Its Alive!!!

So on went the distributor, and we had good spark. With a quick puff of carb cleaner, it started, sorta. Since it wants to run, we took off the fuel pump, cleaned it up and bench tested it. It worked great, so back on it went also. A short hose from the pump to. Gas can...hit the starter button and....

It just purrs right along! So we got it up to temp. There vwas a little blow by, but had good steady vacuum! We added a quart of Kreen tonic to try and clean everything from the inside out. The plan now is to let it run a little more and change the oil and add more Kreen, rinse and repeat.

Also the tires showed up and look great! They should go on soon.

Stay tuned, its getting exciting!

Phase 1

Here is an update from Bubba:

"Ok got started on phase one today. I had sprayed a complete can of jb blaster everywhere on the car including the engine etc.

So with a "bubba" approach we unloaded the car and started phase one (will hit it again sat) our mission is to drive this car and make it functional on a no budget approach.We removed the spark plugs and clean them with our plug blaster we use in Newport. They now are dry and look good:

Wally at work...

Installed a new battery ( 12 volt) turned the key on and spun the engine. wow not only did it turn over very smooth , the dash shows oil pressure on the gauge and using the thumb on each plug hole compression is very good and even ( thats what my helper Walt said rbg :>) ) . A quick test showed no power to the distributor and we hot wired it (positive ground) with no change. A quick look see and off the distributor came.
WOW some body has done some serious work on this unit and it actually taught me a couple things ( I try to learn something new every day)
The timing had been advanced to the limit and then pinned into location with a cotter pin , pics show this cotter pin.

 Also the vac piston had been removed and the inside advance was ground on in a few spots to add some advance as well.
I placed the unit on a tester and it was misfiring all over the place (multi lights ).

 Not wishing to do anything but make it run i cleaned the points in my ultra sonic tank , not much wear on the contacts and filed them to reinstall. I might add here that every connection was poor and offered a poor connection. So I blasted the condensor, tested it on a machine and blasted all connections and re ran unit on the machine. Adjusted and cleaned unit works very well on the machine now.. I also tested the coil while off the distributor and it also tests well with good output.

Stay tuned as we will reinstall the distributor and wires ( may use the old ones just for grins) and start working on the fuel system sat morning.

And just for the record the horn shown in another post works very well , kinda spooky pushing the horn button and hearing the old Ford horn."

Maybellene...

My son Charlie, who is 4, loves music and has been on a Chuck Berry kick lately. With that in mind the 39' now has a name. Meet Maybellene! I think it fits, and it even has "Nothin' will outrun my v8 ford..." in the lyrics. I mean our cars need a name dont they? I think this is a good one.

We got a great offer we just couldnt pass up on a set of tires from a fellow Ford Barner. So we will have. Some very nice, road worthy tires soon. Thanks a bunch Ford Barners!

Next weekend we are going to push it in the shop for the 1st time and see what we can get done. Will it run? Pics and maybe video to come!

We got it!

So here it is. Its a 1939 Ford Tudor Standard. It looks like it has lived its life in Minnesota, and has spent many many years in a barn. Its very complete. Jim (Bubba) and I went to pick it up a couple days ago.

The Plan:

Get it running/driving from the ground up, pretty can come later.

Some newer tires, go thru the brakes and front end are the 1st things on the list. We should get going soon. Stay tuned for many more pics, videos and info!

*******Breaking News********

This just in...Looks like I just struck a deal on this:

It looks like the Flathead has found a home!

Stay tuned, film at 11:00.

Been a long time...

Progress has been slow, but that's ok. Here is more car porn. Just got the intake back from the polisher today. Pretty cool huh?

Another Cool Find.

Helping clean out a storage unit (former hot rod shop) on Gasoline Alley today I picked up another cool piece.  This is a Marvel Mystery Oil Inverse Oiler, or Top End Lubricator.  You mount this contraption on the firewall, and run a small line to the carb, and it injects a small amount of Marvel Mystery Oil.  It keeps the top end lubed, which is needed on the Flathead. 

Short but sweet.

Got some cool old Hot Rod parts today.

How about a Sun Tach from the late 40's, with a NOS sending unit.  Oh yeah....there still is a Grant Flamethrower coming.  Now to see if we can make it all work!

Slow but sure.

I have a couple of updates for ya!  Last week Bubba & I channeled out inner artist and painted my flathead engine. 

Here is a before pic....fresh from the builder...



And after...

How about that????



Just an update!

Progress is a little slow going right now, but that is ok.  I will pick up soon.  We sent a box of Holley 94's to Speedy today (SpeedJunkee) for some of his special carb magic.  Within just a short time he will have a set of matched 94's ready to go, colored and re-plated, and good as new!  I will post pics asap. 

Oh yeah, a little progress on this too....

And it should look like this installed...

Start of Something Good

I knew what I wanted to build.  Here is a few examples of what I am shooting for...

I started scouring the ads on the HAMB & The Ford Barn looking for parts.  I found a frame, and a rearend, and a set of '37-'41 spindles, so I bought it all. 

Today Tabb and I went and picked up the frame and rearend:

So I got a super nice, un-molested Model A frame and a COMPLETE '40 rearend.  Wheels, brakes, torque tube, driveshaft, and wishbones. 
The spindles should be here this week.  I plan to send the axle off to 296 V8 Greg for a drop job soon as well. 

I am hoping to get time in the next 2 weeks, to start working on the frame to take off all non essential brackets and such, and weld the crossmembers in. 

Stay tuned...

The Plan

If you have ever built a car, or had a project vehicle you know that you must have a plan. You also know that the plan ALWAYS changes. Here is my plan' or should I say, here WAS my plan:

I did not have much cash, but I had a cool vehicle to sell.  I had this:

So, the plan was, sell the van and get a complete Model A Tudor Sedan.  Bubba had enough Flathead pieces I could buy so I was going to try to piece together a complete engine, and drivetrain an little at a time.  Once it was complete, drop it in and go. 

As everyone knows its a bad time to try and sell stuff.  I was not having much luck.  I had a few offers for trade on Model A's but they all fell thru eventually. 

I decided I would drive the van this summer, and have fun with it and still work on piecing together a Flathead drivetrain. 

Then out of the blue I started getting some nibbles, people were interested in the van!  I then got a message from Bubba, saying he thought I needed to talk to him about the van before I got rid of it.  Here is where the plan changes...

After talking with him, we agreed on a trade.  He gets the van, and I walk away with a just built 8BA Flathead, fresh from the builder, and all the goodies, along with a toploader 3 speed transmission.  Set up on a stand and running.  So, now I have a killer complete drivetrain, but nothing to put it in...oh boy. 

So the crew decided that now I will piece together a chassis and hopefully end up with something similar to this...

Then all I need is a body.  See where this is going now?  Change in plans is not always a bad thing...

The Cast

Me- I'm Doug, aka Slick Steve on the HAMB.

Tabb- My best friend since junior high school, who is also building a Model A Speedster.

Bubba- aka GMC Bubba, aka Jim Linder. Good buddy, mentor, driver of the Winnebago, and all around good guy. He is the owner of Bubba's Hot Rod Shop.

Wally- aka Grumpy.  Walt is retired and had his own shop for years.  He is a great guy and a freat mechanic.  He is always ready and willing to help!



Richie- aka Dyman. Richie is an engine man by day, and an unbelievable wealth of knowledge, hell of a machinist. He also just built a killer '29 RPU Model A.

More to come...

How did I get here?

Hello and welcome! I guess the proper way to start this blog is with a little history. I have always been a car guy. I have had several classic (OK, old) cars and trucks. As my tastes and interests changed so did my cars.
So, why a Model A?  I had never had much interest in Model A's, Flatheads or anything in that era.  But then it started, I started dreaming about them.  Dreams of building, and rebuilding them. How do you dream about something you know nothing about???  I got Flathead Fever and started reading any and all books I could find. I stared asking "the old guys" questions and listening.
We, (my wife & I), decided to start gathering parts and coming up with a plan. Her only condition was, I could not sell, or trade HER "hot rod", the '63 Dodge Dart we have.

Hold on, here we go!