I bought the 29' last autumn. It had been garaged for two years as the previous owner had lost interest for the car; he had a couple of projects in his garage to keep hands dirty. The A-model banger was partly dis***embled, because it seriously leaked oil. To my eye it had been chopped and painted with great expertise honoring traditional values. Some potential buyers had been around talking about painting the car black and putting a SBC between the rails. Stories like this made me feel I have to save the car! And I'm glad I did it. I realized that there were some worn parts, like the components around radius ball etc. I had to rebuild the Weber carb and the distributor which had been modernized by some previous owner. These both had simply been suffering too many rainy northern days without the hood. At the moment I'm planning a solution for the straps to keep the hood on when there is need to protect the motor from water. The car still has mechanical brakes and I will have to give the left rear wheel some heat to disengage the parts to get to adjust the brake. Also the hand brake needs some time to properly adjust it. It still leaks some oil after being hot, but with a Brumfield high compression head it's no wonder. All in all, the banger seems to be in a fairly good condition. I've got a full set of 39-40 truck brakes and drums in my garage and my next project will be building juice brakes. In autumn I'm also planning to start my first flattie project as I got a solid partly machined 8ba block and most parts included in; there are a pair of vintage Edelbrock aluminum heads, four Holley 94's soaking in oil, sixties Ford 3-speed ****** etc in my garage right now. My humble thanks for the parts to you, Vesku! At present I'm searching for a steering box, a 50's to 60's rear, and a two carb intake to name a few. But let's first face the summer behind a banger! -Pasi
Hey, that car looks great. Good luck with your project as you've got a great start so far. That flatty will be perfect but, you can have a good time with that banger motor for now. The chop is perfect on that car!
Thanks crminal. Feels great to drive the car. Haven't got her inspected yet but couldn't resist taking a short road trip on the backwoods near my garage! -Pasi
Pasi, I recommend you go to Kehän Autokatsastus for inspection since they are familiar with rods. Some of them inspectors have rods too. I always go there with my cars. Later, Jukka
The previous owner Vesku Isoaho chopped it just about two inches. 16" wheels and de-arched leaves also add a lot to the stance. -Pasi
Bangers are great fun, enjoy it. I really do miss mine, the Tudor sits and looks great! Are you anywhere near Nokia? I have some friends out that way, who are playing with old cars/bikes Outback
Thanks for your comments, my garage is roughly 100 miles south from Nokia. I do have some relatives around there. -Pasi
I think you did a great job on the 29 and now with the better weather approaching, it's time to go cruizing!
Thanks Eric, I will surely be on wheels as much as possible - and let's take a ride when you're next time in Helsinki! -Pasi
When I bought my Deuce truck I thought I'd need to put juice brakes in as well. However once I set them up right and put the Flathead Teds brake floater kit in, the mechanical brakes work pretty good. I'm not changing mine now. Just my 2 cents worth on your juice brake upgrade.
The brakes will really be my next focus as their adjustability and "best before" date has almost gone. This is the first time I read anything about Flathead Ted's venture and their brake floater kit, thanks for the tip, Kevin. -Pasi
Mechanical brakes work pretty good if adjusted properly. That is with a banger engine, don't think I'd use them with any engine more powerful. Adjustment procedure.
Saxon; thanks for the brake adjustment-pdf .Yes, I'd really like to get the best out of the brakes to meet the inspection requirements (and for my own security of course). Eric, sounds good, that's gonna be awesome!
I was looking at a 1952 popular mechanics mag. & it showed how to add "return" springs at the mechanical brakes backingplate arms which made for better adjusting. Cool car Homie! Mine's running & almost on the road.
This point makes sense, let's see if there has to be done further work to get them work properly. -Pasi
Thanks Hogman for your compliment, yeah, gonna ride her from town to town visiting the car related summer happenings around. -Pasi
Thanks guys! Just got the rear brakes and handbrake together. Parts are quite worn but function now safely. Few minor fixes and next week I'm gonna take her to road worthiness test to a firm oriented in old american iron. -Pasi
Leave the rear end in there.upgrade it with 3.54 r&p get a closed drive 32-48 3-speed. and convert it to hydraulik brakes Then you have a traditional Hot Rod No more needed
Hi Mickey, thanks for suggestion, that's a pretty slick traditional set-up you suggested! The juice brakes are on my to-do list as I already have the drums and backing plates of '35 I suppose, another front drum pic enclosed. By the way, the ratio's been formerly converted from the original 3,78 into 3,54:1, so it's drivable now and I don't feel too uncomfortable despite the un-cynchronized gears. Let's see what parts I manage to find in near future. As we all know hunting for parts makes almost half of the fun. -Pasi
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