Adventures in my new Model A

J Witt

J Witt

Well-known member
My wife and I, along with my brother, who is also a car guy, went to the Grandfather's Day get together at Mike's last Saturday with the aim of meeting some Model A people and looking at a bunch of cars. I have been researching As for some months and this trip was part of the fun.

Didn't really expect to buy a car, but my wife had already said that when the time comes it's got to have a soft top. To make a long story short, a gentleman had this car for sale at a reasonable price and we ended up buying it. Not only that but he delivered it the same afternoon to our home in NW Atlanta.

IMAG0473.jpg

My goals were not for a show car, but for a nice driver that I could do fix-up on and not have the heavy bits to do, at least not immediately. We lucked out in finding a car that exactly meets the requirements. Pretty nice rebuild with new bits throughout. It is not a car that could be a judged show car because of its provenance, but will be a nice driver for tours and trips to the ice cream shop. And the horn goes hoogah...

The car was built up and driven few short trips by the PO, but needs the kind of detail adjustments and tuning that make any vehicle a pleasure and captures the full flavor of a Model A.

My brother and I had done a few adjustments to timing, cleaning and flushing the cooling system, adjusting clutch free play and made a trip out for lunch hamburgers. Later I tried to start it up to back out of the garage and it made a few coughs and then would not run at all. What could be wrong? After checking several things, the fuel tank turned out to be bone dry. Our previous trip had put us back in the garage on the fuel in the float bowl. It's better to be lucky than good!!!
 
I have found that working on these babies is a lot of fun. I can only image being able to drive mine on some trips. Has to be a ball. I can hear Dad now, 'Boy, what the heck do you want with that old thing? I'd rather ride in a hay wagon." Enjoy!!
 
Looks good. Contact me if I can help you with it. I am in Atlanta pretty often, or can help by email or phone.
 
Roadsters are a lot of fun. As stated already, there are lots of gas stations around us in northern Atlanta (I live in the *******/Alpharetta area) that sell ethanol free gas and you would be smart to use that. Let me know if you need any help along the way.
 
That's a beautiful car. Now you need to join a local club. It is so much more fun driving around with a group of Model A's. Drive it, have fun and enjoy it!
 
Thanks everyone for the kind words and wishes. I previously restored two Model Ts. a '26 roadster and a '12 touring and enjoyed them a lot, but no longer have the time and circumstances for a full body off restoration. I think one has to do some work on a car for it to be your own and this one fills the bill for that level of effort.

It was fun to meet Jwilli at the ROMEOs get together, so the activities have already started. And we did fill up the tank and made a dip stick to use until the fuel gauge is fixed (new float on the way).

I'll be after all of you on the forum for advice on adjustments and fixes. The first two are heavy, stiff steering and adjusting the door latches to close them without having to slam them hard.

Happy trails to all,

John
 
John, when you get ready to repair the gas gauge, I have the proper tools to do that, you are welcome to borrow.
 
Congrats! Driving an A is a unique experience. A '30 A Tudor was my first car at age 16. Bought it for $50. Sold it for $20. Drove numbers of others in late 1950's and 60's. Time passed and a year ago I found a '31 Tudor driver. Original, but not a show car. Sounds rather similar to your find. Showing it is fun, but driving it is a blast. Its a keeper. Needless to say, I'm not going to part with this one. Drive often, drive safely. I wish you well.
 
Very nice and FLASHY roadster. WOW YEP your wife is a keeper, so glad she told you soft top . Happy, Happy for both of you. Have fun modelAtony tony white Lafayette, LA
 
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