Ya know, Chris use to talk about 17's and 18's all the time and I never really got it since I love 16" wheels so much. However once I got wind of the tires that accompany 17" and 18" wheels I was sold! I knew that I wanted to run them on my '33 so instead of saving myself grief and keeping the tires that I had I sold them and now are behind in terms of funds to afford the 17" tires. Weird how we do that right? I think I might run 17" all around most of the time and switch off to 16" up front with Firestone MC tires every once in a while. Looking good dude.
Very nice build .So many builds so little time and so many ways to do the diffrent builds. It like Othat Othis No this the one .But then it's a new build and I'm up into the am reading a new one. I'm hooked big time. KEEP IT COMIN off to me shop.
Hey guys, will have some updates this week. I went and got married this weekend, so I've been out of town since Friday. No cell phones, no internet for 4 days. It was kinda nice. Dave
Thanks Guys. Have a few updates for the week. K-member is in. Dragged all of the body parts down and started cleaning up some of that stuff. I pulled the front crossmember out and got it cleaned up and primed. It will go back in tomorrow. I also got 2 more 5.25-5.50 18's mounted and put on so now the chassis is sitting at the proper height, or looking like a 4 wheel drive as I've heard guys say. Brakes rods are all on, just need to adjust em later on. Even though I already have a B engine at the shop getting rebuilt right now and I've been selling stuff to help pay for it, I'm going to look at another B engine tomorrow. I've already seen it, and it is in incredible shape. It was rebuilt long ago, run for a short time in an A coupe, then put away in a nice dry garage for 20 plus years. I just can't pass up the opportunity if I can make it happen. Hope to have more updates for you guys after the weekend.
Well, I bought the B engine this morning. Had to spend a little more than I was hoping, but it was still well worth it. It's also my first diamond block. I have 2 other counterbalanced B's and at least a dozen A's and have never had a diamond block. Some pics Front crossmember is back in for good and the ubolts and related parts are on and tight. Had to pull the spring pack apart as the lower spring plate hit the crossmember before the u-bolts were tight. Added 2 leafs that I cut down, then it was too thick and the nuts when tight wouldn't allow the cotter pins to go in. So apart it came again to take one of the added leaves out. Now it is good to go. Pedals are in also. Got the dash support bar de-rusted and primed as well as the dash rail brackets. That was all for today. More to come tomorrow.
Great build!!!!!!! 18" wheels on a Model A roadster is pure sex!! Damm can`t wait to see the Jalopy in the daylight
Indeed they do, Chris. For the most part anyways. My plan was to use all early Ford parts or accurate reproductions thereof, and so far, so good. The newest part should be the 35 shift lever. My 32 front shackles are reproduction but I did drill them to use castellated nuts and cotter pins. The brake rods are repro, as are the anti-chatter springs. The brake linings are not original, but old aftermarket, and all of the bearings, gaskets and seals are new stuff, but other than that, most everything else is original Ford. This may be kind of a version 1 of this car. Not everything is getting done 100% as far as paint and finish, etc., and the body will be the same for now. I just haven't had an old car together to drive for way too long now, and I just want to drive this thing, so, aesthetically it will be a little rough around the edges here and there. I'm sure I won't enjoy it any less. Once I get something else together, this one will most likely come back apart for better finish. I dunno, I may be being overly critical, though. I find myself caring less and less that there is some pitting showing on parts of the chassis and little stuff like that. I did, however file all markings off of the Grade 8 bolts I used and drilled almost all of them for cotter pins and castellated nuts. Some things like that would have bothered me. It took up a ton of time, but I was glad I did it. Anyhow, I spent a lot of time today doing little stuff that took forever. Had to readjust the steering gear box, set toe in, grease a bunch of stuff, tighten up bolts and nuts install cotter pins, etc., etc. Almost out of stuff to do on the chassis, so it looks like I will have to dive into the body tomorrow.
Thanks, Andy. If you were building this thing, it would have been done a month ago. So, I've got the A pillars all cleaned up and ready to prime, and I blew apart the cowl to replace the left side panel and firewall and do some repairs to the subrail connectors At the left bottom is an original cowl panel I'll be using to replace the one above it. At the very top is a much nicer firewall to replace the one below it. And at the center bottom is a Model T subrail connector/cowl post I'll be cutting up to fix my A subrail connector. While I was knocking the cowl stuff apart, I heard something hit the floor. I looked and an old file had fallen out of the passenger side. About a minute later, another fell out of the drivers side. Wonder how long those were in there? Also got some cracks in the subrails welded up. May shoot some primer tomorrow. Until next time...
awsome build! Im collecting parts for a 28 model a roadster. One thing that I came across was that the gas tank is roadster only and in your last pic the second firewall looks bigger than the org. but I could be wrong. This thread make want to stop collecting and start building. Keep it up.
While there are cowl parts that are roadster only, the gas tanks should interchange between all body styles. In any event, the 2 firewalls in my pics are the same, just the pic making them look different. Now get started building! Here's the new threaded plate I made riveted to the top of the a-pillar that I had to make. The good driver's side cowl panel I planned to use had the wider front flange on it. I wanted to trim it down to match the other side, so I took a paint stick and lay it against the right side panel and marked the edge. I drilled a small hole that a scribe would fit in, and used it to transfer the measurement to the left side panel, then cut it. Don't mind the 2 lines in the next pic, 1 was incorrect. I was going to build a new drivers side subrail connector, so I made a pattern. But then decided to just repair the one I had. After welding the new piece in, I decided I should have replaced more of it because of how bad the pitting is. So, I may make a new one after all. Also, got a crack in the other part of the driver's side subrail connector welded up, and also a crack at the bottom of the passenger side cowl panel welded. And that's all for tonight.
That's the plan, Jim. I want to get it together early enough to run it around locally for a few weeks before taking it to Erie. I ended up replacing a bit more of the subrail connector and got it riveted back together. Pushed the chassis out of the garage today so I could clean up in there a bit. See, it doesn't sit like a four wheel drive at all. At least not like my 4wd. Started to test fit front body panels and do the necessary tweaking before I get everything ready to rivet together. And thanks for following along. More to come tomorrow. Dave
Not much to see as far as progress goes. Spent most of the day getting the firewall beat into shape and welding up cracks in it. I didn't even take any pictures. Worked on the doors a little too. The passenger door is very wavy, it may just end up staying that way for now. I have another passenger side door I can straighten out and swap on later. Hoping to get some primer thrown at most of the body panels by the end of this week.
The Jalopy Journal
