Projects 1940s Model A Sport Coupe Build Thread

Great project. I posted a pic of your car on a Ford Model A Facebook page I started.

Feel free to post more.

Later,Bill

 

Josh, Check out this build.The builder may be near you,DeerLake,PA.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=741762&page=4 Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

A lot of work done this weekend. I hung the windshield header where it needs to be and got the windshield fitting nicely. I used parts from three different cars so I had to tweak and trim a little, but finally ended up with the windshield hinged nicely, folding well, and fitting tight when closed.





Next I was back working on the top structure. I am fabbing the roof supports out of 3/4" square tube and flat strap. Here I started with some side supports.





I had to slightly crown each piece with my tubing bender to get them to fit the contour of the roof skin. Next I added a cross brace.







The roof skin is going to attached solid in the front, sides, and rear, but one top it's going to float on the supports. I don't want to have the roof attached solid on top as it might buckle in the sun. There will be a thin layer of foam between the skin and tubes so that the metal won't vibrate.

I also go my steering column finished. Here is the box bolted up and the new DD shaft in place for welding to the bottom of the '36 column.



First I welded the butt joint.



Then added four plug welds to the inner shaft through the holes I drilled. With two inches of overlap I think this shaft should be plenty strong at the joint.



Later Sunday I started to fab up the gas tank. Here is the baffle I bent up for the lower portion of the tank.





Right now I'm in the process of laying out the filler neck, sending unit, and lines then I can start to box the tank in.

 

Finished up the gas tank this weekend. I layed out the sender, filler, and lines and cut some holes in the tank top.



I wanted to make sure the tank would fit in the trunk so I tacked the top in place and tried it out.







You can also see my cool old aluminum spring loaded, flip top filler cap. It came off of an old water tank on the front of a bus. The tank fit like a glove so it was time to weld. I wanted to weld all the panels from the inside first that were accessable so I tacked the sides on.



Then I cut the spot welds holding the top on and welded the sides in from the inside.



Then it was onto the pain staking process of welding the top on. That took over an hour skipping round and round.







I also rewelded the bottom and sides from the outside to make double sure it wouldn't leak. This is the time I wished I had a TIG as the welds would have been nicer and there would have been far less grinding!



Finally I got the tank all ground down. I fit all the panels with a V at the edges so there was plenty of meat left after grinding. Next up is a pressure test, mounts made, and a coating of sealer.

 

Nice job on the tank... but if you don't mind, here is something to think about. I had a buddy build me an unusually shapped tank and while it fit well and all, because of the shape the sending unit reads "irregularly," which is something I didn't expect (being an art major!).

My tank is 12" high, so one of those vertical tube style Autometer senders fit in perfectly. But as the top section is smaller than the bottom, the float in the sending unit drops fairly rapidly until the fuel level gets down to the level of the larger, bottom section of the tank. SO... as you start driving on a full tank of gas, the dash gauge drops alarmingly fast at first... as if you had a BBC and dual quads. Freaks passengers, which is fun, but until I fingered out what was going on I thought I had a big problem.

My tank holds just a quart or so over 13 gal. We "pressure tested" it by just filling it up with water and letting it sit for a couple of days. No leaks. I also filled it a gallon at a time, so I could be sure of it's capacity, which turned out to be 2 gal more than art student math, so that was good, too. Gary

 

Thanks for the info, Gary. Yeah, I saw in my tank design that the sender read rate would vary similar to your tank. Mine is about 13.5 gal, using math. The top portion is about 2/5 the size of the lower portion. I guess the sender will drop somewhat faster for the first 1/4 to 1/2 on the gauge, then slow down for the remaining part. I always set me senders up so they go to E a little before the tank is actually on fumes so that I have a little cushion. Built three different tanks and haven't run out yet!

 

Spent all weekend working on the roof structure. Most of the time was spent making a new lower attachment point for the roof. I started with some 14 ga metal bent into a 90 degree angle. This bolts to the holes where the wood rail for the canvas top used to bolt.

Unfortunately the top of the quarters is a double compound curve. Since I don't have a shrinker and stretcher I had to form the piece the tedious way, by cutting 100 slots in the metal and forming it by hand.









Lots of cuts and bending to get here. Then the same process for the other side.



When I had the piece all formed and rewelded I added the quarter windows to the mix.



Here is the whole beltline and window piece before I permanetly attached it. I used a combo of bolts and panel adhesive on the beltline piece to seal it up good and hold it tight. The windows and roof all weld into place.



Next I moved onto the rear window panel. The T-shaped beading between the rear and sides of my roof panels was rotted loose so I made some new pieces from flat stock to hold the roof.



After some trimming and tweaking I was able to start to weld the rear panel on. That's as far as I got.



I did take advantage of the nice sunlight on Sunday to roll the car outside for some updated body shots. I think it's coming together nicely.















I think I need some taller rear tires when I buy new ones. The rollers are 6.50-16s, but look kind of short with the 6.00 fronts. I think I'll go with 7.00s. I think 7.50s will be too tall.

 

Looks good!!!!!!

 

Your car is turning out nice. I am in the process of replacing the top on mine and you work (pictures) will help me out. Good thread and nice build.

 

Josh,it looks real good. Im prowd of you as you should be of your progress and accomplishment. Your getting it to a point where it should be super fun,meaning there are no big deal decisions to make, kinda like when you go uptown and buy a new suit. Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

So is the plan to have a removable top or what?

 

The top is going to be fixed. It will be painted to resemble a canvas covered top like on the Model A Special coupes where most of the roof was covered and the side windows were body color.

 

ahhh...ok. I'm still undecided on how to do mine. I do know that I don't want a full canvas non-removable top.

 

Looking good, Vern! ~

 

Got the rear of the roof buttoned up this weekend. I started on the right side and got the rear corner panel fitted in.





Then I had to make up some filler strips to fill in the gaps.





Then welded everything up.



Then onto the driver's side.



If anyone has reasonably priced useable roof pieces over the doors for sale please PM me.

 

Worked more on the roof this weekend. I scored these Model A pickup roof panels from a friend. They were perfect to fill in all the gaps. Not cheap, but had all the curves in all the right places so saved me a ton of work.

Here is the left panel set in place before trimming to fit.





And after some careful measuring and trimming.



Then I got the other side on. These panels made it really easy to fill most of the top.



I took my filler panel and flanged the edges. It then fit snug in the original roof hole in the pickup panels. This will save me a ton of welding (and potential warpage) as I can bolt the filler piece in from the underside and just seal the gap with some seam sealer.



Then I had to make up a filler piece to tie in all the loose ends in the back.





Gentle fitting and crown checking to follow as I weld everything in place.

I also added some detail lines to the roof. I used 1/4" round rod to form a body line to separate painting and material lines. Everything above the rod will be a simulated canvas or vinyl look (probably dark brown in color) and the below the rod will be body color.







I also formed the rod to mimic the belt line on the quarter panels.



The roof should have a look similar to a Special Model A coupe.



Now I have a lot of welding, grinding, and sanding ahead of me!

 

go josh go!!!

 

looks great, nice sheet metal work, like the tank!

 

i like the tank too

 

Looks awsome, doing some great metal work. Looking forward to see the progress...

 

Thanks, Andy. Not as much roof surgery as on on your coupe, but still plenty of fitting, welding, and grinding. I'm using up some vacation days to crank on this thing and try to get it done for summer.

There's a pic of you and the coupe in the March '13 Hot Rod Mag racing on the beach in NJ. Boss! There is an A-bone roadster on the cover with the ocean as a back drop.

 

Looking super Josh. You got to be prowd. I really comming together! Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

Got more roof work done over the weekend. Filled the rear gap with a panel I made and welded all the seams up on all pieces. Now I'm just waiting for the visor I bought in the classifieds to arrive so I can finish up the insert and front.





Another project I began was making some Deuce style rear frame horns, spreader bar, and salt flats style push bar. I started with some rusty Model A front frame horns and a piece of scrap pipe.



I wanted some rear end protection on the car and figured a push bar was pretty '40s style so first I had to set up the rear horns.





The horns will weld to the rear crossmember.



Next I cut down a piece of pipe to make the spreader bar.





The pusher bar will then weld onto the center of the spreader bar. Everything is just mocked up now. I am going to sandblast the horns and spreader before I weld everything to the frame.

 

Love the push bar.

 

So do I

 

Cool

 

Looks sorta like you will have to carry a case or two of beer with you in the trunk to squat those shackles out a bit...........maybe the spring will relax some too. 45 degrees is a good place to shoot for..........but with a full gas tank, it all will help. This is a great story about what can be built with an idea and lots of work. What hot rodding is all about, ain't it! Proud of you!

 

The shackles are at about 30 degrees now with almost no weight in the rear of the car. I still need to add the glass, floor, seat, gas tank, and battery. The rear end and spring is out of a '38 coupe so it might be sprung a little stiff for the Model A body, but I'm sure it will be fine.

 

Got my roof finished up this weekend, finally! Got the visor I bought from another Hamber installed.





I then was able to weld in my roof insert. First I lined the bows with foam so the metal wouldn't rattle. I also ran two beads of construction adhesive along the top of the wood header to help seal out the weather and to hold that sucker tight.



Then on went the insert for the last time.



There was a whole lot of tacking going on.



And from the inside.



The last steps were to cover up the tack strip holes in the sides of the roof and to make some rain gutters. I started by using some 3/4" wide strap to fill the tack strip slot.



The gutters are made from 1/2" square tube. First I bent the box tube by hand to fit the contour of the roof. Then I cut the top out with my cut off wheel to make the gutter.





Then I tacked the gutter to the car.





I rounded the edges with the grinder and will use seam sealer to blend the top to the roof. Now I don't have to worry about rain leaking into the doors!

 

Looking great!

later, Bill