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1929 Ford Model A Tudor

Started by Phonesrfun, October 22, 2017, 02:23:52 PM

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Phonesrfun

OK folks,  I now have something else besides a room full of old phones.  An opportunity came up to buy a "Fixer-upper" Model A.  It has turned out to be a real fixer-upper in the most literal sense.  It runs and works, but the only soft interior is the seats and they need reupholstering.  I wound up putting a rebuilt engine and a new clutch, and all new brakes and brake drums in the thing over the last several months.  Maybe some of you have noticed that I haven't been here quite as much.   :(


For us who are addicted to collecting and forums, there is a forum for Model A's too.  Fordbarn.com, where I have been hanging out maybe a little too much.  Like working on phones and like restoring phones, the same sort of things go on in that forum.  They have a search feature, and of the thousands of questions that come up, someone has undoubtedly asked it before.  Like here, if someone asks why their car sputters or looses power, there will be 20 different opinions and answers to even questions that weren't even asked.


Unlike phones, however, there are at least 6, maybe 7 major places in the country to buy parts from.  (At a price).  There is also e-Bay.  You can buy repop parts for the cars;  Just about any nut, bolt, wire, piston, interior, fender, and the list goes on and on.


So, now that the beast is drive-able, I now have to wait until Spring for the next go around of "things" to do.  Here is a photo of the car in our local car show last month.  When I say beast, I mean beast.  It drives like a combination of a truck and a farmer's tractor.  Mechanical brakes and the whole bit.  Maybe I should use a 202 with a Bluetooth adaptor as my 1929 cell phone.



-Bill G

HarrySmith

Very Nice! I am a car guy also, have been since I was 12 years old. I love the patina on it, don't paint it! What would look good on it is an old Bell Telephone logo! Combine both addictions....I mean hobby's.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Phonesrfun


Harry:

They're a hoot to work on.  A new friend has a great shop in his (large) garage with all the whistles and bells.  We did the engine and tranny there.  Later I had my own garage tied up for a month with the car on jack stands awaiting the parts and my own time to do the brakes and drums.  Like working on phones, it's a great feeling when done.


Also, like phones, there is still a lot of similarity between the technology of the 1920's to, say, the '70's or so, before electronics.  Take the antisidetone circuit developed and really put out for the public in the 1920's and in use in the 500 and 2500 long, long afterwards (Even today).


I have owned a 1965 Mustang in the past.  The clutch pressure plate in the Mustang and the Model A. (speaking from memory) are pretty much identical.  Even the brakes, although mechanically activated on the 1929, the way the brake shoes work against brake drums is the same between those years.
-Bill G

Haf

#3
Bill,

congratulations, very nice car! I'm into old cars too, last one I drove was a 1964 Mercedes Benz 220 S fintail. Sadly, now I can't just take any car, not even for a test ride..need hand gas. And automatic transmission. I was very into the Ford Model A myself (still the car with most available spare parts in the world, literally everything) but now I have an eye on early 1940s Cadillacs with hydramatic transmission. Will see what it will be, if :)

I would keep the look too as Harry said. And remember, it's only original once.


Glad that you showed up here again!

Oh, and you need  matching dapper clothing to your car, I would suggest something like this - My daily clothing 5 years ago :)


Haf
Telephone:
0049-030-55474418
1-415-449-4743
1-604-757-7474

Phonesrfun

Quote from: Haf on October 22, 2017, 03:08:11 PM
Bill,

congratulations, very nice car! I'm into old cars too, last one I drove was a 1964 Mercedes Benz 220 S fintail. Sadly, now I can't just take any car, not even for a test ride..need hand gas. And automatic transmission. I was very into the Ford Model A myself (still the car with most available spare parts in the world, literally everything) but now I have an eye on early 1940s Cadillacs with hydramatic transmission. Will see what it will be, if :)

I would keep the look too as Harry said. And remember, it's only original once.


Glad that you showed up here again!

Oh, and you need  matching dapper clothing to your car, I would suggest something like this - My daily clothing 5 years ago :)


Haf

Hey Haf!  Nice talking to you again.  I have been on this forum all the while, but I haven't posted much lately.    I like the clothes, and they would go along with the car, that's for sure!  As far as the hand gas and automatic on the Model A,  I guess the auto is probably not easily done, but the car does have a throttle, which is kind of the old version of "cruise control".
-Bill G

Nick in Manitou

Haf, the clothes are great!  If you are going to drive a classic...look classy!

Bill, congrats on the car - what a beautiful shape those sedans are.

My first car was a Model A, but I was young and wanted a hot rod!  I was careful even then to not do things that couldn't be reversed if someone wanted to restore the car someday... (There was a thread several years ago and I posted a couple photos there... http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=6809.msg88646#msg88646 )

I like Harry's idea of a Bell Telephone logo on it!

Nick

 

19and41

Looks like you have a good base to work from and a car from a pivotal year in the American century.  Looks good so far!
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

WEBellSystemChristian

#7
For a 90-year-old car, this one is in pretty fantastic shape! Other than paint, it looks like everything has been restored (I can already see restored wheels and some new tires)!

Now you just need paint! I can picture it now...
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Haf

And Bill.....the white wall has to be on the outside ;)


Haf
Telephone:
0049-030-55474418
1-415-449-4743
1-604-757-7474

Phonesrfun

Thank you very much everyone for the compliments.  The thing is probably going to spend some time in the garage as winter sets in.  My garage is not heated, so it is kind of hard to go out and putter around with it when its freezing or below.  I do have a BBQ propane tank with a 40,000 BTU heater attachment, but with no insulation and open beams in the ceiling, that thing just can't keep up.

As far as keeping it original looking, well, my wife has a different opinion on that, and besides at the car show that I showed in my picture, I won a good sized "prize" of complimentary paint and supplies as my car was voted by that vendor to be the local car most in need of paint.  It will be hard to pass that up.

Haf said:

Quote from: Haf on October 25, 2017, 12:35:58 PM
And Bill.....the white wall has to be on the outside ;)

And the reply to that is that I will some day get all four white-walls.  Right now, I only have two so to make it all look the same the whites are on the inside.  Maybe I will reverse those two just for fun.  Then, I know people will point out that I need two more.  ;)

-Bill G

HarrySmith

When I was working on cars back in the 70's I had a car come in with only 2 hubcaps. After I finished the tires I was putting them back on where I took them off, 1 on left front & 1 on right rear.
My boss told me to put both hubcaps on the right side. I asked why? He told me if this guy is picking up his girlfriend she will only see the right side with both hubcaps on! Brilliant!

I would put both the whitewalls on one side. If not to impress the wife just to mess with people! I would bet money people will look at the car, walk around to look at the other side, then come back again to check if there were whitewalls or not!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"