Projects Project Mattitude: the Beginning

No body work so far.. They're sitting in the corner of the garage. I want to get the frame all welded up before I start back on the body again. Don't worry, I'm anxious to get back on the body.

 

Nice work, ive picked up one of these myself, a few weeks ago. I dont think ill do as much as you have to the body, but maybe after im done, ill take a look at doing something similar to the front area. If you had to do the area behind the seats over again, is there anything you would have done differently. I dunno if ill change mine, but right from the start i didnt like the package tray.

 

haven't heard anything for a while

any updates?

 

I've made some progress, yeah.. But..

 

Hurry up! Roundup is in a few weeks!

 

I wish.. But that won't be happening.

 

just read the whole thread, AWESOME is pretty much all i can say. inspiring me to get back on my model A project.

 

How about Beatersville Labor Day weekend....?

 

Thanks! I made some progress.. But as usual, I won't be updating this thread just yet..

That would be pushing it. I would really love to have it at the Revolution, but being my first ground-up build, that's a long shot.

Realistic, but a long shot.

 

Hey Matt, just found your project and was very excited to see such a fantastic coupester build. I started mine 2 years ago this May and am to the point of being ready to finish weld the frame and brackets. I havent started on the body mods yet, but really like the way you have handled yours. I think you took care of all the "coupesters dont look right" comments by moving the rear cockpit opening forward. I love it! Definitely will be following your build from here on out.
On my project, I have Z'd the rear frame 5-1/2", swept up the front 1", used a 4" dropped axle with low arch spring, coil overs in the rear with triangulated 4 bar with wishbones for the bottom links. Small block Chevy and a 4-speed. Much more cookie cutter than yours, but all hand built with mistakes and all. Learning as I go. I'm an old fart with a life long dream that wouldn't die. Keep up the great work, very impressive!

 

I had a question about the distributor you have in the engine. Do you know much about them or anyone else? I have one and want to run it but I didnt know if you =can get parts for it. I need a cap

Awesome build

 

The cap is the standard old style Mallory two piece. You will find them on eBay and if you are patient you'll get one for a acceptable price. All the 8 cylinder caps of that style are the same.

 

You are a mad, mad man Matt.... Very Nice and Kool Build !

 

Thanks everyone.

Long-awaited update..

Last week was spring break. This week was school but since my professor was out of town, I wasn't required to come to class which meant more garage time. I got onto a roll and started checking off the list of stuff to do..

First, I got the split bones mounted up to the frame. Using CTaulbert's bungs which enables you to use '28-'34 tie rods to mount the bones to the frame with ball studs using 3kross' through-the-frame bungs. I settled on mounting them right underneath the A-posts which worked out nicely. The bones do pretty good at hiding the upsweep in the frame. It'll probably work better when the frame is all one color.



Then just to get it off the shelf and out of my way, I mounted the generator.. and broke the rear mounting tab.



I had to cut out the floor some for the TT to clear, but the rear bones clear everything so far. Pretty happy about that. I'll have to add a little more back into the TT since it pulled the banjo inward some. That's why the wheelwell looks too far back in the pictures..






I also took apart the F1 steering box to modify to fit the Model A frame. It'll require making mounting flanges to weld to the box. I plan to use another flange to bolt on the outside of the frame so the frame rail is sandwiched in between. Since the pitman shaft is too big to be able to fit through the stock A steering holes, I'll have to weld those closed and cut out my own pattern. Here's some pictures of the F1 box after cutting off the mounting flange and grinding it down..





Since I wasn't accustomed to using a torch, and knowing I'd have to be able to use it soon to drop the spindle arms as well as heat and bend the pitman arm, I'd have to teach myself. My dad never got around to teaching me, but practice makes perfect, right? I decided to look around today in the backyard for a piece of scrap that I could practice with. That's when I saw this shifter tower sitting in a pile and thought "gee.. That looks like a flathead shifter."

Which is really weird, since my dad has never messed or tinkered with flatheads. I had know of the shifter all this time and forgot about it. I thought it was probably the shifter that came off the '48 Chevy truck we were working on before he got killed. No way it's a flathead shifter.. Well, I picked it up and realized it was. So I brought it inside and took the shifter out to put in my '39's shift tower and it fits. Not only is it the shifter I was needing, it's the swan neck shifter as well.

(large fork is 2-7/8"..)





So far.. It's coming along nicely. My list of finish welding to do is getting longer. Haha.

 

Oh, also.. I'm thinking I'll lose a couple more leaves up front. It needs to come down just a bit. Anyone agree?

 

Looking good nice to see some progress.

 

keep it up, looking good!

 

Thanks guys!

Oh yeah.. Also, the shifter stick doesn't stay. I don't know how to describe it, but it seems like I have to use both hands to move through the gears. If I'm not careful, the stick may spin and come out of the forks.

As well as one of the forks sticking. It seems like sometimes it will slide down the shaft just fine, then sometimes it doesn't move at all.

Any tips on fixing these?

 

Keep it up Matt! Looking good!

Have fun at the LSRU I'm super jealous

 

Great to see some progress matt! You could go either way with the front spring, remove leaves or leave it be....... I think it would look good lowered a little more though!

 

Do you have the pin in that keeps the shifter from turning and the spring that holds it down? The fork may have dirt, rust or a rough spot you'll have to polish.
I had a longer stick than that in my '38 coupe. It had a heavy chrome ball that broke the wind shield when I was banging second gear. I put a stocker back in.

 

Cool man looking good

 

Thanks guys!

I have a spring in there holding it down, but I didn't see a pin. I'll go look at it and see.

If second is to the left and down.. Then how did you break the windshield with the chrome ball? Is the flathead trans a different shift pattern from the typical H-pattern?

1 3
H
2 R

 

R 2
n
1 3

 

... Sometimes I hate being a newbie to older stuff. Thanks.

 

HOT DAMN! progress looks good...

 

Thanks, Matt!

Just looked. It appears I'm missing a pin for the slot on the dome of the shifter to prevent it from turning. I would guess that I could just find something strong enough, make it round and long enough to slide into the hole in the threaded portion to hold the shifter?

 

Cut off a piece of drill bit. works great for a shifter pin.

 

That would do just fine. It's just a short rod long enough to fit well into the slot of the shifter and short enough to clear the threads on the retaining cap side.
That old shift leaver was so long that I held it about a foot below the ball. I thought it looked cool but it was dumb. Or maybe I was the dumb one.

 

Looking good Matt!