Projects Model a coupe banger ideas

All of the early wire wheels should fit on the Model A drums without wheel supports. Unless those are modern wire wheels (hard to tell from the picture) they shouldn't need supports. See: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/40-ford-wheels-on-a-model-a.750368/#post-8330045



Charlie Stephens

 

They are a ring or plate that goes between the rim and brake drum, to support the rim. If they are not used the wheel will not seat properly. Speedway has them

 

When you put solid rims on the mechanical drums or wire wheels on the hydraulic drums they will appear to fit unless you look closely. The bolt pattern is 5 on 5 1/2 in both cases but the problem comes in the area of support for the rim. You may have problems later ranging from cracking to wheels falling off.

Charlie Stephens

 

Man. You guys are giving confusing advice about wheels and what fits on these. Let me clarify.

If you are using mechanical brakes and drums up to 1935. All the wire wheels will bolt on with no support ring or spacer.

If you are using solid wheels on mechanical drums you will find that the lug studs are not long enough to get many threads into your lug nuts. You will also need the support ring for between the wheel hub and drum as the solid wheels won't fit completely down on the drum and you will crack the wheels if you run them with out supports.

On hydraulic brakes. Obviously steel wheels fit fine. When you run into a problem on them is using wire wheels. For the same reason you need to support the back side of the steel wheels on mechanical drums you need to do the same when using wires on juice brakes.

Obviously anything wide 5 mechanical or juice is the same.

Or what Charlie just said..

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People tend to post things they may not know first hand, but are repeating what they think they read previously. Only they maybe misunderstood what they read, or maybe they read bad advice. On a firearm forum I used to frequent the regulars there were very strict about people posting bad advice. They called it FUD (for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt), if you post something that is incorrect you will be called out and shamed for spreading FUD. This is the members who do this, not the moderators, they are very concerned about people spreading mis-information, because with firearms the results can be pretty bad. When it comes to safety related items on hot rods, that's probably not a bad approach to take also. Thanks to Charlie and Hitchhiker for setting things straight.

 

Alright....love the Model As....payin close attention on this one...

 

That tire setup worked great for me. Went to a Mitchell overdrive,hi compression
head, B cam and carb. Worked great, ran strong, cruised 55, top of 70. Ran it hard
for 15K miles, fun car.

 

I use 1942 hyd brakes on all A parts . not a problem . speedway makes spindles for swap - direct bolt up . running a 4" drop with a t-5 , I lost the leverage for mechanical brakes as the t-5 is in the way . super good for daily driver . thus hyd

 

I like what you are planning for the Model A with one major exception and that being the mechanical brakes. These were inadequate when new and are totally unacceptable today. If you plan on driving your Model A very much or very far let me know so i can get the hell out of the way. Mechanical brakes are a major hazard to your health and safety.

 

if the brakes are in GOOD cond & teds kits are installed correctly , it will smoke the tires anytime you want

 

Duce bumper on my A
Nice Ride !!! Not all have to B V8s

 

Look for Elrod coupe!! I think he nailed it!! First had the banger an then swapped a flatie!! Model A dropped axle with mechanical brakes!!

I got a Hot rod Ford and two dollars bill!

 

Haha! I put the song in my coupe.


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About the brakes. I know it's an old discussion about mechanical and juice brakes... I drove almost 5.000 miles this year with my model a. Up to 65 mph. All over Germany and over the alps to Italy over a steep pass route. No problems with the mechanical brakes so far. Also in some dangerous situations. 20 miles downhill the pass in serpentines was also no problem. Only thing I wanna upgrade is the drums to the cast iron drums, so brake power doesn't fade so fast if they get hot. Everything else with mechanicals is no problem in my opinion. The model a stopps as good as my '58 Mercedes S coupe.


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Another comment about the mechanical brakes. (This is from PERSONAL observation with many stock Model A miles). Remember that any play, anywhere in the linkage, makes a huge difference in braking. A little here and there affects application at the drum. Pay attention all the way up the line.

 

Yeah!! Because there are so many parts involved in the system!!
There's no shortcuts when restoring the system!! If you're doing a half restoration you obtained half brakes power!!

I got a Hot rod Ford and two dollars bill!