Ford Repairs

Bruce of MN

Bruce of MN

Well-known member
I was too young to be aware of it when my Dad owned my A in '53, but did Ford dealerships work on A's then? The car was only 22 years old then, comparable to an '88 Ford to us now.

I do remember being at an independent garage with a grease pit with Dad. Of course, then I thought that was pretty cool, but now I wonder if they had exhaust fans for flammable vapors as is required now.
 
I was in a Ford dealership 1964 and they were working on an "A", I remember the mechanic running around looking for a wiring diagram.
 
Don't know if this was a Ford dealership writing to a customer, but it sure would be nice to get these kind of deals! This was kinda neat as it is to an owner in Maxbass, ND-only a few miles from where I live in Minot, ND (up by the Canadian border). Tried looking this name up in the area-no more folks by that name.
 

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Were there any stories from the model A area of strange people visiting dealerships and buying large quantities of parts like fenders? If so, it suggest that some time in the future, some Model A owners will get their hands on a time machine...

Doug
 
When I was restoring my 1930 Coupe in 1959, the owner of a local Ford garage near Newburg, NY was also restoring a similar car. Although I don't remember seeing other A's in the garage, he did have all the tools and parts to maintain the Model A. As an Airman second class, I could not afford his labor rates to help me on what was my first big restoration but it was nice to be able to buy the parts I needed when I could afford them. Gar Williams
 
Group,

I had a repair done on my Jeep at a local garage in town. When I was paying the bill, I asked (In Jest) if I could bring in my Model A.

The manager said..."Sure , no problem".

On a similar matter, back in the 2003 time frame, my Uncle died. He had an auto repair shop in Minnesota and had all types of tools collected from the 1930's onward. I remember asking him "what is that tool for ?". His reply was to fix a part in a Model A.

Saddly, I bought my Model A after his death and the selling off of all the stuff from his garage.

Marc
 
During the 1950s and into the early 1960s many small town Ford dealers were still working on Model A Fords. Our local Ford dealer (NW Ohio) had a good supply of parts. They even had some sheet metal. Engine, trans, rear end, and brake components, to name a few were still in stock. Rebuilt water pumps and distributors were also available.

My Grandfather and father were in the garage business. There were a lot of Model A Fords still on the road. Grandfather probably overhauled a half dozen or so engines each year.

H.G Short Company of Bellefontaine, Ohio was an authorized Ford parts supplier selling to the trade. They were also an authorized Ford Motor Company parts rebuilder. We purchased most of our Ford parts from H.G. Short. Stocked factory approved rebuilt water pumps, fuel pumps, distributors, and carburetors. On ocassion purchased rebuilt short and long blocks from them. H.G. Short had a large parts truck that came by each week that provided any needed genuine Ford parts. The garage bought all its ignition parts from H.G. Short.

Sometime around the early to mid 1960s an obsolete Ford parts house from back east came through the area. They had a large truck and would purchase any Ford parts from the Model T era up through early forties. They cleaned out just about every small town Ford dealer in our area. That ended easy access to Model A parts.

A far as a grease pit goes, we had a pit until 1956. It wasn't dangerous. Didn't have a fan and no one seemed to be concerned about fumes of any type. I hated the pit in the summer. Down in the pit on a hot, humid summer day working under a hot car was no fun. But working on a car from down in the grease pit was no big deal. The garage also had a single piston, frame contact lift. Seemed like I always got stuck working in the pit during the summers, school weekends and school vacations.

Best part of the fifties and sixties, if you had a Model A was the easy access to genuine Ford parts. Plus the junk yards were full of Model A Fords with a wealth of good parts and sheet metal.

Those were the days!
 
In '57 to '59 I visited the Ford dealer in Erie, Michigan with a friend about 10 years older than myself for parts for one of his Model T's. He had a '13, a '14, and a '15 for sure and I think two later ones also. Anyway, we went up into a loft and prowled through piles of body parts on wooden skids and wrapped in excelsior and brown paper and tied with string. He picked out a couple of fenders and a windshield frame (with the glass in) and loaded it all into his truck. The counter guy tallied up the price from a 1927 Ford price list. They had mountains of "T" stuff and for folks who were using the parts to keep the cars running, they used the old prices.
 
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