Projects 31 Model A Hot Rod restoration

Went to the roll in at Henderson, MN. today, one of my favorite places, great time, Cool Beans!! The 322 Nailhead is running great, almost 4,000 miles on this build

 

Nice chattin' with you at the 50's! The Henderson roll-in? I had to work!
I'm driving to Good Guys in Iowa, leaving on Friday morning. I'm looking forward to rolling the odometer. Happy 4th of July!

 

Have a safe trip, let me know how the show was!

 

What a GREAT SHOT! "SCREENSAVER BINGO!"

 

Went to the Henderson, MN roll-in last week, made a sharp turn at 60 mph, onto a major highway, hit a bump and almost lost the car. I've got a cross steer set up with a 41 Ford box, with 4,000 mile on this build, I never had a problem with it before, don't have a pan hard bar on the front axle. After doing some research, I'm going to try a dead perch on the passenger side, ordered both the spring perches, they are adjustable, we'll see how that works. I had a flash back to the early 60's when I rolled my first hot rod (30 Model A coupe) 2-1/2 times, that was also due to bump steer. I'll post pictures of the 1960's incident.

 

Holy crap some WARNING please I saw the photo first thing and thought your current hot rod got wrecked. Almost had "the big one"

 

Did you yell " Louise-ee, I'm coming" ? Redd Foxx rules.

Damn Graham ... glad you didn't relive your previous experience. I love your little truck. It's awesome. Good luck with the fresh engineering.

 

I don't know how I missed this one before but what a great little truck and what a great story.

Let us know how that dead perch works out as I have been thinking about the same steering setup on my Model
A Vic.

 

Good to hear from you. The current Model A had been handling well, 4,000 miles with out a hint of trouble, then the above incident, just got complacent I guess. My only concern is that I will loose a portion of the good ride I have enjoyed, the Buick engine is heavy, and together with the spring set, it rides quite well, we'll see what happens, I'll post the results. Thanks for your interest.

 

Damn man, I'm glad you rode this one out.........................might be a little harder getting over a roll 50 something years later!

 

Found the thread....Did you get the dead perch installed? I would think you want the dead perch on the left.
The 3W (40 box) and the Roadster (Vega) both are running panards (fixed on the driver side)

You've probably met Roger W from Mankato. You should compare Model A rollover stories. He has pics of one he he went off a cliff while stationed in SoCal in the early 60's...One of the mountain passes Cajon? maybe. Similar damage.

 

I've read a lot about mounting the dead perch, which side is best, I mounted mine on the right side, I've got a 41 cross steer box, finished it late in the morning and took it out for a 5 mile run, really whipped it around, it did real well, and the surprising thing is, I didn't notice any difference in the front axle ride, seemed good, on a familiar road that I travel a lot. I've read that most folks prefer it on the opposite side of the steering box, with a cross steer, tell me Eric, your thoughts, please.

 

I guess my thinking behind this is the outer end of your drag at the spindle is traveling about an arc as the suspension moves up and down. With the the dead perch on the right side the fixing the axle, the spindle will be forced to move, as the the drag link moves through its arc.

If the left side is fixed, would tendency for the spindle to move also be lessened because that perch could absorb some of the range of movement?

Did SoCal or other have a recommendation for the right side? Are the concerned about steering lateral force of the drag link pushing through the spring?

I'm interested in other opinions as well.

 

I sent So-Cal's dead perch set-up back yesterday, the perch angle was way off from what I need for my suspension, I'll just make my own so I know it will fit my axle/spring!

 

Very cool hotrod!

Nice job on the build!

 

Thank you for your kind remarks, I appreciate your interest in this build!

 

Nice Job! Awesome Truck!!

 

Pulled the 8.2 Chevy rear axle out today and pulled out the diff., gonna get the housing narrowed 6" by C&F Racecars, Ramsey, MN and have Moser build me new axle shafts, need to get these wheels tucked into the bed sides, always bugged me, I'll have 2" between the bed sides and the side walls, just enough to get my hand in there to clean.

 

I've had the car down for 12 days doing this rear axle, back on the road again last evening, 40-50 miles, no surprises, doing fine. C&F Race cars from Ramsey, MN did a great job narrowing and straightening this axle housing 6", Moser sent the new axle shafts promptly, can't say enough about their quality and customer service. It's nice to have these wheels tucked into the bed sides where they belong!

 

such a nice truck and a beautiful motor to boot!

 

Billy, your profile says you're from Ft. Wayne, I'm originally from Kendallville, IN., small world, and thank you for the compliment!!

 

Spent the day hanging out with Eric Hendrickson, he was driving his beautiful 32 Ford roadster, fun stuff in Mankato, MN.

 

Great thread and beautiful build.

 

Thank you for the kind words, You sure have a nice coupe, to be proud of.

 

Went to Busters in Mankato, MN for their weekly roll in, came back to my car and found this woman sitting on my tire, she likes hot rods so I bought her dinner, we're good friends now, how cool.

 

Craig, I'm going to do a weather check tonight and make a decision on the messaround . Sounds like late day storms, I'm hoping for a early start, and head back a little early.

 

Went to the Minnesota Messaround today, rained a lot, it was a great show of traditional hot rods!! Drove through 30 miles of heavy downpour, a lot of water through those carbs and that Buick Nailhead didn't miss a beat, go figure. Posted pics of the MN Messaround this evening on the HAMB,

 

That is one of the nicest hotrod trucks I have ever seen! Love the nail head,and everything, just stunning!

 

For sure if I HAD to buy one done and you were selling yours would be my first choice to buy.