I have been busy & have cash in hand for these. Considering going for at least the frame. Cab is a 34 and the frame is a Model A frame of unknown year. It came out from under a hot rod & has reversed front springs. He thinks it may already be set up for a V8. I am aware the 34 is not the same as a Model A but can they be made to play together? If not I will take just the frame (if it is OK.) Any thoughts? I think price might be a little high on the cab but I was able to flip some guns I didn’t much want anyway so not too worried about the cost, opportunity is knocking at my door... @RMONTY I would be glad for your help if you are free! This one is pretty close to me, in Springtown.
I am going to Lead Ain't Dead car show up in Dewey OK, but will be back Sunday. We can go take a look on Sunday if you are free.
And just to put this out there, I have NO IDEA what to look for on the frame, other than obvious things like prior modifications, and obvious cracks and such. I wont know if it is a Model A, a 34, or what. I just don't have the knowledge. If anyone can throw out some things to look for, that would be great! As far as the cab goes, we should be able to make an assessment on the condition of the sheet metal, rust, etc. Boy, you got the fever, that is for sure! And the GOOD kind of fever!
I dont care for the later cab on the A frame myself. Alot can be made to work but I think you can do better than that combo. Now if you can get the cab cheap you can flip it.
The frame has been partially boxed. I would hope that the frame was straight before the boxing and if so, could be a good frame. The Serial number will be found on top of the left rail right where the cowl will be mounted. There will be a * before and after the number. If the number has been damaged, may be a titling problem. From what I see, nothing wrong with that cab. If the price is right, could be a good start.
Hey man, I've been following the thread for a little bit and am a fellow broke ass college kid here. Started my model A Flathead project when I was 19 (currently 23). I did it the "hard way" and bought a crusty chassis and then a body that needed everything, then the motor and so on ( basically what ever I could afford at the time)... Now that I am pretty far along in my project I guess I can offer my .02. -Be patient when looking for a body/frame. I jumped on the first coupe body I could find and I paid about $3,000 for it (needed to borrow a considerable portion from a friend) and it still needed a sub-frame, body wood and a lot of patches. Match your skill set, level of ambition and how soon you want to drive the car to the body you want and then save up for it. It'l be worth the wait I promise! Check out this article, It makes a pretty good argument in favor of being patient https://ironandsteele.com/blogs/news/get-some-patience-now. -Get the Vern Tardel "how to build a hot rod" book. Like someone else on here said, if you follow it to the letter it will leave your head spinning and drain your creative ability. BUT it is a great guide to all the cool early ford parts you will want to keep your eyes out for while your collecting parts. It also will give you a rough idea of how one of these things goes together and some neat tips and tricks to-boot. -Keep reading build threads on here and make as many contacts as possible. I have gotten some of the best deals and best advice from guys i've met in this community and its left me kicking myself for all the junk I paid full price for from some stranger. But it seems like your off to a great start and getting some great help from guys in your area. Here are a couple of my favorite threads to browse through -https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1930-ford-coupe-project.954246/ (young guy, started with a pretty rough car and picked up all the skills as he went) -https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/elrod-model-a-coupe-thrash-flathead-v8-time.671975/ -https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/something-from-nothing-29-roadster-build.1035638/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-anti-nowhere-coupe-banger-to-av8-build.1046236/ (This one is exactly what I would do if I could do it over again. Save money, buy a stocker and have a blast while I get a v8 chassis ready) Here are a few pics of my project just so you know i'm not totally full of shit Keep up the good work!
What are the main differences? The 34 looks to have a shorter cowl, but other than that, I don’t honestly know that I could tell one from the other without the rest of the bodywork. He is asking 400 for the frame and 1200 for the cab.
Keep looking...that frame is not worth $400.00. It appears that the rear cross member is hacked up and I can't see the front. You should be able to find decent A frames for $200.00 no more than $300.00. I personally have never paid more than a $100.00. Stock not modified. Always bring a 25'0 tape measure and check it for squareness from left rear cross member to front right cross member and left front to right rear. you should be pretty closer to the same number on each measurement + or - an eighth. The cab could be worth $1,200.00 but the pictures are limited. Looks like the door is sagging suggesting subrail problems. I wouldn't put it on an A frame. If you buy it look for a 33 34 frame that is correct for it. That will save you a shit load of time. The 33 34 cabs have a bit more room in them than the A cab.
I didn’t notice the crossmember was cut up. That must have been done to clear a bigger diff? It already has had some of the work done that would save me some time and money, like the reversed front springs, boxing and V8 mounts. If all of that work is good and the frame is square I think it would still be cheaper to take this frame than to build up a stock frame, assuming I can even find one. I am thinking I will probably pass on the cab, although it is really tempting to grab it and have something to sit & dream in. I did say I want an AV8.
@Brian Lundgren I appreciate the advice and it looks like your coupe is coming along nicely! Just today I learned that one of my coworkers has a horde of 1930s cars but isn't sure exactly what all he has, so I think you (and everyone else) are right on the money when you say that the best thing I can do is network.
Usually when a frame has "work" done to it, it's not a leg up. If it was so great it would probably be in a running car. The boxing plates on the frame look like a hack job, and then there's the actual hacking of the crossmembers. I wouldn't bring that frame home for $10. Try to find a bare frame with no previous boxing or crossmember mods. It's not that hard to do it correctly. Much easier to do it yourself from scratch than fix somebody else's crooked mess. That cab might be worth $1,200 if it's not too rusty. Is that rust through in the drip rail? If it is I bet there's a lot of rust in other nooks and crannies too. If you end up with a 34 cab, make sure to buy a 32 or 33-34 frame.
Fair point on the "work". It's just killing me having this thing sit now that I've heard it run. I wanna make the next move! I might still head over and check out the cab although I'm pretty sure I want a 30/31.
Take a look at @partsdawg thread today about auction results. An A frame with front end, rear end, engine and what was left of a 29 closed car cowl & hood went for $175.00. I wouldn't pay that much for it but I am just showing you an example.
Trevor: Model A frames are 103-1/2" wheelbase. (that measurement from center to center between front & rear crossmembers) Marginal length for 8BA type flatheads, one reason for so many Model A's on '32 frames. ('32s have 106" wheelbase, more engine room, lower side rail profile) The '32, '33 & '34 pickups are wider and longer at the cab than Model A's, look like Bigfoot on a small wagon if set on Model A rails. If you find a solid Model A body, Model A rails are 'proper'...but '32 rails are much more preferable. I'm enjoying your prowess in this project...My first was...similar, as I had some older guys that had a racing team...They 'drafted' me as an honorary member, at age 13. I found a '30 Model A body (Cabriolet...'convertible', solid windshield) $3, one of the racing team members sold me a project he had started on...to help me. A '32 frame, $5. '32 rear end complete, $5. Rear half of a '29 roadster, $5. This was in 1955...I learned to weld (oxy/acet) and literally built this car with a flathead I earned by swapping an Olds into a '38 Ford for a friend. Transmission was a '41 Ford pickup, out of an abandoned paving company. My roadster first ran in 1958. Thanks to the rodders that got tuned up by my interest. Your story is similar...Godspeed!
Ahh, now I see. That helps out a lot. OK, think I'm going to pass on both frame & cab. I did not realize the 34 was appreciably larger. Great story too... wish I could shop where you were shopping, I'd have it done already for those prices...
If you want to drive a car, then the next move is to buy a car that you have to do very little to make it driveable once you drop the engine in. Keep saving! You don't want to be having to resurrect a rusted out carcass....
Did some more research. That crossmember is not only probably dangerously weakened but physically unusable for what I want to do since there's no way to mount the stock style springs to it if I'm understanding this correctly. With that section of metal removed there is no way for the U-bolts to sit still.
You're doing just fine so far. It's good to see you educating yourself on pricing for this stuff. I bought a 33 pickup project about 15 years ago for $450. Just the cab with doors and frame with leaky rear axle. Bought a super rusty 40 ford rolling chassis for the engine....cost 200. Bought a narrow front axle, a swap meet 27 pickup box for 250. Man, that truck was pure fun! Oh, and I bought a Speedway adapter kit to use a chevy S-10, 5 speed transmission. The thing looked like hell but was certainly fun.
Fellow North Texan here. I am usually working all the dang time and have younger kids so that eats up a lot of my time. If you can, it may be a good idea to wait and hit some swap meets. I picked up a 26-27 Model T roadster body at Pate Swap Meet about 6 years ago for $350. I had to buy a second cab to make one complete car since the first one was pretty rusty in the subframe. I built my own frame from rectangular steel, but I kind of wish I would have waited for a Model A frame. Anyway, deals can be had just don't let your money burn a hole in your pocket. And six years later, I'm still working on it.
Rocky, I am in love with that truck. I networked... already got a nibble. I am planning to check out this rolling chassis this weekend. He is asking $900 for it. I feel like I know a lot more about this part of the process now than even a few days ago and this looks like an actual good price, but would like to get more feedback. I am seeing a lot of the parts that I was already keeping an eye out for on this chassis currently. Still I would like feedback before I make a move. I agree that patience is a virtue here and am trying not to back myself into a corner... but maybe I don’t have to wait all that long after all? What do yall think? He also has another set of parts that amounts to about the same thing, but in pieces, for $600, needing to be assembled & painted.
I noticed the lack of horns. I have seen people cut them off for their own style when building so didn't think much of it & also know they are easy to replace. The $600 pile is definitely in the running. It has horns. I understand that lower prices can be had at auctions & swap meets, but I am willing to pay a little more as long as I am not getting totally ripped off and/or settling for a complete pile of shit out of desperation... I don't think that's the case here regardless of which one I go with, where it would have been with the last one.
For $900 you are getting a Model A front and rear with mechanical brakes with a stripped frame without horns. I would keep looking. If you want to run mechanical brakes, you do not have any of the linkage and pedal on the frame. If you are going to have hydraulic brakes then I would look for a newer front axle. I have a Model A banjo with hydraulic brakes which works well.
You are obviously looking at people who are dealers or try to make money off their purchases. Nothing wrong with that but they don't get my money. Neither is worth the asking price. A couple of weeks ago there was an add right here on the hamb in the classifieds for a running (still had the banger) complete chassis with breaks and all for $1,450.00. You should try to start looking at auction sites (not ebay) for old farm auctions. The $200 $300 frame is out there if you beat the bushes for it.
I have been watching all the auction houses within ~3 hours of me like a hawk for months & have yet to see anything like what I am looking for come up. The only Model A I have seen other than complete running cars was at a homestead estate auction, had a tree fall on it and it said "buyer removes tree" in the terms lmao. I am not looking only at dealers... this guy is one, yes, but private sellers are asking even more for less around here. Compared to what I have seen, I don't think it's an awful price for either one... and the roller would save me a lot of time, enough to be worth the extra few hundred bucks. To make this work I sold on some guns that I only had about $500 in and more than doubled my money on them, so I am fairly comfortable with the margin here. I know that I can keep looking and maybe end up saving a few hundred dollars, but is that few hundred bucks worth maybe being dead in the water for months? I don't know. I'm not trying to be hardheaded or argumentative... I know it is wise to wait and I appreciate the advice enormously and am honestly taking it under serious consideration. I just see an opportunity to take a huge step forward and I would hate to miss it and then have to sit on my hands for potentially months before another roller comes along and who's to say the next one will necessarily be much cheaper? When I am cruising down the freeway am I going to be thinking about the few hundred bucks I could have saved? I also am pretty sure (based on the prices I've seen for these parts in the HAMB classified) that if I bought all of these parts separately at "decent" prices I would probably exceed the $900 asking price for the roller and certainly the $600 asking price for the pile. It seems that parts get less valuable the more of them there are in one place. The last frame I was thinking about for $400 was total junk and I am glad I dodged that bullet. I would have wasted a lot of time just trying to get it to a state where it would be usable. At least in terms of integrity and completion this one looks leagues ahead of it.
The black frame has a cobbled front crossmember, other cludgey brackets welded on, hacked off horns, and a rattle can paint job. Not worth the $900. Maybe the other chassis in parts is worth it. You can rebuild the stuff and assemble it easily. And then you will know what you have. Only trust the previous work of people you already know and trust. Or, you can have more patience and possibly find a great deal. It seems nowadays that guys under 30 can't wait a couple weeks (sound familiar Boden?).
I would like to still be under 30 when it's done. That front crossmember is bad looking, you're right. I was planning to look at all welds in person (that might be the one area where I have actual personal knowledge) but didn't notice it in the image. I had already been thinking I would probably be better off with the other chassis, but the temptation to come home with an already assembled roller is strong. If I have to pull it apart to fix or replace that front crossmember and will be having to weld on front horns anyway I might as well just take the $600 one. He says that this chassis had been converted to a trailer for farm use and the horns were cut off in that application. They had attached the trailer hitch to the crossmember, hence the patch. That is interesting but it makes it that much more of a pain in the ass. With that in mind, I am leaning toward the cheaper set. I think for the frame, rear end, front end, front & rear suspension, brakes, and wheels that is a fair price when considering the prices of all of those parts individually. It will help me a lot to gain the experience of actually putting it together, too.
they made 4 million model A's, frames are still out there. the 34 cab is cool, but when you jump out of model A's and into the 32-34 world prices triple, and are harder to find. and as stated above it would need a 32-4 frame, hard to find original, but repro rails are not bad. A frames around here are usually 150-250, and cheaper if you find one at the farm.i have several, common up, gas is cheap now!!
The Jalopy Journal
