Projects Back from the dead… and better than ever - Model A roadster build

Finally got some time to spend in the shop tonight. I got started on my steering box. First I made an insert that allows me to use my live center to support the box.


Swapped over to the 4-jaw chuck and got everything indicated and tight. You can tell we dont use the 4-jaw much by all the surface rust…


Progress has been slow because I only get a couple hours a week to work on this car anymore but Im slowly chipping away. My goal is to have it ready for the 2026 Hotrod Showdown in 8-ish months

 

Noice!

 

I got the torque tube and driveshaft welded back up and the rear end back in the car. Ive spent the last couple days cleaning and organizing because Ive got some friends coming up tomorrow night for some Pizza, beers, and heavy lifting. Hopefully Ill have another update to share once the night is over

 

With some help from a few friends, the body is now back on the frame! MAN this thing is looking so good. The more I look, the more my to-do list grows but I am beyond stoked to see the car in (mostly) one piece.

 

Lookin’ GOOD!
There’s just something about a 29 with the smaller body and cowl detail that looks like a Hotrod.

 

I jumped the gun on my pedals. I was hoping I could just line them up where they were in my T and call it a day but the model A body is wider and I could really tell how far off they were once we set the body on. I cut the tack welds and slid the pedals over and began on the next hurdle.
The clutch-throwout-arm whatchamacallit had to be re-done.


Yet another part to bring to the neighbors to tig weld. I left it open ended (literally) because I may end up extending it over to the frame rail for support if I find it’s too flimsy feeling.

 

if you could,do that extension now....

 

Lots of neat details.

 

Yeah I'm starting to lean towards that now. I'm thinking even if it works fine now, it may give me trouble in the future after a few thousand clutch actions... I've got a pretty cool idea on how Ill extend it

 

Ive never claimed to do things the simple way, I AM an engineer after all
Clutch linkage finally put together and it seems to work. It kicked my butt. I think I remade it 3 times trying to get it right.
I decided to extend the clutch arm over to the frame for extra support, but I wanted to make it easy to disassemble. I started by turning down the end of a big bolt and nut to fit into the end of the shaft I made.




Next I made a plate with a piece of tubing welded to it and a bearing pressed into the tube. I’ll end up slotting the holes on the plate eventually, that way as the engine goes in and out I can set it perfect each time to prevent binding.


Like I said, some things I do are convoluted

 

hope i'm not niggling,but that doesn't look grade . 8 ...

 

In that application it doesn't have to be.

 

With the pedals sorted, the engine came back out so I can finish all the engine bay work and do some freshening up on the motor.

 

Time to get the steering finished. I debated whether ide share my big mess up or if Ide brush it under the rug but I ill come clean.. when I designed my steering box flanges, I never had the thought that maybe the hole in the frame wouldn't be perfectly centered. I just assumed it would be but after laying it out I quickly realized the hole needed to be slightly higher than center making my box flange way too tall… With the amount of time I put into these pieces, I really didnt want to start all over again so I had the idea to give the flange a serious hair cut.

It looks pretty silly now but its still gonna work fine. Theres plenty of material left for the bolts to bite into and Im using washers so Im not worried. Learned my lesson to make the next ones about 1/2” smaller diameter.

 

After my screw up and salvage effort I got the hole drilled and the box mocked up where it needs to be.

The slotted holes work as intended so even after welding, ill still have adjustability if something needs to be tweaked. Im happy!

 

nice fix!