I really like the early photos with the bugs in the radiator. Makes it look like a real hot rod Model A, IMHO.
Thanks everyone for the positive feedback. I am really happy with the way its turning out. There are going to be a lot more bugs in her teeth this summer for sure! I hate to admit it, but I got it off ebay. It was the best price I could find.....and it was still 2.5X more expensive than a standard drop bar. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I've had a few people ask, so I figured I'd post some pictures of other aspects of the car. I'll get better pictures when I have the car back at my place in a couple weeks, but for now these will do. I'm terrible at taking pictures of this stuff because once I get rolling I don't want to stop. Anyway..... After much debate I decided to go with a T5 transmission. Its the only part on the car that's newer than the mid-50's, but I'm really glad I did it. The synchro gears and overdrive make cruising so freakin' nice I can't complain one bit. To make the conversion I used an adapter from Dwight Bond. It is a really slick deal because you use an AA truck bellhousing behind your banger and then the only "new" piece you need is a 1.5" thick piece of machined aluminum that mates the S10 transmission to the old Ford engine. The really cool thing is that Dwight includes a shaft off the side of his adapter that allows you to hang the stock model A pedals right where they belong. It worked really well, but I had to figure out some way to work a master cylinder into the mix since I converted the mechanical brakes to '40 Ford juice brakes all around. Before I explain that part let me describe the crossmember brace..... Installing a T5 in a stock model A frame requires cutting a notch out of the stock center crossmember to clearance the shift tower. Even though I'm only running a banger it still made me nervous about the strength of that integral part of the frame, so I decided to, in essence, box the center crossmember by fabricating a plate that would span the open underside of the crossmember from frame rail to frame rail. This does a few things....add rigidity to the crossmember/frame and facilitate the rear transmission mount on the T5. It also made an excellent mount for the '40 Ford radius rods I used on the rearend as well as the "torque fork" I built to replace the torque tube driveshaft that I eliminated in favor of an open drive rearend. I had my friend bend me a single piece of 3/8" flat and then I plasm cut out the excess. It took 3 hole saws to cut the 6 "lightening holes" but it really did make a difference. However, it didn't do squat to accommodate a master cylinder.... On a stock model A brake pedal, the connecting rod is pulled forward by design to actuate the mechanical brakes. That's fine for stock mechanical, but with a juice brakes you need the connecting rod to push the plunger into the master cylinder to apply the brakes. I wanted to use the stock pedal so I made a lever (think teeter tooter) that would turn the pulling action of the rod connected to the pedal into a pushing action on the rod going to the master cylinder. I was able to hide it inside the crossmember and mount a Wilwood dual master cylinder behind the crossmember back far enough to access it through the pan under the seat. In this way I was able to locate the battery using the stock hanger in the stock location. It sounds complicated but really wasn't at all. Like I said, these pictures are the best but I'll try to take some better ones in a couple weeks. Hopefully this info might help someone else trying to figure out how the heck to fit all this stuff under the plywood floorboard of their A.
Great looking ride. The top chop is a work of art and the thought and detail that have gone into the chassis are fantastic. I can't wait to see more. Chuck
Well Viva Las Vegas was cool (other than the 95 degree temp) but it really bummed me out that I didn't take my coupe 'cause there wasn't a single 4 banger in the show! How the heck does that even happen at a show like that?? Anyway, I called up Antique Auto Ranch this morning to see what Mike had found. Turns out cylinders 1 and 2 were both scored slightly and the rings/pistons were kinda messed up in those holes too. Mike was able to clean up the cylinders with just a hone and he got the pistons looking good too. We're not sure what happened, but it appears those two cylinders got washed somehow which led to the damage. At least that should explain the excessive blow-by and blue smoke. The other thing that kinda concerns me is that the Babbitt bearings on the connecting rods (the connecting rod cap bearings were fine) were not looking too hot. Mike said they were showing some cracks and starting to separate from the connecting rods. Since I don't know squat about Babbitt bearings it really freaked me out, but he said it was a probably a bad Babbitt mix and his bearing guy should have them back to him by tomorrow. Mike's gonna put everything back together and then run the sucker to seat the rings over the rest of the week. He'll do a couple oil changes and make sure she's in tip top shape so I can pick her up on Saturday. I sure hope this B motor starts treating me better. I've got a lot into her and I don't want something that will keep me up at night wondering what will go wrong.
It sounds like you caught it in time, that's good! So... any pictures of the road trip down to VLV? I'm looking forward to seeing Luke's truck all in one piece.
awesome car ! get subscribed ! are you sitting on the original A seat ? can I ask you how tall you and your "passenger" are to get and idea ?
Thanks. Yes, I'm using the stock model A seat which is in really good shape. Its REALLY tall......I'm guessing 8-10 inches. I'm actually standing by the car in the picture (in the flannel shirt ) but both Mike and Forrest who are sitting in the car are about my same height. I'm 6'1" and I think I fit just about perfect. I wouldn't want to be any taller with a 3" chop. It would be easy to fix that, however, but using a different seat. I was fortunate enough to get the original seat with my car and it had been completely redone with new black vinyl so I really wanted to use it. I do, however, have a 3rd row seat out of a square-body Dodge caravan that is the exact same width with a bottom that is only about 1/3 the height as stock, that I will swap out if I find that I'm too cramped.
Sorry its been so long since my last post....things have been busy as usual. The car is back on the road and running great. Mike hand-lapped the new babbitts and got everything back to tip-top shape. He blocked off one carb and told me to drive it that way for a bit to make sure everything seated correctly. I didn't realize how much difference one carb can make!! If I had to run a single carb I'm pretty sure I'd be swapping out the engine for a V8. After a couple days I opened up the second carb and its like a freakin' race car! It really makes me appreciate that extra boost in power. Mike was able to get my stock speedo working correctly (the glass face was rubbing the indicator wheel) so now I have a better idea of speed. I can cruise down the road (flat ground) in 5th turning about 2300 rpm. I don't want to lug the engine so I'm downshifting to 4th at anything below that. I played with the timing a little and she really comes alive of the line....at least as much as 90 horses can. In retrospect, after talking to several people and doing a bunch of research, I think the cylinder scoring was caused by over-seas pistons. From what I hear, everyone but Silvalite and Badger are outsourcing their pistons to India or China and even though the machine work looks/is exact, the metal composition isn't great. The pistons will heat and expand non-uniformly causing issues. I can't say for sure, but that's my guess. I'm gonna drive it like I want and hopefully she holds up just fine. I haven't had a chance to put the new mono-leaf spring under the front yet. My club's annual car show is coming up this weekend and I don't want to risk not have her back together for that so it will be a bit before I get it done. I'll post pictures when I do, however, and make sure to explain how NOT to do it cause I always seem to figure that out first hand. Oh, and I did paint the headlight bar. I think it looks a lot better in black.
You're coupe is awesome. The commercial grill is a nice change from the norm. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
32-34 commercial lights are the same size as 32 passenger car but have a painted bucket and a slightly pointier bucket if I remeber. They would look killer!
Your build looks awesome. Have two questions that maybe you can help me with. First is what distributor are you running? Noticed you have cloth covered plug wires on it, didn't know if its a fs ignition distributor or a dual point or something else. I have decided to run a fs distributor in my a but am hesitant to use cloth covered wires for fear of interference. Can you comment on this setup in your car? Also on the t5 swap I am trying to decide if I should go to a v8 three speed or the t5? Would like to hear your influences in your decision and how you find the performance of the car after the swap. Thanks Matt Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The Jalopy Journal
