Newb... So many questions....

Nice car. Take care of it which sounds like you are stating to do by getting good advise from this site. Sorry I am not much of an authority on any of your questions but it sounds like you have received some good advise from the comments above. Have fun with your car.

The only advise I might give is about finding the original color. I found when I took my dash panel off, I found the original color of my huckster under it (it originally was a CCPU).
 
Bob Johnson said:
Post a picture of the backing plates and master cylinder. If on drum was warmer than the others then the brakes are not all working the same. It is likely that one or more of your wheel cylinders is leaking and/or you have air in the brake lines. Check for brake fluid dripping out at the bottom of the backing plate.

There are 6 volt alternators available either pos or neg ground.

An 8 volt battery is often put in to "fix" poor wiring and poor electrical connections.

Bob
Click to expand...

Attached is a picture of the right front backing plate. Didn't see any drips or wetspots.

Mike V. Florida said:
Like Charlie said;

"The 8 volt conversion is an attempt to overcome other problems that should be fixed. The most common one is that the battery cables were from a standard parts store and are too small in diameter for the 6 volt system which requires heavier cables. A second common problem is that all of the electrical connections need to be clean and free of paint. The person that sold you the 8 volt battery was not doing you a favor. The life of bulbs will be shorter. You will need to take the car to an electrical shop to set the alternator to charge at 8 volts instead of 6."
Click to expand...

I was not having any electrical problems except an old, dead battery(2006 was date on old battery). It would not charge and sides were buldged out. The negative wire from battery goes to a cuttoff switch below the dash and then to starter. I replaced the cuttoff switch with one that looks cleaner and you can remove the "key" to use as a kill switch. Should I switch back to a 6volt? Probably huh

Another question: This A is a handfull going down the road. Feels like driving on 4 flat tires. Does have bias ply tires but everything else looks tight and greased. I would like to improve drivaility. Any ideas?
 

Attachments

  • 11.jpg
    11.jpg
    45.4 KB · Views: 48
  • 22.jpg
    22.jpg
    46.6 KB · Views: 46
If it has hard steering,make sure the tires are inflated to 35 psi.If the tires are 30 or 40 years old they should be replaced as they likely have nylon cords which are prone to get flat spots when sitting for a long time.As for the tubes,if they are in good shape I would use them again as some of the new tubes are poor quality. The brakes are 46-48 Ford.If the car had stayed with the original brakes,you would still have brakes no matter how long the car sat.Hyd brakes are fine in an every day car but a poor choice for a car that sees limited use.
 
Is it too late to exchange the 8 volt battery for the CORRECT 6 volt battery? If not, then I'd do so right away. The Model A doesn't need to crank fast to start. Remember the hand crank will start it just fine.

A 6 volt alternator will not charge an 8 volt battery.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
Is it too late to exchange the 8 volt battery for the CORRECT 6 volt battery? If not, then I'd do so right away. The Model A doesn't need to crank fast to start. Remember the hand crank will start it just fine.

A 6 volt alternator will not charge an 8 volt battery.
Click to expand...


Too late to exchange battery. not too worried about bulb life sense I rarely drive the car so I will probably get the alternator converted to 8 volt. Parades and shows are all this car will see. Now that I think about it, I should really just get the 6volt battery. I don't have an 8volt battery tender/charger. Never even heard of one.

I thought about running it down the drag strip at 40 mph and dialing in at a 38 sec... Just for fun.

I will find time in the next couple of weeks to pull the drums and see if something is loose or worn.
 
The ride will be rougher with older tires or low inflation.

As far as the people telling you it's not the correct colour? If it's the colour you want the car to be, then it's the correct colour. After all, it's your car!
Have fun with it and don't let the comments from others worry you. :)
 
Most guys who complane about the color or paint don't have one as nice or wish they did. Don't sweat the paint. A good rule of thumb is keep it as (Henry Ford) as possible. He made a pretty good car, and while juce brakes are great, most of the other stuff thats made to improve the car just line the makers pockets with money, and after a while you wish it was the way Henry made it. Very nice car.Iceman
 
Finally pulled the right front wheel off. brake shoes are saturated the rear shoe was stuck in place. The "big" or longer lined shoe was on the front, isn't it supposed to be on the rear?

and

The wheel cylinder boots were full of sawdust. Yes sawdust. time for complete brake rebuild.
 
Another thing to check on a newly acquired Model A that has been tinkered with is front end toe-in. I just got a Model A that drove like a bulldozer plowing through a boulder field. Come to find out had 9/16" toe in when 1/16" is specified. Lots of time the unknowing "restorer" will take things apart and then put them back together without proper adjustment. Corrected that and it drives like a dream. Toe in measurements can be done pretty easily-check the archives with a search. I think Tom Wesenberg posted a pretty clear and easy procedure once if I remember right. What the guys say above about the tires is probably the likely culprit, though, especially if your car has been sitting stationary on its tires for years.
 
Looks like a great little car :)

Have fun with it!

I would rebuild and home all slave cylinders, flush the fluid and reassemble. Check for brake pedal leakdown which may indicate a leak or needing the master cyl rebuilt as well. Along the coast, the humidity is much higher and older hydraulic brake systems seem to really absorb the moisture.

Welcome to the hobby!
 
As Dave said, your brake system needs the master cylinder and all 4 wheel cylinders honed and the lines flushed out. The common dot 3 brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air, then the wheel cylinders rust and leak and the dried up brake fluid combined with water is what you see that looks like saw dust. After a complete rebuild I'd only use dot 5 silicone brake fluid. It will last much longer and won't absorb water like the dot 3.

As far as the short shoe (primary) and the longer shoe (secondary) the placement depends on where the heavy stop pin is located. My 55 Chevy has the pin at the top, so the secondary shoes are on the rear. The shorter primary shoe applies additional pressure to the secondary shoe and that's the reason for more lining on the secondary. Some International Harvester vehicles have the heavy stop pin at the bottom of the backing plate, so the secondary shoe is located on the front side.
 
You have 46-48 Ford brakes. The longer lining goes to the front as the larger bore on the wheel cyl faces the front.On the Bendix style self energising brakes,the long lining goes to the rear.
 
columbiA said:
You have 46-48 Ford brakes. The longer lining goes to the front as the larger bore on the wheel cyl faces the front.On the Bendix style self energising brakes,the long lining goes to the rear.
Click to expand...

Ok, the front wheel cylinders have a 1" bore toward the rear and a 1 3/8" bore toward the front. So the "longer" lining shoe will go on the same side as the 1 3/8 side of wheel cylinder or the FWD side? That was the way they were. Just not used to that setup. The brakes did work great before this and it is not a racecar.

Worthless trivia:

Racecar spelled backwards is racecar but "Dammit I'm mad" spelled backwards is "dammit I'm mad"
 
I would highly recommend that you join the nearest Model A Club. There is a lot more fun to a Model A when you join the local club. Plus there are club member that will help you with problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top