I got my A-V8 done... Check it out!!

I’ve been wanting to do this post on the progress of my A-V8 for quite a while, but due to things at the shop and Speedweek, I’ve had to wait until now to do so. Just a disclaimer first: I was hauling ass on this project , so I wasn’t able to take as many pics as previous projects… I didn’t have time!! About seven weeks ago, Brandon and I drove my stock roadster one last time around the block before we pulled it into the shop for the V-8 conversion. I’ve been driving the stock 4 cyl powered Model A daily for a couple of months and I just could not be passed by another Soccer Mom and keep my sanity, so after years of collecting the right parts and a bit of cash, I was at last going to make the car of my dreams.

 

After working for 2 hours, Johnny “black socks”, Brandon and I stripped the roadster down to the bare frame

 

The next day I mocked up the 1940 Ford Flathead and 1939 trans into the stock frame after setting the body back on to check for firewall clearance. I made some engine mounts and used an F-1 cross member for the trans. To avoid cutting the firewall and still mate to the stock torque tube, I had my Dad make an 1 ½ inch spacer between the trans and the torque tube bell flange. Over the next few days I mocked up the steering, brake and clutch pedals and the exhaust headers. After that was done, I fabbed up a front wish bone mount that bolts to the bottom of the trans and the front of the trans cross member. Then I modified the shifter and fabbed up the headlight bar.

 

After the mock up was completed, I stripped everything down and had all the pieces of the car sandblasted. I took all of my fasteners and had them plated, all of the chrome to the chrome shop and all of my aluminum stuff to get polished. ( I farmed out a bunch of work on this one to expedite it’s completion… I wanted to drive it to Speedweek!)

 

After the frame was blasted, I tig welded all of the frame pieces together and boxed the frame around the steering mount and transmission cross member.

 

Soon after, the body was back from the blaster and I put patch panels in the cowl, passenger door and the rear quarter panels. After that I sent the body to my good buddy George who agreed that he could iron out the sheet metal and paint the body in a week’s time.

 

While George was busy doing the body, I got to work on the heavy iron. I primed and wet sanded everything until the surfaces were smooth and ready for paint, then I laid a few coats of black on..

 

While that was going on, my Brother Tim went through the engine, replacing the head studs and ball honing the cylinders. We reused everything else for now. I plan on a hopped-up engine later when I have more time.

 

I wanted to run my Wico mag, and I also wanted to run my cooling fan off of the front of the generator. With the mag on the stock cover it puts the cap directly under the generator and takes up all of the room for a fan. So I modified the cover to allow the mag to be clocked in the 10 o’clock position to allow more room for a fan, all be it a small one… I also modified the front of the crank pulley to accept my crank drive tach adapter and not hit the radiator.

 

At this point, things started going back together. I decided to run the fender skirts to give my roadster the look of a street driven lakes racer.

 

Six weeks of work and the day after I started the engine for the first time, I drove the thing straight to the Salt Flats for a little seasoning… There are still a few things that are left to be done, like a top, side curtains, the cooling fan, and some odds and ends, but for the most part here it is:

 

im crying thats so beautiful.

cheers man, hats off to you. you nailed it.

 

Beautiful car dude!!! Motivates me to get my a55 going on mine.

 

Ditto, that rocks.

Cheers, and congrats,

Drewfus

 

B E A U T I F U L

thats a hell of alot of work to do in just 6 weeks

 

Wow! I love everything about that car. The fender skirts really set it apart. Beautiful car.

 

Great work Chris...AS USUAL, everything you build turns to gold.
Black with black wheels/tires were definately the classy combo.

p.s. the Green Grenade still lives in my heart and on my desk-top.

 

W O W ! This post made my day

Can you post some more detail shots of the motor, please? It looks amazing.