1929/1931 Ford Model-A Hotrod Built By VonSkip

Ford Tudor Sedan.. Built
Started with A Ruff Non Running Roller Project.
Original A Frame, with a 1929 body...  Chopped a While Ago

First plans where building it full fendered and at a decent / normal ride height.
But after seeing the body sitting flat on the ground thoughts went spinning and desided to go for a more radical look further down the concrete. 

After lots of reading, thinking, reading, thinking, etc...
Went searching and collecting parts... as parts are hard to get here this took a while.
Luckally Found This New Built Frame here in The Netherlands...


The Z in the back was a little too heavy in my opp, but hell, lets go for it!

Meanwhile... picked up a cool set of Vintage Millitairy Ford wheels with firestone Tires In Belgium.
Always loved these... They're also pretty rare overhere so couldn't resist buying them.



Allready had a 1932 Commercial Grill purchased from the USA some Years ago.
That thing hung in my garage for decades without a proper destination but now I knew why I got it.
I also bought an other undented 1930 Grill, but I more like the '32 ones and it's ruffness did match the look I am aming for more. So I the 31 grill was exit. Had To shorten the 32' Later...

So to get myself motivated I made a loose mock up in the garage, to see where to start from.


Front Axle / Supsension:

Next thing was to sort out the front and rear axles & suspension.
I dont like the IFS stuff, Especially on fenderless cars so I desided to go for a 46" wide. 4" Vintage Superbell Dropped & Drilled I-beam axle.

Also Bought some 1937-1948 Ford Forged Spindles, Matching King-pin set.
Adjusteble Spring Perched and a Dropped Reversed Eye Leaf Spring.









Also scored a 1956 Ford F100 Front axle. Thanks to Maike D for letting it go ;-)
Used this one as a donor. First took it appart and cleaned it up to inspect the brakes to see what could be used and what not. With the Ford F-100 Brake to 1937-48 Spindle Bearing Conversion Kit that I got from my Bud Hanz and some effort...  the 1953-1956 Ford front axle backing plates and Hydraulic Brakes could be used on the 1937-1948 Spindles.

How? Check my earlier Tech Spec Post HERE to see full coverage of this process.

Below... the Backing plates and spindles are allready mounted on the 4"dropped Axle.



I found an early Ford wishbone abut 100 miles from my home so I desided to get that one, so I could
keep my original frame and running gear complete. Of course it had to be split to clear the engine's oil pan. So another job had to be done...


I cut of the wishbone as close to the welds to keep them as long as possible,
When test fitting we came to the conclusion that this wishbone must have come off an old Ford truck or something like that, as the distance between the axle mount part was to wide.
I don't have a lathe myself... so my bud Limpe helped me to make some spacer bushings to clear the gap.





After finishing the spacers we went welding the bungs,
Layed them on a flat welding table and Tig welded the bungs for a better and cleaner result.
Me, Myself... Only Got a MIG and Wanted this in TIG so...
Big Thanks 2 my Buddy Limpe Iven for His Tig Welding Skills and Helping Hand.





Next step... Mocking Up the Front Axle.
Also Put the wheels on the Rear to get the Frame / Base at ride height to get the front axle caster somewhere between 5 & 7 Degree.

After that position the weld-on brackets I got from Speedway.
Spotwelded them and double check if they where right before welding them shut.
Messure Twice and again... and again. Better Safe then Sorry.




If you ever built a Hotrod, you also know that not all parts will fit and everything has to be adjusted while your building. It really is a process of one step forward and two steps back. Also a lot of parts don't come with all the things you need, Such a small thing as searching for the right bolt for example
with this steerinarm, took me a while. 

But then again... I guess that's part of the process,
When the front axle was likely in to its place, desided to install the front brake cylinders also while I was at it. The Spindle needed a little grinding to fit the hose...



Here's the frame / front axle in an early mock-up stage.
With the rear axle / suspension set loose behing it.




Rear Axle



Got this Vitara rear axle from a junk yart in my area...
Opended it and reconed that the wheelbearings where bad
So ordered some new ones and replaced the old ones.





Took some real elbow grease, grinding and hammering but eventually the old ones came off.


Also cleaned the rear backingplates and brakes,
to check the numbers and order new parts for it.





Next step was positioning the rear axle. 
The Ladderbar brackets that came with the frame where to short for my set up, Using them would wind up in the ladderbars being to high so I desides to make some cardboard models that I could use for making the CAD drawing later on. 

 


After making up the CAD drawing,,,



I had the steel ones cut by a laser/water cutter.
Turned out very nice!





With the rear axle in its possition, lets start with mocking up the engine and the trans.

Set the Protactor at zero to see if the engine / carb goes in at level




 All seems okay so, last thing weld the ladderbar mounts at mid of frame and on to the next job...

Here we are... a rolling chassis with engine and trans mocked-up.
Dropped in A Ford 2.0 Pinto Motor As I had to Go With A 4 Banger...
Will ad pics later on below...




Got me a Ford T9 5-speed Manual Transmission and added a
Hydraulic Clutch Release Bearing Kit By RWD Motorsport Kit.




Cut The Original Sierra Transmount and welded it back smaller...


More Frame / Suspension Work... Adding Shocks, Panhard Bar, etc...








More Bodywork.... Reinforce the body with a crossed steel tubing,
to keep the structure and body from twistin / torq when the floor was going to be cut out...


Carefully, dropping the body on to the frame,
To see where the floor needs to be cut for channeling...

Cutting up the original floor structure, one piece at the time... 

Welding in some square tubing into the body, 
dont have pics of all the process but you can see the start of it here...





This Sure was a Killer Feeling, Happy With the Radical Stance.
Allthough The Channeling Process Took A Freakin While & Work. I'm Glad I did it!

Finally when the body was in place, ( also had to cut the rear of the body sides to clear the axle first ) I could start to fab the floor structure and weld it to the body.




Rear Axle & Wheels...


As I dropped the body further then planned I had to cut and reverse my inner / wheels. 
also had to go with even wider spacers and so longer studs.
Had The Spacers Machined to Fit The Vitara Rear Axle...




Again.. one step forward, two steps back ;-/






 Finnaly just enough clearance for the tires!

On with the rest of the flooring...






As I didn't have to much clearance due the channel and heavy chop, 
I Desided to Kill Two Of Our Kitchen Chairs and Use Them As Seats...



Had to make a bracket to hold the driveline bearing also...






Bend & Weld In Some Sheetmetal to make new sills


Meanwhile started out on the roof insert. Later On.. the plan was get it covered with canvas but first tackle this missing roof...
Took some square tubing and started bending & welding...









Had To Cut The Original Cowl, To Make Clearance for My Steering, E-Brake, Electrical, Etc...
Deleted the Original Fuel Cell Thats In the Cowl As I was Going For One in The Back Anyway...







As I Wanted To Go For Cowl Steering I Desided To Look for and Lucky I Found...
a BMW 2002 Steering Mech That I Could Flip Up Side Down


Positioning the Hole for the steeringarm was a thing that takes some double messurements, you want to keep your steering linkages as parralel possible with your wishbone. 

 Welded a solid bracket to mount the steering mech to


Had To Heat Bend The Original BMW Steering arm to get it more lined up with my body / geometry. My Buddy Hanzl Lucky had the tools and patience to help me with this carefull Job



Finally I still had to cut and weld the body for the clearance
also but I like the way / look it turned out!







As The Ford Is a Small ride and the chop & channel took away some space I'd also desided to go for a quick release steering wheel set up...







Desided to make some Clamps to put back the Cowl,
and not use the original, hard to fasten, nuts n bolts.




Made some super safe "Ratrod" Barn Door Locks ;-)

On With The Dash, Starting out with some flat steel plate and My Bead Roller. Didnt have much Experiance With That But Hey... Its a Ratrod.




Found An Old Speedometer at My Buddy Hanz his place.... Believed it was out of a Nash. Got It working and welded a cover to ad it into the Dash.






Found me a Vintage Binucular and though it would be cool to put in my Oil & Temp gauges, happy with the result!

 


Bought me a pedal Kit in the UK, 
Had to adjust the pedals to get the righht stance in case of my legroom 
but after some messuring and reconstructure It was okay.




Routing the Fuel and other juice lines was a pain in the ass...
But Hey, nothing was real easy on this built...


Next in Line was the old window frame and glass. Made a wooden mold and had the glass cut by my local paint store, turned out great.



Had to finnish up the flooring / interior...
As I didnt have a big bender I'd decided to go for several pieces and weld them in...








Up Next... the Trans Tunnel...







Not Happy With The Transmission Stick So Decided To Make a New One Out Of A Old Blow Torch I Bought In a Old Parts Store In France a While Ago...





Got Me an Old Moon Tank via My Mate Vincent, As I'd Planned it In the Back Seat Area and these tanks dont have any meter options, I'd Desided To Mount a Fuel Vision Tube...


Also I wanted the filler outside of the body, so went for a boat fillercap and mounted it in the roof area at the drivers side....



Connecting that to the tank was an issue...


So made a connecting tube and bought some rubber hoses that could stand the fuel,
damn those things are expensive... but needfull.




Added a small pipe for breating, so the tank would go vacuum...

Added some good clamps on it, not shown on pictures...

Fitted the tank on the frame with some LPG tank straps and Job Done...




Interior almost done... ruff but the way I like It.






Rear Turn Signals and Lights... Didnt want big blinkers in the back so decided to make my own... Took some round tubing and thougt of making some bullit shapes from them.





 Put In Some Trailer Lights and wiring and tadaaa, custom made blinkers 😎


Meanwhile Cut the back of the body to fit the 1939 Ford Tear Drop Tail Lights...


Also Made a License Plate Holder with Some LED Light In It...
Mounted on the spare tire holder in the back...


I know... not the right sequence of posting but here's some engine pics...

 Had to make another bracket for the throttle cable as the original one of the 32-36 Ford Weber Manual Choke Carburateur (2L OHC 2Carb) came out the wrong way...


 Eletcrical stuff... spaghetti Job 🤘


Next Issue was the radiator and hose. Routing was a pain in the ass too by lack of space... But with patience and good messuring thats also was being solved.




As the Grill of my choice was too long, if cutted it into pieces and shortened it...


Not Happy with the original exhaust manifold.
So Desided to Go & make open pipes...
Bought a CNC cut flange in the UK and bended some steel pipes with some help of my mate Johan, at Diellissen Uitlaatservice





Here's a view from below -> Up... Made a custom emergency brake mechanism, works great and Fully Adjusteble...




So Far The Pictures I Took along this built...
Will ad up the specs and some pictures of it finished.
If You Check My Blog You could have found some allready along with some vids of ot driving.
Hope you Enjoyed this built as much as I did! 🤘









Ford Model A Sedan Hot Rod Built By VonSkip
Top Chopped, Channeled, Cowl Steering, 1932 Commercial Grill.
                                              

Driveline
Ford 2.0 Pinto Motor
New 32-36 Ford Weber Manual Choke Carburateur (2L OHC 2Carb)
Custom Made Zoomie Exhaust Manifold with New Lasercut Flange & Gasket
New Gaskets & Intake Manifold
Motocraft ECU Module
Ford T9 5-speed Manual Transmission
Hydraulic Clutch Release Bearing  Conversion RWD Motorsport Kit.
Ford Type 9 Scion Solutions LTD Plumbing kit.
Shortened & Ballanced Cardanas
New Ladderbar Set up with Custom Lasercut Brackets
Jaguar Shocks, Panhard Bar   
Suzuki Vitara Rear End (1988-1998) with New Wheel Bearings
2" Ford Alu Wheel Spacers with New Extended Wheel Studs & Lug Nuts.
Manta A Radiator with new Custom Opel GT Cooling Block
New Electric Fan (Manual & Sensor Switched )
All New Radiator Hoses

Front Axle / Steering / Suspension:
4" Dropped Vintage Superbell I-Beam Front Axle
New Reversed Spring & Adjustable Spring Perch
New Ford Spindles, New F-100 Brake 1937-48 Spindle Bearing Kit           
Cut A-Ford Triangel / Wishbones with Speedway Motors Tie Rod Ends
1956 F100 Backing Plates (Hydraulic Brake Conversion)      
Dropped Steeringarm with Flat Model T Steering arms up Front        
44" Drag link, All New Heim Joints
New Short Gas-Filled Shock Up Front          
Cowl Steering ( Reversed BMW 2002 1979 Steering Box )

Body:
Top Chopped
Floor Channeled ( New Steel Square Tubing Floor Support )
Steel Square Tubing Roof Bow Support
New Front Window (Glass), Rear Window (Plexiglass)
No Side Windows                              

Brakes:
Hydraulic Brake Conversion...
Compbrake Motorsport Floor Mount Pedal Box
New Hydraulic Master Cylinders, Clutch & Brake.
Braided Brake Reservoir Feed Pipes (Compbrake Motorsport)
New Wheel / Brake Cylinders with all new Brake Hoses (Front & Rear)
New Brake Lines all around, with Residual Valves (F&R) and Proportioning Valve in Rear

Interior:
Vintage Red Metalflake Steeringwheel with Quick Release Hub
New Start Button Panel
1956 Nash Rambler Speedo / Gauge Unit
1963 Chevrolet Under Dash Park / Emergency Brake
New Oil Pressure, Water Temp, Gauge Set Build in Old Vintage Binoculars
RPM Gauge Installed Under Dash
Custom Made Acetylene Torch Shifter           
New EZ-Wiring Kit, Horn, Blinkers, Fan... Everything Works.
New Battery with Kill-Switch.
Custom Made Steel Dash and Tunnel.

Fuel System:
Spun Aluminum Fuel Tank with Sight Tube Gauge      
New Roof Insert  Gas / Fuel Filler Cap
All New Fuel Lines     
           
Exterior:
New 4" Peepmirrors
Custom Made Rear Blinkers
1939 Ford Tear Drop Tail Lights
New Custom Upholstered Click-On Canvas Style Roof Cover
Custom Made License Plate Holder                                       
           
Wheels & Tires
Ford  Custom / Cut, Reversed & Ballanced Freshly Powdercoated Millitary Wheels
Front: 4.5"x 15" with 5.60-15 Firestone Deluxe BlackWall Tires
Rear: 6"x15" with 8.20-15 Firestone Deluxe BlackWall Tires



Posted This for the peops who like hotrods,
Whoe are building themselves,
And for those that ask themselves why do hotrods cost so much.
Sorry If This Post is in someway messy but hope you get the picture 🤘

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