Finally decided to pull the trigger on a Banger project - after lurking for a long time and casually looking for an older traditional A that would be a good candidate for conversion to a 30's / 40's era highboy roadster, I found the right one a couple months back and have been diving into stripping it down and getting it back running. Will be posting progress - all advice (and encouragement) welcome!
And after stripping it down a bit - left side aprons and rear bumper in for now - will tackle those later
Cleaned and rebuilt the Zenith - was leaking when it went back on from not fully tightening down one of the jets - leak free after tearing it down again…am planning to run a single downdraft but am focused for now on getting the car running after it has been sitting for an unknown period of time
Distributor was in good shape - modern points - set points, ran the shaft through the wire wheel and wire brushed the plug contacts and it cleaned up nicely
Neat! Boy are you going to piss off any restorer types who see this. I love it! Keep the pictures coming
Hopefully it will be a lot better when I am through with it! The radiator badge will definitely need to go back on at the end of the build
If you're going to keep the banger and run it the best thing for performance gains is to get rid of the stock 3spd and convert to modern 4 spd or any overdrive conversion.
Man, you started with a Jewl.... If you want easy performance, single downdraft intake with a different carb like 97 Stromberg or Holley 94 is where it is at for easy bolt on performance. Keep up the good work and welcome to the prewar fun zone.
That baffle will pop out of the pan, exposing the underside. Might find some sludge down below. Looks like a pretty solid car, good luck.
Take care to insulate those terminals on the AMP gauge, when you reinstall the panel. They have been known to short out against the gas tank.
Thanks Nobey - I took the baffle out (was a bit of a bear to get out) and cleaned the bottom of the pan - just did not take pics. Appreciate the advice on the ammeter - I have the plastic nubs that thread on above the terminals just did not have them installed when I took the pic - assume those were there to prevent any accidental grounding to the tank?
Bit of progress today - got the water pump torn down and the housing painted. Also installed a modern bendix for the starter.
This thing is cool, definitely following along! You mentioned the single downdraft intake, but any plans for header/exhaust? I’m currently in the same boat you are, just making the banger reliable enough to cruise around town before really getting into it.
Great project, @reffiesj! Looks like you started with a really solid car. I took the exact same route when I was setting mine up: get it running with the updraft, then update to single downdraft, header etc. I highly recommend a Stromberg 81. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
Cool project! Lot's of era hot rods had ythe side aprons left on as evidenced in old pictures. I think because they are a lot of extra work to remove and don't create a lot of drag like the front fenders. I'd like mine to have aprons, but it's your car so do it your way. I second removing the oil pan dipper tray. Mine had tons of sludge underneath.
ModelAMitch - I picked up an old set of Red's headers from Ebay that I am planning to try out with a short header collector extension - will work on alternatives if that proves too loud. J Ukrop - following your build was one of the inspirations that finally convinced me to pull the trigger on this project - love the build and your thread. Would be interested in hearing why the 81 versus a 97 - had been planning to run a 97 since I have run those on some other cars but open to all ideas. Prewar - am a bit undecided on the aprons - I agree with you and kind of like the way they look - am planning to save that decision and project until later given the amount of work involved and see how I feel once the car is sitting lower. My plans right now are to run 35 wires sitting on 6's and 7's (I think - would love pix if anyone is running that wheel / tire combo), reverse eye front spring (likely with a couple leaves removed), stock 32 axle, spindles and perches, and in the rear I am planning to run a reverse eye rear spring (likely with a couple leaves removed). Keeping the mechanical brakes.
Nice project...we all know I love it! If I was in your shoes, I'd be look for a B or aftermarket centrifugal advance distributor for that thing. Easily the best bang for the buck and It will really wake up a stock engine. Next, for my money I'd be doing a head swap. Carbs and exhaust are great and make it look cool. But compression is what she really needs. The carb and exhaust will be more beneficial after that as well. After 10 years of driving my A pickup the other upgrades I would make are 1) leakless water pump 2) Ted's floaters and cast iron drums if keeping the mechanical brakes. 3) v8 trans swap(easier than a 4 or 5 speed swap and synchros are a great upgrade.) Anyways...have fun! And if you have any questions, don't be afraid to reach out.
Thanks Zax - that looks great - do you happen to have a side profile pic? Thanks Hitchhiker - 6.0 high compression head and FS Ignition are on the buy / build list. Have a set of Ted's floaters already which will be installed when I tackle the brakes (and am planning on new cast iron drums). Haven't given a lot of thought to gearbox yet but appreciate everyone's input about. I just finished rebuilding the water pump today so will see how I did when I put the radiator back on....
Perfect. You'll have a real runner with that stuff on there. It's fun to start stock and upgrade as you go too. I'm sure the pump will be fine....for awhile. Potentially many years to come. I've put A LOT of miles on my truck over the last 10 years. I'd say the water pump was easily the biggest reliability issue before I went with the leakless pump with sealed bearings on both ends.
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