After painting under the bonnet/hood I took a look at the underside.
I must admit I’ve been putting this task off because it’s not the most pleasant.
I’ve added a few old pictures from a few years back to show the difference!
Looks a bit better now, but will need a few more coats as it’s sucking up the paint.
The front bumper on the Model A had been bent since I got the car so we decided to have a try and straightening the bar and see how it looks.
As you see after a bit of a wood issue the bumper is now pretty straight.
Once we got the wood situation sorted out we got the bumper back in pretty good shape,
There has been a recirculating grinding type noise coming from the Model A on hard left hand locks since we changed the brake back plates.
Simon and I set off on a road test to pinpoint the noise and Simon nailed it!
The noise was coming from the right hand rear wheel.
After removing the wheel and hub/drum assembly we found a couple of issues.
The brake shoe issue was alleviated by grinding the metal edge off the brake shoes
Once this was achieved the drum was placed in the lathe and a small amount of material removed to ensure that the drum and back plate were no longer  in contact.
A final road test confirmed that the diagnosis was correct and the treatment had been a success!
Here’s some photos of the work carried out
When I first imported the Model A over three years ago I promised my Aunt Noreen a ride in the car and finally today I delivered on the promise 🙂
I’ve been meaning to sort out the perished windows channels on the Model A, so I headed over to John Cochran’s for some expert assistance.
Once we had removed the door trims it was very interesting to find the details from the trim manufacturer from 20 years ago! I may research the detail to see if I can get a bead on who owned the car back then. I’ve tried writing to the owner listed on the title but sadly got no reply.
It was great to drive home with slightly less rattles thanks to John!
Gave the A a bit of a wash and brush up after the indignity of the recovery truck a few weeks back.
Shiny, Shiny Model A
Wash and dry, Zymol Wax Prep, Meguiars Wax and Autoglym Fast Glass
After the breakdown on the way to Wheels Day 2017 and some diagnosis the Pertronix module was the culprit (well the symptom anyway :))
This is the second module failure, so it’s back to points which as least can be fixed on the road. I’ve gone for the “modern points” setup by Nu-Rex, “modern” is pretty amusing as the new plate contains the 1957 onward Ford V8 points as opposed to the original 1929 setup.
Before I began I set the timing to TDC via the timing pin as per usual on the Model A I then started to remove the Pertronix system
During removal I found that the lower distributor plate had been deleted, a bit annoying as I’d ordered the upper plate from O’Neills. Luckily John Cochran had a used item I could use (thanks John :))
I’d also ordered the recommended longer pigtail for the lower plate, this is recommended to alleviate the stress on the original which is a little short and often fails due to fatigue. So after desoldering and drilling the old pigtail was removed. Then it was a matter of a little cleaning and soldering to get the new item fitted. As my car has no pop out ignition switch I further modified the plate to securely fix the hot cable to the plate by drilling the dimple which was designed to contact the original pop out switch.
Once all the modifications were completed I installed the plate into the distributor.
Lower plate installed
The pigtail was connected to the points contact ensuring that the connector was not able to accidentally ground to the distributor housing.
Also checked that the timing advance lever was in the fully retarded setting at this point
Next the upper plate was installed taking care to wrap the pigtail around the cam spring whilst making sure not to pinch the cable.
The upper plate will only install one way into the tabs and groove and should turn freely.
Nu-Rex Modern Points Upper Plate Installed
See the next episode for rewiring, points adjustment, timing and hopefully an engine start.
Here’s some dash cam video of the A, on a local jaunt 🙂
After a few days preparation, a good road test and Simon’s assistance with clutch adjustment we were ready for our annual trip to Wheels Day in Aldershot, well we thought we were…
Things started to feel a little strange on the M4, but we put that down to a GAV adjustment as after a tweak things improved. However the car cut out and restarted after we came off the motorway, we managed to get around another couple of miles and then broke down with a bang and no restart this time. We had fuel but no spark, the Pertronix electronic ignition module had failed, this is the second such failure in the three years that I’ve had the car.
A very wise man named John Cochran did suggest that I stick to points a couple of years ago, I took the “if it ain’t broke” approach, well now it’s broke and I’ll be reverting to points!
Luckily my friend John Barron was travelling with me to the show, and his personal AA cover ensured we got home safely and very efficiently (thanks again John!)
Hats off to the the two AA staff that helped us today, customer service at its finest. Suffice to say I joined when I got home!
Wheels Day 2017 is coming up on Friday so I’ve been doing a bit of prep. I’ve been meaning to change & rewire the ammeter for a while. The unit the car came with was a 20 amp example which hadn’t been rewired during the change to 12 volt/alternator and negative earth by a previous owner.
The new 30 amp unit is of course a repop as is the dash. The existing 20 amp was a better fit in the dash than the new 30 amp. So the answer was to swap the bezel from the 20 amp to the 30 meaning a better fit in the dash. I also needed to reverse the wiring so it reads correctly.
Whilst I was about it I gave the dash a clean with metal polish and WD40. I think it looks great and has a nice patina.
