Projects My Model A Coupe (banger heavy content)

Figured it wouldn't hurt to start a thread...

Bought it like this, about 2.5 years ago:





This is my first hotrod, but I've owned and built a lot of different cars (mostlely OT). Chop is so-so in execution, but I like it. Luckily I'm short! It just barely ran and stopped, nothing electrical worked, no fittings to mount the boot lid (originally a rumble seat) tyres were mismatched and dry rotted, etc etc... Perfect for me, as I wanted something I could drive as I built it, and enjoy the different stages along the way.

So the first work was a complete rewire front to back (in original style conduit etc), mount boot lid, get it running better, new tyres etc... Got rego on it and made it in this form (to watch, not compete) to Rattletrap in May 2021.









Was pretty busy with some of my other (OT) projects and building a new shed/workshop, but still doing little odd fixes, and then in August the head gasket let go. It was a copper faced gasket, and the material in between actually rotted out.



Getting the head off was a mission. I ended up using a mixture of heat and penetrating fluid and double nutting the studs to get them all out (took a couple of days) before I was able to remove the head, but got there eventually without breaking anything. It was properly stuck!

I ordered a 6:1 high compression head and FSI distributor at the same time, new water pump etc, didn't see the point in not doing it all together. Unfortunately it took a long time for all the parts to arrive, and I didn't have everything on hand until late December.

As I say, was busy building a shed and whatever else, so I eventually got it back together and running sweetly around March/April last year. Driving better than ever. Unfortunately it was leaking a lot of oil, but I drove it when I got the chance, and gradually fixed up odds and ends.



Fitted a dropped headlight bar that popped up, and got the front sheet metal a little straighter... The guards were very off when I bought it, it's much better now, but still not great!





To be continued...

 

Sweet "A"!..Love it. Have fun.

 

Very cool! And that’s a serious haircut.

 

Next it was time to sort out a few more suspension bits, replace shackles and some other bits and pieces. I was going to reshape the main leaves to reverse the spring eyes, but the main leaf in the rear was cracked, and so were several leaves in the front spring, so I ended up with new springs. Still working on the height, but much happier with the stance now. Drives much better too! I made some further improvements to the brakes at the same time too, added floaters and new (straight!) brake rods. Locks all 4 wheels at moderate speed and effort now!







So with that out of the way, time to tackle the large puddle of oil left underneath wherever it goes... It appeared to mostly be coming from the sump gasket, so I figured it was a good time to clean out the sump and check the oil pump and stuff too.

Some pretty good sludge in the pan:



But everything cleaned up alright.







Now somehow at this point I fucked up. I dismantled the oil pump and cleaned it all out, and I'm guessing I put the pump rotors back in a different orientation... Anyway I got it all back together, ran it a couple of times just idling in the driveway up to temperature, and seemed to have solved my oil leak. So I took it for a drive. A few hundred metres out of my driveway, there was a loud bang. The car continued to run happily, but obviously something was wrong.





Hmm... That's somewhat less than ideal...

Pulled it down to investigate. It appears that the oil pump seized, forcing the camshaft forward and punching out the plunger, and generally making a mess. Fortunately due to very short run time, and the nature of the Model A oiling system, it doesn't seem to have done any bearing damage. But it has spread a lot of metal around, destroyed the pump, and taken teeth off the cam gear.

 

So... Now I'm in for some more work. Makes sense to me to upgrade the camshaft if I'm replacing the gear, and if I'm doing that then I should fit new lifters. Valves have a load of play in the guides, so really should fit some better valves and guides... Obviously bigger intake valves would be better...















Starting to look like something....

Shit!



Crack from one of the exhaust seats... Ok. I've come this far. Time to pull it down completely. Bearings and journals all look sweet.



I had a mate machine out the crack and put in an oversized valve seat. Problem solved. Measured up the bores... I had intended to just re-ring, but the clearances were huge. Ok. New pistons ordered.

Alright. While I'm waiting on some new pistons and rings, let's take some weight off that ridiculous flywheel. I finally got 3 phase power to my new shed to run my old lathe and mill at about this time.











Final appearance of the flywheel below. I have mated it to a pressure plate from a 2.3L Mustang. I am using the original Model A driven plate. I don't seem to have taken a picture of it all together, but I have bench tested it and it seems to work and release fine, and work with the factory Model A release bearing. Final weight as shown, with ring gear and spigot bearing is 28.4lb. In this picture I am doing a rough balance - I've turned the bolt down to be a nice fit inside the bearing in the flywheel. As far as I could tell, balance was pretty spot on - it didn't want to stop at any point more than any other. Good enough for a banger I hope. Almost all that weight taken off the extreme outer diameter too - should feel much more sprightly!



And that's about where I'm up to for now. I was hoping to have it finished and drive it to the "Model A 95th Birthday" at Gulgong in a couple of weeks, but 2 weeks ago I had an accident on my Harley, hit a kangaroo. I broke 9 ribs, smashed and dislocated my toe, bruised and punctured lungs, lots of fun stuff. So while I haven't yet totally given up on getting the car ready, I suspect that even if I manage it then I'll probably be having my partner tow the car down. Even that would be great! But probably unlikely at this point. I did start to give the engine a clean this afternoon, ready to go on the mill to bore and deck it... I dunno, I can't do much at the moment, but we'll see how my health progresses in the next week or so I guess.

 

Cool car....banger powered to boot...
mmmm, straight cut gears on your oil pump and the one is an idler and the other has the long shaft...kind of hard to get it back together wrong that way.
if you look at the outer housing...the sheet metal round part, the bottom of it is submerged in oil in the sump....
oil is drawn up inside it to the inlet to the pump gears.....the gear inlet can be above the oil level...but not the inlet to the pump
so....if the housing isn't completely sealed tighter than a bulls ass in fly season, to the pump body, it leaks air and won't draw oil....no oil flow
I seal the outer housing to the pump body with gasket maker loctite 5699 preparing the surfaces with oil and grease remover prior....then liberal application to seal it on the exterior too
looking good and you took a serious amount of material off of that flywheel...
Carry on

 

Here...this is what I'm talking about...picture of one that has been completely soft soldered to seal it up... Henry used a paper gasket but I'm sure he would have used gasket maker if he had it available

 

I like a heavy chop and I think your car looks cool.

Looks like you're dealing with the motor issues. It's gonna run good when you're done.

You hit a kangaroo with your Harley motorcycle?!? And you're banged up pretty bad.
Boy oh boysenberries.
Hope you heal quick.

 

Superb play-by-play post of your project.

Your description of the cylinder head being “properly stuck” speaks accurately and resonates with me and likely everyone else following your thread.

You paint with words, my friend.

Moselli

 

Do you have this book? It is very helpful.

https://www.brattons.com/MODEL-A-MECHANICS-HANDBOOK-VOL-1/productinfo/37580/

 

@metalhead140 thanks for starting this thread, I have loved your coupe since I first saw it,
You certainly have seen some trials & tribulations! Heal up & hang in there!

 

Thanks for all the responses! No progress today, I had hoped I might clean the block ready for machining, but I basically slept all day. A couple of updates though, I finally got my copy of the good book:



And last night my partner found a hotel room available in Gulgong. So we are going, car or not. We had been intending on camping originally, so that was one of the other reasons I was thinking I probably couldn't go. Getting up and down from an air mattress on the floor doesn't sound like fun at the moment...

Thanks!

Yep, no doubt it's chopped! The seat cushion is shortened, and fortunately I'm not too tall!

Thanks. Yeh, the oil pump confused me. I haven't taken it apart since it failed. My thinking was that over 90 years the gears had lapped together, and that maybe I assembled it with different lobes of the pump running together, and they weren't happy. I don't really have any other explanation, unless you have any suggestions? Thanks for the suggestions about sealing up the pump. Obviously I have new pump to go into it.

Yeh the flywheel was a big job! I couldn't really understand why the standard drawings of what to do seemed to work on ID and OD equally, since OD will obviously provide greater benefits? Both in more material removed and in greater reduction in rotational inertia. But I've left plenty of meat for strength and it should be a lot more responsive now.

Awesome, thanks.

Thanks! I like it too, obviously! Yeh, I do have a 331 hemi that is slated to probably end up in it one day, but I'm enjoying playing with the banger. Tossing up the idea of a supercharger on the banger too, I have a couple floating around from an OT project...

Cheers, thanks!

Yes I do, and yes it is!

Thanks mate. Reading your thread encouraged me to just make a thread. Can't hurt!

 

So basically, if I want to get the car to Gulgong, the compulsory punch list is:
Clean the block.
Bore and deck the block - keeping in mind that I've never done this before, and it's using a new-to-me milling machine... (The flywheel was my first ever job on that lathe also).
Gap rings.
Assemble engine.
Put back in car. I have a newly recored radiator, and hopefully all the other bits I'll need.

Other things I'd been considering and have parts for include:
Pressure oiling.
Oil filtration - unfortunately the easiest way to do this with parts on hand will foul on my exhaust headers requiring remaking those also.
Supercharger - probably not realistic in the next 2 weeks.
Exhaust scavenging of the crankcase - I might do this as it shouldn't take much effort and should help reduce any oil leaks.

In terms of the car more widely, there's hole in the firewall, presumably from a heater installation sometime in the distant past. It would be a little easier to weld up while the engine is out, but in my current state maybe it's not worth the hassle. I also have some windscreen wipers to install, but again, probably not a top priority right now. Loads of other things... But they can probably wait.

Is it doable? Maybe. See how I go.

 

I have such profound respect for you folks there given all of the hurdles that you must get over just to get your cars on the road. Good luck and keep pushing forward.

 

Good to hear, there are some (many) amazing build threads here which mine will never be, but rambling tales of the journey are fun & a good way to document what's going on. Hopefully encouraging others to have a go. We've got nothing to prove, but lots to contribute to a wonderful community. Looking forward to watching the thrash from a ring side seat!

 

Still pretty useless and very sore, but I gave the block a bit of a clean this afternoon (in these photo's it's drenched in wd40 after cleaning) ready to go on the mill.



You can see the oversized exhaust seat fitted to fix the crack mentioned earlier here:



I have some hardened seats I can fit in the other exhaust seats too. Do people think this is worthwhile to do, or do they really not wear much anyway?

 

I don’t think your pump seized. I think it wasn’t mounted right and ended up in the bottom of the pan and then the crank hit it and pounded it into the cam shaft. Be worth checking the cam is straight.
Lead in petrol didn’t exist when your car was made and it’s survived so far without hardened seats.

 

Great project

 

Yeh, I had wondered about the possibility of something along those lines. I suppose it's possible, but there's no marks on the camshaft, and I was pretty confident that I had the oil pump in right. I was working underneath the car, I can't say that it's not possible that it moved without me noticing while I was getting the sump in, but I was pretty confident I got it together ok.

P.s. I've got a C3 too...

 

GM and Ford! You’ll go straight to hell for that

How far are you from Gulong? Looking forward to the next two weeks of updates!

 

Speedy recovery Mate...talk about nasty hurdles......I'm not always fond of the heavy chops but that A has got the look...it reminds me of a prewar Hotrod in many ways...class

Take your time and you are fortunate to be a height that will allow you to enjoy it...certainly look forward to where you take it...sounds like you like the overall visual theme but are looking for more pizazz at the pedal...

Hamber @nutrocker was doing some wild stuff to a 4 banger with a supercharger or blower...not sure what it was but it was wicked cool...

Thanks for starting a Thread on this and congrats on the acquisition of it...

 

Here's a link to the Thread...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/blown-4-banger-210-inch-grenade.1220215/

 

Missed your additions - cam appears straight, but I've got a Burtz cam to go in it anyway. More of the "while I'm here" mentality!

I agree, although I have heard that they can last a long time until fresh seats are cut. Not sure of the reasoning behind that, something to do with the previous lead protecting the seats?

Thanks!

I'm brand agnostic! I've got 2 Chevy's, 2 Ford's, a couple of Holden's, some old British stuff and even a couple of Japanese and German toys.

About 300km / 180miles each way. I had intended to drive, but if I get the car sorted, given my current state, I will likely tow it there. I know, weak!

Thanks! Yes I've followed nutrockers thread and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've played with some suck through superchargers on old British sports cars. The banger, with its poor intake breathing and low compression ratio, kind of seems like an obvious choice for forced induction. I wouldn't be looking at going as far as nutrocker. Just something for a bit of pep and some fun to play with!

 

@Oneball There's a big spring on the bottom of the pump that holds it up. I don't see how the pump could have come down. There's the dip tray to get around too. Something weird going on there.

 

I was thinking it could’ve been half in half out and at a funny angle missing the recess in the pan or missed the hole completely, the dissy would still the turn wouldnt it?

I guess if it seized as MH said maybe it snapped the shaft and then fell out???

 

Great car, great thread.

With regard to the head being royally stuck, I've been there. Here's a little tip for you and anyone else who encounters this: Pull a spark plug, then jam as much rope as you can through the plug hole, making sure to get it over and into the cylinder. Then put the car in gear, give it a push, and the force of the rising piston will push the head up.

 

Nice start for sure! Dig it!

 

This tool is handy to keep the oil pump in position while you have the oil pan off : https://www.brattons.com/OIL-PUMP-HOLDER-TOOL/productinfo/9895/

I made my own from a brass 1/8” npt pipe plug.

 

I'am usually not a proponent of chop tops, but man this one looks perfect. Even the quarter windows
have a nice symmetric shape and that radius in the visor matches the lower windshild frame. I really like
your car. Sorry for the oil pump problem, they do seize up on occasion. Could be lack of oil as mentioned.
I'll be following along for sure. Good luck.......

 

Another way, if the car was a recent runner. Is just bump the starter with the head loose. Done that a few times. Works great.