The Book. How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod

I'm going to be purchasing this book because I'm excited to do some great reading. I'm wanting to build a traditional hot rod and I figure this board and that book will help me achive this goal. I do have a question though to those who either have the book or have experianced this issue. The issue: what if I want to do a model A truck, or another type of car in that era? I guess I'm trying to ask is does this book cover ONLY a model A build or does it cover a model A build along with other information on how to build a Hot rod instead of a Ford Hot Rod? Either way, I'm buying the book tomorrow.

Lamont.

 

There are a few generic hot rod tips,but the book is 99.9% model A hot rod.Almost everything in the book could be used on an A pickup.

 

Awsome! I'm leaning more toward the model A stuff anyway beacause that's all me and my Grandpa work on. I'm thinkin of hitting him up for a frame, running gear and an engine so I can do my first build. The only problem is though is that he'll have to let some of it go. He like hoarding a lot of parts. Did you use the book?

 

The book is well worth having even if you never build an A.

 

It is a very good place to start learning early Ford rodding and interchange in general.
Any other (later) year of flathead powered Ford would actually be easier to build, since those just bolt together, while a A-V8 requires considerable fabricating and fitting--so the book covers the hard case! If you wanted a similar '32, most of the work would just be screwing stock bits together in the right assortments...but paying for it all might be harder.

 

Montyc50 ,Tell grandpa to give you two frames and you will build him one too!Everything you cut and fit for his car make copies for your car.That way you get to know how it goes together and after doing one the second one (your car) will go together fast...
...Option number two... build themside by side,you and grandpa will have a blast driving both down the road or going to show and parking side by side....

Good luck,
Steve

 

I would agree with this, having built several A's I still learned or re-learned stuff I had forgotten. Good book.

 

I used a lotta stuff from Mike's book when I built my 33 ford pickup...clutch linkage...motor mount bracketry, wiring, brake assembly and adjustment, kingpin assembly, setting up the allignment and much more.

 

Excellent book. Signed copy is on my coffee table.

 

Super book! All the chassis stuff applies to any Model A and any body can be put on that chassis and you'll have a nice car... if the body is nice anyway.

 

You can never have too many books. I wish I would have purchased the B/T book before I started building my car. It is a great resource for any one building a hot rod.

 

I'm ordering the book tonight! I'm pretty stoked. Since I brought up my Grandpa, here's a couple projects we've been working on. Mind you this man is 80 years old and still VERY sharp. All he reads are model A books. He's been working on medel A's since his teens and says they're one of the best cars ever made.

The red one he lucked out on. Long story but I'm sure you'll read it. When my grandpa was 15, this model was sitting in a fire station and was a parade car for a small town in homer louisiana. He always loved that car. The body was folded as it shows by two farm boys in the town and my grandpa loved how it looked. about ten years ago, he found it again and bought it. We call it the hoopy and it is our favorite car. We'll sit up late after working on it and picture how it will look. It's good times learing from someone like him, he's taught me a lot. That's why I'm very fond of model A's, because of him. The blue one is a 1929 that we put an engine, tranny, drive line, wireing, and instrument cluster in in a week. Man, that was fun. We forgot to hook up the fuse on the starter and the points on the stater solonoid stuck shut and we let some smoke out of the wires behind the apm meter guage, but hey, it was still fun. Enjoy the pictures, I have a lot more. Oh yea, did I mention I'm buying that book tonight?

 

i'd would suggest getting the book even if you don't own an A, it's a great read.

 

Enjoy the book. The author Mike Bishop is AV8 here on this board. He is a very gifted writer who knows how to put down in simple words, the steps necessary to build a hot rod. He can even explain it so an old engineer like me can understand it.

You'll enjoy the book, but you'll enjoy the time spent with your Grandfather even more. Too often we separate the old from the young. Retired folks moving to "retirement communities" instead of next door to their families. His wisdom will be passed on to you and you will come to realize how rich his life has been and how he is enriching your life by being together. Enjoy!!!

 

For what it's worth, I put an A pickup cab and bed on a frame that had been under an A coupe and all the brackets and holes lined up to one another.

 

You can read it from begining to end like a story, it doesn't read like a dry textbook like most of the how to books I've read.

 

It sounds like you and grandpa are having a great time!
Although my dad and grandfather are gone, I owe most of the car knowledge I have from both of them, my dad was a mechanic, and my grandfather was a machinest. I wish they were still around.................so enjoy every minute you can!
I used the Bishop/Tardel book to get me started building my AV8 Coupe and although I have never met Mike, I have talked with Vern and his son Kieth. I even visited Kieth and tried to get him to build me one of his AV8 frames........................then I got the book and built one myself. A lot of people say putting a flathead in a Model A is not really easier, but I found it to be pretty straight forward using Mike/Vern's book.
Here are some pictures from along the way;

 

You'll also end up with a cool car as a reminder of that time you spent together.

 

The book is required reading for a traditional Model A build. It contains a wealth of information. Enjoy.

 

Worth every penny. I must have read it 30 times cover to cover

 

Those are some sweet pictures. You got that from the book?! That's cool.

 

Extra-curricular reading for college AP Model A building:
California Bill's Ford Hotrod Manual (title approximated from memory) has 1952 or so A-V8 information.
HRM published a general A-V8 article by Don Francisco (MAJOR guru!) showing multiple types of mods in 1951 and a remarkable build of a single A roadster covered in two issues in 1954...this car by Neumeister still exists and was features in RJ recently! I'm at work and cannot sharpen detail on those citations, but if you go to the 1950's covers and scan 1951 and 1954 you will spot the articles called out on the covers. Old HRM's are still pretty easy to find.
Also, Bud Bryan did a detailed build of an A over several issues of R&C, but used a '32 frame so much of the process was different.

 

PS...One version of the California Bill (Fisher) book has been reprinted and is readily available.

 

Its a great book. I bought mine at the local Northern tool store, they are selling them off 1/2 price. I've read the book a couple of times and its a great reference. I hae only had my project a couple of weeks and so far have a 40 Ford rear and 40's ford front juice brakes.