Thread: 1931 Model A Build Started in 2007

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Well I figure now is a good time to start this . In the Build you travel through time seeing things that took months , hours and minutes to do , do not try to adjust your screen .

With the help of many here Dave S.-Dave W.- Don - Ken Thurm and a lot more , I have been able to get it this far and have a very safe car .

Also some video of a local guy Zack at 25 is a master sheet metal man .

Here is when it first came home about August of 2007

My wife was not as thrilled considering this has been the oldest to date . My Mustangs seem to look better but she is not a auto ace Thank God .

Well we get her of the trailer and access what I have . See I go get them then bring them home works better for me that way . This car had taken a hit from something of the same era being the damage is so high on the body . The left fender , door , quarter and left rr fender has damage . The body was in about 1 inch or more . The main thing that was so good is the car went to inside storage after accident . The body is rust free minus some very light pitting from old rock chips on the gravel roads .






In this shot you can see where door and quarter are in right at the handle height

Well thoughts were I might try to fix this door but they changed quick the twin body line was to much a match for my sheet metal skill . LOL , so I located one on Ebay in clean shape . I built this wooden frame to use a bottle jack and push body back out to where it should be and got things lined up .





A little better shot as to how it came out in the end

Well before I unbolt the body from the frame the next step was the chopping and how much . This area was I think the longest , I looked and studied other cars to see what fit the body style right . In the end I came up with a 3 inch chop was the best I candy that I liked .

So I taped it off and with seeing how someone else did it I copied them . First I took plenty of 1.2 conduit , flattened the ends and welded them in to secure body from moving as I was told from members here .





Then I cut off the roof , I went at this with no hesitation since I had so much instruction from some great guys .

Ok with the roof down on the ground , I can grind down to the paint edge getting a matching line for the body .



When both body and roof have been ground I put it back on . Here with the advice again of someone here I used the cut 3 inch pieces to fit in the smaller pillers to help hold the roof in place .

thats looking great, keep the build pics comming, am loving this thred.
cheers barnsey

It looks like the body was a lot better than most of this age to start with.......and you popped that bad spot out very well. I'm looking forward to the rest of your progress pictures.

Funny how wives and neighbors usually don't share our enthusiasm for bringing a car like this home, huh? My neighbors had Code Enforcement on speed dial.

Don

This looks great. I have always wanted to chop a top down, but never got the chance. As close as I came was on a '29 Model A but it never happened. Although I did make a nice Rat rod out of it.

Going along quite well on the sedan, Bobby!!!! Sure does make things nicer when starting with that nice of a body! What's next on the schedule?????

Frame and suspension that I was taught again by everyone here on how to stiffen frame for my engine application and needs . The only change up I have added was pulling the 5 spd and now i am installing the AOD from a 88 Mustang .

Looking good ...... I've always thought about a nice 2 door ..... maybe IF and only if I complete the 46 anytime soon.

REGS

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

It looks like the body was a lot better than most of this age to start with.......and you popped that bad spot out very well. I'm looking forward to the rest of your progress pictures.

Funny how wives and neighbors usually don't share our enthusiasm for bringing a car like this home, huh? My neighbors had Code Enforcement on speed dial.

Don

Don not only better but I would say perfect condition as we all will see at the end . If you find them this clean you have a little piece of gold . This car still has original black paint on the inside . A little more tease shots .





Remember the original interior that was in it .

Hey lookin good subscribed for sure.

Today I will show the front suspension I installed. I looked at Mll and front coil overs and read on them as much as I could . I also asked a lot of questions here and at others sites from guys who have ran both types . Well the coil over Heidts Superide won hands down .

Here is rails after I welded 1 inch square stock then took off original front suspension . I set in cross member with clamps before I did any measuring .

I knew I was going to have about a 2 inch rake with the tires at ride height . What I did was purchase some RV trailer stabilizer jacks the type that screw up or down . With these I put in the rake and leveled the frame . This would have showed up any twists or bends the frame might have .

Here I left the body on and bolted also just to help hold frame from moving . I read and heard the frame was designed to shift with the road as much as the shock to help the ride .


Here you can see the stabilizer jack under the frame . These work great when the floor is out of level .



Inthe top post you can see 2 under the front rails also .