Tag: Model A

Ford Model T/A Dirt Track Roadster – Ben Branch @Sildrome

Ford Model T/A Dirt Track Roadster – Ben Branch @Sildrome

Advertisements

Dirt track racing is an American institution, the simple set up of the race track means that it’s a style of racing that could be enjoyed in both country towns and larger cities – and as a spectator you can get close to the action, often separated by just a flimsy wire fence.

The cars that were built for dirt track racing were typically very simple, and often assembled from parts available at the local junk yard. This example was built by Tommy Garland of Buellton, California in 1948 just as the USA emerged from the shadow of WWII.

A Ford Model A chassis was sourced and a 1922 Model T body was then fitted, with a 1914 Model T rear turtle deck and lid. The grill is a sectioned 1932 Chrysler unit, and the engine is a 270 cubic inch Chevrolet inline-6, paired with a 3-speed manual Chevrolet transmission that only has second and third gears fitted.

That tape-wrapped steering wheel started life as an industrial circular saw blade, it has the teeth milled off and the four cutouts added, after Tommy had finished with the tape it was an exceedingly tough steering wheel that was capable of handling abuse from even the most enthusiastic drivers.

That unpadded driver’s seat was pulled from a retired WWII bomber, and the original seat belt was kept in place as a hat tip to safety – along with the braced roll bar.

Garland was a talented welder and amateur engineer, he built the triple exhaust manifold himself as well as that twin “elbow warmer” exhaust. Sig Erson provided a custom-ground camshaft and the distributor was sourced from a 12 cylinder Cadillac, but adapted to handle the higher RPMs of the modified straight-6.

The Track T was raced at Porterville, Bakersfield, Lompoc, Old Ascot, and the Thunderbowl for 6 years – it’s said that future Indy car driver Chuck Hulsey took the wheel for a few races when its usual driver Lee Hammock was running his Kurtis Midget car.

After its glory days were over, the car was stored by Tommy Garland for 30 years until it was acquired by local Buellton racer “Slick” Gaines – who displayed it in original condition at a local museum.

Original racers like this almost never survive in their as-raced condition, most are scrapped and a lucky few are restored to better-than-new condition

Model A to Model B Transmission Swap 2023 Project

Advertisements

Happy New Year!

I purchased an early Model B gearbox a while back at a good price, (3 years ago!! but never took things any further but now back on the radar) not in the best condition but appears to be serviceable. The other parts I’ve been gathering with the help of John Cochran. (need any Model A bits, he’s your man)

There are a fair number of parts needed to complete the conversion, but I think it’s worthwhile as its a synchronised transmission. The later unit is supposed to be a better option but we’ll work with what we have and it’s a good project to take into 2023.

As you can see some of the parts need some work. There are a number of differences between the Model A and Model B set up. Major items are the clutch housing, flywheel, relocation of the pedals and wishbones just to mention a few.

Made a start on the shift tower which had some rust and debris that has fallen into the gearbox, this however should be easy to remove. The unit was filled will gear oil when I originally purchased it to keep things lubricated during storage. As you can see even with a cursory initial clean up on the shift tower, things look a lot better.

During the clean up I came across the part number which is cast into the casing, stating 40-7222, which was a little confusing as this is the earlier transmission.

A quick check over at the excellent VanPelt site quickly solved the mystery

The 40-7222 shifter housing (known as the “slanted” tower) pictured below was used from 1933 through 1935 models. The B-7222 housing (1932 only) looked the same but had two mounting bosses on the right hand side for the parking brake handle mount. Both early housings incorporated the B-7235 shift lever guide plate (see picture at bottom of this page). The guide plate was discontinued after 1934 production. The early housings used the B-7230 and B-7231 forks through 1933 and perhaps part of 1934 production. The slanted towers used the smaller 7230/7231 shifter forks, but also used the smaller shifter levers. Although it will bolt on to any 1932-52 toploader gearbox case, it can NOT be used with the 1939 and later gear sets with the late style synchronizers. This housing is the single detent type, using the same detent spring and plungers as the 68-7222 housing.

Work continues!

Rebuilding a multi disc type Model A transmission – jmodela.coffeecup.com

Advertisements


The following is a bunch of photos I took while rebuilding a multi disc type Model A transmission, along with illustrations from the service bulletins and ‘The Ford Model A Service Manual and Owners Handbook of Repair and Maintenance’.

There are several differences in the transmission case and internal parts over the years of production.

Read on

World’s Fastest Ford Model A Engine Disassembled and Revealed – Greg Quirin @YouTube

Advertisements

In this video, we will take you behind the scenes and disassemble this one-of-a-kind engine design revealing some cool stuff. You will see how the worlds fasted Ford Model A engine was redesigned by Pete Aardema and Kevin Braun. This 93-year-old engine is officially in the books as the fastest Ford Model A on the planet with a record speed at Bonneville of 238.5 MPH. Pete and Kevin we will take us through the build process and disassemble the top end and explain how they redesigned this engine which incorporates a unique cylinder head that may be the only 3-piece cylinder head of its kind the exist on this planet. For more information, please review part one of this video to hear directly from Pete Aardema how this engine design came about.

Landon Rush’s ’29 Ford Flathead Pickup – Garage Hotrods

Advertisements

Landon Rush likes to keep busy. He’s a husband, a father, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who is still serving in the National Guard, and he owns five, no wait… I think it’s six, hot rods. I’m really excited to have one of those hot rods in GHR, his very cool and very classic Flathead powered 1929 Ford Roadster Pickup.

“I’ve only had the pickup about a year,” Landon told me. “It was a quick build. I had a hot rod years ago, then I got into customs and trucks, and I wanted to get another hot rod. I saw this on Criag’s List. I sold my ‘58 Chevy truck to pick it up. I blew it all apart and quickly redid everything.”

And Landon wasn’t kidding about redoing everything. Body, frame, engine, transmission, rear end, suspension, interior – the whole works. It was amazing to me that he did it all in one year.

“The one thing I have going for me is that I work quick,” he said. “I try to do quality work in the least amount of time without taking any shortcuts. I get ’em done so I can enjoy them.”

Of course the Flathead engine between the frame rails caught my eye. It’s a 1950 OB8 model, displacing 239 cubic inches. It has all new ISKY internals and Edelbrock aluminum heads and intake manifold. That manifold has two Stromberg 97 two-barrel carbs, complete with vintage scoops from Lucky Burton of Lucky’s Speed Equipment Parts (@luckyburton on Instagram), mounted on it.

And just in case you haven’t been paying attention, that’s a ‘29 Ford with a Flathead engine, dual Strombergs, and ISKY and Edelbrock components. Can you get a more classic hot rod than that?

The Flathead’s exhaust is also vintage. The chromed exhaust headers mount up to a megaphone exhaust pipe that Landon constructed from cutting a 1935 Ford driveshaft in half. “That’s what they were doing back back in the 50s,” Landon told me. “They’d take the driveshaft and chop it in half and use that to make the lake pipes.” He welded a 90 degree bend with a flange on to the header and the megaphone exhaust pipe bolts to the flange.

I asked Landon if he had any mufflers in that exhaust. “No,” he said. “It’s straight pipe. And it’s got a little bit of a lope because of the ISKY cam. I like to get on it. It’s loud as sh…”

Well let’s just say Landon said it can be really loud.

Read on

A Dad’s A – 1929 Model A – @Hagerty

Advertisements

Frank Maniatis so treasured his 1929 Ford Model A Roadster that 75 years after he bought it, the car still owns a special place in his daughter Tina Higgins’ heart — and her garage. From cross-country pleasure trips to lumber hauling, makeshift repairs and patched-up fenders to a full restoration — and even a tearful homecoming after it had been stolen — this family heirloom has just about seen it all. For more visit http://www.hagerty.com/articles-video… Subscribe! | http://bit.ly/1sddOmD Hagerty supports, entertains, and informs the automotive enthusiast community across a variety of media and social platforms, including https://hagerty.com/media

Model “A” Fords To Go – Taylor Truck-a-Way Co. – @TheOldMotor

Advertisements

This load of three new 1930 Model “A” Fords is on a semi-trailer manufactured by the Taylor Truck-a-Way Co. of Los Angeles, CA. At the time, a rig of this type was used for local and regional transport, and long-distance transport of automobiles was handled primarily by train. The lightweight trailer frame is constructed in the form of a lattice truss that is resistant to bending. The lower part of the fifth wheel hitch on the truck is of the conventional type but uses a lightweight horizontal top section, as seen in the second photo below.

Read on

Removing Valves from a Ford Model B Engine

Advertisements

Removing Valves from a Ford Model B Engine

As part of the inspection of the Model B engine it was found that the valves were seized due to the amount of time that the engine has been laid up.

1 / 7

With a bit of a two man effort and the correct Ford valve spring compressor and valve guide “knocker” tool the valves and guides were extracted. The guides and followers are in really good shape. Will most likely replace at least the exhaust valves.

Valve guide tool

Valve spring compressor

Removing Valves from a Ford Model B Engine

Related – Model B Engine Inspection

Related – B is for Banger