Hot Rods My 1930 Model A Sedan

I'm a little over a week away from picking up my Model A. The previous owner purchased it around 1974 and restored it in his garage. He parked it in the garage on jack stands in 1976, where it's been sitting ever since. He started to try and get it running again, but ended up getting sick and got put in a nursing home. I was his until he passed away. His family contacted me to purchase the car because they knew that I would get it running and back on the road again.

My plan is to run it with the fenders. Lower the car. Swap in the 8BA flathead from my Customline project, and do a mild chop.

 

This is the how the A looked when he brought it home in 1974

I apologize for the quality. These are pictures of pictures.

 

I was told by his wife that these were taken in December 1976 in Pampa, Texas.

 

And this is how it sits currently. There's about 18 inches on the drivers side of the car to walk and about 6 inches on the other three sides. So, taking pictures wasn't the easiest task the last time I was there.

 

The flatty idea sounds good. Maybe some juice brakes too. I'd leave the body alone for a while. Drive it and see what else you may want to change. Tim

 

What Tim said.

 

^^^^^Agreed

 

Or...leave it as is, maybe put a downdraft carb, petronix and a Mitchell overdrive and cruise at highway speeds. I'm working on one like that.

 

It will be left as is for a while. I want to get this running again just as he had it. Any tips on getting it started again? The only thing he could remember when I first met him was that he was changing out the radiator. But, I know the gauges are sitting on the passenger side floor. So I know I'm going to have to do some work figuring out where he left off.

I've also read mixed opinions about the quality of juiced brakes on the A. Is this just people preferring to keep the stock drums or are there other cautions I should watch for with either setup?

Thanks for the help.

Stephen

 

Waiting with bated breath.

 

Drive it as is ( after a safety check on everything). You may find putting around at 40 mph is kinda fun . I rebuilt my roadster and upgraded the mechanical brakes with a floater system, and put in a warmed over banger with oversized pistons , a touring cam, and a split exit header. It's a blast.

If you don't like it, change everything to your liking .

 

The nice thing about a hot rod is that it can change whenever desire and money find themselves in agreement. A rod is not required to be static. Some get built and rebuilt and never change owners for decades. Times change and so does our idea of what the perfect ride is.

 

Spent the weekend on the road to get the A out of the garage where it's been since 1976, then hauling it back to Dallas. Even with the work, it was a blast. Very emotional for the wife and other family members that were present to see and help get the Model A on it's way to being drive-able again. Now to sort through the boxes of old and new parts to see what I have and what I still need to get it running again. My wife and daughters were taking the pictures.

 

All out in the sun now. Had to try on the motometer that was stashed in a vacuum sealed bag on top of the kitchen cabinets. And of course my girls had to try and take over the car.

 

All loaded up with some of the extra parts. I washed off the 40 years of dirt. And as always when you wash a car, it rains the next night. Well, it rained and snowed over night, but the roads were clear so we made it home safe. Now the fun begins.

 

So after working for a couple of days it's alive. Now I just have to fix some of the electrical wiring for the lights and clean out the gas tank.

I'll see if I can get a video to upload when I get back on my computer.

 

Looking good!

 

So here's the video of the first startup. I apologize for the quality, I just had my phone balanced on the dash since I was by myself.

 

Here's after the second startup. I had to keep the RPM's up so it wouldn't die while I got out to get a better video.