Projects Tommy R Attempts to Build a Hot Rod Model A

Yea, I never was a fan of the piss burnt brown... Washington Blue has always been a favorite though. If I wasn't doing the shiney black thing with the red wheels and the wide whites I might be tempted to do the Washington Blue???

 

Thanks, y'all. The exact shade of blue is still up in the air, but I'm feeling better about the new color selections. It may still be awhile before I repaint the wheels, but trust me....it'll happen. That brown color is definitely not what I was looking for.

 

sweet build!

 

Sweet hibernation is more like it.

 

Yeah, I suck. Maintenance on the dailys has taken priority. Hopefully, it'll wind down soon and I can get back on the A. I may get some time this weekend to play with it a bit, but I took a nasty spill on the bike last night. I think I'll be healed "enough" to work on it by the weekend, though.

 

Hey fellas,

Some friends are coming over this Sunday to help me work on the chassis and some other misc. stuff. Do you have experience building a hot rod chassis? Then I could use your help! Just PM me for details/directions.

Thanks,
Tommy

 

Had a couple buddies come over today and we tinkered on the car....and consumed burgers & beer! I had to pull everything out of the garage just so we could work around the frame table. Fortunately, it's a pretty fast and easy process.


First up, I wanted to put some primer on the inside of the rails and on the inside of the boxing plates. This is to help prevent any rust after the chassis is fully welded. After we sanded them down to knock off any surface rust, we sprayed some weld-thru primer I picked up from Summit. Seemed to work well!

We got the middle and rear boxing plates tack welded into place. They're inset about 3/16". We also got the front cross member tacked in. Shooting for a 107" wheelbase to help fit the SBC without too much hacking of the firewall. I don't want to stretch the wheelbase more than 1" beyond stock. I'm not a fan of a stretched wheelbase on hot rods.




Next up is to weld in the front cross member as much as I can (access is limited), then I'll trim up and fit the front boxing plates and fully weld in all of the boxing plates. After that, I think I'll mock up the rear axle and ladder bars/cross member. Who knows, maybe I'll have a roller one of these days....

I'm just glad to be working on it again.

 

Good to see you back at it!!! Kudo's to all your bud's fer gittin' you off your duff..

 

Thanks, man... It felt good to melt metal again. I'm really getting excited about making this thing a roller! Now, I just need to put together a good gameplan for the next few steps in the process. Once I do, I'll post it here to get feedback so I don't miss anything important.

 

I'm researching cross members. I'm trying to decide between a tubular design like Speedway sells:


Or something like Chassis Engineering's more conventionally styled crossmember (image highjacked from Bib Overalls):
http://www.chassisengineeringinc.com/page44.html


I'm still up in the air about my pedal setup, other than I plan on original style, bottom hinged brake/clutch with the masters under the floor. Here's the deal... I don't have pedals yet, but I want to install the X member. I'm concerned about installing the X member only to find out the pedal assembly is in a bad spot. Should I really just wait 'til I get the pedal assembly and fit the body to the car before deciding where the X member should go or is it easy to adjust pedal positions later on?

 

alot of things come into play at this stage. mine was easy because i used a 40 merc center x which made bolting my pedals and flathead trani super easy. it was just a matter of lining everything up per the engine in relation to the engine bay, and double check the pedals were in correct placement.

i think the old x members and the chassis engineering are the way to go.

 

If you don't want to stretch it more than an inch - using the deuce frame already stretches it 2.5 inches. It's an A, not a deuce.

 

Thanks! Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing (CE cross member)...

I know that. I don't to stretch it more than 1" beyond a Deuce wheelbase. I'm definitely not messing with a Model A wheelbase.

 

lookin good tommy !

 

any progress on this Tommy R?

 

You got the car, parts, equipment, expertise, money, friends, time, why ain'tcha on the road? We're all waiting. I was 67 before I got my first model A, you gonna be? LOL!

 

Thanks, Rocky!

Sadly, no progress in a while. For a couple reasons, not the least of which are the fact that I lost my job and took on projects working on other people's vehicles. Now I've got some work to do on my Jeep so it'll pass inspection and I'll be able to get back on the hot rod. Believe me, it's killing me to not be driving it.

 

Any updates on this thing. I've been stalking a shit ton of model a threads….

 

I haven't worked on it in months, unfortunately. My Jeep and paying projects have been taking all my available time. Not to mention I really screwed up my back recently and I've been on a slow road to recovery....though I'm doing much better these days.

That being said, however, I've made the difficult decision to have someone else do some work for me and I'm going to have a trusted friend (and great fabricator!) put together the rolling chassis for me. I need to finish a customer's Jeep project and once it's done I'll be loading my junk onto my trailer and taking it to the Dallas area for some work. Very excited about it!!

 

Hey tommy,
I'm trying to build a model A roadster! Do you have any extra parts or something you have had sitting on the shelf or floor for awhile?
I'm 17 and my budget is really really tiny. Message me and maybe we
Can work something out!


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I've got a shit ton of parts, but I'm planning on using it all! Sorry, man, but good luck on your project!

 

Well, I could come up with a host of reasons why I haven't done any "real" work on the hot rod in nearly 2 years. I'm a capable fabricator. I feel I have the necessary knowledge (though I know I still have more to learn). I have the tools. Nonetheless, progress has stalled. So....why? Ultimately, if I'm honest with myself, I think I'm afraid I was going to get something wrong. Maybe the chassis wouldn't be square or I'd end up fucking something up and make it look like crap in my attempts to cut/repair whatever it is I screwed up. And this car means too much to me to risk screwing it up somehow.

It was a huge point of pride for me to be able to say I built the whole damned thing. But for better or for worse, good or bad, it's just taking forever and that requirement is now fading. It's almost like I've been working on so many Jeep projects the last couple years as a way to procrastinate working on the Model A. It was just intimidating me, I guess. Pathetic, right? I'm sure some of y'all know what I'm talking about. It's a sick feeling...

Most of y'all know Grits. Gary has built one of the nicest hot rods I've ever seen and has turned it into a business, Past Time Customs. He's a great fabricator, has a fantastic eye, and he's a damned good friend. He's been kinda half ass joking with me about finishing the hot rod for me for years now. Well, the last time he offered, I accepted. I felt like I was swallowing my pride by having someone else work on the car for me, but if anyone is going to do it, I'm glad it's Gary.

The plan? At a minimum, I'm getting a rolling chassis. Beyond that, we're talking about doing stuff like mounting the motor/trans, the steering box, and maybe mounted the body, along with a very slight mini-channel to address the gap that comes from plopping an A body onto Deuce rails. Gary wants me to drive it home. I don't have the budget to make that happen!

Yesterday, Gary came down to Austin and we loaded up ALL of my hot rod parts....even the frame table. It's now halfway to Dallas and in the next few weeks Gary's going to start working on it. I told him I'm in no rush so I wouldn't expect a quick wave of updates. But unlike so many other times when I've said this in the past, updates WILL be coming this time. So please feel free to stay tuned if you're still subscribed to this build thread. No, this project is not dead. It's not forgotten. It's finally about to get a spark of life injected into it. And I'm very excited about it!







For the first time in the 4 years I've owned the A, it's out of my garage. Sure does feel awfully empty in there right now!

 

Déjà vu all over again. My A roadster on a Deuce frame has been sitting for 3 years. Finally took it to a trusted builder close by and told him to get it rolling and steering and suspension all done. Now he is ready to mount motor and tranny and 3rd member. Sometimes life just gets in the way of the best plan A's and plan B ends up working just fine. Finally feel that progress is being made and I actually might be able to drive the thing this year.

 

Thanks, man! Glad to know I'm not alone.

 

So when Gary and I talked about the project, we understood that it wouldn't be a fast process. I know Gary has several other customers and I'm certainly in no rush on my end. I think that's pretty obvious considering how little I've worked on this thing over the last couple years! Nonetheless, Gary is making progess and sends me pics here and there. Thanks, Gary!

Here's the Hurst style motor cradle. The white outer mounts were Gary's suggestion and I like 'em. And if you look on the left you'll see the newly completed split bones stood up next to the tie rod.


And here's a little pic of the chassis coming together. Center cross member tacked. Woo!


I'm trying to not get ahead of myself here. I realize that even after I get the car back from Gary that there will still be TONS of work left to do. But in the back of my mind all I can think of is....."Is there any way I could get this thing running by the Round Up next year?" Don't get me wrong, I know how much work is involved in making that happen. But maybe.....just maybe....it's do-able?

 

Just read your whole thread. Don't feel bad about worrying about screwing it up and leaving it to a pro. I'm about to take possession of my second "A" in a year. I sold the first one because I was a little overwhelmed and not sure about a project of this magnitude. So I bought something else altogether and while working on it I just came to the realization that I'm a into Hot Rods and so be it. Then somehow I came across a killer Tudor(at least to me), bought it and waiting to take possession. I'll post pics as soon as I get it.

All I know is that I have a lot to learn and most likely have to buy a chassis and pay for some metal work on the first build.. Hopefully a second build will be in the cards and I can build most of it. It's a long process, but none the less a great hobby! So I'm glad to see your sticking to it. Certainly happy I couldn't get the first "A" out of my head.
Dean

 

The chassis is coming along!!

 

Got some more updates from Gary!






UH OH!!!

 

Motor mounts are in!

 

Don't care who's doing it, its still badass. Good on you for pulling the trigger.

Keep the shots coming.