June Already? Another Damn BANGER MEET!!!

I got mine running at the weekend after the rebuild. Kind of happened by accident, must have knocked the ignition on by mistake or something while I was working. Leaned on the starter to check it had enough juice in the battery to turn it over and it cranked probably quarter of a turn and fired up and sat there idling to my utter disbelief! Sounds fantastic with the light flywheel.

 

Cool stuff this month as well - just catching up - still out of town, but might have something to post later.

 

My lips are sealed...
Neil - I make that 5.

 

Sorry Phil, I missed Clark's 2 word 3 letter response. 5 it is.

 

And you a bean counter an' all. Sorry to point out the error in your adding up...

Seriously though - how many could we muster for an all banger RR?

 

Have to be careful we don't end up with half the Model A Owners Club tailing us. Or even worse, in FRONT of us.....

 

Ok 5 four bangers - that sounds good, I'll find a few more..............

The NO valve cover, cow teat run (how many teats does a cow have?), let me know when your not gigging, working and how much notice is needed. I'll find somewhere to kip and feed..........

 

You can always make one mean looking (an quite traditional looking ala 1930s-eraly 40s era) modified by sticking almost any old gas tank
pre-1928 back there AND then installing a hand pressuure pump to get fuel to your carbs. The pump will actually help your B mechanical fuel pump and woul be a nice complimentary detail to the whole shindig!

Hmmm,....my personal opinion,...it wouldn't go with everything else you've already done with the car. Your car looks like a neat modified, to throw a trunk in back wouldn't jive,...just my idea. I'd stick to the tank out back,...or nuthin'...

I think a wood bed on an old Model A truck would look gorgeous! One a modified,...not so much. Saw your wesite,...wonderful craftsmanship!!! Outstanding!!!

 

Most Lakes Modifieds had the gas tank mounted some where on the exterior, usually on the rear. A buddy of mine had one in 1949 and it had a surplus 5 gallon jeep can strapped on the back. It was a "T" bucket with a Chevy 4. It had a 3 speed and a Ruxtell rear end. WE had a ball in that car. It didn't have any lights so we Mickey Moused some old reflectors bolted to the front axle. It only had brakes on the rear axle but we always got it stopped. Had a bicycle tail light, 1 "D" cell powered.. But it was a true Lakes Modified. You didn't see these lowered "modifieds" you see now as they couldn't drive the roads into the lakes which were not maintained. At El Mirage they would occasionally grade County Line road on the west side but the rest were real adventures, many a muffler left by the side of the road
One other point, I had planned on running a hand pump but the one I have is a dash mount and some venues will not allow any fuel lines inside the car.

 

Always enjoy reading Bill's posts....

 

This is off topic, but can someone give me some advice. I have an Model A I just picked up and it came with an old Model A combine engine. Then engine has a real B cam in it, lobe for the oil pump and all. I couldn't get it to run good at an idle... once revved up it picked up the cyllinders and would run. Can someone tell me hows much advance to run with a B cam in an otherwise stock A motor.

 

Chris, you dads Model A looks great. It's a lot like mine, only mine waa a butt ugly green, but about the same condition, maybe not quite as rusty on the grille shell. Does his have hydraulic brakes? If not, how did he get that rake?

 

Well I bought a 26 T rolling frame the other day. I don't really know why but I did. Well it's a wood wheel set up. I was told that it's easy to put A front hubs on it, so a person can run none wood wheels. What is the trick in the rear? As for engine choice I was going to round up a 26 or 27, or should I choose a different route. What I am think of is either building a speedster or a 26 27 roaster, not totally sure though.

Thanks,
Darrin

 

I don't know abut the Model A hub switch, but I know you can buy adaptors to run Model A wheels all the way around. Probably a couple hundred bucks but cheaper than fiding a set of good 26-27 wire wheels and hubs I bet

 

hey what carb are you running? I think stationary engines are made to start idle n then run at 1800 200 rpm. does it still have the govener off the cam on it Maybe post some pics n we can help you as for advance on dizzy you need to know what timing cover you have what timing gear you have and what dizzy you have to accurately figure where to set it or go to tdc set points to open n start there
Ken

 

Post it on fordbarn probably find some one who wants your stuff as well as the parts you need. I think a model A eng n tranny would work out good too if starting from scratch
Ken

 

WEll, the engine is all Model A except that B cam. No governor, and I switched the dizzy out for a good one I had. The engine has the stock Model A timing gears and cover. I tried different carb, dizzy, exhaust manifold, intake manifold, coil..same-o same-o.

 

Ok have you tried compression test sounds like sticking valves or bad valves A bones will start n run with low compresion n valves not sealing good at idle n pick up with revs of engine might try that or pull head n look at it using stock settings with the pin in front cover should put you in ballpark on dizzy I dont think you have electrical problem there if it starts use the choke n rod settings on carb too many turns out makes it run rough at idle also but clears up with rpm

 

OK - now that I've got everything in the drive as of tonight, I guess I can spill the beans.

A month or so ago, my dad talked me into buying a '29 Roadster. It was a body & chassis on eBay that I think we paid too much for, but my dad thinks we got a bargain on. The plan is to go in halves & build it with together including my son. Now the hitch in all of that is I will likely have to go back to the UK for a couple years, so this is a project on hold already...but my son will be a little bit older by then & my dad will be retired, so it really works out.

Here's what we got:


That flat white really hides a lot of flaws, but the body is fairly solid. It has an uncut firewall, very minimal rust in the quarters, and the subrails are solid. The rear panel below the decklid needs replacing and the rear fenderwells are rusty along the bottom. The gas tank is solid & looks like just dirt inside, so a good cleaning should be all it needs. Doors need a little work - drivers skin is pretty wavy & passenger skin has been repaired at bottom (poorly). Although it's a '29 roadster, the chassis appears to be an AR with the odd brake stuff (and a front crossmember that's already been cut in prep for repair I assume).

Thur evening, I heard through the grapevine that SamIyam had a chassis for sale. I got in touch with him & we worked out a deal - it turned out to be perfect timing too because he was driving through my town enroute to see his brother after going to the LARS. This chassis was from a running/driving car that Sam wanted the body off of. Sam pulled the body Thur & loaded the chassis onto the trailer that night & headed off in the morning for LARS!

I picked up the roadster yesterday (it had been delivered to a friends place while I was out of town). Today, I decided to coat the interior with phosphoric acid as it had been blasted & was bare metal - I wanted to get this on it for now & will rustoleum it later until we figure out what we're going to do with it. When I was done, I was still waiting for Sam to come by, so I decided to pull the fenders & aprons. I got done about five minutes before Sam pulled up & here's what it looked like:


Sam & I fiddled with the banger on the trailer & got her running. Sounds great, runs smooth, starts quickly & seems to be a good little engine. We rolled it off the trailer & in front of the roadster:


So there it is, my first Model-A and my first Banger! Although plans for the Dad/Me/Son roadster build call for a traditional AV8 with heavy inspiration from the Bishop/Tardel roadster, I'm going to enjoy puttering around with the banger for a little bit. Needs a water pump & I've got to swap out the intake/exhaust (wasn't in the sale, but Sam provided the stock parts), but otherwise, she's a runner!

 

Oh yeah - how can I tell for sure if I've got an AR chassis under the roadster? It appears to have a left-side handbrake and there are brake pivot rods attached at the torque-tube - those were the things Sam said made him think it was AR. What're the tell-tale features??

 

Hey Ern - I have a running, rolling, kissing cousin, to that chassis in the garage at the mo. Why not bring the roadster body over as hand luggage for a couple of years...?

Been wondering how long I had to bite my tongue for!

 

Flat Ernie, I saw that roadster on Ebay. I wanted it BAD...But it is hard to buy a car with a "fresh" primer job that you cannot see in person. I'm glad you got it, sounds like a good ol Model A!

 

Personally, I think we paid a bit too much for it, but my dad thinks we got a good deal. The flat-white does hide a lot of sins and some of the pics were carefully angled, but all in all, it's a pretty solid car.

 

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the width differences if any between the rear ends on a Model A and 26-27 T rear. I'm looking into building a late 30's "Banger" prodject. I've got a line on a decent 27 T touring, complete and want to run the fenders. So I want to see if the Model A front and rear ends would stick way to far out.

 

Well, one thing you woud have to do is alter the crossmembers, because the Model T spring is a 1/4" or a little more narrower than the Model A. Not a big deal but something else you would have to deal with. I've seen Model T's on a Model A frame, and they look good.

 

I have thought about the Model A frame. Another thought was to build a new frame ,using boxed steal Model A front crossmember and the T or A rear crossmember. I guess my thoughis how hard would it be to mount the the fenders on a model A frame. Would it still look ok?

 

I put a T spring in the back of my A, didn't do anything to it other than bolt it in. By the time you get the U-bolts tight, it will not move....plus it's only 1/8" difference on each side. Lowered it 2"

 

Is that "T" spring under it now? I like the stance of your coupe in the photos you have posted. Is there much difference in the ride? I have a Posie's spring and it was a bitch to install. I think I will pull it and install the "T" spring that I have.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=273050

Here is another post about putting a t5 behind an A motor. Is there anyone that can awnser my questionon the post about 4 cyl and 6cyl T5 differences on that post?

 

Posted a response:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2899320&postcount=14

Non banger related so I posted there.