Projects 1931 Ford Tudor vintage hotrod rebuild

So last week I changed gears, my drive for having something real vintage and cool came to light, After alot of soul searching, life searching, and some browsing on the internet I found a car that made me serious and made me pop this thing called life into 3rd gear flat footed. On this last friday I went to look at it and put money down on it, sold my 1953 bel air that I resurrected from the dead that night. Picked this bit of history up saturday. So here we are.




And here is what makes it cool, its swapped with a 8ba already, all the work is old looks like it was done with a stick welder for sure. Not bad work, but still functional and looks like it will hold fine.



Motor from all I can figure out is a 239 flatty. Guy said it was a 1951... and toploader 3 speed.
Last driven in 2015 so should run again,
So here is the game plan as of right now.
Pulling the fenders off to make room to work on things easier, they will probably stay off.
Lapping valves as one cylinder was lower on compression, might as well do em all for good measure.
Re assemble and new gaskets etc.
Fire it up and check for leaks etc, Health check, etc, then....
Fix all the mechanical brakes for now,
Find some seats
And give her a good test drive.
This will be my first flathead experience but should be rewarding none the less. Saving another old hotrod...

 

You might want to consider cleaning the oil pump pick up screen. Hate to see the engine fire but not get oil pressure due to a clogged pick up. If the 8ba has a truck pan with the large clean out cover its an easy job. If not you'll have to drop the pan. JMO

 

So lapped all the valves for good measure since I am waiting on head gaskets... fat fingers in that lifter galley sucks.... But some progress, pulled the fenders off to make work easier, kinda digging the new look...... Hmmmm.




Mating surfaces cleaned up ready for heads, and new posies super slide spring installed, lowered this thing alot just by a spring...sourced some backing plates locally and few other small pieces for the front brakes. Ordered some new pieces for the brakes as some of this stuff was worn out, but shoes look stellar.




How about some crusty headers?

 

Model A's are cool.. Looks like a great project....

 

Good luck, just got my 30 disassembled and getting ready start putting back together

 

Cool car, cool plan!
You mentioned going fenderless, but here's some food for thought: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=6937

 

Looking good so far

 

Thanks bud... Yeah that post hits the nail on the head for sure. I have the fenders on the side of the house, I may trade them for a nice paint job on this, I may keep them and skimp on the paint, NOTHING stupid, just some nice single stage enamel if I trade as I have someone wanting them already and is a decent painter.

I think alot of people go overboard these days, too many people comparing their stuff to "whoever's" and trying to outdo. I think the simplistic nature of hotrodding is a beautiful thing, I first thought on the way back with this sedan, oh some offy heads and 2 -2 intake would be boss on here.... Then I got to thinking about how I can try the stuff I am working with out already and go from there. SIMPLE. I can always add that crap later, Hence why I just dropped some money on rebuilding the mech brakes etc... My vision end of the day, Detailed and nice done chassis, brake rods painted nice, chassis painted nice etc, but driver and a good driver at that.

As much as I like the vintage fab work done, I think I am going to change the motor mounts out to a better way, and probably box parts of the frame just for safety aspect.

 

Here's my 31A from Australia! Fenders rule!

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Well its been a busy week, Moved the car to a buddies shop to knock out the separation of body etc easier. FIgrued we would knock out the fab work there also. First daylight in 2 weeks...




so located some F1 boxes, Made a flange out of 3/8 plate,
first buffed down the stock mounts.


The old model A box was moved out for the v8 fitment, just real bad welds and not clean.



So here is the repair installed.


And now box installed... Have some buffing and filling to do in a few spots from the old welds pits. But all in all looks like the f1 box works well in here for sure.

 

Sell the fenders to buy juice brakes not paint

 

looks to be fun...
years ago brother and I rented a house from an old timer [dan]...
he called the fenders "mud guards"... as in where the hell are the mud guards ?

 

Ive driven a few car on mechanical brakes and they drove great, just takes some tinkering to get them right but here in the flat area of Houston there isnt much hills etc. Ill drive it for a while on mech and then upgrade to juice when I get all the parts.

 

Got to love ole timers. Here in texas we dont need them for legality so Not running them.

 

So yesterday things went quick....

This is about hour 5 of the day, Ill have more pics tomorrow of the rest of that days thrash session... 10 hr day alot done.

Motor mounts, the stuff that was there was sketchy to say the best. I put in some new motor mounts and they are welded in, and made things look better and should perform better.



Then let separation begin...





Tires all here now, just

 

Almost forgot... On the way home I named this car after my Grandfather.... The Alvin Special. He would have loved this as he was a wrench all of his life after serving in WW2.

 

And that right there is the most important thing you will do to her.
"The Alvin Special"
Love it. And what a great tribute to your Grandfather.
Go man go.

 

Sorry for the lack of update pictures, were working more than shooting pics. The body work should be done this week and in primer. Here is the latest chassis photos...and Wet sanded the grill shell and shot a little trim black to make it clean again.

 

Updates, got patch panels and firewall notch just about done, body work starts today.

Sneak peek of the firewall



Carb fresh rebuilt and painted up etc....

 

Looking good


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I am a little biased but I vote to lose the fenders

 

So after a week of slave labor.... Lost 4 lbs sweating in the 90 degree weather but here is where we are right now.

Working on buttoning up the chassis right now... Motor is burgandy but in my shop the lights make it look red... uggg... But you get the idea...

So here was a week of body working, come together and done.



Backyard painting just like it was done back when...

Here is the finished product, letting the enamel sit and cure before wet sanding and buffing.



Its been alot of work to this point, the last week tried my patience and sanity for wanting a shiny car but we have it going in the right direction I think.

 

Wow, great progress !

 

Thanks Kad, alot of work and going super fast.

 

what is the bottom color you shot on the body? Looks close to mine

 

Massey Furguson grey.

 

Latest pic from last night. Got the body and chassis mated back together, door alignments are better than they were from the factory . Back to my 2 car garage to finish up.

 

Wow! Looks great.

 

Dang! You'll have this thing done by lunch time! Looks fantastic.