I've been thinking about building an A coupe or roadster and have been looking at project cars. But I noticed that complete, restored, running A coupes are not that expensive compared to some of the "project" bodies and frames that I've run across. Even complete restored roadsters look pretty reasonable when you compare them to Brookville bodies. Typical restored 28-31 coupes seem to be under $20k with many in the $12-15k range. Roadsters seem to be a little more. Anyway, it seems like I might be way ahead to start with a nice running, restored car vs. putting one together from scratch. I could probably sell off most of the drivetrain and running gear, fenders, etc, to a restorer and could probably come out ahead since most or all of the bodywork is done and a lot of the little bits would be there already. Bad idea?
There is a two-part article ***led "First, Do No Harm" in the Feb and March 2001 Street Rodder. This is an article about Vern Tardel making a hot rod out out of a '32 5 window using only wrenches, no cutting. I have part two, and found part one, am awaiting it in the mail. I'll send you a copy if you can't find these issues. Sounds like a cost-effective idea, by the way. I wish I'd have had the capitol to do it that way.
Trivia: I know the guy who restored this 5-window and he didn't seem too upset about its "hot-rodification". He has a huge collection of nice restored '32's, and is now building a hot rod roadster.
My dad restored his '35 cabrolet to stock in the late '70's. Now he's adding a late flathead, dropped axle, steel wheels with full caps, ect... But yea, it seems like you can buy a half decent A for around $10k that would be good enough for what we would want.
I went to a swapmeet last weekend and Model A/T bodies were $3000 and up......and they were ****.....The same condition a few years ago @ $1000-$1500... I think finding an older restoration is the way to go. One that has been used and driven but still presentable.....seen a few under $10,000. Sell off all the running gear to a restorer.
Just seems like it would be more cost effective to do it that way. By the time you add up all the little stuff, the numbers are pretty compelling.
Well, It would depend on the style of car I was building, whether or not I'd sell the engine, and how well it ran.....
The only flaw in the plan is selling off the old original Model A running gear ... almost nobody wants the original running gear ... it is pretty common stuff and most of the older guys who are interested in restoring Model A's are either real cheap ... or not doing much. Buy a decent Model A and fix it your way ... Henry made 4 million Model A's ...
Mustangsix, if you do go this route and sell off the running gear, let me know...I may be a candidate for purchasing it.
I've been recommending this method for 2 decades or more. Street rods have been increasing in value whereas restored Ts and As have seen their days of glory and sale prices are flat. Many fo these older restorations have incredibly nice bodies hiding under that nitrocellulose lacquer and mohair. Some, of course, do not, but you can fairly easily check them out. A short story, over 10 years ago I bought the cherryest 29 Tudor body and sheet metal with interior sitting on a junk ch***is from a guy at the Arlington swap meet. He had restored the car years before and driven it all over the SW USA. But he wanted a streetrod so he went out to find a nice body to start with. Everything he found was either rotten junk or overepriced for him. After a couple years of looking he decided he already had the best body around, so he pulled the complete body and sheet metal from his restored car and set it on a junk ch***is. He took the restored running driving ch***is to the swap meet with the gas tank standing up on angle irons, a pliece of plywood bolted to the top of the frame with the original buckets seats installed so it could be driven around and sold it. Then the "car" sat around for a couple years while he realized he really wasn't a streetrod kind of guy, but didn't want to restore another ch***is either, so he sold it to me and went back to being a non-car buff member of the m***es. I still have the body in storage for a dream project. It works and you can sell the ch***is and unwanted original parts and recover a good bit of your purchase price.
There is a guy with a 30 A roadster near my house. It would be a good candidate for this. It runs with a supposidly really nicely rebuilt engine, has a nice body (ugly yellow paint), has very nice uphoulstery, a decent top etc. He was asking like 16k for it. Sounded steep to me, especially since I wouldn't really want the drivetrain... what do you guys think?
You didn't mention if the car was a DeLuxe or Standard Rodaster and had sidemounted front spares and a luggage rack or trunk or a Tuxedo Top for the rumble seat, it does have a rumble seat, doesn't it? These cars are selling now for what they sold for in the 80s-early 90s. Think about it.
I personally have mixed feelings about this. I love hot rodding, but appreciate restored and well preserved pieces of history also. there are fewer of those than you think, especially of some models. The Model A is rather unique -- it was the first popular collectible/restored car. That was because so many people learned to drive on them and they were plentiful and cheap in the 50s before rodding and restoring were more mainstream hobbies. Back then both were for gear-heads and weird/eccentric types. Now both are big business and a lot more common. I'll tell you what I think right from the start -- it's plain sacrilege to take a rather unusual or rare model/make/body style and make a rod out of it. Like a guy in Hot Rod a couple years back who bought a restored 39 Lincoln Zephyr and rodded it. He shouldn't be shot -- but 20 lashes with a nice cat-o-nine-tails (a real one, not a play thing!) is deserved. Something that was missing major components, or had at least been converted from the original V-12 to a V-8 might have been forgiveable, but this was a show worthy car that was cut up. If the rodding had been done in such a way that it could be put back to original condition it would have been somewhat forgivable... maybe. That fellow told HR that he was careful NOT to let the seller know what he planned, pretending just to want a 39 Zephyr (coupe!!), then took it to show the seller what he'd done about a year later. Couldn't understand why the guy had nothing to say and shut the door in his face (the fellow had restored the car himself and showed it for several years). In the case of a Model A (or even a non-br*** era T... let's not get in to a br*** T!!) it's a bit different. There ARE plenty of those around in restored condition, enough to make them relatively common. At least get an older, well worn/poorly done restoration (one that wasn't done 100% correct but is still solid, or has mixed year parts). Just have a little respect for auto history -- there won't be any more made. With Brookville bodies and all the resto parts available for an A you could build a pretty much build a stock replica A, but it would still be a REPLICA -- not an original. It's only original once... Ramblers aren't very high on anyone's collectible list, but when I wanted to rebuild my wagon that was totaled by another driver, I specifically looked for a solid car that needed everything. I wanted to use the EFI stroked six I built for the first car (and salvaged from the wreck), so I p***ed on several affordable restored or nicely kept originals that weren't much more than the one I ended up buying. I just couldn't see sacrificing an easily restored or fully restored car for a mild hot rod driver -- not even a Rambler! A solid body with pretty much worn out drivetrain and front suspension, and shot interior that needed a little body work is what I got. It had a good bit of surface rust on the hood and roof due to worn through original paint, but the only major body work was the bottom of the tailgate. That was badly rusted out but I rebuilt it. I did have some cowl leak/rust issues, but even nice originals and some restored cars have the same problem -- it's that common on the old cars (similar to early Mustang cowl rust issues) that's easily overlooked, esepcially for a trailer/garage queen that only gets wet when washed. Including hauling the thing 8 hours from home and the extra work needed I had almost as much in it as if I'd bought a driveable car since I had to rent a U-haul truck and trailer to get it home (about $1600 total -- could have bought a driveable well kept original for about $2500, and saved 5-6 days work in the end). Just so you know I practice what I preach!
Has a rumble seat... luggage rack on the back with a trunk type box thats very nice, nice bumpers, I think it did have front spares but I cant remember for sure. I think it may be a deluxe model it had alot of trim and stuff. I dont know alot about the different options. Regular roadster top but no tuxedo top. The car, including the rumble seat was nicely uphoulstered in brown leather. Had an alternator added. I think it was the paint that made me not buy it. I think that yellow paint turned me off.. I was hoping to find an old black unrestored roadster.
Get a restored or older restoration is the best way to start, you dont't have to hunt down the nickle and dime parts that will kill alot of time. Who cares if you piss someone off! It's YOUR car YOU own it and YOU can do whatever YOU like to it. If you cant sell the banger parts use them to build something else .Real men cut them up. That's HOTRODDING!!!
I already looked at one project roadster body, but it was ****. Rusty, no deck lid, no door hardware, no windshield, and he wanted $3000. Seems like everyone I find is like that. On the other hand, Central Florida sux for finding old abandoned tin, but there are a lot of geezers (wait, that's me!) that have restored cars for sale. There's a decent running 28 coupe nearby with an asking price of $11k. There's also a 30 roadster for $14k, supposedly running. I'm sure there are a few others.
Got a good friend that's been bulding as long as I have and he's always said start out with the best body you can find. He's always had nicer rides than I have so there must be some truth to his belief. Here's my thinking on it, there are probably enough restored model As in the world and in museums to keep the historical society happy for several generations after we are all long gone. if you can get your hands on a good solid car and want to build it do it. Oh and I don't think I'd worry too much about offending the restorers they already don't like you.
This is exactly what I was refering to.....there are quite a few of these around and if your patient, can get a great deal on one.
was thinking the same thing. This is in the cl***ifieds right now and looks like an excellent starting place if an A bone is what your after. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157597 Not all hacked up or rusted out yet. Note this is not an endor*****t just an example.
To make it worthwhile financially you really need to know a fair amount about restored cars. Original parts vs. repro will effect what you can get selling off the unwanted bits. How good was the restoration? Once you strip the body will the bondoed over patch panels be any better that a body you bought at a swap meet in need of them? i don't know of too many running full roller a ch***is bringing over $1,200. Do the math, check eBay prices on parts, a Brookville body may be the way to go after all.
Another bonus, you can update/modernize it a little at a time, have fun with it while you hot rod it, instead of having to wait while starting from scratch.
Deuce Roadster said it, the flaw in your logic is that the stock running gear is just not worth that much. Now if you sell off the fenders, and many other parts you may recoup some of your investment, but are you really ahead of just getting a Brookville body and aftermarket frame? Not trying to discourage you, just stating the reality of spending $12-15K (realistic) on a car and ending up with maybe $3-4K (optomistic) back from selling parts. You are always better off to buy the best body you can, bodywork takes time and money. Unfortunately, many of us have more time than money, so we use older less desireable parts that require more time to fix up.
the last solid roadster body I saw on Ebay went for the same $$ as a brookville, FWIW. If it were me and I could source a good 'A' - I'd make it into a rod inna heart beat. then... I'd dig up an xtra frame, hang the A running gear on it, buy the $1800 Speedster kit from Gaslight, and make an A Speedster. couplea speedparts on the speedster to make it fun, and you'd have two cars for just a little more than the price of one! speedsters are sellin' for 75% of the cost of a resto Tudor, so you'd get your jing back outta the deal, methinks.
Well, have you priced of good set of original fenders, they just keep going up, so sell those. I like the idea of the Brookville body, actually been thinking of a '29 roadster from them myself.......But, there is just something to be said for ORIGINAL Ford sheetmetal......I'm not the biggest fan of CATALOG hotrods.....and the paperwork/***ling issues that come with 'em...... Chuckspeed.....GOOD PLAN!!!
It's not as bad in FL as other places to get a ***le on a "kit car" that you ***emble from random parts (good luck to you all in Cali), but a clean ***le sure makes it easier.
I'd buy a stock ford ch***is to "restore". But with the purchase I would require a bill of sale showing the frames numbers and the ***le with the frame numbers on it so I could legally register the ch***is, which is the part of the car that is the "legally" the car. The body is just so much sheet metal. But then, that's the same paper work you are going to want to keep, isn't it? That's the dilemma in this "sell it to a restorer" nonsense.
So when I drop, oh say, a '31 Plymouth BODY (for example mind you) on a '30 Model A frame (remember, we're building HOTRODS here)....I now have a Model A??? Are all the Model A's on Deuce frames ***led as '32's??? Didn't think so......
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