Projects Model A Tudor - My 1st Hot Rod - it's Alive!

$1600?! Send it down here, I'll give you $1700!!!

 

damn thats a great buy at 1600.!! nice score! fenderless sedans look great! even with a un cut roof... be brave. dont cut it!

 

"Proper" traditional would be a transverse (buggy) spring over the rear axle, either "A" or "T" rear spring. Later "proper" traditional would allow a "spring-behind" buggy spring, like the 32-48 banjo rears, but you would have to modify/build a new rear crossmember to relocate the spring.

Either one would be just fine with the flathead.

 

I'm afraid I'm not that brave! I'd really like to chop a few inches off the top, something like this is kind of what I'm going for (I think):

Maybe a few less inches, was thinking of taking 3 inches mayhaps 4 inches...

 

Thanks, this is what has been recommended by a friend, and probably the way I'm going, now I gotta find a model T...

Would anyone out there have a pic handy of a sedan with this done already? TIA

 

wow! thats looks great... i take back my advice... chop the bastard

 

^^^Just be aware....that's a Deuce sedan, not an A!

 

Wow. Great start for a project at a great price. Don't be afraid to ask questions here. You'll get some good advice, along with a lot of abuse. Don't let the "cranky old bastards" get you down. Most of them mean well. X2 on the advice to do something on the car every day. Even something small will make you feel like you are accomplishing something. Before you get to the point of spending real money on stuff, sit down and make a plan for where you are going with the build. Building a car on paper is a lot cheaper, and you can change your mind without breaking the budget. Changing things up mid-build gets very expensive and very discouraging. If you think you need a better looking grille shell than the one you have, let me know. I have one hanging around the shop looking for a home.

 

Some people have all the luck I guess! That really is a super place to start and it looks like you have a nice little plan floating around in your head. Those rear springs scare me just sitting there, let alone taking abuse from the wonderful roads we have in this country. I saw the R word in your first post and instantly thought "uh oh...here we go again" but I am glad you wont be going down that road. Welcome to the HAMB by the way!

Jon

 

Oh!?! I learn something new every day, what's the difference? Do they not look pretty similar? I know mine has a lot more "seams" where all the parts join, but I assumed he had just filled those and added a 32 grill...

I think I remember reading the 31/32's Model A's are a bit bigger and the engine cowl is flush unlike mine.

Please edumacate me more...

 

The HAMB Andy sedan:



I like Model A grills, and since you already have steel wheels ...

 

Very nice, seems close to what I've got already... might be a nice target for me to aim for. What grill is that from? Any more pics of that one?

Thanks

 

nice start but lose the coilovers.

 

Search for HAMBAndy threads. Here's one:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=285225&highlight=hambandy+build+thread

That's the ubiquitous '32 Ford "Deuce" grill.

 

I'd go back to an original Model A buggy spring in the rear. Works well with your rear banjo and flattie. I really like the feel of the ride with the buggy spring and the old Houdaille shocks, but that's a personal taste.

Those coil overs aren't stout enough to support the weight of the vehicle, they're at too great an angle and I think the rear is really supported by the shock arms, not the springs. That just isn't safe.

 

I have an original buggy spring and I'd be interested in your coil overs if you don't use them



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Nice score a lot nicer then what I'm working with.

 

Just found a Merc engine and trans for sale locally for the same price you paid for your whole car!

 

Great find! $1600.00? WOW. Cant wait to see more.

 

Hey guys,

I'm looking for a good book (or possibly in addition, a website) on working, fixing, wiring, (etc) ford & mercury flatheads. I've seen a couple on amazon, but they don't have great reviews. I'm looking for someone's favorite book, one you can strongly recommend. I'm new to flatheads, so any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

 

Hey all,

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this, been working hard, learning A TON. I feel like I'm a different person with all the things I've learned as I've been working through this.

I'll share some pics and let you know what's been going on:

So I finally got the car moved to my Dad's shop and (after some excellent advice about some of the sketchy things we found) I decided to strip everything off and go from the frame and start the rebuild. I got good with a grinder. The original frame looked go, so we kept it.



There were some real bad welds and huge parts missing from the previous owners attempt at boxing the frame. So once all the paint was gone, we did a bunch of welding and grinding and after some body work, they'll look good. I still do wonder if I would have been "smarter" to just but a new frame, but in the end I learnt a lot and it's still the stock frame



With some great advice from friends, I started replacing some of the sketchy suspension parts with new, but still staying traditional, parts. Here's my frame mocked up:



Next post: The Body

 

Being a teacher, summer if my time to get a crap-ton done. Pretty much everything I'm posted was done during the summer. I was constantly picking up parts (new & used) over the fall and winter and was itching to start using them.

I always knew that I wanted to chop the top of the car. Not chopping the car wasn't an option for me. We had looked at doing it ourselves and looked at getting it done. It was going to be probably $200-300 doing it ourselves and about $1000 to have an "expert" do it.
Near the beginning of summer I had an opportunity that I had to jump on. I came across an already chopped tudor body! It also included glass, 1/2 a wood kit (which I didn't have) and some other nice touches. I was able to get it for $1000 difference and I haven't regretted it for a second!

 

As the great English philosopher Mary Poppins said, "Well begun is half done". Sounds like you are well on your way.

 

The Engine:

As I've been learning more and more about Model A's, I've definitely decided that keeping it a traditional hot rod was how I wanted to go. When I got the first car, I have no idea what a "flatty" even was. But now I thing they're the coolest engine going. So keeping the flatty is a given. Had to fight with my Dad who wanted to use a V6 from a newer Chevy S10 - ya, crazy - I know!

So, after learning a ton again, I got the flatty running! It was definetely an adventure, but was VERY cool, something I'll always remember. We figure we had 1 stuck cylinder, but it ran!!

Enter my Dad again. He came through with a much better option this time! Even though I had the 1st flatty running, he didn't trust it much. He had a buddy from his airport who had a flatty from a 40's Ford truck. The story is that this truck was a farm truck. It was loaded with apple boxes and it drove up and down the orchard carrying apples. It never left the farm and the truck (which my Dad's buddy rebuilt with a new chevy motor) had 20,000 original miles! The guy who had the motor said he didn't need it, and - long story short - he'd trade us straight across for our flatty!



Here it is cleaned up a bit and mocked up in the car, along with a C4 tranny and my adapter from Flat-O-Matic

 

Welding & Rolling:

Without @chopped51 s help, I'd never have made it this far. Endless trips out to see what messes I'd made and to tell me the proper way to do it, led to us being ready to start welding near the end of summer.

With the help of a couple buddies, assembly begins! It helps to have a friend who's a red seal welder. My welding was passable for filling holes, etc. But one wants the suspension welds to be good, and boy are mine pretty too. Over a couple weekends we got all the welds done and she's now rolling!

 

Thanks for the kind words. It's come a long way and it's looking great!

 

She's now sitting on her own wheels, finally!







I'm really happy with the stance. I think it was largely a fluke on my part, but I'll take it. Over a year of having the frame on jack stands and somehow it ended up looking pretty cool.

I'm heading onto building the floors now.




Once I've got the cross braces in, is there a reason why I couldn't/shouldn't rivet the metal flooring down to the cross braces instead of welding it down?


I'm still open to any and all suggestions. It might look like I know what I'm doing, but there's soooo much still to learn. I welcome all feedback and advice you may have.

Thanks

 

Thanks!

 

Looking Good! Good luck with the build!

 

Looking good. Love the stance.