Projects 1929 Sport Coupe project

I just towed home my 29 Model A sport coupe project. She has been pieced together from 2 differant cars. The front half and frame is a early 29 sedan, and the back is sport coupe. The engine block is a May of 31 with a rebuilt in 33 radiator. Im planning on keeping her a 40's full fendered banger. I just picked up a complete sport coupe top. Here is a few picts so far...



Pulling sheet metal off now. Loving the lack of hood and funnel on the window frame fuel line.

The top with all the brackets and window header.

 

very nice indeed, always loved sport coupes, one of my personal favs, u have yourself a great beginning there, im sure youre grinning ear to ear ( i know i would haha), keep us all updated on what you do with her, please
A-Tub

 

Looks like a great project, there are quite a few SportCoupe threads here for reference.

 

Neat. Where abouts in Florida? If you are fairly close to the Tampa area, I'd like to invite myself over to take some measurements. Gary

 

Started to pull more sheet metal off and clean out all the parts in the back. Removed the rusted floor pan under the seat riser and in front of the seat. The car still has planked wood floor boards under the dash by the pedals. Im now on the hunt for some doors as all four doors that came with the car had been cut to make it a coupster at one point. The ones on the car have great bottoms but hacked tops the others have the other three sides to the top but rotted bottoms.

Cleaned the carb and put new guts into it to see if she will run. Had to replace a broken starter bendix. Checked the points, cleaned the plugs, new battery, etc... She turns over but doesnt really have enough juice to make it past a couple revolutions. A little more tinkering and hope for the best.

Gary, I am in the Tampa area, just send me a PM. There are 2 other Model A's on my street that we are building into early bangers.

 

PM sent. Gary

 

Just removed to driver side front fender, radiator shroud, and radiator. Also disconnected the steering column and everything else connecting the body to the frame. I hope to lift the body off by this weekend.


While cleaning the front axle I ran across this aftermarket "steering stabilizer". There is ALOT of caked on **** all over the bottom of this car.

 

Someone welded the p***enger side fender to the splash apron so it will have to come off after the body is removed.
Today I was able to pick up the rims that I want to use for this build. A guy had bought a set of 5 Kelsey Hayes 16'' bent 40 spoke wheels but decided not to use them. A friend of my grandpa who is familiar with these types of wheels from back in the early 50's rode along with me and checked them out to make sure they were usable. As soon as the weather here clears i'll pull the car out and shoot some photos as they are already mounted. The tires are good enough for the shop but need to be replaced. They will get media blasted and powder coated later.

 

Very cool. Quite a few Sport Coupes on here.. Yours is going in a much different direction than mine however.

 

Nice

 

Pulled the car out in the open and removed the body off! Took the rest of the day removing the rear bumper brackets and rusted on bolts. Then did a little cleaning while it was out in the driveway. After reading up on another post on how to check to see if the frame is square, im glad to say that the frame seems pretty good. No cracks or heavy rust. Also was able to find the build date stamped on the frame. It looks to be a mid April 1929 frame. The same month as my birthday,coincidence I guess. Here's some updated picts:
Im digging the new wheels!!


Heres a shot of my little one car garage I have been doing all the work in.

A buddy took this after we dropped the body at a self storage unit.

 

Looks good, what are your over all plans in respect to a 40s build?

 

I plan on keeping her full fender but im kicking the idea around about no fenders after seeing a photo of one. Black body with a lighter tan top, no bumpers, teardrop taillights. No chop or channel. Just a stock interior with vintage aircraft seatbelts and a tachometer.

As far as the suspension goes putting a 3-4 inch drop axle, lowering the rearend about 2 inches, 40 Ford juice brakes, quickchange rear, syncronized trans. The white walls on it now are just rollers and are dry rotted. I plan to run big and little's.

Im keeping the banger for power. I spoke to an engine rebuilder. Were going to do a complete rebuild with oversized valve's, reground cam, high compresion head, lightned flywheel, twin stromburg down draft carbs, and headers. Im debating bitting the bullet and adding the counter balanced crank while its torn down. Any suggestions? He said it should give me about 75-80hp.

 

All I can say is YUP!

 

Good plan, I think I would go with a balanced crank also...

Here's the monthly banger thread.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=603947&highlight=banger+july+thread

 

This is the beginnings of a cool project!

 

I dig it, great project

 

Thanks everyone for the great comments!

I didnt get anywork done today but I did find out the history on the car from the old owner's son. The car was originally a tudor sedan owned by an older couple in Oakfield, NY back in the early 70's. The local milk man making his rounds saw it in the barn on the couples property. It had been parked there since 1942. The milk man bought it from them and owned it for about 2 weeks then sold it to the gentleman I bought it from. From then on it sat on top of a car lot in Pavilion, NY. The car was brought to New Mexico in 1988. The rear half of the car had rusted so bad that it fell apart on the way to NM and the son welded on the sport coupe back half. The steering wheel was made from a piece of Ford truck wheel welded to Model A steering wheel spokes. I hope to find out the name of the original couple who owned it or why they parked it in 42 from the milk man who the 3rd owner has stayed in touch with. Also he is trying to find the photos and a old video of the car when it was still a sedan.

Well, back to parts hunting!

 

Great pics man

 

Just removed the transmission and engine tonight. I have the frame pretty much stripped down. Only thing left is to remove the front and rear suspension and she will be ready for sand blasting. All the brakes, motor mounts, and anything else that could possibly be bolted to the frame has been removed. Ill post some picts when I get a chance. As I said earlier in this build im planning on keeping the banger for power but was going to put a drop front axle. Should I keep the wishbone or split it? If I was to split it I was thinking about running hairpins. I kind of want to leave well enough alone if I dont have to split it since I dont think it will interfere with the oil pan.

 

Well like I posted earlier the frame has been stripped to the bare bones. I only have the rear axle barely connected just to be able to roll it in and out of the garage. The splash pans and front bumper brackets in the photo are also off now. Its off to the sand blaster and then its ready for paint. The drop front axle and suspension is on order.


The next step is to mount the front axle axle kit, installing shocks, rebuild the steering column/box, install Float-A-Motor kit, and then start rebuilding the rearend.

I would like to get everyones opinion on brakes. Im considering keeping the mechanical brakes atleast for now and maybe upgrading later. The mechanicals are all intact minus the brake rods. Im interested on hearing everyones opinion on if this is a smart idea or should I just bite the bullet and install juice brakes while its all apart?

 

Nice start to a Sport Coupe. That top you got had been for sale on CL over Georgia way for over a year, I know because I had been looking for one for mine. Good luck on your build, I have been building mine for a while now.

 

Thank you aldixie. Any tips on restoring a Sport Coupe? Im learning as I go.

Yep, that was the top in GA. I called around to see if anybody made replacement brackets and everyone told me to find a donor car or top since replacement brackets are not reproduced. I had to grab that one when I ran across it. I need a set of doors since both of mine have been cut into coupster doors by the old owner. You wouldnt know of any would you?

 

The Sport Coupe and Standard Coupe use the same doors, so just find a set of Coupe doors and you'll be good to go. Previous owner of mine started to do a chop but didn't know what he was doing, every cut was at a differnt height and angle, luckily still had the steel pieces so I welded them back on.

The top brackets are the hardest to find so you did well with that top. All of the wood pieces are reproduced.

 

Great thread, Ill be watching it...My next project will be a 60s hotrod styled Sport Coupe...the 425 Nailhead is sitting here patiently waiting for its new home!

 

Well, after reading a lot of build threads on brake upgrades I decided to take the plunge into upgrading to Juice brakes now while the car is apart. I called a bunch of places to see what a upgrade kit would run and was quite surprised of the cost involved if I bought all the components new. Ouch!!!! Since I had to go out west on work I figured I would stop by a local salvage yard to see if they would have the parts I needed to upgrade to Juice brakes.

I think I found the parts I need!
1942 Ford

1946 FORD

Im waiting for the spindles and complete front and rear brakes to be pulled from these cars and shipped. Between the 2 cars i'll have a complete set. Who said you cant go down to the local salvage yard and find the parts you need to build a traditional hotrod any more? You just have to travel half way across the country to do it! I guess thats not so local, but still cool. Visiting these salvage yards are like stepping back into time. Flatheads laying all over the place and banjo axles stacked in piles. Not to mention a ton of cool project cars.

I took this photo of a similiar brake drum to those that are being pulled. I have search and have not been able to identify this make of drum. If anyone knows what type they are please let me know. All four drums have fins and what looks like plates on the outside of them for support for wire wheels or something. They all are 5x 5 1/2 bolt pattern.

 

Plans within plans within plans... keep on trucking. Gary

 

looks like your on a mission. looking good

 

Nice score...

 

Do not split the wishbone unless you have to. It will steer and handle better with the stock setup. Are you going to drop the rear any? It will also handle better with the front dropped.
Butch