How rough,,,,is too rough?

I heard about a 1930 model A 4 door last week and went to check it out yesterday,,,the guy told me it was rough and it was,,,,,The body or whats left of it may be only good enough for yard art!

The frame is complete,,engine missing a few parts and ****** is there,,,,,and has the radiator shell but the rest is in really bad shape,,,,,sorry no pictures,,,,but he wants $150.00 for it and said it will rot before he takes less,,,appears it is doing a good job at that,,,

The question is the frame worth the trouble to to beg or borrow,,even rent a trailer to drag this piece of automotive history home?

I don't need it now but they ain't making them anymore,,,well,at least Henry Ford ain't!

I need this like I need another hole in the head,,,but,,,,we all know that we have this problem! HRP

 

If the frame is okay, thats $100 on average right there.... Doors?

 

at that cheap would be worth picking up to have as a long term project or parts on a better one hell stuff i am starting with is cowl & doors of a A & rear of a A 4door & frames that have been in dads woods for longer then i am old but by this time next year should have it running & driving

 

Yeah,,,got all 4,,,,the two front doors are hangin' by a thread and the rears are inside the car,,,toast!

 

"but he wants $150.00 for it and said it will rot before he takes less,,,appears it is doing a good job at that,,,"

Damn, I hate that mentality. but then again it's his to do what he wants I guess.

 

You say its a fordor so there might just be a good gas tank under the cowl cover. Buy a new green tarp to cover it once you get it home.Then dismantle as soon as possible. The neighbours might not even notice.

 

I thought the top of the cowl was the gas tank. HRP

 

Boy that is a floating question.

I have an old little pages book where they are towing a 100% complete 31? Chevy roadster or convertible that still had some of the top intact. The caption was something about how rough the car was.

Too rough is also a function of your pocket book. "The girls all get better looking at closing time." The flatter the wallet...the more potential you can find in a rust bucket. Fatter wallets just shake their heads.

 

You are right Tommy,,,,I wouldn't have given this car a second look 10 to 15 years ago but the parts ain't to be found in every back yard anymore,,,,,the developers around this area have about done away with all the farms and barnyard finds in my neck of the woods!,,,HRP

 

The fordors actually had a tank beneath the cowl that dropped down. The cowl itself is one-piece, the top of the cowl is not part of the tank on the fordors. The firewall is a 3-piece deal. The bottom portion is fixed to the cowl. There is a skinny middle section(it has the sediment bowl on it) that unbolts and comes out of the way. The upper firewall section is part of the tank, and it unbolts from the cowl. Once all of the inner support bolts from the tank are removed and the upper firewall bolts are out the tank drops out from inside.

Now the interesting thing is that once the tank is out, what you now have is the tank/upper cowl from a 28-29 Tudor that you are used to seeing with the removeable tank/cowl section. This will bolt up to any 28-29 closed car cowl and now be the "outside cowl" upper panel.

Or you could keep it a fordor if it is saveable and build one af these:

 

If you spend the weekend drinking beer, eating pizza and shooting pool all you have SundayA.M. is a hangover. Get the car and Sunday A.M. your planning the build, dreaming the dream. All for the same price.

 

I know this is sort of off track, but I have always wanted to take a four-door, remove the two rear doors and scoot the rear section of the body forward and use it as a truck cab. Kind of an extended cab Model A pickup. I know that someone on here is building one like that and there was one from San Diego like that, but I always thought it was a neat idea.

Now back to your regularly scheduled HAMB programming...

 

Thats kinda what I was thinkin',,,,

Anyone in HAMB land got a picture of a mor-door turned extended truck cab?

 

No, but I can whip one up in a few hours, if it was light outside. I've got the pieces in stock. I think the "Purple People Eater" that was on the cover of Rod and Custom a couple years back is one of these monsters, and I think Tikifreak is making one right now

It don't take much to make that thing worth $150, if it's got a couple salvageable wheels on it, they'll sell on E(vil)Bay, or any other useable parts, dash rail, visor, etc. Build it, part it out, stash it somewhere, just don't leave it there too long or it'll be gone.

 

of course the answer is yes get it

 

Too rough is when you can't find good enough metal to weld more metal on to. For some of us, too rough used to be hard to find. But as I get older, I'm finding more things too rough for me to mess with. Maybe I'm just getting lazy, or maybe I've redone so much rusted **** I'm sick of it. On the other hand, if your spending your money with me, too rough is when you can't find good enough metal to weld more metal on to. When did you say you bring it over? Gene

 

This one sits in the woods, free for the taking near my Grandparents home. It has a nice frame under it and I plan to go with my cordless recip saw and harvest the frame sometime when I get the urge...

 

OK,,,,I called the guy last night and made the deal,,,,,,

I have to con one of my friends into loaning me a trailer,,,,{or a dump truck } ,,,buy some rope to hold it together and go get the car next week.

Gonna take him the money today and take a few pictures,,,,i'll go ahead a bring home the radiator and the shell,,,and the other odd pieces laying around on the ground and in the car.

I have the whells to put rollers on the car,,,,,what size are the lug nuts on the model A,,,HRP

 

I have a nice OPEN trailer too.........you can borrow



But I ain't delivering it........

Randy

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here are some dummy pics of 30? A 2door cowl & doors & 30? 4door rear it was a homemade truck my plan is to cut doors out for wheel wells weld it all soild & chop roof off sort of a long Bucket/tub cuase i cant find a coupe rear to weld up to it

 

nothiings too rough

 

When your not welding to original body metal. Just weld on weld, is too rough.

 

Show us the photos.........please.....

 

How is the cowl area and windshield area. Could it be used for a Woodie project I have planned? (only need the front area

 

"Rough" is a matter of opinion......... my 39 sat upside down in a ravine for 40 years. Brought it home on a flat deck and the roof flapped so much it looked like it had a soft top. I agree with the comment that we need to be saving whatever we can while they're still around. You never know what someone may need for a project. Besides, if we have original parts kickin aound, maybe there won't be so much billet out there!!

Al T.

 

show some pics of your progress!

 

Here you go. Pulled the car out in October 97. 2 kids, 2 moves, and life in the interim has made a slow project of it but it's getting there. I've got a rebuilt 24 stud flathead that I'm going to run until I can get to the 312.

Thanks for the interest.

Al T.

 

Ouch.......... how old's the picture? Is it back on the road??

Al T.

 

I know someone who started with a lot less...

 

It happened July the 16th.....2003

Back on the road........new fresh paint and interior....end of October 2003




He had GOOD insurance........after more than 6 weeks of jerking around.

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