Projects Back from the dead… and better than ever - Model A roadster build

Some of y’all may recognize this pile of parts. Infact I had a build thread all about it here formerly known as “Romeo and Juliet”.


And as we all know, life can get in the way of the fun stuff and this project was no exception. Between having a child, building a house ourselves, and totaling my car consequently breaking my back; life has REALLY gotten in the way.
So after some discussion, Juliet has decided that she doesn't want to continue building the car for herself due to lack of time but suggested I keep building it the way I want to hence the all new thread.
The plan for this car has gone down a few different paths these past couple years and this new path is by far the most drastic, but is the plan that Im most happy with! Stay tuned, Ive got lots of progress to fill y’all in on.

 

First item on the chopping block. The Yblock. These engines just aren’t in my wheelhouse and freeing up some funds is going to help me progress this car greatly so I struck a deal with a friend that wants it for one of his projects, and now it sits patiently to the side for its day.


Instead we are going flathead v8. Im way more comfortable working on these engines and i have abundant flathead junk laying around.

 

When I last left off on the car, I had just cut the rear of the frame off to build a bigger Z. The 6” Z is still in the plans so I decided to get that item checked off the list to get this frame closer to being cut out of the jig. Im also going back to a spring-on-top banjo set up and returning to the original wheel base.

The rear crossmember needed lots and lots of love. I spent close to 6 hours straight with a grinder and welder fixing cracks and previous backyard repairs to make it safe and useable. At least the ugly parts will be hidden..

 

With the rear crossmember square and tacked in, I decided to drop the engine and transmission in and get my mounts figured out. Sadly the old engine mounts for the Y block were too far off so they needed to be cut out.

 

Man, you have been through a lot lately! Glad to hear you are doing better and able to work on the car. I’ll be following along as you go.

 

Transmission mount up next. A little unorthodox but I really like the turnout and it’s pretty darn stout. I still need to machine some steel pads and rubber bushings for the ears of the mount to sit on.

 

With both crossmembers in-place I felt good enough to cut the frame out of the jig.

 

Doing some math and using my model T for reference, I was able to get a good guess on how the frame will sit and got it blocked up into its “finished” position. I had some extra hands so we decided to set the body back on and put the engine and trans back in so I can start getting my firewall tackled and I just gotta say…. This car is turning out so cool! The stance is killer and I really couldn’t be happier with the way things are working out.

 

And that brings everyone up to speed. Im currently getting the firewall pieced back together in my sparse free time and will post the progress when Im done. Thanks for following along!

 

Its good to see you back on this, good choice on not using the Y block motor

 

Fish plates welded in on my Z.

Then I flipped the frame over to finish the underside. I notched the frame at the front crossmember for some spring clearance.


I decided to run the lever shocks in front like I did on my T, so I got the holes marked and drilled. The “balls” will weld to the wishbones.

My wife and Daughter are out of town for the next week and a half so my nights are freed up for the hotrod. Going to try to have it all in primer in the next few days. The fab work is just about finished.

 

Looking real good.
The boxing plates and trans crossmember worked out great.
Thanks for the update

 

I realized my axle wasn't holy enough. I fixed that.

 

Since I pie-cut my wishbones to get my caster correct, I decided to play it safe and make fishplates for them.


Next I spun down some shock link balls and welded them to the bones.

 

I bought some 3" diameter aluminum billet to make my engine risers.



I think it turned out pretty cool for only having basic machining knowledge. I don't claim to be a professional at any of this stuff

 

Second one done!

 

Glad you’re back! Bummed that you’re not using the BW transmission. I was following that closely since I’m doing the same thing.

 

Yeah it was an awesome engine! A buddy of mine is going to put it in his Mercury so it hasnt fully left the family at least.

 

I cleaned up the frame and put a coat of paint on it. I left out the transmission crossmember for now because I still have to add the mounts for the ‘32 truck pedals to bolt to.
For those that don’t follow me on instagram, I revealed a couple weeks ago that I’m going to part out my model T and move the drivetrain over to this new frame. I am just about at that point and I’m pretty excited. If everything goes to plan, I should have a roller very soon

 

Yesterday’s progress.

My axle is so Holy it has a slight glow to it with the lights off I love it.

 

Looking good!

 

Spindles mounted so why not throw the hubs on and make it roll! I still need to re-paint my backing plates.
Im loving the way it sits, Im excited to see it with the engine in and sitting even lower.

 

Nice work. Watching…

 

It took me more time to set up my rotary table and tram in the 3 jaw than it did to drill the holes. Ill use an actual end mill next time for a nicer hole but Im happy. I might not be done with the backing plates just yet, Ive got an idea Im kicking around…

 

I had a better idea this morning. In an effort to clean up some of those wonky holes I decided to re-drill the backing plates, this time with an end-mill like I should have from the start, but I wanted to take full advantage of the rotary table since I had it all set up. Slots it is!

 

For those that have owned panheads that sure looks like a linkert carb backing plate lol.

 

I had to google it and holy crap youre right. I will never not see it now

 

Ive been doing a lot of boring non-picture-worthy work on the car this past week, but I did get my backing plates painted.

 

better oil that chain!

 

Nooooo!...she's looking great!... glad you're back on it...having and raising babies is tough work you're looking at about 18-21 yrs. before she can start building cars again lol...in the meantime His & Hers roadsters will do so keep it in one peice!