New Model A owner

L

lspogue01

Junior Member
Just bought a 1930 tudoor sedan. My wife's uncle has had it for 52 years. It runs, although pretty rough. It's been repainted at least once. What's the best way to determine what the original color was? The firewall is green - not sure if that's a good way to determine or not.
 
Crawl up underneath the gas tank area in the passenger's compartment. Wipe an area towards the back with water or a solvent to bring out the shine and clean off dirt. Unless someone did a thorough restoration and completely repainted all of the inside gas tank, the original color is probably still there. The same with the underside of the hood. Oftentimes only the exterior gets repainted. Check for the original color there, too. The inside of the firewall is also a good place that lazy "restorers" don't repaint, especially above the bottom level of the gas tank. If green can be found in any of these areas, the body color was probably originally Kewanee Green, a very common "standard" color for the '30-31 Model A.
Marshall
 
Often times the factory paint can be found inside the doors, under the seats, and on the inside of the quarter panels. On my 29 Tudor I also found original paint under the door handle. It's only 2 screws to take it off.
 
Here's a couple of pictures. It's really in pretty good shape. No rust. Needs paint and an interior. Who knows once I tear into it.
 

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Greetings and welcome. Tudors are great. Being new to the hobby, one of the best things you can do is get Les Andrews book. Here is the Amazon listing, at about twice the price. But if you go to the "Store" section of either of the national clubs, or via a parts supplier, the book is very reasonable. His book is been a wonderful help to me. http://www.amazon.com/Model-A-Ford-mechanics-handbook/dp/0965824004/?tag=atomicindus08-20

If it is riding rough, watch this (1 of 2) video's by Les on how to smooth it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xc7r0djEKo
 
That's a good looking car. I particularly like the back story that it's been in your family for 2/3's of its life. Good luck and welcome aboard.
 
Welcome to the club! You have a very nice looking car there but remember one thing. NEVER throw anything away. Original is 99% better than the repo stuff which is 90% junk. Get her safe to drive, join a local club, learn about her before you start tearing into her and just enjoy life in an A.

Mike
 
If you take the dash panel off (the thing just below the windshield, runs clear across the car and under the windshield) and above the dash items themselves, you may find the original paint under it.
 
I too would leave as is for a few years and learn the car and the needed repairs first. Then if you still want to disassemble it buy another one first so you will have a driver while the first one is apart.
 
Russell in Tulsa said:
I too would leave as is for a few years and learn the car and the needed repairs first. Then if you still want to disassemble it buy another one first so you will have a driver while the first one is apart.
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Exactly :)

I wish my cars looked that good, then I wouldn't have to restore them, but in the meantime I'm driving them as they are. I have restored the 5 engine ancillaries, fixed the brakes, greased it, etc., but the body off restoration will have to wait until I have another one on the road.
 
lspogue01 said:
Here's a couple of pictures. It's really in pretty good shape. No rust. Needs paint and an interior. Who knows once I tear into it.
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A good way would get it running good and drive it like it is. It will get more attention than a restored one. People real like a original looking car.
Then you will have time to decide what you really want to do with the car.
A lot of A's get torn all apart and never put back together. It is a big job and not cheap, plus some people loose desire to finish the job. Some times life gets in the way. Not enough time or Money, kids going to Collage and so on.
 
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