Projects Drdave accidentally buys a Model A. Now what?

DRDAVE, great looking car. If you flip it, flip it my way!

 

Lot of potential in your car. I agree, keep the mods simple and lower cost. Enjoy the car and don't turn it into a major project.

 

I use the 4 cyl hubcaps on my avatar. With my 35 wire rims, I use steel belted radials that are 1" wider tread than the A tires. 195/80-16 These were used on the 2003 Toyota RAV4 Electric Vehicle. You can see that I carry an original spare because it fits the wheel well and it will get me home. Its all black to kind of make it invisible. I could have powder coated it green when I did the 16s

 

1 97 Carb and a glass pack will make it perform much better with no heavy expense, carb manifold or adapter. Add a windfield head and cam and you'll be scooting real good.

 

Lots of doors and wood

 

I have a straight pipe on my avatar. No muffler. Its not any louder than a stocker with muffler

 

Well, good news and bad news. Good news is I have gotten to the bottom of my parking brake not working....the parts were installed backwards in the drum so the band loosened when the parking lever was pulled instead of expanded. Everything inside the drums looks brand new. I doubt there are very many miles on the car since it was restored however many years ago, which is a win for me and sure easy to work on without having to mess with rusted fasteners.

Bad news is that out of the 8 '35 wires I picked up at the swap meet, only 3 of them resemble roundness. LOL Just my luck....couldn't have been 5 round and three wobbly. Oh well, I got them super cheap and surely I can come up with another round one without too much trouble.

 

One thing nobody mentions is: When you use hydraulic brakes there is a small (HA HA) job of installing a master cylinder & brake lines along with the baking plates & wheel cylinders. Not to mention the cost. No special brake fluid(dot 5) to worry about mixing.
Your mechanicals will never leak or need bled. The there are no rubber hoses to replace & mechanicals can set forever without gumming or freezing up. You will not be doing 60-70 or 80 mph so no need to worry about a panic stop as long as you pay attention to your job as a driver.
I still use mechanical brakes & 6 volts on my 34 roadster without problems . Oh it aslso happens to have a warmed over 59AB in it.

 

Hell Dave, put the bent one on the right rear! You'll never notice it while you are driving or when you're parked...

 

LOL, that's funny Jim!!

 

I assume you checked into having them straightened. Ask around the local Model A and Early V8 guys and see if there is someone in your area that will do the work. What tolerance are you using for out of round and runout?

Charlie Stephens

 

Well, that's my thinking at the moment...especially once I saw the near new condition of all the brake stuff. For just putting around town (on mostly side streets), I think the mechanical brakes should be fine for now. Get the stance adjusted, some fresh tires and an interior kit and I think I might be ok for a while. If this ends up turning into a keeper, maybe start collecting parts for a flathead swap and jump to juice brakes if and when I get into that project. Of course, I may wake up tomorrow and just as likely have the whole thing blown apart. I'm good at that. :/

 

The ones that are out are 1/2 to one inch bent to the side or 1/2 + out of round. I guess I could ask around, I figured I'm into the wheels for about $10 each and it would cost more to straighten some than just find rounder ones. LOL I can call a couple local guys and see if they have any suggestions for local fixin'

 

The ones that you do not use make good (water/air)hose hangers or even yard art.

 

Well Dave, got any updates? Post some pictures...

 

Well, mostly I’ve been working on tiling a backsplash in the kitchen, so not much car time lately. But, I’ve been sneaking in 10 minutes here and there over the last few weeks and I have successfully disassembled the parking brakes and reinstalled them correctly (did I say I discovered they were put in on the wrong sides and upside down?). Finished that up the other day, so it’s finally ready to start driving....hoping to drive it to work on Tuesday.

In the mean time, I’ve been researching lowering it. I’ve read a few threads here and on the Ford Barn and have made my parts list. I’ve been able to locate a good set of ‘32 spindles and will be ordering a new set of 32 perches. Gathering up a dropped axle and the other misc assorted parts and maybe this fall I’ll be able to do the drop.


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I hate it when the "honey do's" get in the way of the important stuff!

 

Nice car, fold down center arm rest in the back and all. Bob

 

I hear ya Jim....I’m just glad I was able to chip away at the car a little at a time and get that little project done.

Thanks Bob! I really like the car and am looking forward to putting some miles on it. Need to start keeping my eyes out for a good deal on and interior kit....that will go a long way towards sprucing it up.


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Interior kit? Someone has one listed, here, Ford Barn or AACA

 

Well, phoey, I can't find the ad. I found a pair of sedan front seats on AACA, but haven't found a complete interior set in any of those classifieds. If you stumble back across it, can you let me know? Thanks!!

 

Little things mean a lot...How about a dropped headlight bar? This one's a honey!

 

Absolutely ‘Mo!! Haven’t decided if I will just buy an aftermarket one and be done or drop the one that case on the car all old school like. [emoji16]


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Cool car Dr Dave . Great score.

 

Rather than sandblasting,
What about soaking the wheels in molasses, to remove rust, would that work ?
Or would it affect the wires in some manner, as they are a different grade of steel? (High tensile). I can’t imagine it would.
Others will comment.

 

I'm sure molasses would be great. I'm just impatient and rather than mess with all that I'd be just as happy to pay someone to blast them, coat them and hand them back a few days later ready to mount. LOL

Successfully accomplished stage one....drove the car to work today. Made it all the way there with only a headlight ring falling off. LOL Guess the spring that clamps it on has had all the fun it can take. Easy fix it appears. Also seems I have a sticky throttle that doesn't return all the way when I let off to shift so it was revving a bit high in between gears. Should also be an easy fix. Now, hopefully, it will make the drive back home just as well. Haha

 

Congrats Dave! I'm sure it'll make it back, I've got faith in ya both.

 

Well, it wasn't making it to California during the Great Depression, but I did make it back home. LOL Got home and got it put away seconds before the rain started. LOL The stress of the first trip is over, now to rack up more.

 

More of my Model A appearance over performance kit has arrived. A friend of mine happened to have 2 ‘35 wires laying around he was willing to sell. Hopefully that puts me to 4 round ones to use out of the 10 I now have on hand. Lol. Picked up a new set of 32 spring perches from Bob Drake, landed a set of nice ‘32 spindles and a friend got me a 4 inch stretch dropped axle. Another cool piece arrived today...found an old school dropped Henry A headlight bar. Looks like it even was pulled forward a little when it was dropped and might would clear a ‘32 grille shell. Hmmmm..... lol



Now that the big pieces are here, I’ll start figuring out all the small pieces and hardware I need to gather, get the wheels blasted and coated and clean/paint everything so maybe I can have the whole pile on hand and do the whole shooting match in short order this fall.

 

I headed over to the Photoshop thread and laid out my ideas and my struggle back and forth about white walls vs black walls. Black walls obviously fit the hot rod look, but just couldn't visualize in my mind if white walls kept to the "classy sedan" look and would be a better fit/look. Oh, and I asked them to plop a 32 grille on there just for fun.....



I think it'll end up a bit lower than the photoshops, but I think black walls are gonna be the way to go. Might have to find me a 32 grille, too.