Up Grades?

[denniskliesen]

Very nice car. I agree with Dennis and Charlie on their comments and suggestions. I would only add that your light switch orientation is incorrect. The lever should be a 6:00 when off; 7:00 for parking; 5:00 for low; 4:00 for high. Easy fix.

If you don't have shocks, I reccommend a set of Stipes and original style links and arms.
Also, I reccommend you make only safe and stock changes and drive it for a year before you put any fancy money into so-called upgrades. Get to know your car. It will tell you what it eeds.

I agree with Ray on the Stipe shocks. I've dealt with the Stipe folks a few times, great people to do business with. All of my links are original, had to replace one with a swap meet find to match, and they work great. It corners better and rides smooth for a Model A. I could tell a difference right away.

 

[BillCNC]

A 29 fender will not bolt up to a 30 or 31 splash apron. Not a 29 fender. As far as priority, Brakes and steering. Diagnose and fix the clutch issue. As far as modern upgrades, I only do seat belts and turn signals. You already have an alternator, and it looks like a tag on top should tell you 6v or 12v and positive or negative ground. I'm still running incandescents and they work just fine for me. You just need to make sure the reflectors inside the light are good, reflective and not dull. I cover the inside of all of my lights with reflective tape, except for headlights. Upgrading to HC heads and higher performance parts requires timing to differ from stock, you really need to know the adjustments of some of the nonstock parts or you could do serious damage to your engine. As an example you don't want your timing to be more than 28 degrees advanced with a HC head. Too much advance and you could do serious damage to your bearings. Concentrate on safety issues first.

denniskliesen;

6v Pos. Gnd. and the lights are bright. I was thinking of a HC head later on down the road. I hear it's a great combination with the Mitchell OD.

Neither fender looks like it's fitting 100% perfectly in the nose.

RawhideKid;

Yeah, it's pretty dusty up here and occasionally I drive down a 1/2 mile maintained dirt road.

Charlie;

Great Idea, what color was the script?

Bob;

You are correct the light bar is crooked because of the fender issue.

To All;

Does anyone know the angel of the fender rise between the cowl and the fender. Perhaps one is to high or one to low, or a combination of both. Could I have one wrong or bent fender bracket considering how steep the angle is, look at the close up left front picture. Also note the difference in the front contoured cutouts, one has a sharper radius than the other and the entire car is metal.

I also added a close up of the front end. She looks a bit wonky and needs a bit of straightening up the alignment of the front end body parts. I also added an up-skirt shot, ... she's pretty clean up under there.


Regards
Bill

 

[BillCNC]

After thinking about it and staring at the close up of the front end and using my brain, seem the only answer would be Both are off. The right is to low and the left is to height. The distance between the fenders cannot change, the light bar writes the law. The fact is, the light bar cannot grow in length so they both are leaning to the right. So doesnt that lead to an issue with the fender mounting brackets?


Regards
Bill

 

[Bob C]

In the first picture the front spring doesn't look to good. Looks like one leaf is
out of order or broken.

Bob

 

[BillCNC]

In the first picture the front spring doesn't look to good. Looks like one leaf is
out of order or broken.

Bob

Hi Bob,

Both sides are exactly the same but I'm sure I could have one leaf broken. She can get pretty bouncy at times.

Regards
Bill

 

[BillCNC]

Very nice car. I agree with Dennis and Charlie on their comments and suggestions. I would only add that your light switch orientation is incorrect. The lever should be a 6:00 when off; 7:00 for parking; 5:00 for low; 4:00 for high. Easy fix.

If you don't have shocks, I reccommend a set of Stipes and original style links and arms.
Also, I reccommend you make only safe and stock changes and drive it for a year before you put any fancy money into so-called upgrades. Get to know your car. It will tell you what it eeds.

700rpm,

Thanks for the complement on the car, ... I have the stock shocks on there now. WOW those Stipes are pricey. How can I tell if I need them, the normal shock bounce test?

Hmm, I cant push it down like a modern car.

Regards
Bill

 

[Charlie Stephens]

denniskliesen;



Charlie;

Great Idea, what color was the script

I think they called the color Corporate Blue. Remember the caps are from 1932-34 four cylinder. Someone like Bill Hirsch should be able to supply the paint. Definitely a low priority task. How was the temperature out there today?

Charlie Stephens

 

[BillCNC]

How Hot?

Stick me with a fork, I'm done. Yesterday was like 110 and today was at least 105, and looking at 102 for the next few days.

Oh, did I forget to mention that my A/C has been out since 7/4! So-yeah, I've seen a hand full of days were it's 100 INSIDE my house.

Regards
Bill

 

[Charlie Stephens]

How Hot?

Stick me with a fork, I'm done. Yesterday was like 110 and today was at least 105, and looking at 102 for the next few days.

Oh, did I forget to mention that my A/C has been out since 7/4! So-yeah, I've seen a hand full of days were it's 100 INSIDE my house.

Regards
Bill

Bill,

Think positive. The money you saved on electricity you can spend on the car.

Charlie Stephens

 

[denniskliesen]

Both sides are exactly the same but I'm sure I could have one leaf broken. She can get pretty bouncy at times.

I'd say shocks will tame that I'm sure you already know that.

I have the stock shocks on there now. WOW those Stipes are pricey. How can I tell if I need them, the normal shock bounce test?

Hmm, I cant push it down like a modern car.

You might have shocks that are froze up. Both of my rears were froze and one broke the shock arm. Fronts were loose as a goose. My thoughts on the Stipes... you get what you pay for. A lot of machine work goes into making those shocks the way they were made and that makes them more expensive. They are different internally from the other vendors. You might do a search on them, see if you can find any problems in the past on Stipes compared to the others. After reading a lot of postings on rebuilts, I decided to get Stipes based on others comments here. Less leaks, easy to adjust and good performance. True they don't pass judging standards, but I'm far from that point. There are kits to install modern tube shocks out there. A lot of people have had satisfaction with the moderns, it's what appeals to you the most. Moderns are much less expensive also.

 

[Railcarmover]

Front spring center pin broken.

getting everything straight is going to be more work than just straightening a fender bracket, push one part and you have to align the rest..gonna require a flat floor and disassembly,truing each item as you go back together,no telling how deep the issue is...my opinion? run it,she has character.


The more issues folks have with upgrades on here the less I see the advantage,you want to go fast? take the wife's car.

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

All upgrades are changes, but not all changes are upgrades. Many are downgrades.

 

[TerryH]

If your clutch needs replacing, I would sure consider the V-8 clutch and pressure plate; had mine done over 10 years ago and have really enjoyed it....much less pressure to operate it. I would also second using LED tail lights and turn signals. I also have a 6v alternator, and added quartz halogen headlights, which really light up the road at night. You will love the Mitchell OD and HC head! Nice looking car!

 

[George Miller]

All upgrades are changes, but not all changes are upgrades. Many are downgrades.

Plus 100

 

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

You should have NEVER posted PICS! Folks will find 107 things WRONG--LOL
You should have bought Vermin, NO SURPRISES.
bILL w.

 

[BillCNC]

You should have NEVER posted PICS! Folks will find 107 things WRONG--LOL
You should have bought Vermin, NO SURPRISES.
bILL w.

Hi Bill,

Fantastic, then I did the right thing. BTW, ... I'm hoping they find 120 things wrong because I want to make this car right with the exception of a Mitchell OD in the near future.

How many can you point out?

As far as Vermin and no surprises, it was pretty far of a drive going in blind plus I have a jacked up hip so long drives are pretty painful at times. But to biggest selling point with the Tudor was the price, ... I still have 9k in the bank that I can catch up with. I wouldn't doubt the Vermin is a great deal with all the extra goodies, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around the model A hobby and I think I would have ended up with far more than I needed while starting out. Plus this gives me the opportunity to still do a small amount of work to it. Overall I looked at 7 various models and years of the model A's and I feel this one leaves me lots of room to play with. My only real surprise might be a California DMV VIN inspection and the front leaf spring might have a broken blade in the middle of the stack. But to counter that, a huge positive came in the form of the fender issue, ... seems I'm OK and just need to re-align everything up.

Regards
Bill

 

[antiquepa]

80 Years plus and still running, why change anything on a model 'A' ..there easy to work on and fun to drive!!

 

[BillCNC]

80 Years plus and still running, why change anything on a model 'A' ..there easy to work on and fun to drive!!

antiquepa,

I have a few hills to climb, one being 4,200 ft, ... Cajon Pass plus most roads up here are 50 mph with large distances between forced stops unless your on Main St. The goal is that I'd like to drive without the rpm's being constantly high everywhere I go. Why wear the motor out needlessly?

Regards
Bill

 

[MAG]

This is data using stock Model A engine, 3:78 differential ratio and 19 inch wheels.
May vary slightly but are very close.
2200rpm 46mph 52mph w/27% OD
1900rpm 43mph 50mph "" "" ""
1500rpm 35mph 41mph "" "" ""
A Mitchel OD will do a nice job in the area you are driving,
If you have a friend with a Mitchell and he will give you a test drive it might help you with your decision.

 

[J Franklin]

I have driven over the Cajon pass a few times in my stock A (sedan w/ 3:78) going from LA to Las Vegas with no problems, been up to Big Bear Lake a couple of times too. Downhill is always the scarier ride.