Projects So...I am lookin' at a Model A...finally!

Everyone keeps saying put juice brakes in it. Are the original brakes that bad? I know.....stupid question but this will be my first A.

 

i have never gone out to my garage and stepped on the brakes and had my foot go to the floor on my mechanicals
i have come up to a light and stomped on the brakes and almost gone through it
but a few clocks of my ford wrench and boom new brakes
really its up to you if you want to change them out, but mechanicals are reliable if you
a) keep them adjusted
b) inspect them tof wear

tk

 

If you are keeping it close to stock, meaning a hopped up banger, the stock brakes will do fine. Keep them adjusted, just like the early hydraulics, and they will be fine.

I have one with mechanical and one with hydraulic.

Neal

 

Shane,
I drive my original 30 coupe alot in the summer time. And to answer your question, Yes original A brakes are that bad!....By todays speed limits you have to really be on it to keep from getting run over in traffic. And those old brakes don't work worth a shit!...Regardless of what anyone tells you in todays traffic they are not very safe......You can only push that pedal so hard!...(hell you might as well be draging your feet..LOL) the link rods get out of whack which causes one brake to work better than others. Bottomline is guys do not go through all the work and put juice brakes on their model A's because they just don't have anything better to do....LOL. However I have not changed mine yet and have been driving the hell out of it.......But have had a few close calls and have had to stand on the pedal with both feet!...LOL

 

Plus if you wanna put a dropped axle under it...juice brakes are almost a must. Elrod put one under his coupe and still used mechanicals, but it was a lot of fan and planning.

 

Thanks

 

Good point that a lot of guys and especially the single ones ones with no kids miss. A coupe usually means that someone in the family stays home or that part of the family has to follow along in a chase car every time you go somewhere with the fun car.

 

Yeah you did! And I was sad for about 3 weeks... then along came my Tudor in a trade for my old coupe. I can't blame anyone for going Tudor vs Coupe. Take someone for a ride one at a time, or pile 4 in? Keep the fenders, there are enough channeled, ground hugging, unnecessarily long front end Tudors out there.

 

takin my wife to ride in it Saturday.

 

Mechanical brakes *can* be just fine except it takes a mountain of work to keep them in that condition.
Mechanical brakes are so unacceptable that the Antique Automobile Clubs will not deduct points if your perfectly restored car has hydraulic brakes.

Lockheed brakes are not much better. Go with self adjusting Bendix brakes

 

Give me an invitation, sounds like fun.

David

 

Most Antique Clubs make concessions in the arena of safety items even on a high-point restoration. Safety belts, hydraulic brakes, turn signals are an example of ignored improvements.

 

Drove my mechanical brake Model A cabriolet up and down the blueridge parkway with no problems at all. Stopped on a dime going down hill in a row of other antique cars. Mechanicals work great if the parts are not worn out and they are adjusted right. The reason why they don't work in peoples cars is that they are still using the worn out parts that were in the car in 1930. You put new mechanical parts in the brake system and your car will stop. One reason to find a local Model A restorers group and have them help you learn about your car. They also usually go on driving events with their cars rather than park all day in a parking lot shows.

I've got both stock Model As and the Hotrod Model A. I usually do some modifications to the "stockers" like a 39 trans, overdrive, air conditioning, f1 steering, 12V, high compression heads, etc but I've always worked on the mechanicals until they worked.

The hotrod got Lincoln brakes because that was the hot ticket in traditional rodding and I wanted to make the conversion.

Ive always been surprised that hotrodders will go through all the trouble to make the conversion, but not spend less amount of time adjusting what is already there.

Anyways, have fun with the car today! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any Model A questions!

 

Cool deal! Welcome to the passion

 

That is a nice car. I would probably mess it up.( I have a few friends who restore model a's that cringe every time I talk about getting one . ) A hopped up banger is pretty cool, but an av8 is cooler

 

I did it! I am an A owner!

Just need to get that dam seat back about 6" !

 

Turn the seat legs 180 degrees...that will give you a couple more inches of leg room...or Mac's, maybe other A parts suppliers, have 2" off set legs available.

 

Could also fabricate a pair front seat legs...nice car!

 

Thats a great little crate!

 

Beautiful!

 

Good for you Shane!

 

Good job and congratulations,
I am an A man at heart.
Ran with a couple this summer a little bit, their car is attached.
It has a '40 drop axle, juice brakes, F-100 steering box, model A banger with a new Burlington counterbalanced crank, high compression head, Weber carbs, electronic ignition, inserted rods and mains, pressure oiling, Mitchell three speed main with a Mitchell overdrive (gives you 6 forward speeds and 3 reverse) AND air conditioning. It will do freeway speeds no problem. Should also add that it has a three row radiator. I know that made mine driveable.
Also has KH bent spoke wheels.
It was a pleasure to drive and he can haul friends along with him.
You raise the hood and you see old 4 banger iron for power, it blows folks minds.
Just something to think about.
If that was my car I'd sure consider going along those lines.

LJ

 

Real clean Tudor. That thing is gonna rule!

 

thanks guys!

 

Can't wait for the snow to melt. Couple more weeks I hope and we will be on the road.

 

I'm doing the same thing you're doing. I have a stock 29 Tudor and slowly turning it into a hot rod as time and money allow. I live in WI too and have actually come to your business and toured the plant. You'll have just as much fun in the Tudor as a Coupe. I'll drive mine over sometime.

 

Sounds good

 

Sell it to some one who wants a stock model A. Then use the money to buy the coupe you are looking for.
If you want to take more people in it get a rumble seat coupe. That way you have the best of both. Coupes look better than sedans as far as I'm concerned.