Model A Hot Rod Project
I bought this car off of eBay from a guy in Monticello, MN. I bought the car on a Monday, and on Friday of that same week, me and a friend, and his son made a 30 hour trip to MN to pick up the car.
It was about 1700 miles round trip. We left Conway at 4:20 pm Friday afternoon and at 6 am Saturday morning, we were in Monticello ready to load the car. Then it was straight back to Conway. We made it home about 11 pm Saturday night. This is what the car looked like when I picked it up....
The car is actually in amazing shape for its age. All of the window garnishings are still in place. The gas tank is intact and would probably still hold gas. The subframe is in excellent condition, so much, that I am going to put new plywood in the floor instead of putting in a steel floor.
The original chicken wire is even still on the top of the car... All the wood is also in good condition, there is one place in the header that needs to be fixed. Actually, so of the orginal cotton material and vinyl were on the roof when we left MN. We kinda left a trail in case we ever need to go back.
December 28 & 29, 2007
The next thing to work on was the frame and chassis. There are some brackets and stuff that needs to come off the rear end.
The rear end is a 8.8" Ford from a 1990 Lincoln Mark VII. It has disc brakes which I am going to use. Once the brackets are gone, I will need to weld the new shock brackets to the axle.
The frame that I am starting with is a stock Model A frame. The front frame horns and radiator support are going to be bobbed and the frame rails are going to be replaced with 2 X 3 rectangular tubing. This tubing has 1/8" wall. Also other supports will be put into the frame to make it stronger so that it will handle the torque from the new motor. The new frame rails will also get a set of '32 rear frame rails to hold the '32 style gas tank.
The discarded frame rails are going to be saved and mated with another set of front frame horns for another project.
December 31, 2007
Today we started fabricating the frame. This consisted of measuring the stock Model A frame and cutting new frame rails from 2 X 3 tubing with 3/16" wall. The new frame rails were measured and cut and mocked up to the original frame so correct positioning of the front crossmember and length.
We then cut the front frame horns from the original frame and mounted them to the new frame. We were then able to mock up the front and rear suspension to a degree. I am still missing a few parts so none of it could be mounted to the frame. Here are a few more pics of the frame...
January 8, 2008
Was able to get a few things done this evening... Lower shock mounts on the rear axle are tacked on, front radius rod brackets, hung the front axle and spring, and have the brake pedal clamped in place. Also set the frame down on the floor...
January 12, 2008
Today, I cut the tubing for the K-member. This will strengthen the frame and take out any twisting that could be caused from the torque of the engine.
January 19, 2008
Got quite a bit accomplished today. Rear suspension hung, front axle and spring are hung, trimmed the radiator support so that this small V8 will fit into the car. Also was able to set the motor/tranny between the frame rails and get an idea of what it looks like. Check it out....
At this point, I also need to take a few lines and thank some people...
My wife -- for putting up with me and these projects... Kathy has been wonderful through all this. The first project wasn't too bad, but this one is keeping me away from the house on Saturdays and usually at least one night through the week.
Kevin Mathis -- Kevin is the person responsible for the frame, all the welding, and answering all my stupid questions. He has a tremendous amount of knowledge when it comes to this kind of work. Probably also need to thank Kevin's wife, Cindy, for letting him hang out with me through all of this...
Helton Wrecker -- Bill Helton is the president of Toad Suck Car Club and the owner of Helton Wrecker. He told me about the '90 Lincoln Mark VII that he had hauled in and wanted to get rid of. It became the donor car for the motor, transmission, rear end, and drive shaft for this car.
Jim Beamis -- Jim is a member of TSCC also. He came out to the shop the day we were hanging the rear suspension and dove right in and helped some.
TransTech -- John at Transtech is the guy responsible for rebuilding the AOD tranny that is going into this car. He said it was completely trashed when he opened it up. It came out of his shop with a shift kit and 2000 stall converter. This tranny should keep this car moving good.
Chris Beard -- Chris works for a company that is able to order all the stuff we need, from the 2 X 3 tubing to the bolts that we are using. All we have to do is call him and we have what we need.
Vendors -- I have used several different parts vendors for this build... Speedway Motors, Yogi's Inc., Vendetta Auto Fab, Mac's Antique Auto, and Urbine Machine. There have also been several HAMB members that I have bought parts from, not to mention eBay.
February 2, 2008
Today was a good work day... got alot accomplished... Motor and tranny mounts and both motor and tranny mounted to the frame... Also was able to set the body on the frame today and removed the stock firewall. I will be ordering a new one from Speedway Motors. Here are a few pics of todays work...
February 19, 2008
The past couple of weeks have been a little slower... was hoping to get the frame out for paint this past week, but didn't make it. Still have a few things to do before that... but here is what has been done...
Cut the floor pan out below the seat so that the bod would drop down over the 'Z'... roughly mocked up the gas tank. I am using a 32 tank with 32 rear frame horns....
Also have the new firewall clamped in... cut the hole for the steering column in the firewall... front suspension mocked up... still have to mount the front shocks and steering...
February 23, 2008
Today I pulled the window regulators out and cleaned them up and shot a little paint on them... did the same for the rear/rear quarter window garnish moldings....
February 26, 2008
No pics from today, but we lifted the body off the frame so that the inside could be covered in Por-15. This will take care of any of the rust from spreading or growing. I also have the drip rails and the top molding off the top-rear. The top which will be under the new vinyl top has also been covered in Por-15. I have also removed what was left of the interior and all the little nails and tacks that held it in. I really believe that Henry Ford thought that if 3 nails/tacks, spot welds, or rivets would hold something, that 12 were better... If you have ever taken of these things apart, you know what I mean.
I have ordered new drip rails and top molding for the car. The old ones were going to take quite a while to clean up, and the cost of them was low enough that it is well worth ordering new.
The frame still needs the front shock mounts and the gas tank mounts fabricated, then it should be ready to to the Conway High Auto Collision class to get the rest of the gussets and grinding done. Tehy will then shoot the primer on and I will follow it up with the paint. Kevin, that I mentioned above is also the instructor for this class, so he is going to use the frame as a teaching aid also. Hopefully we will get this done this weekend and can get it over there sometime next week. That's about it for this time....
March 18, 2008
Been a while since I posted any pics... Have been doing some mock up with the chassis and just painted the frame tonight. The color of the frame is Low Gloss Black. The paint is Valspar Tractor & Implement paint from the Tractor Supply Store(TSC). It is more of a satin black and turned out pretty good considering this is my first time to spray paint. Here are some of the recent pics....
March 29, 2008
Today was another good day for the hot rod... The frame is assembled and sitting on all fours.. It was an awesome site to see this go from raw steel to a car frame in just a couple of months... Once the frame was assembled, we started a little work on the body. While I cut out the rear quarter panels, Kevin worked on getting the firewall clamped in... Here are some pics of todays work...
April 5, 2008
This was another awesome build day... First thing the motor and tranny were bolted into the frame rails. Then the patch panels were welded in... Then the body was set on the frame and bolted down. Also set the floorboards in and got a real good idea of what this hot rod is going to look like... Take a look...
July 4, 2008
It has been a very long while since I updated this build. The car has been on the road for about 2 weeks. During the first test drive, the fan blade took our several radiator tubes, so it was off to fix that problem. The car is driving/riding pretty good at this point and is a blast to drive. here is a pic that was taken a couple weeks before we drove it out of the shop... I will be adding more as I get them taken...
July 12, 2008
Toad Suck Car Club took the day and went to Petit Jean Mountain for a cookout at one of members cabin. I was able to take the car up there. This was the furthest I have driven the car at one shot and it performed flawlessly... Here are a few pics of it sitting on top of the mountain...
Stay tuned for more......