Projects What to look for when buying a Model A Roadster

As far as reselling parts, those welled front fenders are going to be hard to sell. 30 years ago they woulda brought big bucks, but now nobody wants them. I literally sold one for $10 at the last swap meet just to get rid of it. They don't stack with standard fenders and aren't worth the effort to convert.

 

That looks like

One of the guys in the car club I was in had a '32 roadster that was channeled. It was one of the best looking cars I had ever seen. He was making a beer run from a car club picnic and asked if I wanted to go with him. One 5 mile drive was enough. Probably the most uncomfortable car I had ever ridden in. No way would I want to own it after a 5 mile drive. I an 5' 8" by the way.

My AVATAR started as a restored car similar to what you are looking at. It now has a 181 cubic inch Mercruiser Marine engine and I am very happy with it. Could stand to be lowered a little and bent spoke Kelsey wheels with big and little tires.

Final thought, that car would look better on deuce rails. We are getting to a point that not much of the original car is going to be used.

Charlie Stephens

 

'30-'31 roadster doors are 24", front to back,
many a well fed guy has opted for a coupester, 27.5" doors...
recently did a roadsterly truck cab, used truck doors,29.25"

 

so your going to build a car just like this one only totally different

 

Mine came in a box. Not original but no rust either.



Thanks,

--louis

 

Charlie....if you can - what year of issue do you think that one is ? Looks like a low #.......

 

I would be interested in the interior if you purchase that roadster and decide not to use it.

 

Good luck....good advice from those that know. In my search I either found the car but had no money to buy when looking for a roadster to build since the 80's. Ran across the Cabriolet complete at a good price so that's where I'm at with a runner I'm not moving to fast on.

 

Nice looking Cabriolet, 'Runners!
1955, My first one was a '30 Cabriolet, I channeled it over '32 rails. Its cockpit length was not quite as forgiving as I had anticipated; I was 5'10 then, 2 years later I grew to 6 feet. Sat on 2" of foam under the tuck and roll, but still looked over the stock windshield. Really should have left the body atop those beautiful '32 rails!

I outgrew my Cabriolet, but bought a friend's '32 Five window coupe. More room, and still a hot rod after I sold the fenders...

 

(the late) Art Branum "sitting" in our channeled 5wd Coupe
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Sorry for the confusion, I blurred out 3 digits between the 19 and the CA. The tag was from about 1971.

Charlie Stephens

 

That looks like a 70s resto. The dry heat that helps preserve sheet metal plays havoc on upholstery. If its dry (and vinyl does dry), its only good for patterns.

 

Good luck today!!!

 

Good luck Joe. I'm hoping it's everything you WISH it to be and still can get the owner to drop his price some. Best of both worlds. Hah!
Andy

 

It's Saturday after 8:30 west coast time. Any updates or are you still unloading the trailer?

 

By all means, take a magnet with you and carefully check all around the body from the reveal on the very bottom to the beltline. A weak magnet is perfect since it will tend to fall when in contact with heavy "mud". You should be able to find a rodder in CA who will accompany you and is familiar with old bodies and what to look for. Good luck in your endeavor.

 

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There he is!

 

Mud will be mud... on a project car unless it's in horendous condition there are plenty of replacement panels to make it right if you have the time, skills, desire and funds .Not saying you shouldn't look for unmolested car but "Cherry" metal on a 90 year old cars are virtual musuem pieces and are priced accordingly. My 30 roadster came out of dry Texas and looked relatively rust free, that is until I blasted it. I was looking for a project so no big deal for me. Sold off excess parts to offset costs. That's how this game is played I guess.

 

Whenever buying a Model A, be sure to check under the hood to be sure someone didn't sneak a SBC in there.

 

So excited to see you on the hunt for a project car. I know whatever you build is going to be amazing. If we were closer together I'd be happy to help you out in any way possible. I too was looking for a complete car for the longest time to have basically a little bit of everything. I couldn't find anything that I was really happy with, so as you most likely know from my coupe I started from the ground-up. I bought a 32 chassis from SoCal off a fellow hamb member locally, started buying all of the suspension and brakes, wheels and tires, and before you knew it I had a completely rolling chassis with no body haha. I couldn't come close to affording a 32 body in any shape or form, so I once again started looking at Model A's. Roadster / Coupes / Pickups I didn't care. All I knew was that it was going to be on a brand new rolling 32 chassis. After a few months of looking around on craigslist, eBay, and the hamb, I came across a 33 pickup cab locally and it ended up being one of my dads local friends who frequently buys and sells all things hot-rod related. I went to check out the 33 cab and it needed WAY more metal work than I was comfortable taking on. Sitting right next to the cab was a 30 coupe body on a wooden pallet under a blue tarp. I asked what the story was with that, and he said he had just purchased it from the Ford Barn and it was the nicest coupe body he had ever found. AKA it wasn't for sale as was to be a project for him. He let me look at it anyway, and god damn it was rock solid. No mud. No rot. Still had the original glass in it. Original bench seat and dash was still in it. Doors shut perfectly even though it was sitting on a piece of wood. Needed a decklid and some wheel wells (I had to remove those anyway to put it on a 32 chassis), but it came with the original NJ title. After about a month of working on him he finally sold it to me for a few hundred bucks over what he paid for it and REALLY hooked me up. The rest is completely documented on my build thread, but what I would suggest is don't be afraid to do what I did. Possibly start from the ground-up and build the nicest, simplest, cleanest chassis you can, and find a body later on. You can stick multiple bodies on an A frame, or a 32 frame. Building my car that way really helped me learn the in's-and-out's of building a nice chassis and understanding how everything works that you don't see. It allowed me to take my time and focus on a little bit at a time instead of having a complete car sitting in front of me that needed all different things done to it. With Model A's the possibilities are endless.

 

Quick easy answer is to call BROOKVILLE and buy a body and frame from them, you'll save a ton of money starting with good stuff. Bob

 

Hot rods are like boats, the only difference between a 6,000 dollar boat and a 600 dollar boat is that the 6,000 dollar boat hasn't broken yet.
Better to find an abandoned project than a nice running original IMO.

 

I’m thinking of selling mine. I can message you with information.

 

For future reference of other Model A Searchers, how about posting the price he was asking?

 

I'll never understand how some people can't sand mud and decide to paint stuff that looks like this. Sure isn't rocket science.

Bob

 

I am 6’2 and I have a channeled A roadster. It’s not bad.

 

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/cto/d/scotts-valley-1930-model/7143203681.html