Would you Hot Rod this 1930 Model A?

"what he say"

 

what about just an early v8 swap? a flathead would be alot nicer to see when you lift the hood rather than the stocker 4 banger or an sbc, nice car btw!

 

If you dont the next guy will and he will have a more solid starting point and probably be finished/driving before you if you start with a lesser car.

 

It's yours to do with what you want. But I can see me driving something like that as it is, in modern traffic, just once, and immediately coming home and taking it apart to put juice brakes, a '40 rear, and whatever newer motor will fit in there easily - a flatty, a Chevy 265 V6 (4.3 in modern speak), an aluminum Buick V8, something with enough torque I can put a highway gear in the rearend but not bend the frame like a pretzel with it. Plus 12V electrics with brighter lights front and back. And lower it in front at least.

But ultimately, I see fairly solid tudors selling for under $3000 (sometimes well under), if you were going to box the frame, change the drivetrain, and paint it a different color, you could just as easily sell that and buy a nonrunner that needs paint anyways and be a few thousand dollars ahead to put into the other parts you need.

 

What Squirrel said!

 

I just went through a similar scenario this year. I bought my uncle's 31 Tudor sedan. 21XXX miles. Never left the county. Original Navy Blue paint. Things got so heated about me rodding it, that I sold it to a friend.

He cut five inches out of the top, and it will soon have a 52 Caddy 331 in between the rails.

Hot Rod all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hop up the 4 banger and leave the rest in place... till you get bored of that, then lower it.

 

yes. hot rod. restored cars are for old guys with grey ball hair.

 

Me and my dad cut up a 28 sedan that was even nicer than that when I was eleven, we even had all the paper work including every service slip since new! The best thing we ever did...HOT ROD!! I drove it for my High School car.

 

My vote is yes

 

Back in '59, my first car was a 29 coupe with juice brakes, 16 inch Kelsey Hays wires, and an overhead conversion on the 4 banger. Was a hoot to drive and looked good too. That is what I have longed for ever since.

 

Personally I think it would be a shame to hot rod something that is so complete. Cutting up a car that nice and complete would be like taking a barn find hot rod survivor and turning into a Boydster.

 

Hack it up. Leave the paint though. Stock looking paint rules.

 

but it was someones car now iths his.

but i do vote for the reverseable changes. 16's reversed eyed springs and either ovh conversion or a warmed up v8

 

Oh god

 

Chop49,

A full rod treatment nooooooooooooooooooooooo. A mild change is a yes. Put a dropped axle on, juice brakes ('40 Ford) work great, change to 12 volt. Put some early hop items on the engine for a little more go. Doing it this way you could always changed it back to stock. This would make it safe and a lot of fun.

Cruiser

 

HOT ROD IT!!! Think about it everybody,starting from such a solid stocker,is probably the most "traditional" starting point of all.Remember,in the 30's,40's and 50's,that's exactly how many of the best rods started out.That said building it in stages,while still keeping it driveable,would also be keeping with traditions from those early days,and would certainly be fun.

 

the saying "anyone can restore a car, it takes a real man to chop one" seems to fit nicely here. cut it up!

 

If it is slapped together from many pieces as a restore then rod it. If it's an original and pro restored or well restored back to a 99 point car then hot rod it.
If it was an original, never in an accident, original paint, unrestored, do not touch it, but preserve it and $ell it to the next keeper of the original.

 

I'd be cool with juice brakes, 35 wires, reverse eye springs, and an overdrive. But not a full on chop job. If all you're going to use is the body shell, it's not worth it. Unless you plan to pull the body off and sell the rest to me. Then I'm interested.

 

I'd add a Model B K member, and B or C banger engine, hopped up of course, with a later trans and rear end to handle it.
Restack the springs for comfort and stance.
I'd drop the A axle, or change it to a later one and change the spindles and brakes to '48 juice and add to the rear frame and hang a Model B tank on the back.
Steel 16" wheels with 48 Merc caps and (not too) big & littles.
No other visible body changes at all.
All changes would be bolt on and reversible.
I'd keep all the original parts so they could be reinstalled at a future date if it turns out this IS the last stock Model A that no one fucked up (too bad) after all...

 

yes I would.

 

A tudor Model A is not exactly rare. How many million Model A were build?

I bought one that was not that nice but still looked good from 20 feet and gave it some attitude. Never lost any sleep over it and now it is fun to drive. Those that think it should be left stock should jump in a stocker and take it out for a 100 mile trip. You had better pack a lunch and you will probably get ran over on the highway.

Mine could be switched back to stock but who would want to?

Neal

p.s. I also have a stock Model A that will stay that way while I have it. So that one can be "the one" for the museum.

 

Odds are that the next keeper will street rod it.

Neal

 

Neal - dead on what I am after - great looking car!

Mine might be a lil lower tho

 

No harm no foul if the car turns out like this... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=333910&d=1184905577

 

I would not rod it. Hack up something that is in decent condition maybe needing a re-restoration. There are tons of As out there that have been sitting around since their 70s restoration that need to be redone. If you feel the need to chop up a nice car, get one of those.

Personally, I think hot rods should be made from cars that need everything to be redone, maybe have shot engines (you plan to throw that out anyway right?). Start with something decent but needing a full restoration.

It's an A, you could find a better candidate for cutting up with a small amount of effort.

And, BTW I don't think it's easier to restore a car than to hot rod one. With a hot rod you can do anything you want, limited only by your creativeness. With a restoration there is only one way to put it back - like it came from the factory. Every car I own has some sort of modification because you can't find those little plastic and rubber parts anymore. It's easier with popular American cars than others. I have a 1934 Lancia and a 1957 Olds Feista Wagon. It would be much easier to modify either of those than to hunt down the original parts and restore them.

 

Royalshifter has it right.

 

If you're going to turn it into a ground scraping CARTOON TRADITIONAL RAT ROD... hell no!

But something like this? Yea baby!

Sam.

 

I'd vote for only reversible mods, maybe something along the lines of what SamIyam posted.