Ford Model A Tudor Modern Twist on a Classic

[gigamanx]

Taking all my experience from my prior truck build and applying it to a more ambitious and more complete hot rod. I've always dreamed of a Model A Sedan, but was always intimidated by the build. Now I feel confident with the help of my trusty welder, all you fine folks, and YouTube that this will be a success! I'll catalog the build for anyone interested below and feel free to comment and put your thoughts in. I just received the body from a guy in Minnesota and, after looking it over, very pleased with how solid the metal is.




So why is it more ambitious than the 1949 Chevy 3100? Well, glad you asked! This bad girl is going to get a custom chassis, LS engine and 4L80e transmission. I'll be bagging the rear end and completely finishing out the interior and paint. Lots of new skills I need to learn, but a lot I can transfer from the truck.

The best news so far, it fits in my garage better than the truck did so I have way more room to work haha

12/25/2019: Current state, floor is out, engine and transmission got sold today to get it out of the way (SBC350/TH350 combo)




end goal is something like this...





Credit to builder Denny Terzich

[mongocanfly]

Chop top?..
LS power will make that thing a rocket..
Full steam ahead

[jkeating1]

I'm in!

[twinshadows]

Oh yeah, I'm in, too.
I've had my Model A 5window for many years …. just another project.
But, I'm going SBC & 4speed … if and when that happens.
Keep going..... we're watching

jim

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Chop top?..
LS power will make that thing a rocket..
Full steam ahead

Top was already chopped 4" previously. I'm pretty happy with it, so I think its going to stay as is.

[gigamanx]

Update time! I don't waste much time haha. Trying to start on a solid foundation and have done LOTS of research in chassis design. Pulled the car entirely apart today ready for blasting. I also designed my garage paint booth so when the fresh metal returns from the blaster, I can lay down an epoxy primer to seal it all up. Decided on the Devilbliss finishline gun as my first one and some Eastwood epoxy primer.





Before taking the body apart, I mocked up the rails, lengths, and angles needed for the chassis to snuggly fit inside the rocker panels. This is the suggested way for the rat rod style because it maximizes floor space between the transmission tunnel and door. Also learned that using 2x4 wood is the same as using 2x4 steel which will be used for the final chassis.

[mongocanfly]

You moving along..!!....just remember that the wood will only be 1-1/2×3-1/2 as compared to the steel 2x4

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

You moving along..!!....just remember that the wood will only be 1-1/2×3-1/2 as compared to the steel 2x4

I didn't realize that. I thought they were one and the same. May change my measurements a little then. Thanks for the tip!

[gigamanx]

Sent the body off to the soda blasting shop. They do all the cars for the local rod shop, so I trusted things would work out. While I'm waiting, I decided to build a paint booth in my garage. I built it with three sections of PVC. The idea is that each section can fold into the next so if I need to open up the garage I can essentially slide the sections together.

For now, it's setup for some primer once the body returns.





Also settled on 2x3 3/16" box steel for the chassis. Having some trouble figuring out how tall front suspension is going to be so I need to sort out what options I have for a solid i beam front axle. The current axle is not a dropped axle, so I may not be able to fit it under the car and keep the radiator shell "beer can" height.

[mongocanfly]

Like the paint booth....I'm fixing to do something similar in mine...

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Like the paint booth....I'm fixing to do something similar in mine...

Just a heads up on the paint booth. I had to take it all down. The plastic tubing was a bit flimsy so moving it around a little, the pieces were separating. Plastic sheeting went to crap soon after it was stood up. This past weekend I took the step of building 2x2 timber frames and using underlayment plywood. Should be nice and sturdy and made mounting the fans a whole lot easier. One last item since I'm using the garage for both fabrication and paint, the dust is crazy. I build a little box fan filter that just sits in the middle of the room and filters the air. I run that for 24 hours before spraying anything.

Getting set to paint my frame this month!

[gigamanx]

Blasted and ready to go. Brought home the body and got it ready for priming in my new paint booth. Here's my experience as a first timer...

The good...
1. Eastwood Epoxy Primer is great! 1:1 ratio and a quart size is just enough to do a whole body.
2. Paint booth worked great! My spray arrestor filters were covered in gray primer and the rest of the garage stayed clean. Air flow seemed strong as I didn't notice any build of of fumes until I was almost finished with the whole body.
3. The $15 spray gun from Harbor Freight works just great for primer. Was pretty impressed by the consistent spray pattern. 1.4mm tip was fine for the Eastwood Primer.

The bad...
1. The internet is full of opinions on what to do with sand blasted metal. In the end, the only thing that worked was using a brush and a shop vac to get all the sand/media off the metal. Acetone didn't work, Metal prep didn't work, "rinsing" with water was a terrible idea and immediately rusted as I dried it with a heat gun.
2. I should have stopped there and decided to tack cloth the metal. I didn't see until after paint, but the epoxy now has a bunch of tiny fibers sticking out that will need to be dealt with. The only places that worked out were the inside panels since I didn't care to tack cloth them. They look great

Lessons.... Have all the stuff to mix your paint and clean the gun inside the booth so you don't have to leave to mix more.



Furry body paint that now needs 200grit wet sand before the next step. Not too worried as I assume a thin coat of bondo and sanding will fix it anyway.






No runs though so I was happy

[55.1]

I like your collapsible paint booth. I may have to use your design for my garage. Where did you get the exhaust fans?

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 55.1

I like your collapsible paint booth. I may have to use your design for my garage. Where did you get the exhaust fans?

Exhaust fans are 20 bucks on Walmart. I got three and only used two. I may add a third when its time for clear coat. 20x20 filters on the inlet side and I used some 20x20 paint arrestor filters on the exit out the garage door.

[gigamanx]

Currently working through some metal shaping. Got myself some 18ga and a bead roller. I already had a hammer and dolly set. Anything else I need to make my own patch panels? The pre-pressed ones for the Model A are just ridiculously expensive for a piece of sheet metal, so I'm trying to do them on my own as much as possible.

[mongocanfly]

I got a shrinker/stretcher to help with my patch panels..its amazing what it will do
a small metal brake as well
some pics of what youll be making will help

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

I got a shrinker/stretcher to help with my patch panels..its amazing what it will do
a small metal brake as well
some pics of what youll be making will help

Thanks man. I've been thinking about adding a shrinker/stretcher. Seems like HF has a decent manual one. My patch panels are, for the most part, about 3" of the lower cowl, rear wheel wells, and a firewall. I'll eventually want to do all the flooring panels also.

[mongocanfly]

I got my s&s from eastwood...the one at harbor fright looked exactly like it except for the eastwood sticker...but the ones I saw the other night at hf are a little different...probably good enough for home building

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

I got my s&s from eastwood...the one at harbor fright looked exactly like it except for the eastwood sticker...but the ones I saw the other night at hf are a little different...probably good enough for home building

Ha! Exactly the one I had in my cart. Eastwood loves me right now because I got all my paint stuff from them and my bead roller. Just wish they would sauce me a discount code and I'd probably keep shopping!

[gigamanx]

Watched a TON of videos since my last update. Who knew there were so many schools of thought on patch panel welding. In the end, I formulated my plan, made a sweet patch panel and welded it in. Painted POR15 anywhere that wasn't going to get welded to help seal the patch. A small amount of oil canning happened between the patch and the original metal. I think its because when I cut the old section out, the remaining metal folding in a little. Almost like it let go of some tension. I couldn't get the tension back in the panel, so closed up the weld and hope epoxy filler will smooth it out before paint. Thankfully its considered a "low spot" as opposed to a high spot

Very pleased with the results. Also welded some holes shut after researching if I should lead solder, body filler, or patch panel it. My restoration buddy said just to clean out small holes and fill weld it slowly. Seemed to work nicely on the pinholes. I used a copper backing plate on the larger ones so the weld would pool instead of falling through the hole.

Edit: Might have used the wrong terminology. Not oil canning...I have a valley where my weld is. The valley existed when I cut the old metal out and it bowed in a little. When I welded in the new metal, the bow/valley stayed.

[jkeating1]

Keep pluggin'-I'm watching

[gigamanx]

Bet you were wondering if that guy gave up......nope.

Solid progress and just put things back together today. Got the front ibeam dropped 4" by Okie Joe. Fixed all the sheet metal issues and installed the firewall. There will be a "final firewall" after I know where the steering column and fusebox is going to go.

At a bit of a crossroads now though. I have some expensive parts to purchase and not sure what I should get next. I'd like to get her sitting on a solid foundation, but that's around $2000 for some wire wheels and tires. Problem I have with getting wheels is that I need to get disc brakes in the rear and front. When I do that, I'll have to choose my bolt pattern. Maybe that's the next step?

Spent a few minutes this afternoon with a steering wheel and a seat pretending I could drive. Getting a feel for where pedals will be, steering column placement, exhaust placement (because it might interfere with the steering).

[mongocanfly]

Axle drop looks good...I had faith that you were still at it...

[gigamanx]

Update! Front suspension is almost all back together. Dropped 8" by sweeping the frame upward.

Onto the rear end where I cut out the entire back section of the frame to put a bigger hump in. Pictures are a little scary as there is almost no car left haha.

Figuring out the age old problem now of how the heck I'll fit a gas tank, 4 link, coil overs, and rear axle all behind the seats. Not a lot of space there. I've mocked up the rear of the frame to try and figure out where everything needs to go.

[gigamanx]

The good news about COVID is solid progress every weekend in the garage. This weekend was wishbone repair time. The previous owner cut the wishbones but never finished them. I needed to weld on new tie rod end mounts on the frame and needed to pie cut the wishbones upward to match the new front sweep and lowered suspension. Turned out pretty nice!