Begging to be a hot rod.

DannL

DannL

Senior Member
After thousands of dollars and several hundred hours over the last year my car is begging to be a hot rod. Drover to work yesterday with no problems. And as I was leaving work to come home 500 foot down the road she died without a sputter. This has happened a number of times over the last year and it's always been something different. I just think it's funny how much she's begging to be a hot rod. I'm scoping out of 283 right now and I think it will fit perfectly. :-)
 
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DannL said:
After thousands of dollars and several hundred hours over the last year my car is begging to be a hot rod. Drover to work yesterday with no problems. And as I was leaving work to come home 500 foot down the road she died without a sputter. This has happened a number of times over the last year and it's always been something different. I just think it's funny how much she's begging to be a hot rod. I'm scoping out of 283 right now and I think it will fit perfectly. :-)
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If you want a daily driver, buy a Toyota.

David Serrano
 
The usual cause of "died without a sputter 500 feet down the road" is forgetting to turn on the gas.

Proper restoration to original specifications eliminates the need for modifications in most instances, a lot of reproduction parts don't meet original specifications, its not about how much you spend, it's more about the details of restoration
 
We used Model A's as daily drivers back in the '50s. The only time I had a problem was when the rubbing block on the points wore down and the car was only running on one cylinder.
This problem was not the car's fault, it was caused by lack of maintenance.
 
DannL said:
After thousands of dollars and several hundred hours over the last year my car is begging to be a hot rod. Drover to work yesterday with no problems. And as I was leaving work to come home 500 foot down the road she died without a sputter. This has happened a number of times over the last year and it's always been something different. I just think it's funny how much she's begging to be a hot rod. I'm scoping out of 283 right now and I think it will fit perfectly. :-)
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Am curious, hope you do not mind me asking - how many miles a year do you put on your daily driver? What have been the causes of your issues?

I have truck resuscitated after a 50 year storage nap. To make a daily driver needed a lot done to be reliable.
 
DannL said:
After thousands of dollars and several hundred hours over the last year my car is begging to be a hot rod. Drover to work yesterday with no problems. And as I was leaving work to come home 500 foot down the road she died without a sputter. This has happened a number of times over the last year and it's always been something different. I just think it's funny how much she's begging to be a hot rod. I'm scoping out of 283 right now and I think it will fit perfectly. :-)
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I have both hot rodded model A's and a "stock" model A. I'm still working out the bugs in the stock car and have only put 1000 miles on it but find it WAY more fun to drive than my hot rodded ones. We live 30 miles from the nearest town so every time I take it out it's 60 miles minimum. FWIW, a SBC will not "fit" without modifications. It's too long. You will have to either move the rad forward or recess the firewall. If you move the rad, you can't un a light bar or a hood, if you recess the firewall (4") you lose valuable leg room. Can you share some of the issues you've been dealing with??. Might give some of the experienced guys an idea of what's going on.
 
From my experience , a higher compression head will make a world of difference in hill climbing and overall performance .
 
I run dual model B carburetors on my roadster and my speedster with old aftermarket cast iron intake manifolds . More carburetors or a larger carburetor will help . I prefer to use updraft setup . Updraft won't give as much flow as dual down draft but has the cool look and doesn't flood as easily as downdraft setups can . I can drive them on the street the same as the original setup .
 
Two updrafts better than one updraft
One downdraft better than two updraft

Ever wonder why a stock a makes a sucking sound when revved up?..not enough fuel,like sucking a milkshake with a cocktail straw
 
Purdy Swoft said:
I run dual model B carburetors on my roadster and my speedster with old aftermarket cast iron intake manifolds . More carburetors or a larger carburetor will help . I prefer to use updraft setup . Updraft won't give as much flow as dual down draft but has the cool look and doesn't flood as easily as downdraft setups can . I can drive them on the street the same as the original setup .
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Sorry Purdy, was not questioning your info, from your previous posts I know you know your stuff. Was just trying to add to the conversation for possible others that improvement in one area can cause problems in other areas, and to mention that additional performance gains can be made with carburation.
 
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Free flowing exhaust and warmer ignition helps . The spark comes from the coil . Hotter coils are available that look no different from any other replacement coil . I run the Pertronix flame thrower coil . More gap at the rotor tip will give hotter spark . I run a gap of thirty five thousands at the rotor tip . I get instant starts and power that can actually be felt .
 
Purdy Swoft said:
Free flowing exhaust and warmer ignition helps . The spark comes from the coil . Hotter coils are available that look no different from any other replacement coil . I run the Pertronix flame thrower coil . More gap at the rotor tip will give hotter spark . I run a gap of thirty five thousands at the rotor tip . I get instant starts and power that can actually be felt .
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Purdy- I think I have had an "Aha" moment . Will be going off topic so am starting a different thread on the Pertronix coil.
 
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30 Closed Cab PU said:
Sorry Purdy, was not questioning your info, from your previous posts I know you know your stuff. Was just trying to add to the conversation for possible others that improvement in one area can cause problems in other areas, and to mention that additional performance gains can be made with carburation.
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No problem, your input is true and welcome . It can be really easy to go too far with modifications . Too much carburetion can be a common problem with dual downdraft carburetors . Some modifications need other modifications to be of benefit . No modifications are necessary for the original, model A , its a matter of personal choice . I'm just sharing a few of the modifications that has worked for me over the past sixty years .
 
DannL Take a look at some Model As that have been hot rodded. There is a lot more to it than just dropping in a V-8. Updated brakes, steering, rear end trans, etc, Sell your current Model A and buy a hot rod. Most are for sale for less than half what they cost to build.
 
slammin said:
DannL Take a look at some Model As that have been hot rodded. There is a lot more to it than just dropping in a V-8. Updated brakes, steering, rear end trans, etc, Sell your current Model A and buy a hot rod. Most are for sale for less than half what they cost to build.
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Ditto!!
 
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