Model A "longevity"

G

Greg way out West

Member


Hi guy's


Was talking to this "older" customer where I work..We were talking about the old Ford's. He said he think's one reason the old A's lasted so long were the use of a cast iron Dist, Carb, and mechanical brake's...



He said the diecast carb's would become useless if water got in them and the dist body of diecast would crumble after all this time..



As for the brake's he said the old mechanical would work even if one brake wasn't working.. He added that anybody could make the mechanical's work..."Back then"



So maybe the old guy is right ?


I remember reading about a few A prototype that had "Juise" brake's.. ? Seem's Old Henry tried every kind of system to bypass what "Bendix" had prefected.. with the rubber "Cup's"


Gave up and went to the mechanical system instead of paying Bendix a license.. Didn't Ford do the same thing with the starter drive..Came up with his Abell drive that didn't work out ? and latter changed over to the Bendix type ?



I think he'd still be building Model T if he had his way...(just kidding)


Take care,

Greg out West


 
An index of durability that I saw once, I think in a roadtest in Special Interest Autos long ago: Ford spare parts sales dropped dramatically during the Model A years in comparison to both the T and V8 periods. I would assume this was partially depression era frugality, but still meaningful.
 
Now that's when "Built Ford Tough" meant it. For mechanical brakes, "Steel From Pedal to Wheel".
 
i have mechanicals & love em . no problems . now @ 60 mph you have to stay upon the wheel in traffic . being an old truck driver , i keep a cushion all around ! .. steve
 
Here's a new review. A 1930 "A" Roadster I refinished in 1990 has just turned over 50,000 miles of touring. The Man I painted the car for just got back from a 800 mile run with no problems. So there still going strong.

The Old Tinbasher
 
I have to think that some of this longevity results from the fact that many people simply loved these cars. Can you think of any other make of car that has been so often squirreled away in barns even after they stopped running? The 21 and 19 inch tires all but disappeared during WWII yet, unlike many other cars from that era, people put their A's into the garage rather than into a scrap crusher. I could go on, but will share one story. When I bought my first Model A in 1982, I recall driving it off the farm past a sobbing 10 year child. I had bought the car from her father who later told me that his kids have never forgiven him for selling "their" favorite car.
 
The reason Ford lasted so well was the engineering put into them to make them fast, cheap and reliable.

Contrary to popular belief, Ford produced them fast, cheap and reliable with precision machining of special metals. The precision machining allowed them to grab any part and bolt it to another and know it is right. The special materials let them use less materials and have the strength.

The bodies lasted because Ford tried to minimize the amount of wood used to build them. Look at the slant fordor. He stopped production of the wood bodied fordor late in the final year of production to move to the mostly steel fordor. That was not a cheap move. Ask any 30's chevy guy how much fun those bodies are to rebuild.

Because Ford used high strength materials the car is also able to operate in EXTREMELY worn out conditions. It also means people can get away with using worn out part in their restorations and still have a working car. There is a reason why people think that 45 is the top speed of the A.

Of course everyone forgets the Model A was designed to run 55 MPH reliably for long periods of time. When you start looking at the prints for the parts you start to understand why. If you take the print and the part to a machinist and ask them to return it to factory specs, they tell you that you want race car precision. Not to bad for a old car that most think are just a little 4 cyl so just throw it together.
 
Henry was a genious with assembly line methodology. Edsel was a true artist with an eye for elegance in simplicity. They and their design team were the best in the industry at "keeping it simple stupid". They sold a lot of cars in the nations worst economic times.

Kerby
 
A machinist freind of mine has recently become very familure with the A's design and has often called me to ask questions. His most often comment has been "For a simple design it sure is picky on the tolerences and will not work well if at all if they are not carefully adhered to". This from a person who does top notch work and until recently did not think the brakes were ever adequate. He has now been proved wrong. Rod
 
The Model A low compression engine and non-pressurized cooling system also let's one "get away with" some worn parts or small cracks in head or block to a point as to have kept the A's rolling along for so long.
 
The low pressure cooling reminds me of a story told as true by my grandfather. He hauled laundry from Ft. Pierce, Fl. to Okeechobee, Fl back in the 20's along a dirt road that ran the 40 or 50 miles between the towns. One night coming back late he ran into a herd of cows in the road and somehow made it through. The next morning he came out to get into his delivery hack, which by the way I have a copy of that he made, and found a cow's horn stuck in the radiator. He made the mistake of pulling it out causing the radiator to leak.
 
Stretch Cab said:
The low pressure cooling reminds me of a story told as true by my grandfather. He hauled laundry from Ft. Pierce, Fl. to Okeechobee, Fl back in the 20's along a dirt road that ran the 40 or 50 miles between the towns. One night coming back late he ran into a herd of cows in the road and somehow made it through. The next morning he came out to get into his delivery hack, which by the way I have a copy of that he made, and found a cow's horn stuck in the radiator. He made the mistake of pulling it out causing the radiator to leak.
Click to expand...
what a trophy. hope he kept the horn......
 
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