I found a guy who is willing to sell me a 30-31 frame, the front suspension, a couple of rear ends and a steering column for about $150... Good deal? I have never bought model a stuff, but it might be the start of a good hot rod...
yes , a good Model A frame is worth that alone,the rest is a bonus. you probably won't use the A rear end or steering column but you can resell them to a restorer and get some of your money back
I thought the model a rear was banjo styled... Forgive my ignorance on this... I think I can get him to throw in some rims as well... He restores model As from what I can tell
The guy will be in Denver til 5...I told him to call me at his convenience ...so I'll be out there tonight or Sunday....looks like the 51 gets to play shop truck tonight
Good deal... but if he restores model A's why is he giving such a good deal to you? Just curious. For reference I bought one A bare frame with good rails and decent front and rear crossmembers, bad middle one for $40. I bought a second one with front suspension (with boogered spindles and hydraulic brake conversion), rear banjo with mechanical brakes, front and rear springs and bones, good crossmembers and bad rails for $200. So all for $150 is a good deal in my eyes.
He told me he has accumulated a great deal of extra parts over the years, he sounds like an old timer tryin to get rid of extra parts
I'm glad I have you guys as a reference point... I've been obsessed with building a roadster with a flathead...Ideally a caddy money is tight, so I scour for good deals..
If you want to go to a caddy flathead you will need a stronger frame. Might be better to build buy an aftermarket frame or make your own instead of starting with the Model A frame and boxing it. Price sounds good but without seeing it there is the possibility that it is all just scrap metal. Any Pictures? Charlie Stephens
Who does not need more car parts? I have been wanting to piece together a respectable hot rod for a while now. I figure this is a good start...If I don't need certain stuff, I can put it up for sale.. As soon as I go see the stuff I will take photos..
Photos to come... I walked away with a really straight clean frame... 30-31 one complete rear end brake drum to brake drum another rear for parts... missing a few things but not too bad one front axle drum to drum...including the wishbones.. and leaf springs, front and rear... The best part is this guy is AWESOME... HE has a collection of old cars and tools... He even had a model t coil tester... But the coolest part was he showed me his technique for pouring babbit bearings for model a engines... He used an old model a block for pouring babbits, along with this really sick set up, he can adjust and machine the bearings in the block using a lathe and a micrometer...Then to finish it off he made a custom piece to guide his drill bit through the punching of the oil passage...It was worth the drive just to see his stuff and talk to him... And I did get lots of odd looks from people as I drove the 51 home full of model a parts...
So can you swap certain parts in and out? I am new to 30's cars.. Be prepared for lots of possibly dumb questions... But I give you my word, I never forget what I read or learn..
On that banjo rear you can swap backing plates and internals up to a certain year.Converting it from manual brakes to hydraulics. Ford never changed much I forget what year the cutoff is.
I know I have mechanicals on the front and rear... overall this stuff is in really good shape...for $150 I think I made out like a bandit..I have a vision of a nice clean roadster...I'm inspired by the hamb members who drove theirs across country.. Vintage reliability is what I am after. I have been saving photos of the roadsters on here that I really like. getting ideas..
1951 Chevy 3100... My daily driver and parts hauler... It's fulla dents but that's what makes it so great... I can haul parts with it
$150 is a good deal for all that stuff, seperate there's about twice that, maybe a little more, there. As clean as that frame looks it might even satisfy the guy I showed my formerly spare A frame to a while back, who wanted one you could eat off from.
I will say it's the cleanest non restored frame I have ever seen, no pitting, no real rust...the guy I got it from even showed me the common cancer areas like where the front motor mount goes...it's clean Now I need to start savin up for a roadster body..
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