A while back I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket. I had a few beers, surfed ebay for a while (bad combo), and wound up with what was advertised as a 1929 Ford roadster. The car was described as "only needs to have the engine rebuilt and the car plumbed." The following weekend my dad and I drove a pickup and a trailer from NW Iowa to Colorado Springs. We arrived on scene to find a front yard with a bunch of old Ford parts. It turns out I fell for an ebay "advertisement". I determined I bought: 28-29 Model A pickup cowl and doors with a sport coupe rear half a useless chassis a 283 SBC block with a bunch of mismatched other parts a shelled out 9" ford rear end a bunch of mismatched juice brake parts and an original model a front axle dropped 4" with a bunch of camber. As useless as I thought all the parts were at first assumption, I have been able to make most of them work. I have shortened the doors and reposition the hinges to make the body lines line up. I have rebuilt the chassis, including boxing in the stock model a sections. I have acquired enough 283 parts from other places to make the 283 useful. I bought some new spindles and found some '52 hubs - I still need to find some brake drums to work with the hubs. And I have "persuaded" the front axle to have a little less camber. The next step is building some motor mounts and building a trans crossmember. I will try to keep this thread updated with my progress.
Ebay and beer can get UGLY. Congrats on the car, it's great you have the resources and abilities to do something with it.
Sorry about the experience, but she's looking sweet! That's the problem with a "few" beers...still sober enough to do damage. Next time shoot for "A LOT" of beers...
I built some motor mounts tonight. I chose the rubber biscuits from Speedway. I fabricated everything else from flat steel and some 2x2 tubing.
As long as you didnt spend the kids tuition for the project it wont really matter at the end of the build ... the going in price will be considerably lower the the all up completed price. I have haggled over a few bucks on a project car back when and then spent thousands building it ... the price will be forgotten when you are driving your Model A
good job i like the build so far junky parts just take a bit more effort to make something good out of them drink the beer after ebay trawling
It looks like you made a bad deal a good one... looking good, but take a little time and section those doors vertically, (thin them down) before you get too far along, and she wont scream "cut down coupe doors! not a roadster" from 50 feet away...
Old saying, "When you've got lemons, make lemonade". Looks like you'll end up with a really nice car. Keep us posted on the progress. Frank
The 'gentleman' who advertised it on ebay is now saying, "Exactly like I knew it would turn out... exactly!" His missus (in house robe and hair rollers) clubs him with the kid's rubber ducky. "Idiot. Don't you ever sell something so cheap again.... mother warned me about marrying you."
I haven't updated this build thread in a while - Probably because I haven't worked on my car much lately. I have been working on body mounts and a Saginaw 3-speed. I have also included a couple pics of my dad's project. About a year and a half ago he bought a '26 T coupe body in ND. It needed a door, a deck lid, and all the patch panels. He's making some good progress.
Here are some more pics. I am at one of those points in the build where it appears nothing changes. I have, however, made some decent progress over the past few weeks. So, along with my recent progress and the fact that it was such a nice spring day, I thought I would back out my car and take some pics. And the model T coupe is my dad's current build. I made 4 body-to-frame mounts for each side. I am using pieces of a Hoosier right rear sprint car tire to minimize metal on metal contact between the frame and the body. After I completed the body mounts I was able to begin work on the floor board frame. I have also done some work on making the body a bit more rigid. I fabbed up a piece of 1" square tubing to to go around the seat area and to strengthen up the quarter panels. Next up will be working on a drive shaft and tunnel. I suppose I should think about pedals soon, too. Anyway, here are a few pics of what I have accomplished. Oh, and the beautiful blonde is my daughter Avery. She has already told me that it's her car.
Great job, both to you and your dad! Thanks for sharing your build pics, it is nice to see these cars rescued and rebuilt. Keep it up and keep the updates coming.... SpeedAddict001
Over the past couple nights I have been able to fab a partial floor frame with a driveshaft hump. The offset pinion on the Ford 9" made things interesting. I wanted to use the 1" square tubing for all three half hoops. But, due to lack of clearance on the back half loop, I had to use flat strap instead. Oh well... Once I lay down floor boards, no one will know the difference and I will forget all about it.
That's some nice lemonade you've got going there. Originally a truck or not, the roof is gone and it aint coming back. It's a roadster now. NW Iowa seems to be popular right now. I've got a deal going with a guy in Sibley for a couple of Stude trannys, but hav'nt had the time to get them. (its a 5+ hour one way trip for me). If you ever happen to come down to the Central Iowa area drop me a pm, maybe we could work out a relay. I've got some early Ford stuff too, maybe there's somthing you might need? Jeff
Jeff - What type of early Ford stuff do you have? Any bodies? I don't really NEED anything right now. I'm a hot rodder though; I can't pass up a good deal on old steel. Sibley is only 25 min. from me. Also, I might be going to the Des Moines swap meet in a couple weeks. If I do, maybe I'll be able to help you with the trannys.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, guys. It's nice to hear these things coming from fellow HAMBers. It means a lot. I've learned a lot from reading threads on this board. I have a great deal of respect for the guys that are willing to share their knowledge and experiences on the board. I'll do what I can to keep you all up to date with my progress.
The pain has just begun, hang in there. Looks great and it will get better and better the more time you put into it.
The Jalopy Journal
