Model A Coupe - Original 1958 Body - Build

Hey, everyone finally got my shit together and joined. Reason for joining loads of good info on here and i have a model a coupe purchased a year ago. The model a is an original car from 58, and made its way back to perth, west aust. The coupe was brought by another hamb member , work was started but not finished. Members started to post old pics from 1958..one cool ride...ive been working flat out on it since. Its my 1st hotrod... It has an original chop from the 50s, is channelled 4" over a fabricated swept chassis... hope you like it... trying my best!

Photos!

Body was in storage for 50 years... this is how it came to Australia


The original coupe in '58


Now my coupe in 2013




Now has 52 Buick tail lights


Think it had an Olds motor?


Now has 283 Chev, deuce intake




Chopped '32 grill, 4"



Had Olds motor, now has Olds caps instead!


More photos to follow of fabrication. Car is only at mock-up stage.

As you can see, not trying to restore the car as it was; still trying to keep it looking 50s style with what parts are available in Australia (very hard to find original parts here... that's why there are new parts on the car). You guys are lucky in the US with all your junk yards!!

My choice would have been a caddy motor, just can't find one, and when you do, WAY too expensive. The 283 will do.

 

This is my dash and steering wheel - it is an Australian 1959 Chrysler Royal. It took MANY hours to fit this. Kept the speaker, glove box and even 1 ashtray. This dash was originally almost as wide as my 54 Caddy dash.

 

Very nice. That swept frame and channel get the car down nicely. So glad to see that even with the chop the push-out windshield is still functional. Love the old b&w photos.

 

Love it! Nice job man and welcome aboard!

 

Cool beans! That's a neat car.

 

Congrat's !!! Nice ride.

 

Always a pleasure to see a old warrior brought back to life. HRP

 

More pics this weekend......gotta get wife to do it...shes smart, i lift heavy things!

 

Very cool car, and lots of old pics to motivate you. Keep it up.

 

Very cool

 

looks great without the visor---cool pics--nice ride

 

Original pics dont have the visor, thought Id leave it as it was ( poor mans 32 )...looks good - a bit different.

 

Looks great I like the no visor look

 

Looks better now than it did way back when! I especially like the dash and instrument cluster.

In the old photos: the license plate looks like it's from Illinois; if so, that photo is from 1962 or 1964 rather than 1958. '61 was the first year for the two-letter/four digit combination, and "Land of Lincoln" was on top of the plate in even-numbered years.

 

Awesome!

 

Man you got some good eyes there buddy....Im just going of what other members have told the previous owner of the body and from the pics...any info is good info!..thanks.

 

The build on this is killer too, having seen progress for myself. Can't wait till you post pics of the build progress man!

 

Hey... That was my old Coupe!

I sold it to a hamber in Austrailia... Pete. A really great guy. I think he had to move to China for work and sold it?

The body sat in the rafters of the original builder until he passed away. It was built in 1958, then ran for a while. Sometime in the 1960s he put a '32 body on and put the A in the rafters.

I bought it from Ed Leapold (sp?). Nice old guy who I guess is known in the area. I had bought a bunch of stuff to build it, but had to clear out my old cars to make room for a project. Sure wish I could have kept it, but glad to see it went to a better home. It looks really good.

I think I still have the original (aftermarket) steering wheel for it. it's an old wood one from around 1958. If you are interested it's yours. I can send photos. Although freight might be a little steep... It's cool.

Really great to see it with wheels on it. That roof looks like a million bucks in person.



Did you get the original photos or just scans? I never got them (although I tried to), but knew who had them...



Josh

 

Hey...I did buy it off Pete in Perth, he got as far as making the chassis with a freind of mine ( benflathead). It sat too low for me I cut the back off and started all over. Want to keep it similar but want it to be mine as well. No I didnt get any photos, I just scaned them off the original post which I stummbed across....

 

Was the Grey on the car the original color? I plan on trying out a 59 caddy color called "London Grey" it should be very similar. Thanks for the offer on the steering wheel ...but will stick with the set I have..Trying to have a look from 58 - 59...Aussie or USA parts...( well the dash is Aust 1959 chrysler Royal )

 

No, The grey is work Pete must have done. The car was never painted.

Back in 1958 it had Black primer. It drove around in Black primer until about '62-63 I think, then the body swapped. It was a dark suede brown when it left me. A mix of rust overtaking the original primer.

I always planned a deep Rootbeer paint job, but I had a Cadillac project in the works and it took over my garage space.


.

 

thats rad! I actually really dig the area above the windshield...... I wasn't sure at first! looks like you're doing a great job

 

Nice Model A coupe!

 

Thats weird with the paint it looks real old even the old scrapes and dents would be years old, all the old bondo ( bog ) repairs have no other color apart from this real dark grey, no one has tried to remove it. Pete never touched the body he planned to run it as it was..could be just faded..Nice to know the history I will do is car justice....thanks again...there is alot more photos coming ...

 

And I know what you mean about the cadillac taking up space! I had 2 at one stage -My 54 Coupe a 57 Sedan and a 52 Roadmaster buick..no room too move...This hotrod thing is good....

 

Then the paint your talking about has to be the 50 year old primer. The car always looked brown in the sun and dark grey in my garage.

Can't wait to see it running. If I remember right, it was built with a smaller engine... then had a 394 Olds put in. I'm not sure if any other engines had been in there. Ed actually helped chop the top I think... he is probably still around.

 

Cool i thought so.....glad you jump on board and shared some info. I am aiming to have it done middle of the year. Alot more rules here which means more work but well worth it. It is a nice chop looks great, losing the visor was a cool idea, dont see it often. I have a few more bits to fab, and then it will be ready to pull apart for paint......not looking forward to putting cycle guards on it.....but rules are rules......that sucks!......will load up some stealing out pics next few days..

 

Good work Ritchie I told ya they would like it!

 

Wow,Great history in this car.congrats .Subscribed.

Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

I love that car. I saved one of the old black and white pics I found somwhere on here and it has been my screen saver for a couple months.