Another new owner

J

jeep44

Senior Member
Hello

For many,many years, I always wanted a Model A. I got sidetracked by lots of other things like motorcycles,tractors, and military vehicles, but the interest in As was always there in the back of my mind. Well, I finally decided to act on that, and found this '31 (so the title says). The previous owner had owned it for 35 years-he actually lives in a house frequented by Henry Ford, and other notables of the time. Anyway, this one is pretty rough-no denying that. The seats were mouse hotels,and raccoons or some other such animal had had filled the space behind the back seat with feces. I had to scrape it out with a paint scraper,and a respirator. rather suprisingly, despite rust at the lower edge of the doors and cowl,the wood and floors look to be sound. The roof also looks to be in good shape. This car was under a tarp when I got it, but it had spent most of its life in a pole barn-I see no evidence of it getting wet inside.
I was told by the owner that this was a Briggs body, but I have not located a body tag yet-where would it be?
I was also suprised to find that the engine was free (the crank was laying in a bunch of rubble on the back floor). My first order of business is to get a couple of tires to replace the rotted ones, so I can roll this into my barn to begin work. Here's a few pics:

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Boy, that looks familiar, it could be my cars twin! Good luck, looks like a nice start.....
 

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nice to see another saved.... keep us up to date on your project! pictures and videos when you get it running
 
It looks like a 30 Briggs bodied standard fordoor. There won't be a tag as I think they stopped putting them on in 29. Good to see another one saved.

Mike
 
Are you going to restore it? Or, are you going to fix it and drive it as is? The first thing most new owners want to do is fire up the engine. When you do, make sure you reconnect the wire from the generator to the terminal box, which eventually leads to the battery. If the generator isn't connected to the battery, it can reach up to 40 volts and burn itself out. Remember Model A's are 6 volts and + ground. If you don't want to wire the generator to the battery, then you could also just ground the output stud on the generator to keep the output at zero volts.

The red paint on the engine may or may not mean the engine had a rebuild. It's usually wise to remove the oil pan and side cover on an unknown engine, just in case it's full of sludge from years of running non-detergent oil, dirt, and combustion byproducts. If you remove the oil pan, then you can drop it on the grass upside down to remove the dipper tray and see what's in the pan. Sometimes the dipper tray and oil pan have pin holes from the acid or water in the sludge. If the dipper tray has holes then they will need to be welded or soldered closed, so the rods don't run dry at each startup.
 
Looks like a 31 standard Briggs fordor to me (note the one piece splash aprons), probably produced in early 31, before March. Congratulations and change those wheels to black when you paint it.
 
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Welcome to the Model A hobby. You will find a fordor sedan is a great tour car. This forum is a great source of information but a local chapter of one of the national clubs is another source for assistance and directions.

We have traveled many miles in our 1929 Briggs Town Sedan and I think the wheels should be red!

But get involved, drive the car once you have it running and safe, come to events.
 

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Good score Jeep. Yours looks much like my e28 tudor when it came out of hibernation a few months ago. My vote is to fluff it and buff it, and drive it as is for a while. You can always restore but not so easy to unrestore. Tom is right about engine advice. Also make sure your steering, brakes, tires and cooling system are in top shape too though before driving. You will be surprised at how much attention your unmolested, unrestored survivor will get when you drive it. GREAT PICTURES. MORE AS YOU GO PLEEEEESE.
 
Looks like an early 1931 Briggs Fordoor or Town Sedan to me. Is the interior light round and in the center of the roof, or oval and near the rear of the roof? Fordoor would have the round interior light in the center of the roof, Town Sedan, oval and near the back. My first Model A was an early 1931 Briggs Bodied Town Sedan. It had the body tag on the cowl near the area where your photo shows hole for the manifold heater. If you have two small holes on the cowl there, that would have been where the body tag was riveted. It is not too unusual to find those tags missing.
 
Thank You for all your replies-I have much to learn about this car. I've restored a number of Jeeps and other military vehicles, so it is all not completely new to me-I never try to start an engine until I have been through it. I'm sure I could get it running without too much trouble, but I'll wait.
I was stripping out the old interior today-what a chamber of horrors! Mice nests,squirrel dung, feathers,and a number of small rodent-type skulls. The ultimate was when I pulled off the panel on the rear door-here is what I found:

S6001011.jpg


Those little buggers have pretty much ruined that door. The wood is spongey and rotten,and the door skin is rusted through. I'll never get that smell out until I totally redo that door. I found a number of other nests,but nothing like that. :(

Here's a shot of the interior:

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Finally, here's a body tag I found rivitted on the floor right in front of the front seat:
S6001015.jpg
 
I got my first Model A when I was 15 years old. by the time I turned 18 I owned 5 Model A's. At 54 years old I got number 6 Model AA 1929 truck
 
Watch out for that dried rat crap and rotted nests. The dust can cause a bunch of nasty respiratory problems! Glad you mentioned that you had a mask on. Have fun with your new project.
 
Charlie Stephens said:
If you put your general location in your profile someone may have a set of tires you can use during your restoration.

Charlie Stephens
Click to expand...

I could use two old 19" tires,if anyone nearby has them. The back tires were shredded from sitting too long, and I need to get this thing into my barn before too long. I ordered new tires from Coker, but they are backordered.
 
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