Projects 60's Era Street/Strip Model A Coupe

That was probably a type of hose called "Tygon Tubing". It is clear and chemical resistant. It is used in many scientific lab settings for fluid transfer and is available in many sizes and at many places including McMaster-Carr. Might be good insulation for your tank straps and thicker than shrink wrap. What ever you use the threads on the rod might just dig through over time. Just something to consider. Those mounting brackets turned out great! Nice work!

 

@tomcat11 thanks! Maybe that's what's on my old Eelcos.



I have some stuff coming from McMaster tomorrow. It's a hair under 1/16 thick and fuel resistant. The comparison chart made it look like it should be right for the job.

 

Looks great Brent! I did similarly and made brackets when I added a tank to the BB.

 

Thanks! I remember your post and being able to sneak it in the rumble seat foot area. I forgot you used springs. I had been curious how springs would hold with a larger tank before I settled on rods.



I like the shape of your brackets.

On the feet, how did you go about bolting them to the floor, riv-nuts or did you use a bolt and some assistance?

 

Thanks! Yes just some bolts with nuts and washers is all I used. Your kids should fit nicely under there for some assistance, ha!

 

Your certainly welcome and yep, sure looks like Tygon tubing on your old Eelco brackets. Keep in mind when mounting the tank to the floor that Gasoline weighs a little over 6 Lbs. a Gallon. So 8 gallons is 48 Lbs. and that's just sitting there. The force exerted on the mounts goes up with speed in (God forbid) an accident. Anchor it down well with some Gr.8 bolts. and so the bolts cannot pull through the floor.

 

The spring mounts are cool and traditional, but ask me about the time i failed Tech inspection because of them. The NHRA banned those mounts with springs, so going with the rod was the wise choice. If you hadn't already ordered tubing i was going to suggest tre fuel line from speedway. That stuff is flexable, but not spungy or soft at all.

 

That's good info about the tubing. I am going to look it up.

 

You can position the fasteners and then add a 3 sided tab and use these underneath.
https://torqueking.com/product/20663/qu20663-u-lock-nut-or-clip-nut/

 

This tubing worked perfectly. Great thickness and has a stiff, solid rubber feel. Downside... it's pricey.

 

Nice. Were did you get that Brent?

 

McMaster Carr.

 

Buy once, Cry once!

 

That turned out great! Have the same setup planned for my Steelback.

 

Chromed Parts for the A:

I just came back from an out-and-back 800-mile trip to pick up my first round of chrome from Northwest Chrome in New Plymouth, Idaho.



While it was pouring rain back home, I got treated to this big, beautiful blue sky as I turned off the road I'd driven on for nearly 400 miles.

Here's a before pic from when I dropped it off:



And the dash, today:





I don't even know how to photograph this stuff!

I'll take some proper pics after I figure out a plan with where I'm going to put this stuff afterward.

As well, I dropped off round 2:



The running boards I took back with me. I'm going to do a bunch of the prep work. It was good to get a chrome plater's perspective and some guidance on what they'd prefer.

I dropped off the door pull pieces, the door top, the piece the sits at the top of the door openings, the rear bumper and mounting bolts, the shifter stick, and the front body mount bolt covers.

The bumper I had polished locally and that worked well because doing so will save me some money.

The door tops will take a little more work. One is reported and won't be too bad but the other has light pitting and was sand blasted. My other original is decent but needs a little repair work. I'm going to work on repairing that and may send that up to swap out... if I have time.



My pal Brian tigged the seams on the repop door top and then I trimmed them to fit and blended the visible welds.

 

Dang that’s shiney! You’d better keep some sun block handy

 

Fantastic shine, wear shades.

 

I didn't know there was a chrome shop in New Plymouth. That's near-ish where I grew up - they were one of our school rivals. I guess I haven't been in the loop for 20 years now, but that's interesting. Would you recommend them? Turn-around time, communication, and prices reasonable?

 

So far, yes on all 3. I was satisfied with the turn-time and the work looks great to me. They worked out and smoothed the chop lines in the quarter windows where they dipped in a bit. Even though they were blended and metal finished, there would have been a wave in the chrome. They are still wrapped but when we were chatting about that, yesterday, to my eye I couldn't see anything.

From our conversation I could tell they have high standards (which I appreciate) and when speaking about chroming the rear end I was impressed that there wasn't any persuasions or BS, we just chatted about what would be necessary for prep and what to expect when something like that is chromed. I know too many sales guys who'd leave out the reality and just work for the sale.

I'd say I'm a good test subject for you all. One thing I try to do is give them the best quality part possible. I saw a couple items on the bench that needed TLC and one thing is FOR CERTAIN time and attention by the prep guys costs $$$.

I'll get some pics of the interior pieces when I get a chance.

 

The detailing work on any hot rod has always been one of my favorite highlights when looking at them at shows, cruise nights - dazzled by all of the chrome plating! The chrome work and aluminum polishing truly help define the 50's and 60's era of hot rodding! Great job so far on your plating Brent!

 

We definitely need more pictures of Brian’s shop! PLEASE!

 

Chrome looks great! I always enjoy seeing a photo of landscape I've never seen, fun project to follow. Bob

 

Gas Can Trunk Mount:

I've probably mentioned this a time or two, I geek out over hot rod trunk spaces. Lots of times trunks are treated like junk drawers but that's not me. Nor am I the type to cover up the battery and upholster everything. This trunk will get two side panels but the rest is utilitarian.

In the past, I shared my @SamIyam inspired toolbox mount so the toolbox is secured and removable. And since my gas tank is on the small side, finding and fitting a gas can into the trunk got put onto the to-do list.



My "kit" is a mix of made and found/repurposed items. The floor tabs are 11ga stainless. Since I wasn't sure what I'd use for tie down rods, I came up with a shape that accommodates both. I wrecked my other 60s Ford J-hook battery tie-down rod attempting to add some thread. I've got to order replacements and trim it down or source something a tad shorter.

The rod that goes across the top is 1/2" tubing and the ends are license plate mounts that attach to a headlight bar.







These weren't my first idea. Originally, I attempted to bend some tubing and make something too complicated. As that wasn't working out, I reminded myself to keep it simple. With that, I looked in a few drawers to see what I could come up with. Luckily I've parted out more than a few cars and kept quite a bit of hardware.





Here it is mocked in the trunk. When not in use, the rods will stow away in the tool box and the tabs have "soft" edges so a backpack or a bag of groceries could be stored in the same space, no issues. And on longer trips, I'll have a little extra security that'll get me to a gas station in a pinch.





Those tabs looked so neat and worked out so well that I used them for my battery tie down. I'll share that once the battery mount is all finished (It's almost done). I'm really psyched about that, too.

 

Bitchin!

 

Man the tabs on the can itself really seal the deal

 

looks killer man!


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so are gonna get them chromed?

 

Chrome is addictive, I'll admit that! However, I don't want to overdo it. I've done that before! I have plenty more to chrome but this stuff in the trunk will get either plated in zinc or yellow cadmium.

Your question was perfectly timed because I planned to post about this today.

After talking with the guys over at Northwest, I starting looking further into different plating options for some other parts. It's always the little parts and hardware and such that "nickels and dimes" us to death. If I were to chrome all the bits like this... we're not talking nickels and dimes... it's like 8 bucks for this and forty for that until it's $1300.

Zinc is pretty inexpensive and we have a couple options locally. Yellow Cadmium is actually a something used often back in the day, too, and it's not "cheap" but it's not near what chrome cost. So, I decided to do a test run.

I figure the fender irons (front and rear) would be good as well as some other bits. Cadmium is very thin. I've heard that it holds up well when in place but it does scratch easily on some parts like the shifter bracket.

Not only did I drop it on the way into the platers, but I dropped it after plating, too.

I wire wheeled and used a medium 3m scotch pad (both on a bench grinder) to do some prep work on everything except the nuts. I used a file to knock down the burrs and wrench slip marks (these are old nuts) and lightly sanded them smooth.



All cleaned up and dropped off at Quality Plating in Salt Lake City.



And after:

 

The Forged brackets always look better than the later stamped ones IMO.

 

Agreed!

 

Model A Door Latch Rods:

This past year I started getting pretty worried. There are still a few parts I need for the coupe that used to be an easy grab from any of the Model A parts (and other early Fords) sellers. But, as I looked them up - they were all out of stock. It's still an issue... perhaps it's worse now. And foolishly, some stuff I didn't save because I was going to replace it.

Door latch rods were a perfect example. At one point I had a too many to choose from so that added to the sting a bit.

So, I called buddies, got on wait lists for parts (still nothing BTW), and made an ad here.

Then one day @rysemus messages me that he has some sitting around. He measures them and they're correct... then he donates them!



Quite a few times I'd see them in my to-do area and I'd feel pretty grateful for the good people in the world, of which there are still plenty... and the HAMB which has been a positive part of many of our lives for damn near half of it... hahaha.

I cleaned them up the other day and they have the typical wear marks which got a couple dabs of filler rod and brought back to new.



I thanked Rick privately, but now I'd like to thank him publicly: Thank you for helping keeping the coupe progressing!