Other than that, I don't have anything else to say, I just really wanted to talk about the car... I've been thinking about it a bunch.

Different colors I've considered: Black, a few various blues (I tend to like a couple GM/Corvette metallic blues of 50s/60s), and Fathom green... a 69 Chevy color.

 

Brent …. the Gold Chevy II color would be "Spot-On" for your Coupe.

 

Gold is pretty popular right now.

What abou a light blue? Not a colour you see very often.

I am a pervert for hemi or ford competition orange, but it doesn't really fit your car. (Note avatar lol)

 

Light blue (like a 1966 Ford silver blue metallic) has always been a candidate. Orange, I couldn't do. I don't mind it on other cars... just too bright for me.

Gold is for sure popular, right now. So are 60's style cars and "gassers"... I notice it so much that it seems like I'm jumping in on some trend, haha. I know of two fenderless metallic gold A's and a few other hot rods, too

Truthfully, I always pictured black but I feel like if I choose black for this car it's because I'm scared of picking a color.

The major reason I am hesitant on gold was because The Rake / Missile (from which I've taken a few styling cues) was gold in its first inception. Obviously, my coupe is heaps different but gold certainly works on this car.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence! It checks off a few boxes for me...

 

Can't go wrong with GOLD. Take a gander at this one for some inspiration

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...uce-5-window-updated-with-race-video.1094894/