It's a "roller"!!! Well, it's damn near a roller anyway. The ch***is is not yet complete, but I thought maybe some of you guys may want to see where the build is anyway. It ain't nothin' fancy, another Model A Coupe on deuce rails, just another homebuilt hot rod, but for me that's what it's all about. Since there wasn't any interest in a build thread that started at the beginning, anyone who might want to see how the ol' girl managed to get this far can checkout the Tech Thread: TECH WEEK: "Pinch Your Own Hiney" Well, I managed to come up with a pair of 235X15 take off's yesterday and last evening I mounted them on my 15" Ford pickup wheels using my recently acquired manual tire changer. This morning I washed the dirt off the tires and rolled her out of the garage for the very first time to take a few pic's. I'm pretty happy with where she's at so far. I think the next step will be to fit the body to the frame get her bolted down before I drop in the drivetrain... The sky was overcast and it was threatening rain and but I had been anxiously waiting for the day when I could roll 'er outside so she could get her picture taken. Today was a major milestone for me. Don't pay any attention to those big mudders on the back, 15 inch take offs are getting hard to come by around these parts. I think I've got some kick *** ideas for a k-member but you guy's are gonna have to wait 'till I get the body mounted to the frame before that happens. Gotta locate the pedal box and ****** mount first... Even my dog Wicket got excited 'bout the big event!!! A split kit from Speedy Bill's holds the split '40 Mercury bones in place. I'm really partial to the '40 Merc. bones... They're just a little longer and I've always believed that size does matter... Another shot from the rear quarter but from the other side this time. The Pete and Jake ladder bars are located in front by one of those fancy crossmembers with the bend in the middle that clears the tailshaft on the ******. You can see here I've already cut off the rear frame horns... Straight on from the rear showing the '69 Bronco nine inch hung on the '40 Ford front spring with Pete and Jake spring mounts, ladder bars, and rear shock kit. All this is hung from a Riley Automotive 2" tubular rear crossmember. It may be a little much, but I ran the rear crossmember thru the boxing plate to provide for additional load bearing support... From the front you can see the Henry Model A axle that was dropped to 4" by Joe's Speed Shop. It's hung off the JW Rod Garage front crossmember with a Pete and Jake u-bolt kit, perches and shackles. A So-Cal Speed Shop GT-2 front spring connects the two. The '37-'41 front spindles have been fitted with new kingpins and the steering arms have been dropped so the Pete and Jake tie rod clears the '40 Mercury split bones. You can get a good view of the offset pinion on the Ford Bronco nine inch... The F2/F250 backing plates are bolted to the '37-'41 spindles with 7/16" socket hd. cap screws. The '57-'64 Buick electra 45 fin drums have been indexed with a spacer ring to fit the '40/'41 Ford hubs and re-drilled to fit the early Ford bolt pattern. Those old 600X16 tires came on a set of wheels I bought. They are plenty dry rotted, but good enough for garage tires... Another pic of the rear end. This one shows the Pete and Jake rear panard bar kit and the upper shock mounts that I fabricated from the 3/4" O.D. tube that I whacked off the Riley Automotive rear crossmember. The '40 front spring has only five leaves right now but I can tune it later, I have the rest of the leaves. The rear has the stock '69 Bronco 10" brakes... Another pic of the P&J ladder bars. I used a hole saw to cut a hole in the boxing plate for the ladder bar crossmember to p*** through on this one too... Well, this is where she sit's today. Plans call for a sweet little small journal 327 connected to a t5 hybrid and about a four inchs outta the top. Next on the agenda is to get the body set on the frame...
Finally set the ol' coupe body on that ch***is that I've been workin' on. I guess that you could call it a sneak peek at the first mock-up. I had to wait 'til the OL got home with the camera and by then the sun was so low in the sky that It was hard to get any good pictures. Someone suggested that I should take a "camera cl***" when I get time but this will have to do for now. I went ahead and bolted on the red rims and the wide whites. I think you can get a pretty good idea of where I'm tryin' to go with her. She's got 5.00/5.25 Coker Firestone bias ply wide whites on early Ford 16"X4"rims on the front, complete with vintage trim rings. Oh wow!!! The sun is in my eyes! She's got a Vintique's Inc. repoped '32 shell and insert. I had to do some tradin' around but I managed to come up with a filled shell and an insert with a crankhole. She's got a Brice Thomas Aluminum radiator that's 2" shorter than stock. I'm hopin' that when I get the shell cut down to clear the front crossmember that she'll be just about the right height. She's got big 'ol 7.50X16 Coker Firestone bias ply wide whites on 16"X5" F100 pickup rims in back. The trim rings are vintage pieces that I picked up off the auction site. I've been collectin' a bunch of patch panels. After I got all the bondo knocked off of her, I found she was going to need 'em. The shackles are droopin' a little with the body on her but I've got plenty more leaves for the rear spring. I thought I might start a build thread when I finally got 'er mocked up in case anybody might be interested??? I don't know whether to start at the beginning or just take 'er from here and run with it???
Ain't that the truth!!! I'm already itchin' to start on the body mounts. The firewall was a booger to to locate and drill out all those spot welds and I began to think that the front subrail extensions had been welded in so they would never come out??? The subrails are shimed up right now on 1 1/8" blocks. I know I need to block it at 1" but the door sills have a little sag after eighty years of someone climbin' in and out of 'em and they hit the top of the frame with the 1" blocks. I broke down and ordered the model A on '32 frame subrail kit from Riley Automotive. Can't wait to get started...
Looks great, as you say, nothing better than an A on Deuce rails. May as well use this page to start your build thread since this is where you are at, we can go to your profile page and see all the work you have already done. I have already subscribed to this new build thread. Can't wait to see more.
Glad to see your still busting away at it Tom. Looking great. you and I should go in on a few patch panels. We can save by buying in bulk
The rear subrails came today on the big brown truck. They were shipped from Steadfast Manufacturing in Mansfield Oh.
Okay Norm, A build thread it is... Buying in bulk??? I may have to take out a second mortgage to finance all the patch panels that this ol' girl needs!!!
Sounds like you're planning to chop, I hope you do yours first so I can watch. I'm a little nervous about starting. Great job on the frame, I wasn't that brave, I would have had a warped one for sure.
Nice work! Wish I saw some of your posts (Buick drums in particular) before I got as far along as I am. Anyway, what motor/****** combo are you going to run? Did I miss that somewhere? Phil
Right now, plans call for a sweet little small journal 327 backed up by a t5 hybrid. I've been rebuilding the B pillars and preparing to install my Steadfast Subrails so I can get the body mounted...
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