Hi to begin with I have two original Model A coupes and now I am building a 30 tudor street rod with the rear sedan delivery door. I have a handicapped person to load with an adult stroller. It has a 39-42 81A 221 V8 and an S10 T5 with a hydraulic speedway clutch. I am running a Boxed stock Model A frame with an X center cross member like the Dagel's kit. It has a spring over the axle with a V8 rear (was a wide 5 6 spline with juice brakes) with the Pacific Quick Change Banjo being built now. I have the Dagel's rear mounted 32 tank already installed. Will the quick change clear the tank?
Why not call Pacific Quick Change and tell them what you have going on. They may already know the answer or at least have them give you a measurement from the axle centerline to the end of the QC cover or cover fasteners, then figure your axle centerline on the frame, drop a plumb bob and measure to the tank?
Interesting project. Not what you've asked but I'm curious as to the headroom issue with your very particular load requirements especially as the Model A crossmember hump will steal several inches. Or is it just the chair in the rear with the p***enger in the p***enger seat? Chris
Yes I have a V8 donor rear with the perches to set it up with the spring directly over the axle just like a stock A. I didn't realize it would be close in tolerance for clearance. I already bought the Pacific /Kiwi V8 quick change. I do have another coupe in pieces yet so it won't be wasted at all. I have already customized a 34 truck dash to fit my A cowl and recessed the firewall for this tudor/3 door so I think I'm stuck unless I cut the 32 tank frame off and move it back? The quick change appears to have 6 additional inches rearward in length from the outer edge of the round part of the banjo housing itself so that would have the tank hanging way back and out from under the car which I won't do. I have a stainless tanks tank and won't be cutting that up either. I think it's going to be one or the other but can't use both? If I bought 32 rails i'm not sure if It would still hit the tank with a spring over the axle setup or not? Thanks gentlemen for the replies.
Not sure about the rear seat yet. I may take two seat frames from a tudor and make a folding bench that bolts to the floor the same as the front seats do. Or I May make a steel false floor box to bolt one original style seat to? I also may buy the back seat floor riser and work off the back of that for a starting point. I may have it fold down off of that? I have to measure everything and make a decision. She is only 5' tall I can probably get her to get in from the side door to the rear seat or put her mom 5'11" in back and my daughter in the front seat. Funny part is every time I put her in the front p***enger side seat in any of my later model vehicles by the time I get around to my driver side door she has already yanked the rear view mirror off the windshield and is patting it on her mouth with a big smile.....but she is the love of my life for sure and its just more mirror glue. We have a local landmark it's a 100+ year old drive in hamburger joint in the center of Colchester CT called Harry's Place. My stock A coupe has a rumble seat which is too hard for my wife to get out of so my daughter doesn't get to go thats why i'm building the 3 door. We should be able to get all three of us in it and the adult stroller too. Again thanks for the responses.
So you're going to have to crawl over the gas tank to enter the rear door of the sedan/sedan delivery? Why not just buy a 4-door body?
In reading this and making my own visual photo of where you're going, I sure would have traveled a different road to get there. Nothing new there and certainly not a knock to what you're doing but getting up into the back door with a Chair of any kind I would want the rear of the vehicle as low as I could get it in a sensible manner. The Spring on top of rear axle just added 6" of height you don't need. Next thing you're going to do is try to figure out the easiest way to lower it. When building from scratch as you are the doors wide open to do things past following the instructions. Using the 35-40 rear Axle bells and a Model A spring for the Quick Change would have been my route. Second, no matter how Kool they are for this application I would have p***ed on the Q,C. The 32 tank would be a natural choice for me given the rest of your info.
The big question is, are you intending to roll her into the A in the stroller and then move her to a seat or are you intending to place her in a seat and put the stroller in the rear? If you are going to roll her up ramps so you can get her into a back seat that hump will be a real hinderance. Either way I'm with Pist-n-Broke in that I'd designate the quick change for a different project and go for the flatter floor. You are probably too far into this body to change but a 4 door with the panel rear door for the stroller makes a lot more sense.
I know this isn't what you're asking but I would use a sedan delivery such as this 1936. You could load the person from the rear with a ramp while still in the chair and pull to the front after removing the p***enger front seat. You would also have a place to store the ramp in the rear. Alot more room in a 36-40 sedan delivery than a Model A. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1936-ford-delivery-sedan.1327834/
I know this will probably start a controversy, but why a QC. On your car you are never going to see it and the vast majority of QC owners never change the gearing. I would install a 9" and be done with it. It's bulletproof and parts are everywhere if you ever need one.
I can understand the QC. It's the Kool factor and the fact you just want one. Okay. However, I also agree with woodiwagon46 in that with a 32 tank behind it few will ever notice it if you set the vehicle low enough to use the back door the way need to and that seems to be the driving reason to build a Delivery in the first place. I also have several friends that run QC on the street. Once they land on the best gear set for how they drive, it never gets changed and they have to live with that dang road noise it makes. I would not be a 9" ford guy behind a pre 49 Flathead in the Model A. Here's my personal solution. Look very closely, it's not your normal Model A and yes, it's a stock wheelbase and will end up Full Fendered. The stock A rad is bolted in stock holes in front crossmember. The last photo is it sitting at final loaded ride height with 2-1/2"" of travel before hitting bump stops. Look at the room between the fuel pump stand and the Firewall. Notice I'm running a Manual fan and that is a full 1" thick spacer between the fan and rad core. Notice the Stock Frame horns. That Orange running board bracket is 1" above wheel scrub line.
Is this car going to be full fendered? If so, ditch the '32 tank and use some saddle tanks on each side behind the side aprons. Not only will the '32 tank partially hide your expensive QC, it will make loading/unloading that scooter into the rear more difficult.
I also thought this was a good idea until I actually installed a pair for a Customer. What a pain in the A-S! Do you know that a total of 13 gallons combined is all they hold? Add to that there is no way I could come up with to fill both from one point. That meant you install about 6 gallons in one side and most often have to turn the rig around to get the other 6 in. Do you know how often you have to get gas if you're getting 10 M.P.G? No Thanks!
My brother has a Model A that's been running the saddle tanks for 30+ years. Are they slightly less convenient than a single tank, sure, but I'd rather deal with that h***le than have to deal with trying to load a wheelchair/stroller (that's presumably occupied?) into the back of the car while trying to avoid s****ing paint of the '32 tank that's hanging out the back end. It takes less than a minute or two to turn the car around while fueling. The '32 tank when installed behind a Model A sedan also just looks plain awkward.
Hi everyone thanks for the responses, I appreciate the input. She will not be loaded while sitting in the stroller or wheelchair. She can crawl to the seat from the side door if it is too much of a reach to go over the polished stainless fuel tank and through the rear door otherwise I'll put her mom in back and she will ride up front. The rear door is mostly for the adult size fold up stroller to slide in. When I don't have her in the car, I would like to fold up the rear seat like a full size Blazer or Escalade does and use the rear like a sedan delivery grocery getter. Maybe even using the seat riser box to hold the grocery bags etc...I am thinking I will use the quick change in one of my coupes that still has the stock fuel tank. I have a coupe with the 4 banger that is geared with 3:55 and they are a touch too high. I should have stuck with the stock gear ratio. I was worried about being too slow on the highway here as everyone drives 70-80 mph. This car will be a full fendered, closed hood car. I am trying to build a nostalgia cruiser with an all stock 85 horsepower 221 flattie V8. Just a solid rust free reliable cool car. I have an aluminum headed supercharged 89 5.0 mustang knotchback coupe running 9lbs of boost if I want to burn the tires. This car is not that at all. I already have an all polished stainless front end, Tube axle,4- Bars, Batwings and Panhard bar from speedway. I am in the process of buying the polished stainless hidden disc setup with polished Buick slip over drum covers from SoCal. 5k in the front end alone. I feel safety is paramount and of the utmost importance. Best of both worlds to me is modern safety equipment, steering and brakes but still have nostalgic era correct looks. There won't be much around here like it.
I have to agree that the 2 sample photos you posted look terrible. I also know they do Not need to hang that far out past the body. I'd have to tuck it under by several inches before I'd let a Customer take that out of my shop. Those look like my Back Porch hanging out there. Just plain Wrong.
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