My buddy Mike V. isn't*necessarily a hardcore gearhead who can tell every tiny detail of a 20s or 30s era Ford... He's an animator. But he does have an appreciation of old cars, and when he told me he wanted to get a Model A last year I was excited ... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
So is this a hot rod ? More like a Resto-rrection (resurrection of an old derilect by restoring the vitals)
Might be more traditional than 99% of the builds we see out there. I bet a lot of the original hot rods started with just get it running so I can get a date then built from there.
Read this..." slowly customize it to his taste, while leaving the honest patina in place. On the short list are juice brakes, and smaller diameter/ wider wheels (hes thinking of just going down to 19″s, but Im pushing him to go for 16″ Ford steelies)."......squint your eyes just a bit....ya just may see it. YUP The day I drug home a butchered up T coupe body it was called the "hot rod" wouldn't call it anything else....
Jive, if i got the essence of your blog, it had more to do with the process than the product anyway.....correct me if i am wrong....
He'll have more fun with it if he goes about it in that fashion. Also, sounds like he's learned a lot about A's in the process which will only serve him as time goes on and maybe gets another project down the road. I did a similar thing with my first A, '28 Tudor. The cool thing is that there's a lot he can do without tearing it completely apart and never getting to have fun with it. Yes....I think it's about this type of process and not so much the ultimate product. Very cool!!!
Sounds like Mike V. and I are on the same build plan, but I have a coupe. Until the juice brakes are on, steelies probably won't fit. Tried it on mine, and the lugs are too short. Also, the A drum has nubs on it that keep steel wheels from sitting flush. I tried the 40 Ford wheels as the first "modification" from stock....19" wheels just look wrong on a hot rod.) 16" wires will work though.
I, too, am working on the "MikeV" plan, only with a '31 Tudor. I'm going 17" in the rear and 16" on front. Found 2 cars locally to source juice brakes from. I really want to get the thing running, but just haven't been able to make the time.....but it's coming!
I'll be pretty much on that course too with my Deuce, first get it running good, then we'll see what feels like being changed, but I do want to get to know it's character before messing with it. Cheers, Eddie
Ok, been really thinking about this particular blog. What an incredible opportunity to truly EXPERIENCE a hot rods transformation. Very few of us will ever get really EXPERIENCE and feel the changes we've made to our cars vs. a stocker....what a privilege.
Love it! Wouldn't this be the ultimate "era-correct" build? of someone say in highschool, with a very limited budget, acquires a stock model a, and then slowly gives it some personal touches. I think this is great, get it to all running and driving stock, and then start the build! I am very interested in following this one!
....spark retarded. Anyone know what head that is with the square casting mark below the water outlet? Maybe it's already a hot rod. Might be 5:1 compression. 19's are funky on a 28-9 car. Although one of my '29 roadster's sported them for many years. It was a 1932 wreck that the local Ford dealer repaired, and they put on red painted 19" wheels and 1933 tan paint to make it look like the new models. I was 2nd owner.
Brett (and anyone else), I have a project thread in the Trad Hot Rod forum if Mike V doesn't start one: Pop's Coupe
I thought I would throw up a couple pictures to illustrate what unbolting some of the stock stuff does for one of these. <a href="http://s448.photobucket.com/user/Wallingford_Hot_Rods/media/2013-02-151506471_zpsdd22ac49.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a> Pulled the bumper and spare tire. Installed Guide headlights. 5.50x16 front. 7.50x17 rear tires. <a href="http://s448.photobucket.com/user/Wallingford_Hot_Rods/media/DSC_0087_zps20a1b931.jpg.html" target="_blank"></a>
Definately my plan too - take a stocker through the stages a teenager would have done. Rush a mod here and there so its a little different for the next run (we all need a deadline to push us along). The difference is now it's 80 years old and still running around, instead of 10 - 20 years old. I'm happy to learn along the way to making my hot rod this way... Like the pick-up to Hitchhiker ^^ subtle and nice stance. I can't wait to swap out the mechanical brakes to get mine sitting right.
28 29 tudor..... When I first arrived in SoCal in '61 one of the first Hot Rods I took note of was at my friends house. The beauty queen a few doors down boyfriend had a blue raked and V8 28/29......wow what a cool rod!
Amen !!! Thats the way it was done in the day , there was no money and no mustang 2 front ends etc......... We helped a friend do a 1929 Roadster pickup a few years ago , he is still driving it almost every day. It now has good brakes, a new engine , burns intake manifold , stromberg 81 carb, mallory ignition ( Bubbas of course) and a fresh mexican blanket for front seat upholstry. This car didnt have to be done on a small budjet it just was ! That was the orginal plan from day one....
This sounds like a popular plan! Heres my take. Take a stocker that was restored in the 70's and suffered long term storage. Get it running, rebuild a water pump, distributor, carb, and flush the radiator. Then add some big and little rubber and take the hood off for that hot rod look. I have a B carb for it but wasn't able to get it to run right, so the Tillotson went back on for now. Took off the bent spokes and had some stock 17's powdercoated. Theres my take on this idea!!!
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