Show me your Model A's.....with info

For those of you on the HAMB who do not know about our new acquired project; we purchased a very solid, completely original 1930 Model A Coupe. It is unrestored, all original interior, 4banger, mechanical brakes, very old paint, runs and drives, yadda yadda yadda. It's a very solid car. Our plans are to hot rod it but we don't really know what we want or where we want to go with the build. Right now; it's just putzing around town as-is but I can tell you that's going to get old really quick

I have been browsing the '30-'31 Model A Thread and have a few cars in that thread that have provided good inspiration. The search tool here on the HAMB isn't the most reliable and i find myself spending endless amounts of time finding threads from waaaayyyy back that will actually give us any ideas...since the search tool pulls up everything recent first.

I can tell you that we plan on running a 425 Nailhead in the coupe with an SP400 trans. We already have the engine/trans so that part is all set. Dont know if we want to run fenders or not. Leaning towards no fenders but then photos of a badass fendered car show up; and we're torn again . I know we want to chop the car, no more than 4 inches.....probably 3 1/2 to keep us comfy. This car will likely be our last build and itll be with us for many years to come...so we want to do it right and have it really reflect what we want out of the coupe.

We're not sure if we want the overall look from the outside to look "pre-war" era with the original frame/regular stance or if we want to go more 1950's traditional rod with a '32 frame and an altered stance (front down low; rear up high), etc. We've seen so many different cars its really hard to pick a direction.

We've been saving magazine articles with cars that have provided some inspiration to us but I'm now asking HAMBers to provide photos of your cars. I also ask you to please include some info on what you've done so we have an idea of what we could run in the car, how to build the frame, interiors, different chops, etc. Whatever you feel like including...PLEASE SHARE!

I thank you very much in advance for inspiring us to build a badass car.

 

i dont think pre war will work with a 60s buick motor...stay with a early 60s theme ...my 2 cents...

 

well i know that but the "exterior" look of the car to be pre-war...spoke wheels, old ratty paint, etc. The car would be hooded if we went with the nailhead/pre-war era look so you'd never see whats under there...

 

Here's what I came up with. It's a 30 that had been sitting since 1967. There isn't much left of the original car. Parts of the body but that's about it. It sits on a new 32 frame, 32 gas tank, 32 dash, 40 steering wheel. 1958 283 w/ a caddy air cleaner. The body was chopped 2". When the car was found, there wasn't much rust so we saved some time and effort there. It took 14 months to build the car. I still have to calibrate the speedo and get it inspected but it's otherwise complete. Should you have any questions, feel free to PM me!! Hope this info helps!

 

thank you!

 

bump for the evening crowd

 

I say do whatever you like, but the pre war look won't make sense in my personal opinion with the motor choice. Why not go 60's full fender show rod? I live seeing full fendered A's, part of me wishes I had kept them on mine. It all depends on what you guys want, but that's my opinion.

For reference, here's a pic of my coupe, which is my take on what I think is a 40's hot rod. Not pictured in the first pic are the splash aprons, which are being painted and will go back on. My car runs a full hood and will stay banger powered.

 

heres a traditional i am doing; no chop, fenderless, 59A flattie; 16" wire wheels; 4" drop front axle, 4" rear frame kick.
Sorry, no outside shots and kinda close in the shop but i think you can see what it'll finish off like.

 

That 425 with a switch pitch is a torque monster and a great engine for a hot rod.
You'd better have everything built to support and handle the torque. That's some of the difference in the looks. Hotrodders adapt and change things to overcome the obstacles they have created. Most of the time what works gets repeated.

Pre-war look ie. 1941 and earlier isn't going to work with a 60's Buick motor hood or not.

Flathead for your pre-war, nailhead = a 60's style build. At the very earliest, a 50s built that got re vamped when someone re fit a 60s motor in.

Can you find an example or post a pic or two of your faves from the various eras?

 

xlr8er,--what tire brand and size do you have on that fine little coupe of yours.

 

Here are two of mone, both are running banger motors, the roadster engine has more go fast goodies than the coupe. I have a 59A and 39 trans waiting for the roadster probably then all the speed goodies will go on the coupe. If you are running a nailhead, than for sure go with a 60's vibe on your A.

 

Here's my 30. It's got a 6 inch hair cut, 3.5" channel, Boling Brothers Frame 2" kick up in the front, 8" z in the rear, 350/350, Edelbrock 3 deuce intake with three 97's, Edelbrock valve covers, 37 dash, Honest Charley's 3 gauge pod filled with Stewart Warners, Limeworks column with a 40 Ford wheel. I got a set of lake pipes from Matt over at Gear Drive, Buick finned drums, a radiator from Brassworks (staying with the 30/31 shell), a local upholstery shop is building my seat.

 

Here is one I picked up last year.

 

I used a Riley model A frame with 4" kick in the front and 8" kick in the rear. A 1957 265 Chevy with a Muncie four speed bolted to a Ford 8". Wheels are 16" Ford Steelies. Just like the east coast look unchopped and channeled.

 

Mine's a 28. Chopped 3 inches. A frame kicked 5 inches in the rear with coil overs, 4 inch drop axle with a mono leaf spring in front.

 

Be different, KEEP the fenders.
xadamx's car, IMO, Model A perfection;

 

HotRodDaddyO, that is perfection.

 

xadamx's car is the best with fenders by far! What a beauty.

 

Didn't he end up chopping that car?

 

My take on a nailhead powered 30 coupe. The 425 can be changed to look like a early 50s Buick with early valve covers and plug wire covers and a PCV installed in the valley pan. Fits under the hood and clears the hood -- just. Had to offset the motor 1/2" to the passenger side to clear the steering using a Saginaw 525 box.



The firewall took a bit of a hit as well, those nailheads are long -



Canuck

 

My '28. Chopped highboy on model A frame.

 

^^^ YES! That is what i'm talking about!. Thanks for all your help, suggestions, tips, and insight. the more...the merrier. I'm going to go on a hunt and find some photos of cars that have inspired us thus far. I can tell you that this going to likely be our last build and the car that sticks with us for many, many years to come. We want it to be done right; and we want it to make people talk. We dont have deep pockets so i suspect the build takes us awhile while we acquire parts as we go.

We just want to build something that is going to hold up to the 425 Nailhead.

Thanks again for all the posts...keep 'em coming!

 

The only gripe we have about keeping the fenders on the car is that a lot of the "A's" around here run the full fenders and you'd like be hard pressed to find a truly traditional rod. There are a few that i've seen but most of them are glass.

 

Okay; so bear with me. I have a lot of "inspirational" photos to share with you. These are the type of A's we love. I found a really great online article referring to putting a nailhead in an A-frame so if we decided to go that route...it's do-able. The majority of these photos are of A's on '32 frames. Its quite hard to find them here on the HAMB without being on a '32 frame!

 

The fenderless A highboy on an A frame is a classic and timeless hotrod. They are usually 15" or so (some more) off the ground to the bottom of the body, hence the "high boy" nickname. That's actually higher than most late model stock 2wd trucks and some 4x4 trucks. With fenders and aprons, that distance between the ground and body is reduced visually by 9", the height of the aprons. that's a huge visual impact on a car that's roughly 40ish inches tall. Just eyeball the lowest part of the car thru the center of the tires. An A highboy, that would be the bottom body bead, A on a 32 would be the frame reveal, A with fenders would be the running boards. some A hotrods just run the aprons and that looks really nice if you finish off the ends with a custom touch. Those fenders also add plenty in visual width to the narrow body. They square the foot print up, vs the wedge without fenders.

Channel it the thickness of the frame lowers that 4" but takes 4" out of the passenger compartment. Run without fenders on a 32 frame and the frame takes up 6" in the visual from ground to body. There's no need for a 32 frame ( ie the reveal, the curve to body contour, the swoopy curves) if you are going to run fenders.

There's lots off other things that can be done, such as a traditional Zed frame to bring the rear down and settle it nicely between the tires and center the tires in the arches. That will usually bring it down about 4" or so. There's plenty out there that are Zed more and MUCH MORE than that, not for me personally but if you like that its very doable. Very few take the time and effort to raise the rear wheel arches and then settle the car to those new arches. Imo, that looks the best but its plenty of work that requires even more skill.

Hope that helps in figuring out why you like what it is that you like

 

FG are you going to narrow down your list?? Those are all great cars some close to eachother and others not so close. I would do as you stated before write down the must haves and wants then narrow the list down and you will most likely have a good start on the cost and actuality of what you can build yourself and what you may need help with or to send out JMO Goodluck cant wait to see what you decide.

 

I went for the early 60's look with a frame deep channel...5" stretch on an original A frame...Cheby and a four speed! Oh ya and cycle fenders!