Projects 60's Era Street/Strip Model A Coupe

Any updates?

 

Thanks for the body repair pics and info...and above all thanks for actually repairing the door! I get so tired of the guys who write "my order from Brookville came in...now I can bolt my (kit) car together!" instant unsubscribe....

 

Not much. I had a bit of a set-back with the deck-lid and that caused some headaches and delays. I ended up acquiring a New Old Stock early A rumble lid after a bunch of other issues that probably should be its own post but I've been reluctant because I don't like sharing that type of BS.

Plus, I figured I'd take a break from the shop during these cold months since our heating bill is up over 30%.

I've been working on an artistic business project that I've wanted to do for a long time, so I've been 100% in on that. With everything going on in the world, I felt it was time to put some good out there.

Now that the weather has warmed up, I really want to get these dents banged out and get it ready for the finish work. We had the garage open during a game of catch today and I caught myself looking over at the mess in the shop and thinking, I want to get to this or figure that out, etc. It's been a while since I had those little problem-solving thoughts in my head.

I'm bad at being all over the place or taking on too many things. I want to do it all and often something has to give, ya know?

Thanks, man! Based on my recent experience with them, I think it probably would take a lot of balls/talent to put a car together with their parts.

 

Cleaning the shop today and a gentleman came by to buy some parts. Being that he's like many of us, he has parts to trade. So, he asked me if there was anything I needed before he came by.

We went back and forth and then I told him I have a soft spot for 1931 grill shells. And... wouldn't ya know, he had one.

This one is in the top 2 for quality out of the ones I own... but it's dead last as far as the color! Hahaha.

At what number does it stop being a "collection" and start being a hoard?



No new work/progress on the coupe. The shop is get cleaned up and organized for the last push of an OT vehicle that's been sitting for years. I do have some stuff to post to catch everyone back up. I'll get on that when I have a moment.

I hope everyone is well and thriving!

 

Good to hear your getting back at it.

Nice grille! Not sure on butterscotch for a colour though..

 

Dang Brent that is a nice straight shell . . .

 

If you have to ask...

 

50 seems like a fair number

 

... then I am not even close?

Thanks. Good chat! I'll keep the 31 shell magnet turned on.

 

Brent, in this day and age you can never have enough old hot rod shit. LOL. Nice grill shell you have .

 

I have work to do, hahaha.







A couple of these will be nice finished out differently to change up the look once in a while.

 

I'm whittling away at my hoard and keeping project-related stuff.

Everywhere else in life I am pretty minimalistic... just don't look in the shop!

 

Their's aHUGE difference between Hot Rod stuff and Life stuff! Hot Rod stuff has to stay... Everything else... Meh...

 

Hey Brent, Whats going on here ...kick ass sound system ?

 

Yes!

One is unplugged because I got a little rowdy. Haha.

 

Nice Catch!!

 

That's where all the straight 31 shells went !

 

Model A Decklid Saga - Part 1:

Toward the end of 2021, I was making great progress knocking dents and getting the body straighter. When the body was dented and dinged the decklid didn't look so bad but with everything improving, I knew it had to be worked on - especially as we approach body work and shiny paint.

The first thing I figured I could handle was getting the raised weld seam into shape. I'm not opposed to using filler but if I can work the car into better shape and use less, that would be ideal. At this point the deck lid would need a TON of filler.



The light shows some of the dents in the panel.







Get it to the point where it would mostly just need a skim coat of filler.



This weld seam is from replacing the bottom of the original skin. I should have just reskinned it back when the car was getting all the metalwork done. But the car had a million other more important items to focus on and, quite frankly, I didn't know how to "see" the issues yet.



Slowly I got the seam into shape and I was feeling more confident. I figured keeping it slow would keep things from getting out of hand.

I sanded the skin to show highs and lows.



Here's a different perspective of just one of the "lows".



I worked from the underside as best as I could reach and worked both the lows and highs. I spent quite a while on YouTube, which was helpful. If it were just the skin, without the inner panel, I could've worked it better.

Since I couldn't work the areas from underneath precisely but I could pretty much reach every spot and apply some force with prybars and such, I decided to work the areas with heat and that got the lid closer.

At this point I had worked it to a better point, but I was watching all these vids and I'm all in, hahaha, thinking I can make it even better.



My pal lent me a stud welder and, again, I spent a little time researching and then got after it. Slowly, I got closer pulling low spots while tapping/lightly slapping on the highs.



I felt unstoppable (my ignorance shining through ) so I kept working which is actually code for " moving the issues around."

I'd stop and watch skilled folks explain the fixes and such but the panel got away from me. I was dreaming of a metal finished panel but ended up with an oil-canned mess.

Eventually, the more I messed with it, the more the issues I moved around would become harder to fix.

Frustrated, after while of digging myself into a deeper hole. I gave up and ordered a skin...

---

Now, I need to say that I hate useless drama. I don't like being part of it at all. The deal this decklid became was way more useless drama than I care to write about. I don't want this thread to be about that. I don't like being dragged into it and I'd feel gross perpetuating it.

So, here's the "what's so" on my 6+ month decklid distraction:

(Here's where I'll keep the drama out. I'm not looking to disparage this company. I'm not looking to rehash any BS, okay? It was 5-6 months of intermittent BS that I've moved on from.)

The skin was wrong, it was workable but it had a couple manufacturing/quality control issues. I kept it "just in case" but it looked like buying a new one would get get me back in shape. So, I ordered a new/repopped trunk lid and when it finally came in it looked off, right out of the box. I checked both my car and the lid. The lid was out of square because it had some "twist" to it. One corner was sloped down. Plus, I didn't know that the trunk lid came with the rumble lid style lower edge.



You can kind-of see how the other corner dives down. It's hard to capture in a photo. It could've been modified/fixed to fit but I was so sour with this whole deal, I decided to move on.

This all took about 6 months from ordering to returning and getting $ back and that lid was in my possession for a blink. While it was all going on, I was actively hunting parts and searching for a solution.

It seems like (at least in my life) these hunts require me to go on an adventure. More on that in the next...

 

Model A Decklid Saga Part 2 - On the Road Again:

Whenever struggles come my way, I find it best to move forward despite or in spite of them. It's a habit now... when sh!t happens I get on the move. Don't get me wrong, I'm not whistling and pretending life is cupcakes and rainbows but I'll be damn sure I'm not going to let stuff drag me down. And, there's something about a road trip that's good for the soul.

When I was looking for fenders, I drove all over the west. It took a couple years and in those years there was a fair share of misleading ads, wasted trips, and so on that educated me on fenders. But the drives all over the west brought me to some incredible, not-often-visited (or seen) places. Car parts have always been a great excuse for travel, especially impromptu trips.

Anyway, I was pretty annoyed with severely striking out and I had remembered seeing an ad in the classifieds for a mint NOS decklid. I searched a number of times but came up empty. Then, by some luck Dennis Lacy bumped his thread and I saw why I couldn't find it, it was listed as a 28/29 rumble lid and I wasn't searching for that.



I knew deck-lids differed, slightly, between the 28/29 and 30/31 but I had no knowledge. A quick search and I realized a lot of other people didn't know either and the ones who did swap them, made it work. So, I figured that's that I'd do.

It wasn't cheap but it was New Old Stock, never mounted and packed away longer than I'd been alive and it was just down the street in Southern California.

We made plans (I'm pretty sure Dennis didn't believe I was coming out... haha) and I rearranged my schedule and that week I got up way before sunrise and hopped in my little runabout pickup to get my car back on track.



I hadn't checked the weather for the trip. I'm not sure it would have changed my mind but soon after sunrise, I hit some weather.



For a while it was whiteout conditions. I went from driving 80+ to 30 mph.



I spent most of 3-3.5 hours white-knuckled at 20-30 miles an hour. This Amazon truck led the way. Had I checked the weather, I would have taken my wife's car. All wheel drive, a turbo+supercharged 4-banger and all the creature comforts. But, I just crept my way south knowing that soon enough warmer weather would win.



And it did! So, back to 80+ until I hit the largest tumble weed I've ever seen rolling across the freeway. It exploded into splinters and I figured all was good.



The remains of the tumbleweed. Even though it took out the little grill bars in the bumper the stem just missed my radiator. I dragged out into the unkempt area by the rest area dumpster and hoped that was my last bit of excitement for a while.



If you've made this trip a time or two, the allure of the surroundings tends to get lost. There's a lot of open areas between Salt Lake and Vegas and Los Angeles. Sometimes, certainly lately, I find myself imagining what it would have been like to be seeing this way back as a native or a pioneer and what it must've felt like.

The rest of the trip was a breeze. I made it to Lacy's place and he looked surprised to see me. I was in-and-out and back on the road, headed to Vegas for the night. Of course, I hit California's famed rush-hour traffic on the way out but I didn't mind, I had a pretty neat piece for my car.





The next day I tested the 1928/29 rumble lid in place and it fit. It's a million times more workable. The next step is to convert it to a trunk and get it fitting proper.

 

I didn’t know a 28/29 trunk lid would be anywhere close to fitting a 30/31.
Interesting.

 

The inner panels differ. Some old-timers say the curvature differs, too. This one seems to match up decently.

This rumble lid will need the bottom lip straightened a bit. I read that I may have to mess with the rumble lid latch area but I don't know yet. I need to get the hinge areas converted first.

I'm sure there are a few idiosyncrasies that make stuff incompatible between models/years but this looks like it's going to work out.

 

I saw this 40 Willys, yesterday, and it absolutely got me fired up to finish the coupe.















This thing was perfect. Supposedly it was in Car Craft in the early/mid 70s. I'd love to see the issue.

I've been so focused on getting this body in better shape that it's snowballed my focus a bit. I was thrilled to see that this rad car had its share of issues but the sum was outstanding.

Plus, now I am certain my coupe has to be black...

Looking forward to getting back onto it as a main focus.

 

Just drive it Brent ..... Lazer straight body and paint is overrated.

 

Lookin good!

 

Agreed 100%. That's not my style, which is good, because this body would've been the wrong one to start with.

Really, I just want it better in a some areas I know I can figure out. But as I go, I started getting things better and started seeing other areas I could improve.

Fixing that stuff will be enough. Though there'd still be a laundry list for the perfectionist. Hahaha.

 

Good
Update

 

If the A turns out like this Willys, I think that people will Love it. I Know I Would!

 

Alright, I don’t post much, but I have been on here for several years. I just read the entire thread, and I am blown away by your vision, dedication, and execution. I would never have said that 60s drag car style was interesting to me before, but I sure as hell get where you are going with this. I appreciate what you are building and I am inspired by way you dig in and make it happen. My hat is off to you Brent! Thank you for taking us all along with you on your journey! Your car is a fixing to be one bad MotherFunster!

 

@jcrapola thanks so much for the kind words. I truly appreciate it.

 

@-Brent- regarding the trunk lid isn't there a couple rear panel heights that may play a part in the opening for the trunk lid?...that really is a close fit...NOS doesn't come any better than that...you must be getting really Hotrod itchy...