Projects 1929 Sport Coupe project

I stripped the fenders,splash apron, running boards, radiator,and wiring harness off the donor car tonight. Tomorrow I hope to pull the motor and ****** out and start tearing down the brake system.

 

Looks like a fun build in progress.You`re not too far from my home town.Vero Beach.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Here is the front motor mount I removed from my original frame and motor. Does anyone know if this is a stock Model A mount of some sort or an aftermarket. I have not been able to find any replacement square rubber pads in any of the parts catalogs.

 

Made some more progress. Started to take apart the engine so it can be cleaned and painted. The intake and exhaust are off of it. I plan on running headers and 2 Strombergs instead. Also will change the head along with some other stuff and still kicking around putting on electronic ignition.


Also started working on the brakes. I got them wired brushed and stripped, along with painted before it rained. I couldnt resist putting one up to the axle to see what it will look like!




Also the master cylinder/ battery box was delivered! This is a lot better than the one that came with the donor car.


Should make a lot of progress this week on the car. The spring perches should be back this week so that I can finish the front axle. I hope to get all the backing plates and drums painted and then its installing the master cylinder and brake lines.

 

The rearend is done. I cut the stock rear shock mounts to clear the brake lines and went with the tube shocks. Might replace them with crome ones in the future.

 

Got another questions! Im putting the front axle together and im noticing my wishbone is not going to line up with the spring perch holes without squeezing the wishbone together. It's a 46 inch 4''drop axle from Honest Charlies and the wishbone is stock. Should I have to squeeze it or should the holes just line up on there own?Im kind of worried that its going to lengthen the wishbone and it will not line up with the rear ball mount. What should I do? Help!

 

46" axles typically have 34 1/2" spring perch centers, and 48" axles have 36" spring perch centers. The 46" axle is typically used with fenders, and allows the front to be dropped with the tires fitting inside fender curvature. Also, 46" axles usually have split bones, radius rods or 4 bar. Hopefully, someone will comment who has experience using original wishbone mounted on 34 1/2" centers.

 

Greaser, Thanks for the information. I went ahead and squeezed the wishbone the 2 or so inches and put the spring perch bolts through it. I measured the distance from the ball to the axle and then went and measured the stock wishbone and axle on the donor car. They both were the same length. I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything works.

 

Finally she is back on her wheels. I got the engine cleaned up and ready for paint this week.

 

very cool project!!! keep up the good work!

Joe

 

This week I got the motor,starter,and pulleys painted.


I got word that it's going to be another month until the Mitchell transmission arrives. That ****s but oh well!

This weekend I plan on making as much progress as I can putting what I have together untill the transmission comes in. The cracks are fixed in the rear motor mounts and they are ready for paint. Also I have all the parts ready to re-***emble the parking brake cross shaft. Hooking up the steering and bleeding the brakes. I'll be picking up the dual carbs tomorrow. I found a set of Holley 94's that a guy had for sale. He owns a local carburetor rebuild shop and had them sitting on the shelf covered in dust. He is cleaning, rebuilding, and testing them along with giving them a warranty! From reading other posts on the H.A.M.B I guess they will need to have downsized jets. Next is placing the order for the high compression head,dual intake manifold,4 into 2 headers,finned valve cover and some other dress up odds n ends.

I'll post this in the cl***ifieds too but im selling the donor ch***is with front and rearend,steering column, and rebuilt stock transmission,juice or mechanical brakes along with a ton of other Model A parts I dont need. Let me know if your interested.

 

40s style with the banger looking great jermaero. Im working on a 29 S'Coupe in a mid to late 50s style

 

Got all the motor mounts installed along with the radiator bolted in to make sure everything fits. Touched up the paint on the radiator cooling tank and frame. Painted the generator and hung it back on the motor. Also installed the parking brake cross shaft. Went to install the tie rod from the donor car and found out it was to long so I have another on order along with new tie rod ends since the old ones were shot. Hope to get the steering and last little bit finished with the brakes this week.

I got a suprise that my transmission arrived early so I hope to get it by the end of the week!!!

 

Man, I'm gonna need sun gl***es. Get my email? Gary

 

Yep, just wrote you back.

Tomorrow I plan on unbolting the bellhousing from the transmission and getting the core ready to ship.

 

Finished the brakes lines and installed the new tie rod this week. The battery box. master combo went in without a hitch.


Also shipped the transmission core out. I hope to get the Mitchell transmission by the end of next week along with the headers and intake manifold.

I picked up the Holley 94's today from the rebuild shop. They did an awesome job!!

Next week im going to meet with the old owner of the car and also the guy who originally found the car sitting in the barn in NY. We are going to dig up some old pictures of the car when it was still a sedan.

 

Had the 4 into 2 header and intake waiting for me when I returned from my trip. I had to mock it up on the engine the same night to see what it will look like with the carbs! They still need to be cleaned but that can wait for now. The transmission wasnt shipped untill yesterday so it will be here next week. Here are a few picts of the set up so far.



I spent a day out west with one of the old owners learning more about the car. The car must have been drivable during WW2 as the old owner remembered that the it had a gas ration sticker on the windshield (to bad that was long gone when I bought the car). The last time the car was driven was in the mid 80's but was parked after that. He said the car was pretty much rust brown with no original paint left and the rodents had eaten the roof and all of the interior. The sport coupe back half was stock Ford green when he bought it from a salvage yard in Demming,NM. He had some photos of the car in the mid to latter 80's. As you can see it was a plain jane tudor with a brushed red paint job. The roof was actually tar paper that he had put on by a local roofing company that had s****s left over!

 

gotta love a story behind a car! I'm a ****er for history and photo history makes it all the better. Good luck with your build looks like its gonna be smart!!

 

Replaced the stock bolts with some chrome bolts.


Installed the Mitchell transmission and engine today. Everything is bolting back together good.

 

Looks great! Looks like you didn't drop the steering arms on the spindles and opted to run the rod over the wishbone?

 

Looking good. Gary

 

Having to fabricate a bracket to move the wishbone ball joint back about a half inch. Squeezing the wishbone to fit the axle perch bolt holes caused the wishbone ball the move back. Just finished bolting on the headers,intake, and carbs. Should have all the needed carb linkages and fuel parts by the end of the week. Needing to work out some steering binding issues. I hope once the wishbone is fully bolted up to the transmission the axle flex will go away along with the binding.

Tex***peed, I used the Superbell dropped steering arms and the tie rod ended up above the wishbone with about 1 inch clear.

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My buddy and I drove his 31 coupe Thanksgiving morning and ended up running out of gas and had to call for help. When the guage read 1/8th it actually meant 0! Nothing like doing some explaining to the wife!

The bracket is finally done and installed. I still had problems with the steering and was able to trace it back to the steering box. A few adjustments and some schooling from an old timer on how to do it myself and she is working great! Also finished the carb linkages and changed the power valves in the 94's down to 3.5. All the linkage arms are hooked back up from the steering column and new spark plugs are installed. Hope to get the brakes bleed by this weekend. Next up is to start working on the body. The goal is to get the body on it so that I can get this thing out on the road to work all the bugs out of it. Driving her in rust and primer doesnt hurt my feelings and it will give time to figure out if I want to chop the top or not.
Here is a photo of the carb linkage set up:

 

Go man go. The engine looks neat... Gary

 

Not much to show. I was able to get the brakes done. All the fluids have been replaced and topped off. Next up is the fuel lines.

 

Wow looks great. I'm picking up an A next weekend and it's destined for much of the same treatments that you have done to yours. It'll keep the banger for a while, at least untill I can find the mill I really want.

Subscribed, and looking forward to your progress...

 

Mounted the front fender brackets, safety fuse on starter, and finishing the emergency brake linkage. Thinking that a new emergency brake handle would come with the Mitchell transmission I shipped mine still attached to the core. Opps! I had to track down my old handle since this transmission tower is an early style with the emergency brake handle in front of the shifter and all my spares are later style side setups. It should be in tomorrow so I can repaint it and install it to the new transmission. After that I can finish the emergency brake setup. I also picked up a new wiring harness to rewire everything. Cant wait to get the fuel lines done and start her up!
Also spending some time refinishing one of the old 19 inch wheel and tire that came on the car for my fathers Christmas present. My grandfather ran a Gulf Station back in the late 40's early 50's and my dad asked me to save one of these wheel and tire combo. What a great excuse to have to work on Model A's during the holidays!!

 

Back to work on the A again. I pulled the ch***is out and put it into storage so I have room to work on the body. Moved the body in tonight.


More good news! Model A parts showed up under the Christmas tree! Replacement cowl panels, wood body blocks,rubber body pads, mounting bolts, and door hardware. Its time to get to work stripping the front off and getting the tank cleaned!
Time to remove this

and replace with these

Also going to start replacing sub frame extensions, and look at chopping the top a few inches.

 

Got a little done tonight after helping install a transmission on a friends banger project. The drivers side cowl panel came off without to much trouble. It looked alot worse that it is. After cleaning up the area around it all I have is some rott in the lower pillar and then its on to installing new sub frame extensions.

I plan on getting the other cowl panel off tomorrow and then start working on removing the tank, etc...

 

Was able to remove the p***enger side cowl panel and rusted subrail extension. The lower pillar and triangle brace on the p***enger side are rusted thru and shot. The p***enger side cowl isnt even attached to the rest or the subframe. The lower fire wall is in good shape, the upper fire wall is in need of some patching.

Monday the car is off to the metal shop to get media blasted and to have the rusted cowl panels fixed. I know when im in over my head and not knowing how to weld doesnt help.Hope to ***ist in the repair so I can learn. Also the door tops will be welded back on and the roof parts that need welding will be reattached. Im going with a 3 inch chop on the top.Tonight I dis***embled the top so I could see what will need to be cut. The belt rail is installed along with the bracing behind the doors that had been cut off.