Help a N00bie out!

H

Hedbanger

Member
(long story about me and the car - skip to the bottom for the help part)

Hi. I am new here. I have been here a little while but only lurking, watching. I got interested in the Model A through my dad. He never had one or any other "old" car, but when he retired from Motorola in '98 he told me to look around for an old car to restore to do as a project together. Now we never did anything like this before and I had no idea what to look for. But through my research found Model Ts and As (Haha - "T&A" - LOL) apealing. I focused in on the As and while we were looking for one to buy, to no fault of his own, he got sinus cancer and passed away 4/03.

The idea of doing a car together hung on and I still looked for a car to do but with my kids. last year a 1929 Murray Fordor became available in Placerville CA. I bought it and got it shipped to me in April. I do not have a ton of money, a shop or a huge 5 car garage/barn I see some have. That would be sweet. But I do have a little space and the project is a long term one so I will be ok.

Anyway, over this last year I have been tearing it down and discovering a little of its history (I found a mummified rat under the driver seat and an ex-hornets nest in the rear seat). I also found a NOS set of spark plugs in their boxes under the driver seat! Better than a dead rat for sure!

Anyway, I found the name of the person who had it before me and have spoken with him on the phone a few times. Nice guy. The story goes, he bought the car for his nephew to go to college for transportation in Fort Collins CO in 1962 for $100. The summer of '67 (when I was born by the way), he had graduated and moved on leaving the car. So it went into storage with the thought of restoring it one day. The one day never came. But in 2009, he sent it to Placerville to be restored. The economy went bad for him and he asked the restorer to hold off. Things did not get better, so he sold the car to the restorer. The restorer was going to restore it for himself, but got busy doing client cars. He already had a fordor, so he put it up for sale and that's how I got it.

I just took the frame to a shop to have a few issues taken care of (rear engine mounts sagging, re-rivet the front crossmember on, passenger side front frame horn bent in a little) and have almost redone the transmission (:cool: original gears in great shape!) and have completed a few other items.

Here is the help I need. I am starting on the rear end while the frame is being worked on and I took the spedometer housing off - the housing in back of the U-joint housing. The little gear inside has 18 teeth. I have read that it should be 19 teeth and 18 teeth is for a non-standard higher ratio gear in the differential. I have not taken the differential apart yet, but should the teeth be 18 or 19 for standard?? :confused:

Thanks for any help!
 
I think you need to hold off until you find out what rear ratio you have before being concerned about having the correct gear. I'm sorry your father had to depart before you got to do the car together, it would have been a very memorable experience. Now though, you get to have that bonding time with your kids doing the work. You have not included your location in your profile, which is helpfull when seeking help. You might consider doing so. Keep us in the know as to how and what your doing on your project. It's always fun to share in the journey. I'm doing my first model "A" after being heavily involved with early V8's for a long time. Never got to see mine together though as it was a basket case I got 30 years ago. Quite a challenge this way. Good luck with your project.
 
Hedbanger,

You most definitely need to contact Sammy Guthrie at Arizona Model A in Chandler. 480-782-0266. In addition to being my favorite Model A parts vendor, Sammy has quite a barnyard full of body parts and other cool stuff. If I call Sammy before noon, I'll have my parts by UPS the next day.

But besides the great service, Sammy is just a terrific guy and willing to talk with you about Model A problems. Over the years that I've had my Model A's, he's been a world of help and advice, and of course I always order from him to repay the debt. I can't recommend him more highly.

Good luck with your new hobby!

Michael
 
The car would have to be in pretty bad condition to rate a restoration in this day. Unrestored cars always get more attention than restored cars do. Make it a project to fix what needs fixin'. Spit shine everything else.
 
Mike,

I know him and I have been there before. His place is like 15 mins from me. I did not think of checking with him about this but I will. Thanks.
 
Chris,

My 155-A needs work but it was not a basket case. I plan to do a little bit at a time when I have spare time and funds. I just want to do it right and have a great car. So I plan to take my time. Plus the kids (5 and 10) are having fun turning screws and taking things apart. You should have seen the look on the boys face working on the transmission. They are also learning about history and how cars work. It's a great thing goin' on. :cool:
 
Hedbanger said:
Chris,

My 155-A needs work but it was not a basket case. I plan to do a little bit at a time when I have spare time and funds. I just want to do it right and have a great car. So I plan to take my time. Plus the kids (5 and 10) are having fun turning screws and taking things apart. You should have seen the look on the boys face working on the transmission. They are also learning about history and how cars work. It's a great thing goin' on. :cool:
Click to expand...

Neat! but, be careful to not let your parts be relocated, or relabeled. Heard that nightmare here before.
 
Hedbanger said:
... You should have seen the look on the boys face working on the transmission. They are also learning about history and how cars work. It's a great thing goin' on. :cool:
Click to expand...
My Dad still tells stories about my "overhauling" the transmission in my 31 Fordor when I was 16. He remembers a lot more about that than I do, but it's things like that that have inspired me to have the PU I now have. Of course back then, you could still get parts at NAPA.
 
When you start to take apart things take a lot of digital pictures along the way. Memory cards are cheap so can store thousands of pictures taking apart and rebuilding. Wish I ahd taken more. Place small parts in a sealable plastic bag with a label or the part number from a vendors catalogue. Saves a lot of time and helps the memory as to where things go.
Sammy Guthrie is a wealth of knowledge and has just about any part you need either NOS or reproduction.
 
Carl,

"He remembers a lot more about that than I do"

It's interesting how that works out, ain't it?

It must have been nice just going to NAPA for parts.
 
jrelliot,

I have taken pictures of things. I do it for two reasons; for a photo record of the build and so I can remember when some of the things went in the first place.

Oh, and I do the bags thing. My wife is always yellin' at me for leaving them everywhere. "My kitchen table is not a garage" is a common theme around my place too. :D

I'm surprised she hasn't divorced me yet. There's always tomorrow.

I'm stopping by Sam's place on the way from work about this issue too. He is about 15 mins from my house.
 
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