Tag: 1928

Reliving an epic 12000-mile adventure in a Ford Model A – Alastair Clements @Classic&SportsCar

Reliving an epic 12000-mile adventure in a Ford Model A – Alastair Clements @Classic&SportsCar

Advertisements

It was 1962. My wife Jan and I had recently graduated in our respective vocations, her as a kindergarten teacher and me in architecture.

When we met, Jan had a ticket booked on a liner bound for the UK, but those plans were put on ice and it was marriage for us instead.

Before we got together I had done a fair bit of travelling, including a six-month stint in Japan, so seeing the world was high on the agenda rather than settling down, as a few of our friends were already doing.

Back in the 1960s, after graduating with some sort of degree or in a trade, youngsters in Australia (and many in Europe) seemed to gain the urge for adventure.

We were no exception, and began drawing up plans fairly soon after our wedding, but air travel proved prohibitively expensive. There were bus trips available to various parts of central Asia and India, and it was pretty basic travelling.

All on board would help to pitch tents and cook, yet it seemed a great way to see the world without having to look after your own vehicle.

But, having decided to go to Europe, we elected to drive and we chose a 1928 Model A Ford to do it in – after all, nearly five million buyers between 1927 and ’31 can’t have been wrong about these rugged workhorses.

We were living and working in Melbourne at the time, and after talking to other adventurous types it soon became clear this sort of journey was possible. Not easy, perhaps, but possible.

That was enough: the challenge was there and we were young, healthy and eager.

Decision made, although our parents were not so sure

On the Nullarbor early in the trip, on the way to Perth

Mutual friend (and fellow architect) John Dalton, was keen to return to the UK so joined us for the trip, packing his own one-man tent.

After a basic restoration of the Ford, our running around in Victoria prior to departure did little to indicate what lay ahead for the car.

We left Melbourne in late November 1962, with my brother and family accompanying us until our lunch stop. Jan’s sister, Sue, and a couple of friends were also present early in the morning to bid us farewell.

They were probably all wondering if they’d ever see us again.

Turkey’s Highway No 1 was under construction when the Hunters passed by in their Ford Model A

In Adelaide we met Jan’s elderly grandparents and two aunts, who all raised eyebrows at our chosen mode of transport, and on leaving the South Australian capital we happened upon a roadside weighbridge for grain trucks.

We drove on to the platform and were surprised to find that we weighed in at 39cwt, or 1950kg. Empty, the Model A tipped the scales at 21cwt (1067kg), so inevitably, as well as overheating, we had a few tyre problems.

We started with the best 450x21in rubber we could rustle up, but it let us down.

We bought four new tyres in Perth, and those then took us through to London, but compared with the vehicles of the many other fellow travellers we subsequently met, the Ford turned out to be relatively trouble-free.

We were really lucky to have decided upon the sturdy and simple 3.3-litre, four-cylinder Model A.

Even the ubiquitous Volkswagen Kombis and Land-Rovers were not immune to problems, generally with springs or clutches, and often because they were heavily overloaded.

We even spotted a Sunbeam-Talbot and a Morris 1100 – the latter was the first I had ever seen, and it wasn’t handling the conditions well

Some travellers had converted small buses into caravans, with youths and families going to Australia, and all too often they suffered from mechanical issues.

Citroën 2CVs seemed to put up with the tough conditions well, though, and later in Germany, shortly after waving to a 1928 Bentley that was broken down on the autobahn, one tore past us as we sat at a steady 40mph.

Read on

Ultra-Traditional 1928 Ford Model A Roadster with a Cragar OHV Makes a Statement at the Grand National Roadster Show – Drew Hardin @HotRod

Advertisements

This article from 2017 features a period correct Cragar OHV conversion

Terry fashioned the headers. The choice to wrap them was partially aesthetic. “The color looked good with the engine block,” David says—but also functional. It keeps exhaust heat away from the carbs and protects the header’s finish. “No one ceramic coated headers back then. We didn’t want the paint to pop and peel when we fired the motor.”

Bill Grant graduated from Pomona High School in 1952, so he experienced the postwar hot rodding boom firsthand. He had his first car, a Model T, when he was 12 and a ’36 three-window coupe when he was 14. He remembers, “My mom kept hiding the keys because I was sneaking around, driving her crazy.” In high school, he had a ’40 coupe “that was pretty quick. Chick Wilson built the engine. It was all glitzed up.”

He’d go up to the dry lakes with his buddy Tom Morris. Tom’s V8-powered ’29 roadster is still around, its timing tags testament to 110 mph or better on the lakes and at Bonneville. Bill also remembers going out to the drags on Rivergrade Road, which is now the 605 Freeway, and cruising the Townhouse Drive-In and Stan’s Drive-In in nearby El Monte.

“We didn’t just talk about it, we did it,” he says proudly.

About five years ago, before Tom passed away, the two friends had a conversation about hot rods while they thumbed through a book about Harry Miller’s race cars. “Tom virtually built a car from memory,” Bill says. “‘I’d do this with the body, that with the frame.’ Tom and I went through a whole litany of things.”

That conversation, a collection of parts, and the desire to keep alive the memory of early hot rodding resulted in this ’28 Model A, which Bill dubbed the Muroc Roadster.

Though there are reproduction parts on the car, “we made a point to use as much original stuff as possible, cool mechanical stuff that just doesn’t exist anymore,” David says. Their goal was to build a prewar lakes car, using only the kinds of parts that could be found in 1937 or earlier.

The roadster looks a little nicer, a little bit better turned out, than your typical prewar hot rod build. That’s because during the translation from idea to reality, Bill and the father-and-son team of Terry and David Stoker at Stoker’s Hot Rod Factory decided to enter it in the Grand National Roadster Show and compete for the show’s top honor, the 9-foot-tall America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy.

“I knew we wouldn’t win,” Bill says. “But that wasn’t the point. It wasn’t about spending money. It was about making a statement and reaching people. We figured people would either get it, or not. And you can’t believe the number of conversations I had at the show and since. People got it, and they’re passing it on. Passing the torch. That’s what hot rods used to look like. If you went to the lakes in 1936, you would have seen this car. Maybe it wouldn’t have been this nice—it might have been in primer and not had painted rails—but it would have been this kind of car.

“We did make a statement, for what it’s worth. We made a dent.” And while he may not have his name engraved on the big AMBR trophy, he and the Stokers did bring home a trophy for the Best Detail among the AMBR contenders.

The starting point for the build was a low-mileage Model A phaeton that Bill bought some 30 years ago. Back then, Terry Stoker took the body off and used the shell to build a hot rod on a TCI frame. “Terry built that bathtub with an Iron Duke engine. God, it was fun,” Bill says.

The gennie Model A frame, transmission, and running gear went into a Fontana barn. “It’s just one of those things,” Bill admits. “I don’t get rid of much.”

The level of finish on the frame, axle, and suspension components speaks to the quality required for AMBR contention. That frame is stock, but it was ground smooth and then painted by Albert De Alba, who also painted the other chassis components and the Brookville body in single-stage Centari. Plating, done by AB Polishing, is nickel, not chrome, in keeping with the period.

One exception was a ’29 pickup powered by a banger with a Cragar OHV conversion that he sold about five years ago, a decision he’s been “agonizing about” ever since. So when he heard from a friend that the friend’s uncle “had a Cragar or a Miller or something in his garage in Redding, California, and it was for sale, I told him, ‘Go up there and buy it. ‘”

Good move on Bill’s part. The engine turned out to be a Model B four-cylinder that had been hopped up in 1954—Cragar OHV, insert bearings, C crank—but never fired. Soon after getting the engine, Bill and the Stokers realized that putting it in the long-dormant Model A chassis would be the perfect foundation for a very traditional prewar hot rod. Then came the conversation about entering the GNRS, something Bill and the Stokers did in 2014 with a gorgeous, pale blue, full-fendered Deuce roadster. When Bill had his epiphany about making a statement at this year’s Roadster Show to keep the flame of ultra-traditional rodding alive, the Stokers got their marching orders.

Read on

Forties technology would make for a perfect 1928 Ford Model A shop truck. Here’s how I’d build it – David Conwill @Hemmings

Advertisements

A Ford Model A roadster pickup like this 1928 Ford Model A roadster pickup (“Open Cab Pickup”) in the Hemmings Classifieds would make a great shop truck or long-distance hauler with just a few period upgrades.

This one caught my attention because it’s nearly identical to the one we have in the Sibley which was once dragged to TROG. I saw it there for the first time, and I’ve harbored ambitions about turning that little pickup into something with a bit of 1940s flavor ever since. Talking to Jeff Koch about his plans for his family’s 1931 coupe re-energized my appreciation for Ford’s 1928-’31 masterpiece and the myriad ways people have found to improve them since. Jeff wants to walk the line between hot rodding and touring using some newer equipment, but left to my own devices, I’d always hew closer to how Ford developed its cars from 1928 to 1948. It’s a good lesson for making any ’20s car a better driver without sacrificing the vintage experience.

Although the Hemmings pickup is the one I see most often, any ’28 or ’29 would fit the bill. It’s mere coincidence that this one is also a Commercial Green (Rock Moss Green? Something like that) 1928 model. The Hemmings truck is somewhat rarer as it is an early 1928 with the slightly nicer looking splash aprons and the hand brake near the door, Model T-style. Supposedly, Pennsylvania didn’t permit the early design, hexing a big potential market for Ford. I seem to recall the objection was that the hand brake was used to set the rear-wheel service brakes, but PA required separate systems for emergency/parking brakes and service brakes.

No matter, all those interesting old parts, new design or old, could be removed and preserved someplace after a proper pickling/mothballing. In their place would go the best of early 1940s technology, starting with 12 x 2-inch hydraulic drum brakes, front and rear. Up front, I’d go with new Lincoln-style units from Bass Kustom and in back, Ford-type brakes, as they’re somewhat easier to retrofit to an early axle. The Lincoln units have the advantage that Ford chose to license Bendix’s self-energizing technology for its up-market brand, whereas regular Ford and Mercury cars stuck with the Chrysler-Lockheed type through 1948.

The original axles and Houdaille shocks, if in good condition (and the listing says the little pickup has only “88 miles since completion” of a “complete frame-off restoration,” so they ought to be) can stay. If not, there’s always longtime Hemmings advertiser Apple Hydraulics. If my planned tires (which I address below) look a little lost under the fenders, a reverse-eye front spring is a good way to get the nose down slightly without resorting to dropping the front axle

Four-million Ford owners can’t be wrong. The 200.5-cu.in. Model A four-cylinder was a solid, dependable unit that saw millions through the Depression and World War II. The basic design stayed in production for years and fitting one with pieces developed in the Thirties and Forties improves them further still.

I’d ideally give this shop truck a touring-grade Model A engine with a balanced crank and pressurized oiling, but retain the poured bearings. Some of those upgrades may already be present on what is supposed to be a fresh, low-mileage engine, but if not, it would be a good canvas to add them. With a solid foundation to rely on, I’d add performance with a Model A police-service 5.5:1 compression cylinder head (marked with a cast-in B; actual Model B engines got heads marked with “C.” Very confusing) or a cast-iron Winfield head for as close as I could get to 6:1 compression (poured bearings get cranky when you go higher than that); single downdraft carburetor on an aftermarket intake; Model B camshaft and either a Ford Model B distributor or the upgrade unit produced by Mallory for many years in place of the manual-advance Model A unit; and the Duke Hallock-designed exhaust header I had wanted for my late, lamented Model T.

You could probably run this fairly mild engine against the original un-synchronized three-speed, but it would really up the ease of driving if you followed Ford’s route and adapted a V-8 gearbox with synchronizers on second and third gears. The 1932-‘34 Ford Model B used a trans behind its 50hp four-cylinder that was internally the same as the V-8 models but used a different case. Now, you can put any 1932-’48 Ford passenger-car transmission or 1932-’52 light-truck three-speed behind a Model A engine using an adaptor from Cling’s. The pinnacle of early Ford V-8 transmission technology is widely agreed to be the nice-shifting ’39-’52 Ford floor-shift three-speed (exclusive to trucks from 1940-on) containing ’46-’48 Ford passenger-car or close-ratio Lincoln-Zephyr gears in order to mate with the enclosed driveline.

Read on

Ray Keech: First American over 200mph – Jive Bomber @Jalopy Journal

Advertisements

The Brits ruled the Daytona Beach Land Speed records: Seagrave and Campbell went back and forth going faster and faster, but one man broke their streak for a brief time, when board track and Daytona 500 racer Ray Keech went 207.55 mph on the beach April 22nd, 1928. The car he used was unusual, and brutal, to say the least.

The White Triplex was backed by wealthy industrialist J.H. White, and named in his honor. The Triplex moniker came from the triple 1649 c.i. WWI Liberty Aero L-12 (v12) motors displacing a whopping 81 liters combined. One gigantic Liberty motor sat in front of Keech and two more behind him, in a direct drive arrangement. The 36 cylinders combined allegedly produced 1500 horsepower and had the potential to go 220 mph if the feeble chassis and an extremely brave driver could tame it.

Read on

Can We Get The Engine To Break Free?? – 1928 Ford Model AA Truck – @IronTrapGarage

Advertisements

Another excellent video from Matt at Iron Trap Garage

Last week we pulled the 1928 Ford Model AA truck from his home for the last 40+ years and its time to start going over the truck.

When Matt first looked at the truck he had attempted to crank the engine by hand and it didn’t budge.

Now that the truck is back at the garage, we can take a closer look at the engine and see what kind of mess Matt has gotten into.

We really hope we can get the motor going and this extremely early production # Model A back on the road.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls… Iron Trap Finds – @irontrapfinds – https://www.instagram.com/irontrapfinds/ Matt’s Instagram – @irontrap – https://www.instagram.com/irontrap/ Mike’s Instagram – @mhammsteak – https://www.instagram.com/mhammsteak/ Email us – irontrapgarage@gmail.com

Ford Rouge Plant in 1928 and Beyond – King Rose Archives @YouTube

Advertisements

The Ford River Rouge Complex (commonly known as the Rouge Complex or just The Rouge) is a Ford Motor Company automobile factory complex located in Dearborn, Michigan, along the Rouge River, upstream from its confluence with the Detroit River at Zug Island. Construction began in 1917, and when it was completed in 1928 it had become the largest integrated factory in the world. The Rouge measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide by 1 mile (1.6 km) long, including 93 buildings with nearly 16 million square feet (1.5 km²) of factory floor space. With its own docks in the dredged Rouge River, 100 miles (160 km) of interior railroad track, its own electricity plant, and integrated steel mill, the titanic Rouge was able to turn raw materials into running vehicles within this single complex, a prime example of vertical-integration production.

Over 100,000 workers were employed there in the 1930s. Some of the Rouge buildings were designed by Albert Kahn. His Rouge glass plant was regarded at the time as an exemplary and humane factory building, with its ample natural light coming through windows in the ceiling. More recently, several buildings have been converted to “green” structures with a number of environmentally friendly features. In the summer of 1932, through Edsel Ford’s support, Diego Rivera studied the facilities at the Rouge; these studies became a major part of his set of murals Detroit Industry, on continuous display at the Detroit Institute of Arts since their completion in 1933.

The Rouge’s first products were Eagle Boats, World War I anti-submarine warfare boats produced in Building B. The original Building B, a three-story structure, is part of the legendary Dearborn Assembly Plant, which started producing Model A’s in the late 1920s and continued production through 2004. After the war, production turned to Fordson tractors. Although the Rouge’s coke ovens and foundry produced nearly all the parts of the Model T, assembly of that vehicle remained at Highland Park. It was not until 1927 that automobile production began there, with the introduction of the Ford Model A.

Later Rouge products included the 1932 Model B, the original Mercury, the Ford Thunderbird, and four decades of Ford Mustangs. The old assembly plant was idled with the construction and launch of a new assembly facility on the Miller Road side of the complex, currently producing Ford F-150 pickup trucks. On May 26, 1937, a group of workers attempting to organize a union at the Rouge were severely beaten, an event later called the Battle of the Overpass. Peter E. Martin’s respect for labor led to Walter Reuther, a UAW leader, allowing Martin to be the only Ford manager to retrieve his papers or gain access to the plant.[3]

After the 1960s, Ford began to decentralize manufacturing, building many factories across the country. The Rouge, too, was downsized, with many units (including the famous furnaces and docks) sold off to independent companies. By 1992, only Mustang production remained at the Dearborn Assembly Plant (DAP). In 1987 Ford planned to replace that car with the front wheel drive Ford Probe, but public outcry quickly turned to surging sales. With the fourth-generation Mustang a success, the Rouge was saved as well. Ford decided to modernize its operations. A gas explosion on February 1, 1999, killed six employees and injured two dozen more, resulting in the idling of the power plant.

Michigan Utility CMS Energy built a state-of-the-art Power Plant across Miller Road to replace the electricity and steam production, as well as the Blast-Furnace waste gas consumption of the original power plant.[4] As it ended production, Dearborn Assembly Plant (DAP) was one of six plants within the Ford Rouge Center. The plant was open from 1918 to May 10, 2004, with a red convertible 2004 Ford Mustang GT being the last vehicle built at the historic site. Demolition of the historic DAP facility was completed in 2008. All that remains is a 3000 place parking lot to hold light truck production from the new Dearborn Assembly Plant. S451

Pick of the Day: 1928 Pierce-Arrow Series 80 rumble-seat roadster – Bob Golfen @ClassicCars.com

Advertisements

Pierce-Arrow was one of the greatest luxury brands from its start in 1901 until its demise in 1938, building a succession of advanced automobiles of all kinds, as well as trucks, buses, boats and motorcycles of the highest order.

The Buffalo, New York, automaker was in its heyday when it produced the Pick of the Day, a 1928 Pierce-Arrow Series 80 rumble-seat roadster.  This sporty number would have been the cat’s pajamas while touring speakeasies, impressing the sheiks and flappers alike.

Read on

Is Al Capone’s bulletproof 1928 Cadillac Town Sedan really worth $1M? – Jeff Peek @Hagerty

Advertisements

Al Capone had a big ego and an equally big car. He never lost the ego; the car, on the other hand, was sold four years after he bought it. There are many places where a bulletproof 1928 Cadillac Town Sedan would be useful, but federal prison is not one of them.

Capone—the Chicago mobster and bootlegger known as Public Enemy #1—was convicted of tax evasion in 1931 and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. He was released eight years later, debilitated and suffering from neurosyphilis. On January 25, 1947, the 48-year-old Capone died of cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke.

Capone’s armor-plated Caddy was long gone by then, purchased first by a couple who hoped to capitalize on his fame. It later ended up in a string of museums for the same reason.

Now it could be yours. The Capone Cadillac is being offered for $1 million by Celebrity Cars Las Vegas. The car (VIN #306449) was once owned by legendary collector John O’Quinn, and it was sold by his estate for $341,000 at RM Sotheby’s St. John’s sale in 2012.

“The history is certainly fascinating, but Al Capone is a controversial figure, and the market spoke in 2012 with its last auction appearance,” says Hagerty valuation editor Andrew Newton. “The car doesn’t appear to have had major work since then, so it’s hard to argue it’s worth a lot more than it sold for eight years ago.”

If you believe it’s worth every bit of that $1M, however, a quick glance at the website reveals that financing is available. With $1000 down and an interest rate of 5 percent for 5 years, your estimated monthly payment would be $18,852.36. Quite a hefty sum, to be sure, but the car’s story is priceless.

Read on here at Hagerty

1928 Detroit Police Escort Ford Cars-Public Domain – Historicus Joe @YouTube

Advertisements

1928 Detroit Police Escort Ford Cars

Shot by an unknown Detroit film maker in 1928 showing Detroit police escorting new Ford cars thru the streets of Detroit to an unidentifiable location. It appears the escort went from perhaps a Ford building in Dearborn thru the streets of Detroit. Please feel free to comment if you can identify any of the streets and or buildings. historicusjoe.

Related – 1928-’31 Ford Model A ”The Start of a New Line” remains one of the most popular collector cars of all time