Introducing myself and Houdini

[Houdini]

Hello, my name is Frank and this is my first post. I've been reading the Ford Barn daily now since July and find this has been a great place to learn. Your expertise and willingness to help others is really appreciated. I've learned a lot so far, but I'm getting to a point where I anticipate asking some questions and figured I should introduce myself first.

I've always loved the Model A but never had one till recently. I figured its now or never at my age. I joined the nearest club, which is the Lone Star Model A Ford Club in Georgetown Texas. I figured the best way to learn, would be to join a club, but didn't have any immediate plans to buy a car. At the first meeting I attended, I was asked what I owned (which was none), the next comment from the members was that an older member was selling his car. I really didn't know what model I wanted, but after a couple of weeks, I decided to take a look at the car being sold.

That was it, I bought it in early June of this year (2015) and have been learning ever since.

My car is a 31 Slant Windshield Fordor. The previous owner told me the paint and interior are original, but he had an overhauled engine put in.

It didn't take long for me to give my car a name that I think is appropriate. I call my car Houdini, as it's a "magic car that make money disappear".

The previous owner has 16 inch wheels on the car, but I also have the original 19 inch wheels and tires. At some point, I'll buy new tires, after deciding if I want to stay with 16 or go back to 19. I do like the look of 19 inch tires but have some steering issues to work out first.

Attached are a few pictures.

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

Welcome.
What are the steering issues?
Your car looks nice, so that should save a full blown restoration cost.

 

[Houdini]

Thought I would add one more comment. The original upholstery is mohair and it's in decent shape for its age, but I wanted something smoother to sit on. We decided to make some slip covers for Houdini. The cloth is upholstery fabric and my wife completed the front seat. After the holidays, she plans to make covers for the rear seat. I know there was a thread recently on slip covers. In our case, we decided to make our own.

I know the colors are not correct, but I thought my wife's efforts came out very well. We put the cover over the original upholstery and stapled it in place. She lined the cover with a soft cloth so it wouldn't put wear on the original fabric.

Personally, I like sitting on the new covers. I guess I'll need to cover the covers so I don't get it dirty.

 

[RUNNERBUN]

Hello Houdini and welcome to the Barn. You have done the right thing by coming to the Barn and joining a local Club. You will get lots of good advice from both.
16 or 19" wheels??? Ultimately the choice is yours. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The 19" is original and just my opinion look very much better that the 16". Personally I don't like the look of the 16" wheels but you will get a better handling and economy.
You are on the right track taking your time to decide. Talk to others that use the 19" and if possible try them on you car before making the commitment. If you intend to do big mileage trips then maybe the 16's are for you, if you will be using your car for shorter local club runs then the 19" will probably be a good option.
Good luck whichever way you go. Just drive it at as often as you can and just enjoy it.
Again, welcome to the Barn.

 

[Houdini]

Thanks Tom and Forever4. I've been looking at this forum daily now, so many of the names/handles are familiar. It's so wonderful how helpful all of you are.

I live about 70 miles from my club, and there is a lot of expertise in our club, but my distance from most of the members makes it a bit more challenging to get help or answers to questions. One senior member lives closer to me and is my mentor. But the broad range of expertise within this forum is a precious resource.

I'll start a separate post on my questions about steering, as having a proper title in the post will help others that are seeking anwers, but.

basically, my main concern with my steering is what I call wandering. The play in the steering wheel seems to be within reasonable limits. I'm not sure if what folks call the death wobble is what I have or what I've seen referred to as bump steer.

Our neighborhood streets are not smooth pavement and have some bumps, cracks and slope. When going slow, the car seems to wander as I encounter those slopes on the sholder or cracks and bumps, so I'm chasing the steering to correct the car from wander from one side to the other. Not a big problem at slow speed. When I've taken the car on smooth pavement, it tracks nicely without that wandering feeling.

but those tests were done within our neighborhood. Then one time, I took it on a nearby highway, doing about 45, and when I car came up behind me, I moved over to the sholder, as we do around here, to let faster car's pass. The shoulder was pretty smooth and paved, but there were some grooves and distortions in the pavement and the car suddenly became almost uncontrollable. I had to brake and slow down. It really scared me. Basically it was the wandering effect, but at a higher speed and much more dangerous.

I've checked for play in the wheel bearings and king pins. The bearings seem fine, as they were all replaced with new bearings and races when the previous owner installed cast iron rims. but there is some play in the king pins.

The previous owner installed nylon cups on the steering arm and pitman arm, but the cross arm has original metal cups.

What I read more recently is that the radius ball could cause some of the problems I'm having. so today, I replace the rubber ball style in there with the orignal type ball cups and a washer shim. The car seems to steer much better with a short test drive, so I'm thinking that was part of my problem.

I also have very hard steering, more than I think is normal. The steering balls might be part of that problem, but the bearings on the king pins might also be a problem. I think they are original.

I purchased a king pin kit from Brattons and plan to replace the king pins, bearings and bushings next. While that is apart, I'll check the steering balls to see if they are out of round (which I suspect they will be) and will replace them at the same time.

My club member mentor has done this work before and has reamers and plans to help me through it.

The steering box is probably a contributor to some of these problems, but I plan to do this other work first, and then see how it handles.

I don't plan to do any restoration, but want to get the car to where it handles safely. Most things on the car are in pretty decent shape, so I only plan on fixing what needs fixing so I can participate in club tours and meets.

 

[Houdini]

Runnerbun, I agree with you that 19 inch wheels look nicer( to me). Since I have the originals (all 5) and they still hold air, once I get my steering to where I'm comfortable with it, I plan to put the old 19 inch wheels back on and check to make sure that run fairly true, and see how the car handles with them. If there aren't any issues, I suspect I'll buy new 19 inches. The previous owner had the car about 18 years and had put the 16 inches on about that long ago, but only but about 2,000 miles on the car, so the tires have lots of tread, but the rubber is old. I will replace the tires regardless of which size I go with. In fact most of the club members have original size tires and only a few have 16 inchers.

 

[tbirdtbird]

Runnerbun has summed it up well. The Texas clubs tend to do quite a bit of touring and for that you'll likely find the 16s a better choice. That club is a good club and you will find a lot of help there for your steering issues. For a total Model A newbie you will probably do better with a club member to tutor you in person, the learning goes quicker. There is almost nothing about a modern car mechanically that can be transferred over to a Model A or any other vintage car for that matter. Be willing to toss some brisket in your smoker and chill up some Shiner and you'll have all the help you want. Does your club have workshops that move from member's house to member's house doing various repairs to member's cars? Get in on that circuit. We have a workshop here about once a year. You have the weather to get very familiar with the car during the 'winter' and spring. By June you will be an expert on Model As. Consider the MAFCA national meet in Loveland CO this June. It will be awesome, and there won't be a high country tour again for another 7 years. Also, the Texas tour happens every yr the second week in June, and the various clubs take turns hosting. This yr the Ft Worth club is hosting and all the As in the state will end up at Glen Rose TX where just one of the attractions is
http://www.glenrosetexas.net/216/Dinosaur-Valley-State-Park
, fossil rim, etc etc.

You have selected one of the best A models there is for touring and all around driving. Enjoy!

 

[Houdini]

Hi tbirdtbird,
I've gotten to know some of our club members. Our club has had a number of workshops this year and I've attended all of them since I became a member. One of the best aspects of those workshops is talking with members and asking questions during those sessions.

And as you stated, they do a lot of tours. However, so far, I haven't done any, as I need to fix my steering and make sure the car is reliable enough to participate. I really don't think folks appreciate someone joining a tour if there care isn't up to it and breaks down and impacts the tour. I hope to be ready soon though. Most of the tours start where most members lives, which is about 70 miles from me, so just getting to the starting point is a drive for me.

Thanks for mentioning the Glen Rose tour. I did get a notice on it and hope that I will be able to do that one. Glen rose is not hard for me to get too, as I live in the Texas Hill country, so when we drive up to the Dallas area, we take our most direct route, which is straight up 281, to Hico, then cut over and go onto 67 through Glen Rose. That is a nice route and very familar to us. Hopefully, we'll get to do it.

Frank

 

[31 Model A]

Hello Frank...I concur with all of the above, this is the place to learn all about Model As and...... to catch up on all the local news from 1928-1931, Grit would be the newspaper to read. First copy is complimentary with a small shipping charge.

Ed

 

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Frank,
Don't overlook low tire pressure, sometimes they can be low & NOT even look LOW.
Minerva gradually became like a tank to steer, all the tires were 12 Lbs & didn't even look low. (Thought of FIRING the head mechanic, but the Dog talked me into giving him a months' PROBATION!) He also took away my SERVICE MANAGER BADGE for a MONTH!
Make sure the toe in is right, that can cause a lot of DARTING. (The Dog LAFFED, he thought I tiped "FARTING"--(Maybe he needs glasses?)
WELCOME TO THE BARN, FRANK!--We try to give some proven helps & a little "humor" to help you RECOMEMBER it. Sometimes we spel "funny" but nobody corrects us. By the way, Mitch//pa is my SON. The Dog posts too, & he won't lie to you & helps me recomember STUFF.
Bill W. & Buster T.

 

[tbirdtbird]

there have been some veeeeeerrrrry nice tours to Hill Country, and there will be more....you'll be glad you jumped into the A community

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

What Bill just said is the first two things I'd check.
Are your 16" tires radial?
They are much harder to judge tire pressure just by looking at them.
Model A's do seem to pull side to side easier than modern cars when you drive in grooved roads (worn by heavy traffic).

 

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Yes, Tom,
And Frank said his tires are OOOLD & he's going to replace them, that might help a lot. He said he has very little steering wheel slack & that's a good indication that he doesn't have MAJOR problems.
Bill W.

 

[burner31]

Hello Houdini, and welcome.
A '31 slant fordor, is a very good choice, I have one myself, hard to tell from your pics but yours looks to be a "Murray" body.
Can I ask what those two "little spears" are that are sticking out of the front bumper?
Tow bar attachment?

 

[Mitch//pa]

Welcome
If you had death wobble you would know it.... Loose steering is usually the box, try adjusting it out or a little play at the pitman arm to sector shaft connection which just involves snugging the bolt. A couple easy suggestions
Did you know that Bill W is my DAD? well he is
Have a great holiday

 

[JohnLaVoy]

Welcome! To chime in on tires, I like the appearance of the original either 19 or 21 depending on the year. On my first Model A (29 coupe) I had 16" then 15" and finally went back to the 21". I really liked how much easier it steered with the 21" wheels.

The 31 slant windshield 4 door is a great car for touring, hope to see you on a tour soon.

 

[burner31]

Welcome
If you had death wobble you would know it.... Loose steering is usually the box, try adjusting it out or a little play at the pitman arm to sector shaft connection which just involves snugging the bolt.
Did you know that Bill W is my DAD? well he is
Have a great holiday

Whoa, whoa...wait a minute now...what?...Bill is your DAD?
You just can't spring that on us first thing in the morning like that.
I'm not sure if I should be sending congratulations or condolences.
But now that you mention it...I do see the resemblance.

 

[mshmodela]

Frank welcome to the ford barn and by now with your reading you've discovered the experts here who have likely hundreds of years of combined Model A experience. I am new to Model A and surely in my lifetime will not be one...

I will say just because a Model A is old they can steer very well... In fact with proper set up they are much more fun to drive than and front wheel driver car --yes they have a little more play in the steering but they should not pull and will be true to the road as a 2015 car...

Welcome to the hobby and Model A.... you have a nice 31' slant

 

[gweilbaker]

[FONT=&quot]I like your sense of humor "Houdini"; though it looks to be a nice ride. I cannot tell from the pictures but do not discount a tired front spring. A tired spring will let the links pendulate the axle sideways causing unstable steering geometry within the system.[/FONT]

 

[pgerhardt]

Thought I would add one more comment. The original upholstery is mohair and it's in decent shape for its age, but I wanted something smoother to sit on. We decided to make some slip covers for Houdini. The cloth is upholstery fabric and my wife completed the front seat. After the holidays, she plans to make covers for the rear seat. I know there was a thread recently on slip covers. In our case, we decided to make our own.

I know the colors are not correct, but I thought my wife's efforts came out very well. We put the cover over the original upholstery and stapled it in place. She lined the cover with a soft cloth so it wouldn't put wear on the original fabric.

Personally, I like sitting on the new covers. I guess I'll need to cover the covers so I don't get it dirty.

I am with you. I find mohair itchy, hot, and uncomfortable. I can't believe they paid extra $ for a deluxe mohair interior. I much prefer the checked cloth of standard interiors. BTW you could buy some brown checked cloth used in standard interiors from one of the venders to make your seat covers to get more of a "model A look".