Projects My first build. 1929/31 model A

Thanks!

 

The new bolts arrived today and fitment was a piece of cake. I read somewhere that the bolts were pressed with a special tool that crushed the knurl, but they came so nicely with the hydraulic press.




In this picture the modification of the hub is visible. To make it fit thru the spacer the machine shop put it on the lathe and made them cylindric instead of conical. I go to the machine shop a lot

 

Some parts arrived today!


Radiator hose kit

Headlight wiring looms

Rear brake hose

Lower radiator mount

Tie rod rebuild kit

Motor mounts

Wheel bearings

And two different handbrake cables since I didn't know how long the cable needed to be. Of course there were lots of small bits and pieces that belongs to all of this, but they will appear during the build. Now I'm close to get a rolling ch***is and that feels great!

 

Wow, new parts! Bet your stroked to get them on.

Earl

 

Yes, I am!

 

Hot rod night! Well, I lost my mood pretty quick when I couldn't find one of the axle seals to complete the last rear hub. So I decided to drain the oil in the rear axle and fit the new drain plugs instead. I woke up after a 45 minute nap on the crawler. At least the oil is now throughly drained...

Finally I managed to fabricate a bracket for the rear brake hose that will be welded to the drive shaft tube. One hub is done and I'll pick up a new seal tomorrow so I can finish the other one. Spacers will be done tomorrow as well.

Testing the new drill press

Bracket done

 

Today was rear hub day.



Started with cleaning the bearing race and applied a coat of grease.



On the bearing as well



In place!



D'oh! As Homer Simpson would have said, got the wrong seal... Changed it for the right size tonite and will get back to work tomorrow.

 

My second H.A.M.B firewall plaque, now I just need a firewall to put them on

 

Nice!

 

Got the correct seal and hub is finally done.

Fitted the brake shoes and stuff tonight. I really hope everything is done the right way since there was no instructions for the hand brake lever. Time will tell


Those orange springs are nasty, need to figure out how to fit them in a easier way since everything is going to pieces before I put some paint on the parts.


The spacers was done today after several weeks wait. 1" thick instead of 3/4", that solved the problem with drum rubbing backing plate. Good thing is that they can be skimmed if they need to be. Will use my boroscope to look inside the drum and make sure the shoes are aligned correct against the drum.


One side done!

 

Those drums look great!
Just me but I was under impression one coil was shorter than other (overall length is same). Either case they are nasty to put on.
Earl

 

Hmm, it sure looks like it on the picture, but I didn't notice any difference today when I finished the other side.

 

It has been a long time since I did anything to the project, but today I finished the right hand side rear brakes. It's officially a roller!

 

Look's good!
Earl

 

Looks great! Keep up the hard work!

 

Thanks guys!

A friend in the U.S. is also working on his Model A and even though he claims that we are at the same point in our builds, he's had his driveline in and out a couple of times. Which I haven't. I just had to fit the motor mounts today, and after cutting to much and "rebuilding" them again, they are now fully welded.



Since I have done a lot of welding on the frame I checked it for squareness, and it seems to be true down to the millimeter.

Tomorrow will hopefully give time to remove the top four leaves on the rear spring. Forgot to consult the Tardel/Bishop book before fitting the spring, so now I have to do it all over again. This time I'll try to use the crossmember and spring clamps and replace the center bolt with an all thread before lifting the frame.

 

Stupid, stupid, stupid... Now I'm wondering why I didn't check the information in the Tardel/Bishop book BEFORE welding the motor mounts to the frame? Clearly something is wrong, at least for my application. I placed the brackets exactly 3" from the radiator mounting hole in the crossmember, and that places the engine what appears to be 4" to far ahead in the frame. That's at least the distance between the gearbox and the torque tube. Since I welded it all the way around I will probably have to cut the frame rail and replace with new steel and buy a new set of brackets...

 

Don't be too hard on yourself. We've all discovered that learning is often a painful experience. And, as has often been said here on the H.A.M.B., "it's only metal...". Great project!

 

Somewhere I read where author (Mr Bishop) apologized for some wrong measurements in Tradel/Bishop book.
Do not be hard on yourself-I did same thing (tacked in only).
Sometimes the things we learn the "hard way" are always remembered causing us to verify measurements, go with mock up's ect, before making things permanent.

Would seem you could trim existing brackets flush and set new ones toward the back side the needed "4"?
Earl

 

Hook trans to torque tube and use that to determine where motor mounts go

 

Wow...wow-------super cool project. All the pics are great! I have a flathead and body from my granddad's 31' Ford which I will be doing soon also......awesome project you have there!!!...thanks

 

Thank you very much!

 

Sorry guys, I missed your posts.

Well, since I have limited time to work on the project (working overtime, picking up wife after work, too tired to get in the mood and all the other excuses...) I tried to cut a corner and save some time, which back fired. I was thinking on connecting the trans to the torque tube, but in the pictures the location of the brackets seemed to be at the same place as mine compared to the crossmember. That's why I went ahead with the welding. If the distance would have been different I think I would think twice. I was thinking that the torque tube on the rear end the author used might be longer than mine? If I remember correctly they used the 1940 banjo, and I'm using the original model A (I think, how can I tell?). Anyone know if there's a difference in length?

In 12 hrs we're leaving for Los Angeles and the GNRS and later Sacramento Autorama. I'm going to have a blast a**** all the cool cars, and I'll take a ton of close ups to see what other builders did .

 

Boom, got it! I've been waiting for a whole year, last year it was sold out, but this year I reserved my steering wheel right away. Got a 10% discount thanks to my alliance membership, thank you Limeworks!

 

New score! Found a set of Stewart Warner gauges, now I need a dash insert

 

Some bad news:

Got a call from Mike and H&H about the flathead yesterday, and it's beyond repair. A crack all the way thru the block and all eight cylinders were sleeved. I'm going there on Monday to take a look at it and see if anything is salvageable and worth bringing back to Sweden. Now I don't know if I'm going to give up on the flathead dream and go Chevy small block instead. I want to move on and can't really afford to buy a used French flathead for the $3600 they are at home. I'll get a brand new crate SBC for less money...

Some good news:

Bought a project I'm going to bring home. 1928 Sport Coupe body, frame in good condition with axles and some small stuff. If I don't use the body, since I read that it's a lot of work to make it look good as a roadster, I might sell it. I've found roof parts from a coupe but I need to get it shipped to me before my truck goes in the container. Time is running out, as always

Pictures will come in a couple of days.

 

Here's a couple of pictures:

Cracked engine block, junk according to Mike at H&H.


My Sport Coupe body with frame, axles and miscellaneous extra parts.


Took me and the seller 30 mins to break it down


Loaded on the truck that goes back to Sweden. We made room for it all


I also found a roof to make it in to a coupe.


Will drop it off at the shipping company in a couple of days, then it will be two months until it arrives in Sweden.

 

My last purchase before the truck was dropped off at the shipping company

 

Last day in California before the trip home. I picked up the patch panels at Walden speed shop in Pomona and continued to La Cresenta and H&H Flatheads. I picked up the flywheel and manifolds I forgot, and decided to take the cracked block as well. I have two blocks on the truck, I might as well have three... I bought a pair of water pumps and while I was there thinking about what else I needed Mike was balancing a crank and explained the process to me. Fascinating! Looking forward to start working on my project when it finally shows up in Sweden in two months!

 

The parts finally arrived in Sweden and I did a quick mock up. Gives me inspiration and now I want to start welding. It looks like the roof has been attached to its original body with nails on a wooden frame, but I think it ought to be welded to the body to get some structural strength, am I right? The plan is to give it a 3" chop which I think looks just right.