{This is going to cover the when, what, why and some of the how. It may be a long read in places or not enough in others. It might make you smile at times, but possibly could bore you to death also. Either way, I hope you’ll be entertained.} Back in the late 80’s to early 90’s I was attending high school in freeze-yer-ass-off Wisconsin. Being a car nut since before I was able to read, I subscribed to several mags but my favorite was always American Rodder. It was the only publication that featured a combination of mostly traditional rods and a bevy of scantily clad ladies… both seemed to hold my attention rather well. It was then, that I first saw a feature on a Model A Sport Coupe. It was a smoothed off, chopped, full fendered, beige street rod. Trendy for the time and certainly not traditional at all… but something grabbed me with that car. It was different than other coupes and just plain cool to me. The hook was set. After I left the Navy in 96, I figured it was time to start gathering parts for a 26 roadster… even tho I lived in an apartment in Florida and had to rent a storage unit to put the old rusty parts in. I came to the realization that plan wasn’t working out and ended up renting a house with a carport in early 98-ish, to build my hot rod. By this time, American Rodder had pretty much been watered down, but luckily there was this new one called The Rodder’s Journal that would become my cover-to-cover read. With plenty of help from guys that must’ve took pity on my dumbass, my dream of owning and finally driving my hotrod came to fruition in April of 99. I’ve had some GREAT times with that car and it’s never been for sale… even after some pretty tempting offers, but that Sport Coupe always had me looking for one. Of course, I never had the dough to even entertain getting one, so the search was never in earnest. Over the years since then, a few builds have taken place and few others have gone down the road. Friends have been made and lost because of some of them, jobs have been secured and left, along with living arrangements. In 2013 the biggest of them took place when I was offered a job in Texas. So, everything was loaded up, except a bunch parts that were sold or given away to close friends… but of course, plenty were kept also. With the move to Texas, I found a whole new glory in perusing Craigslist. Sure, Florida had Craigslist, but the cars weren’t nearly as plentiful. Of course, I very rarely “need” anything when I’m looking… and I’m sure that nobody reading this has ANY idea of what I’m talking about! LOL But you never know, right? And that’s what happened on the morning of Christmas day of 2013. The ad title read “modle a 1929” (yes, spelled just like that). There were two pictures of a stock, black sport coupe on a car trailer with no grill, radiator or hood… which was all I needed to see! I grabbed the phone and called… only to get a voicemail, UGH! I left my info and hoped for the best. To be cont...
Later that night my phone rang. The guy on the other end said he still had it and proceeded to talk it up considerably. Obviously not his first rodeo selling an old car. I asked several questions and he had all the right answers. Before long, I needed to know how soon I could take a look at it… before anyone else did! But ya gotta play it cool. He said he could do it tomorrow after 5pm and when he told me where he lived, it turned out to be only 7 miles down the road from my place! WOOOWHOOOO! So, we set the appointment and I hung up. My lady was standing with me through the whole conversation and immediately high-fived me and gave me a big smooch! She knew how excited I was about the car and she’s always AMAZINGLY supportive of all my car stuff. She never gives me any grief about this obsession and I KNOW I’m extremely lucky to have her! We talked about it and she definitely wanted to go with me the next day. Cool! But… now I have to wait!!! UGH! Sleep was sketchy that night and work lasted FOREVER the next day. Her and I made the what-seemed-like long drive out to his place and hoped for the best when we pulled into the address. We met the gentlemen, made our pleasantries and he motioned towards a dimly lit large, old steel building as he walked away from us. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking… “dark is the worst time to look at a car you want to buy”… I know, I KNOW! As we got through the half open door of the building, the stench of cat piss was like the equivalent of your face getting the business end of a Mike Tyson right hook! I tried my best not to gag, as did my lady… but it didn’t seem to bother the scruffy, mid-60s-ish guy in the least. The next thing that grabbed my attention was the MULTITUDE of endless spider webs… EVERYWHERE! I hate spiders… and I’m not found of their webs either! And when I say “hate”… I mean fucking HATE! The dirt floor was covered with portions of cars… doors, fenders, greazey engine blocks, ripped velour seats, tractor parts, broken chairs, tires, water heater tanks, chain link fencing, piles of PVC, a lone Hustler magazine from probably the Regan-era… opened to a lady with no qualms of spreading it all out for your enjoyment… just, a shit-ton of JUNK everywhere! But, there was a single rollup door about 50 feet to the right of where we just walked in, that was open and the dusk light that was left just after 5pm in late December, shown around the profile of what would make this all worthwhile. Still sitting on the trailer from the ad pictures, was what I would come to find out was the most solid and complete Model A that I’ve ever laid eyes on. All the normal places that rust out on 28-29’s were amazing. All the Sport Coupe specific parts were there! The rumbleseat was open and when I wiped my finger across the inner rain gutters and structure, I was awarded with shiny paint and not a hint of rust or painted over rot! To be cont...
I hoped I was containing my excitement and knew I was, when my lady gave me the “What do you think?” look. I waited til the old guy wasn’t looking and gave her a big smile. During my inspection, I figured checking the underside would be a smart thing to do, so I stuck my head under the passenger running board and peered at what looked to be an unrestored, beautiful frame with barely any slight surface rust and no signs of damage. Twisting my head, the brake rods looked great and all the brackets were there… AAAAAH!!!!! Big honking spider not 6” from my face!!! I quickly ascertained that I had taken in enough of the undercarriage and should look over the topside sheetmetal a bit more. I asked if it turned over and he replied that the battery was dead, but the motor “for sure” wasn’t frozen. Hmmm, odd that he volunteered that info before I asked. He quickly added that he did have the hood, radiator and a new grill shell for it. Hmm… I wondered why all that stuff had been unbolted if there wasn’t a problem with it. So, I ask some more questions and as it turns out, this is a two-owner car and the last gentlemen, George, passed on a few years ago. The family doesn’t want it, but they know George loved it. Evidently, he bought it in either 42 or 43 and always kept it inside, but they can’t remember him driving it much. Parades, around the neighborhood, that kinda stuff… but it had been a loooong time. Sounds good to me. “Could I think about it and call ya tomorrow?” Sure he says. I snap a few pics and we leave. I figure I’ll go back tomorrow with a Model A crank and try to spin the engine over and go from there. I called him the next day before lunch and asked if I could come over and talk to him around 5pm again. He agreed that would be fine. Again, the wait until 5pm couldn't arrive quick enough and I meet him on the dot with crank in hand. He asks what that is and I tell him I’d like to turn the engine over with it. Quizzically, he looks at me and I know the jig is up. I’ve shown my hand that I’m not the wide-eyed-hoping-to-get-an-old-car-dumbass that I had played myself to be... at least I don't think I'm a dumbass... well, not all the time at least. He mutters that I can give it a try (or something like that), so we enter into the dim light of the land filled with feline urine and spider condos. I walk right over to the coupe, insert the crank, give it a tug aaaand… nothin’… not even a budge. Sigh. I try to reason with my sinking heart that I must not have given it a good enough pull. So I reset the crank and give it way more than I know it should take to spin… and again, not even the slightest movement. Well crap!! I know my face was evidence enough when I looked at him and he said “I thought it was good!” Fortunately for me, I now have some bargaining power… unfortunately for me, I’m very disappointed. But, I know what this car is for me and I know I’ll most likely never see another one this spectacular at this price. AAAAND, its black on black on black! Not yellow with pink wheels. Not cowpie green with purple fenders. It’s BLACK as can be! Pretty much right away, the dance commences. Prices are discussed… of course, he says I’m way too low and I say I can’t afford his high price (but I probably would’ve paid it because it was actually reasonable). He starts to drop his end, I don’t say a word… just staring at the car and shaking my head. Poker face, keep the poker face! Seeing an opportunity to ease our “moolah two-step” complications, I ask to see the new radiator shell that he mentioned. He starts walking to the other side of the building towards one of the many floor-to-ceiling leaning Tower of Pisa metal racks, that surely should've been torn down when Hoffa was still scammin the unions. He's about half way to the rack when he drops his price again and I can’t believe my ears... until my eyes lock onto three water stained Vintique Inc boxes sitting on top of a Walker radiator box. Oh My! What is this here now?!! He grabs one of the boxes and pulls out a brand-new repro nickel plated shell, still in the plastic. I ask about the other boxes and he says they contain brand new headlights and a radiator. How does this keep getting better? Be cool, just caaaalm down. “Sooo aaahh how about this?” I asked. I repeated the last price he had thrown out and added that the four boxes would come with me… and since you already got it on the trailer, it’d be awfully nice of you to take it the seven miles down the road to my house... where I guarantee a few ice cold beers are awaiting our arrival. Just as I finished my “deal-of-deals speech”, I punctuated it by pulling a wad of $100s out of my right front jeans pocket. I was hoping for a exclamation-type effect with that and I think it worked, because he stared at that cash way too long before saying anything. He did the old twisted-face-gonna-try-to-bargain-again look, but evidently his brain caught him and his mouth uttered “Ok”. HELL YEAH!!! In minutes, we had his truck hooked up to the trailer and were burning holes of light heading down the highway to my place. I don’t really remember the ride home, so I can’t fill in too many details there. I remember that it got hot in my truck pretty quick cuz I had the heat on and forgot to take my jacket off, but that’s about it. I called my lady to let her know what transpired and asked that she have a few cold ones ready in the garage when we showed up. She was ecstatic and told me she loved me. Yeah, I got it pretty stinkin good fellas! My new-to-me Sport Coupe was quickly unloaded into my well-lit garage and I began to really marvel in the amazing shape the car was in. The three of us made small talk, all the normal “When you get it done, I’d like to see it” kinda stuff and then, just like that... he was gone. I remember walking around it many times, taking in the condition of many different parts and assemblies… mentally cataloging and prioritizing the work that would need to be done. To be cont...
Well, if you’ve made it this far, hopefully you’ll be ready to see what I ended up doing with my new treasure. It was a roller coaster of stuff before it really took off for me… and of course it’s still not “done”. Here is a pic that I got from the family that I was told was taken in the very early 80’s. Notice the grill and radiator was off even then. The big sealed beam headlights were also included when I got the coupe. I have no idea who the girl is. EDIT: Muttley pointed out that I was duped on the photo dating. He ascertained through details that the pic was not taken nearly as early as I was told. Sorry for the misinformation. To be cont...
very nicely written story - and Yes! it sounds like you are very lucky in your choice of women! hoping good things for you regarding your build.
That photo probably was taken not long before you bought the car. There's a mid-'90's style Chevy pickup in the background and what looks like a Ford Explorer in the driveway in back of your car. Those trash cans that are visible through the door of your car weren't in use around here until about twenty years ago.......not sure about Texas though. Those shoes she's wearing definitely aren't early '80's style NIKE's either.
Is the one in American Rodder the cream colored one with tan interior and polished Americans? I remember that car well. Not a huge fan of sport coupes but yours being all black is very cool. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I had a '30 Model A Sport Coupe...bought the body out of a field for $3.00 (!) in 1955. Channeled it over Deuce rails, had it for years. Fast flathead, stock windshield. Car was 'cartoonish'. My Mom had a '30 Sport coupe in '35, (she was 25 and single...ran with a 'fast' crowd. Meaning they were all car nuts, and raced a lot.) Mom knew a man around the corner, family friend, about 50, Pete Dias. Pete was into Sprint cars, had a HUGE shop behind his house. Mom went by one day, asked Pete if he could get her some more 'rev', she needed to beat two 'wiseguys' in her crowd. Pete put a Winfield cam & head on it, and a downdraft intake, and 'twin' exhausts. She said he did some 'grinding' on it, on the side of the block, but the rest was 'secretive'. Pete was smart, not 'sharing'. My Mom was the fastest from Santa Clara to Holy City, (Santa Cruz mountains) Nobody would race her to Santa Cruz. I always looked at Sport Coupes as 'Uncle Daniels'. (funny old stockers that some old uncle would drive...) But, HEY! A Sport Coupe is the only factory 3 window we have in the Model A livery. ...and this one in this thread is a BEAUTY! Might change some minds about the 'Uncle Daniel' jacket it's gotten over the years.
Thanks for all the kind remarks fellas! I promise it’ll get a bit more interesting as we go and I’ll include the knowledge I gained along the way to hopefully help anyone else out there looking to do something similar. I didn't!!! UGH, my priorities were compromised at that moment. Now I'm upset with myself. WOW!!! Lookit the big brain on Muttley! I gotta admit, I never looked at any of those things. Thanks man! Yes sir! Thanks
The next day, I knew my top priority was to see about getting the pistons to remember what they are supposed to do. I pulled the plugs, peered in with a flashlight and nothing jumped out at me, so I squirted some Kroil down each hole. The plugs looked ok, so I figured I’d try to put them back into service. I pulled the valvecover and didn’t see any sludge or nastiness… It actually looked very clean, hmmmm. While I hoped the Kroil was working its magic, I set about getting to the other ga-jillion things that needed to be done. Next step, make a list! I’m a list-kinda-guy. If I make a list, I can plan ahead to have the parts I need, when I need ‘em. Or at least that’s the idea. Also, it gives me focus to keep moving along. The list on the 29 was… well, lets call it “impressive”. So much to do before I could think of turning it over… IF it would cooperate and do what I knew it wanted to do! HA! Anyway, let’s get back to the stuck engine and me placing all my hope into Kroil. After spending several hours working on different things, I decided to call it a night and figured it couldn’t hurt to set the crank and see if any progress had been made. With the handle at 9 o’clock, I gave a decent pull up and was rewarded with… absolutely nothin. Dang it!!! Fine! Two can play this game! I squirted more of what I hoped was magic juice, down into each jug, then walked over to the door. I took a look over my shoulder and smiled before clicking the light switch off, just to be greeted with a blast of cold air as I opened the side door of the shop. Here are a few detail pics To be cont… All plate glass on the car too. I know it's not "safe", But I bet it's all original stuff. Rumble seat gutters Drivers door sill Passengers side door jam. Appears to be the original brad nails.
The next morning before heading off to work, I figured I’d take a few minutes to see if anything had miraculously taken place while I slept. Who knows… maybe a gaggle of mechanic gnomes had embarked on a mercy-mission to use their tiny hands and strong work ethics to assist me? Hey… I can hope, right? I clicked the light switch and the hum of the fluorescent lights greeted me to the exact way I left the place. Bummer, they weren’t here OR maybe they cleaned up the place so I wouldn’t know they had been here. Yeah, that’s probably what happened. I picked up the crank off the floor from in front of the coupe. Oooh… nice and chilly, just like the concrete... I remember thinking I shoulda brought my gloves. Putting it back on the crank nut, just as I had done several times now, I hoped for the best but I admittedly wasn’t overly optimistic. I gave it a respectable heave and to my surprise… It moved!!! WHAAAAT???!!! Hooo-ly crap!!!! It moved!! Only about an 1/8 of a turn, but it moved! Did I imagine it? Close inspection of the pulley was the confirmation that I hoped for. It definitely moved! Now, I very rarely ever use the term giddy, like as in… I never use the term giddy… especially when describing myself. LOL! But, I think this is the one time that I came the closest to a feeling that could possibly be described as “giddy”. I wanted so badly to attempt a little more rotation on it, but luckily this time, I listened to that voice. You know the voice… The one that tells you that you shouldn’t do something, but you attempt to reason with it and then usually go ahead and do it anyway. Me: “I should probably snug down that ¼” bolt just a liiiittle bit more” The voice: “No you shouldn’t! It’s only a ¼” bolt dummy!” Me: “But maybe it needs it” The voice: “Stop being an idiot! You know what’s gonna happen if you do!” Me: “Naw, not this time” SNAP Me: “Damnit!!!” Yeah, that voice. I know we all have it and have also most likely ignored it and regretted it dearly. So, like I said, I listened to the damned voice and just squirted some more Kroil (aka: The Nectar of The Gods) into the depths of it. Happy with my progress, I climbed into my truck and took off for work. Several times on the way, I found myself smiling, thinking I was on my way to winning this battle… eventually. But, something else I've found, is that the voice can tend to warn me not to celebrate too quickly sometimes. I can't recall if it did this particular time or not though. To be cont…
I've successfully completed the online course and am now working towards my 'Junior G-Man' badge. Regardless, that's a nice score..........you'd probably have to search long and hard to find a better one to start your project with.
I made it home after another day at work that seemed to last forever, with big plans for the evening. I told my lady about the good news earlier that day and she was all about going out to the shop with me. Her excitement was only eclipsed by my own. Every part of me wanted to grab that crank and give it all I had! Visions of me half bent over in front of the car grasping the crank and whipping it around and around while smiling at my girl, had been in my minds eye all day. “LOOK! Look at what I have accomplished woman!!!” Then she would come running up to me as if I had just saved the world and throw her arms around me… But no... it was there The voice: “Hey ummm… you don’t know if something is screwed up inside there.” Me: Maybe, but... The voice: “What if someone dropped something solid down in one of the cylinders and when you whip it over, it doesn’t compress… then you’re REALLY gonna mess it up.” Me: Hmmm... The voice: “What if it just breaks loose and while you're spinning it around, it decides to stop while you are in full Hulk-mode? Your arm will rip outa your shoulder when it comes to a dead stop, blood will spray all over the shop and you’ll have to clean up the mess after you get home from the hospital.” Me: Ok, ok! So I went at it nice and easy, inserting the crank again at 9 o'clock. Slowly bringing the crank up it started to move immediately! As I pass the 12 o’clock position, I slowly ease it down and keep it moving to 6 o’clock. She’s still going and feels nice and smooth! Bring it back up towards 9 and I’m feeling great as I let go of it! WOOWHOO! We both share a big hug and feel the relief of it actually rotating. This is good stuff! Now for the fun! I grab the crank again and start going a bit faster, feeling it out listening for anything goofy. Seems good. Faster! VOOOFF! Kroil exits one of the cylinders in a cloud of triumph. More! VOOOFF! Probably should have safety glasses on for this. Naw, I’ll just squint, I aint stopping! VOOOFF! VOOOFF! VOOOFF! VOOOFF! Yes!!! I know I got really lucky with it, and I knew that at the time too. I feared the worst, but it worked out incredibly well. Alright! Cross that one off the list and it’s time for a celebratory drink! CHEERS! I need to add this bit of info. Prior to buying the 29, I found a great site that proved invaluable to me when going through the checklist of mechanical “to do’s”. http://modelabasics.com/ That website helped guide me through so much stuff! Even if you don’t have a stock model A, you may wanna check it out. Great pics, instructions, troubleshooting ideas and even some animation to show you how some assemblies work. I didn’t take any pics of me setting the points gap, cleaning the dizzy cap and rotor, learning that pretty much all Model A dizzies have slop in the fitment between the cap and housing which affects the rotor distance… and that electrical tape works great to fine tune that situation. Of course, all the other stuff too like cleaning and setting the plug gaps, taking the carb apart, checking for spark, tracing and checking the wiring for frays or cuts, change the oil… blah, blah, blah, all stuff I’m sure we know can be tedious and not too exciting for pics. After a bunch of that kinda work, I surmised that fuel is an important part of the equation in making an engine run, so why not tackle the fuel system next? I knew there was something in the tank because it sloshed when I rocked the car side to side. But, it sure didn’t smell like any type of gas I had ever encountered before. After I removed the fuel line going to the carb, I placed a bucket under the sediment bowl and turned on the fuel petcock to get a look at what this stinky stuff was. But… nothin. Not even a trickle of something that could make an explosion. Bummer. I removed the sediment bowl from its housing, placed the bucket under it again and turned on the petcock… nuthin. I removed the fuel line under the tank (inside the car). Turned the petcock again… nothin. Hmmm… that’s odd. Well, what the hell, man? So, I go get a wrench to fit the petcock. One way or another I’m GONNA find out what’s in that tank! I placed the wrench on the petcock taking care not to nick, bend or break anything on it because it’s oddly-shaped and looks to be all brass. I also found out that it was tight as HELL! After a few tries, it finally broke loose and I started slowly unscrewing it. Half of a turn… another half of a turn… another half of a … CRAP!!! It’s a gusher! All down my arms into my arm pits, all over the floor board covered in old carpet and YUCK that stuff reeks!! SHIT!!! I forgot I left the bucket to catch the fuel in, was still by the engine! UGH! I screwed it back in as quickly as I could and went to get some rags to try to soak up what got on the floor and firewall... and wipe this nasty stuff off my arms. That was so fun the first time, let’s do it again… but this time I'll be ready for it AND have the bucket there. As soon as the shutoff was in my hand, I was quick to determine the cause of the lack of flow. Siiigh. To be cont...
The tank and petcock were obviously gonna be a big project and I was ready to try to start this bad boy! What to do? I decided to connect the fuel line to the carb but rotate it up and connect a rubber hose to the end of it and put a funnel into the hose to fill the carb bowl. That’ll hold enough gas to see if I can get it to fire… and crossing my fingers, maybe even run for a minute. So that’s what I did. Upon climbing into the seat, my mental checklist was in overdrive! Battery is charged… hopefully enough as 6 volts can go pretty quick if this decides to crank for a while. GAV knob set, fire extinguisher at the ready, throttle slightly down, spark retarded. OK here we go… I turned the key, hit the starter, pulled the choke up and… rrrrrrrr rrrrrr, let off the starter and hit it again… rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrr. Let off and shove the choke down and hit the starter again… rrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrr… pop, da, pop, pop. NOW it’s getting interesting! Pull the choke again and hit the starter… rrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrr…pop, pop, pop, da, pop, pop, pop, da, pop, pop, pewwww. IT RAN!!!! YES!!!! So happ… ummm…. probably should’ve opened the garage door. Cough, cough… totally don’t care!!! The video below is actually the second start. The first was, as I mentioned, a bit smoke filled… but not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. Also, the actually run time was short lived with a LOT of cranking before it fired, which makes for some pretty boring stuff to watch. But the second start video still gives you an idea of how elated my lady and I were that it fired up again! Just an FYI… This was video was taken on January 8, 2014 by my lovely assistance and kickass cheerleader! To be cont…
Next up, was to put some water in the radiator so I could attempt a longer run time. I also decided to clean it up and get some pics before I tackled the fuel tank. Little did I know I'd be quickly taking a drastic detour once water went through it. To be cont...
Great story and great looking car. Hope you're not going to do an extreme makeover! Maybe just juice brakes and a warmed over banger motor? And 16" Kelsey Hayes? Looking forward to the "rest of the story". Ned
The Jalopy Journal
