Projects Drdave accidentally buys a Model A. Now what?

All it takes is an occasional wiggle on a lose ground for it to shut it down.

in my experience a bad ground is pretty easy to find going threw the car wiggling stuff

 

Finally got a chance to mess with the A last night. Before I pulled the starter, I hit switch and I could hear the starter trying to work. So, once I got it out (which required a pretty good hammer rap to pop it loose once the bolts were out), I hooked the battery back up to it and hit the switch again and zoom! Worked like a champ. I guess the bendix hadn't recoiled fully and was stuck in the flywheel. Put it all back together and started right up happy as a clam. Backed it out of the garage and turned it around in the drive and backed it back into its spot proper (rather than thrown in with a tow strap) all under it's own power. Woolaroc here we come. LOL

 

Common to have the bendix hang up in the flywheel. Next time it happens, just rock the car back and forth with it in gear. Most times that will free it up.

 

That’s the best news I’ve heard today! Congrats and hope you have a great time Woolaroc!

 

Let me tell you what NOT to do! I was 17 and just bought a 49 ford convertible for $5 that had been sitting in a farmers field. Got it running and a little body work done when the starter locked up. Had car jacked up and ready to pull starter out when my Dad shows up and says “forget that, I’ll pull you backwards down the gravel road and you pop the clutch” which we did do and as soon as I popped the clutch the rear wheels locked and car pulled into a telephone pole breaking the door post and ruining the door. Dad takes a look at and says “that’s my fault, I’ll go halves with you to fix it up”! I’m thinking wow, I’ll end up with a great looking chick car! That night he comes home with a rubber mallet and says “ here’s my half”!!

 

Haha! Well, I guess funny now, but not at the time. So, did you get it fixed just the same and end up with a great looking car after all?

 

No, it was so banged up I just drove it around until the flathead seized up and then traded for a 37 Pontiac!

 

Had a couple of afternoons this last weekend, so took care of some odds and ends. One of the things I'd been working on was reconfiguring my horn into a '32 style with a boat tail cover and frame mount so I could mount it low at the bottom of the grille rather than figure out a bracket to scoot it over towards the grille to fit with the dropped headlight bar. Did I mention this already? I don't think so....

....so anyhow, I got to looking at 32 horns and thought, surely the basic horn is the same and it's just the cover and the bracket...maybe the parts will swap around. Scrounged around and was able to get my hands on a repop boat tail cover and mounting bracket. Raise your hand if you knew it wasn't going to be that easy? LOL



It was obvious to me that the 32 horn is turned 90 degrees from the A configuration so the boat tail cover fits...the whole purpose being so it fits small space between the grille shell and the fender. Me, thinking Henry was frugal so how would he have done this the cheapest way....well, just turn the horn 90 degrees and make your new parts. Nope. The shell is the same orientation, but the whole guts inside is turned 90 degrees...not something that is easy reconfigured. The problem here is the holes around the perimeter are not evenly spaced for some reason, so just turning the horn, the new (32) mounting bracket doesn't line up to be on the bottom edge like it should be. (the bracket on the left is the original A bracket to hang the horn off the bottom of the headlight).




I could have made longer tabs on the brakes to reach, but decided against that and instead drilled new holes in the "guts" section (I rotated the snorkel up front) and the diaphragm and bolted it all together (with new gaskets of course).



Also, the cover has a little notch in it to line up with a tab stamped in the base....I had to file a new notch in the cover since the tab moved the 90 degrees.



I was hoping that the fender bolt hole right down by the bottom of the grille shell would right on the money where I needed it to mount the horn to, but again, no such luck. Put the horn too far back in relation to the grille shell and everything was hitting and the horn couldn't be put straight. I cheated and just drilled a new hole. I won't tell if you won't.



Now I have a '32 style horn. Ching.

During my scramble to get it together for the Stray Kat, I wanted to mount my new '32 bumpers....but have you tried to drill a hole in Henry's bumper irons? Yikes! I gave up then, but decided to try again now. Got myself a nice new cobalt hard metal 1/2 drill bit and went after it. Took me an hour, but I got one done.



The next one I decided to remove the iron and use the drill press, but I couldn't get the speed down enough to get anywhere. It was still helpful to have it off the car and in the vise where I could lean down on it with the 1/2 power drill, which I could run much slower. Still took a while, but less time than an hour. Wah la...32 bumper and it's now a "Not a 32", to quote @Sancho.





Out back, the bumper brackets don't reach in far enough to be able to hit the 32 holes, so I needed to make some adapter plates (I didn't want to weld arms onto the brackets since they are part of what is apparently a half rare and reasonably valuable trunk set up). A little 1/4 plate, some holes and a little bending and there we go...




Had to get me some more 1/2 bolts today to mount them, so it's not all together yet. Should be able to get out tonight and throw it on. NOW I think I'm ready for Woolaroc!

 

You could give rides on the luggage rack lol

 

I like your workbench...
bang up job

 

For drilling those 1/2" holes, start with a 1/8" drill bit. The increase bit size little by little until you reach the 1/2" hole.

 

Additionally I've taken to starting holes with center drill bits. I haven't broken a small bit since I started using them. I used to buy 1/16" and 1/8" bits in the blister packs that have a dozen or so per pack..




...and then to increase the hole size I like to use step bits instead of changing bits over and over. Only using the "finish size" at the end.



Please forgive the hijack.

Now back to drdave's Model A.

 

Wow- you really killed it the last couple of days! Love the looks of your car, wishing you safe and fun travels!

 

Safe travels Dr Dave

 

Thanks guys...and thank you for the drilling tips. Looks like I've got some new bits to buy!

Threw the rear bumper on this morning before leaving for work. In my hurry, I forgot to take a picture of the brackets installed before the bumper went on but this should give you the basic idea....(pardon the pile of tools and Merc engine parts. LOL)



And the full view....

 

Well, see, I have this F100 frame in the driveway to turn a '53 F500 into an F100, see, then I got a delivery of some 20 gauge sheet metal and a 4x8 sheet of 1/4 plate, see, and the plate is too heavy for me to move and I didn't want to take the time to try and cut it up, see, so I just cut the chunks off I needed, see, and, uh, so, yeah... haha

 

you are a rookie when it comes to clutter... I have a three minute rule, if I can find what I am hunting for in three minutes, I don't have to clean up.....
Looking good there Doctor....

 

Haha! That's a good rule right there! Going by that, in most cases I'm good then. Although, I did look for an extraordinarily long time Saturday for a tape measure to figure and lay out the adapter brackets. 6 dang tape measures...where did they all go? LOL

 

That's why I bought a dozen identical tape measures and placed them around the shop. They are hanging on these sectional sofa interconnecting brackets (brackets mounted up-side-down to this pic):



I'm never more than a few steps from one and I know exactly where they are. Note; I always use the same tape to take a measurement and mark the project. I've got a drawer full of old tape measures that I used to use but I always had to walk to that drawer (very near to one end of the shop) to get one and I sometimes didn't put them away when done with them. I've never used one from that drawer since hanging these dozen tapes.

Ok, so please forgive this second hijack.

Now back to drdave...

 

Dang Mike, that's a fabulous idea!!!! I'll take all the "hijacks" like that I can get. Been a good day for good ideas for drdave today!

 

Not saying this will happen, but in my mind those brackets could rotate on the bolt and drop the bumper down? Again not likely but maybe a tab welded to the bracket on the bumper iron side would keep it from doing that.... if it ever does that.

 

I had the exact same idea Dan. I wan't expecting them (the adapter plates) to be so long, but the trunk brackets really move the bumper attachment points way outboard...which is no big whoop on an A bumper since the bolts just slide anywhere they need to go down the length of the bumper. I really cranked down on the bolts figuring they would work for the Roc and if they start drifting down, weld on some little tabs on the adapters up tight against the irons just like you said. Of course, I just threw the thing on there in about 10 minutes this morning before leaving for work, so the likelihood is they need tweaked up or down now just to be level. Haha!

 

Dave,I gotta look at the luggage rack. I've got the exact trunk for my '30, needs paint of course like everything I see, but the standard A rack I have on mine is too narrow for that trunk. I need to get pics and see if I can get some brackets made for it, because there's not enough room for my wife's stuff- even in a sedan. She don't travel light. LOL
And allow me to once more remind you that you are a bad influence. I'm determined to leave my A stock. Then I see yours, my A's exact twin with all these complicated little refinements...sheesh. I go away wanting to copy you.

 

Sorry about that Bob. I'm a bad influence on myself as well. LOL

The trunk and rack I have are a matching unit. The trunk does not come off. Basically, it's a set of bumper iron extenders with a trunk bolted to it. The trunk itself opens up into a larger box. The brand is Kari Keen

 

Perfect tail gating box!

 

I mostly like that it's someplace secure to lock my laptop when I stop at walmart on my way home from work. LOL

 

you do mean computer don't you......

 

haha. yes

 

Makes me wonder how many old cars are lurking in Conway lol. I used to live fairly close (Clinton) and got my first traffic ticket at 18 in Greenbrier lol. My 53 Bel Air actually spent the majority of its life in Conway. From what I understand Smith's drug store in Conway bought it new and used it till 69 when they sold it to a school teacher that just got back from Vietnam. He blew the engine in 73 and had it till 2010ish. Then it went to Leslie where I got it lol.

I'm digging all the low key modifications to your a. Not many do the four doors

 

Thanks @The Chevy Pope, I appreciate the kind words.

Surely there is quite a bit of stuff hiding around here. I'm one of the few that drives anything old on a pretty much daily basis, so all the stuff has top be sitting in garages somewhere! LOL