Hey everyone! I've been lurking around the forum for a couple weeks now researching for my next build, a lot of great info on here! I have an opportunity to purchase a 30 sedan tudor in good shape but the body is completely disassembled. The cowl, doors, rear section, rear window sections etc, are all in pieces. I cant seem to find any info on reassembly for the tudor sedan. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, diagrams, anything. Is it typical to break the body completely down for a restoration? Thanks Dan
Welcome to the forum, I guess this will suffice as your intro. Yes, the nice thing about early Fords is that they can pretty much be blown apart into sections, restored, and then put back together again. We have a 30 tudor that is in that state right now sitting in our shop. Someone actually saved you a lot of work by taking it apart for you already. If you ever need pictures or measurements of how to get it back together, just PM me and I will take them off of ours. Don Here are some things to get you started in the meantime: http://macsautoparts.com/ford-model-a-specifications-page/a/215/
Thanks Don, Thats what I'm worried about is getting it back together. Do you have any kind of exploded diagram or parts list? I'm worried about making sure I get all the parts I need when I pick this thing up and where to start when it comes time for reassembly. Any tips would be very grateful! Dan
Tried the search feature here? I know I've seen diagrams and such posted here, a little time should find just what you need.
This is probably not going to sound like a whole bunch of help, but when you really look at them, Model "A" bodies are pretty easy to figure out. I always start by fitting the doors to the cowl so you have a nice gap at the front. Then figure out which door pillar is which, (once again, easy when you realy look) figure out what holes in the subframe match the holes in the door pillar and temprarily bolt it in. Hang the quarters, square it up, hand the rear panels, etc. Work your way back keeping an eye on door fit foremost.
Ha! I did forget to mention this all needs to take place with the subframe bolted down to a square, level frame with new bodyblocks...
If you played with erector sets when you were a kid it is like that, only bigger ! Louvers is right, you need a firm base to start laying out the subframe first, then once that is squared up you can start at the cowl and work back from there. We made this simple 4 x 8 platform out of plywood and 2 x 4's to build my Son's Brookville body. It came in a million pieces and without this platform we couldn't have done it. We scribed a center line and marks every 6 inches (I think) so that we could screw down the subframe totally square, assuring the body would also be square. I am heading to my shop now for a little bit and will shoot some pictures of the tudor body we have sitting in pieces to maybe help you out. Don Here is the platform we made. And the subframe laid out. Yours will be longer, this was a rpu body. This is what it looks like once the cowl is built and assembly started.
Yes I tried the search and couldn't find anything, It will probably make more sense once I have all the body parts laid out in my garage
Look for one of the "how to restore your Model A" books. You might also want to lurk on one of the Model a restorer sites but don't let on that you plan on building a rod if you post on them. Some of those guys carry a lynch rope in the rumble seat for when they run onto a hot rodder. I've got the same thing going on with the 31 Model A Victoria body and frame I just bought. It has to come down to the last removable part as it sat out in a field on it's side for a lot of years and is one big pile of rusted metal at the moment.
Boy, Howdy, I start to answer a thread, go to town and the produce stand for food and come back and post the answer and Don has shown how to put the car together. I've got a big pallet that I wagged home the other day that will make a good base for a table to build the body on.
Ok, I took some pictures of the one in our shop. Not the best shots as it is shoved into a corner, waiting it's turn, and it is full of crap stored inside it, but this will give you a basic idea of what the bones of it look like, and what some of the major parts are: Don Grrrrr, my computer froze up downloading, give me a minute. Mr. 48. The platform really makes it easy to keep everything lined up and square. We used sheetrock screws to fasten the subframe down to the platform so it couldn't move while assembling the rest of the body to it. I can't take credit for this idea, my Son Dan was the one who came up with it.
WOW Don, this is great stuff! So I'll need to make sure I get all the "Bones" with the body panels as well. I better do a little more homework before Thursday! Thank you very much for your response. Dan
Dan, if you just maybe download those pictures and take them with you it will kinda tell you what all goes with it. Depending on if you are going to channel the body or not you may not need all the subframe pieces, and those are available in the aftermarket, as are most of the other parts too. Ford was pretty cool in those years, they used nuts and bolts and rivits to hold the whole thing together so they come apart and go back together reallly easy. Have fun. Post some pictures when you get your new project home. Don
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