...so, the friend of mine that originally caught wind of it, and myself, went and checked it out for another buddy of mine who wanted a project...it was about 1 1/2 hours west of us, so not a bad ride at all. The story from the previous owner was, that it was a "show car" in the '60's...haha!...yeah, right!
The thing turns out to be a '28-'29 Tudor sedan...the back half, from the door jambs back, is "OK" for a Michigan car, meaning it will need wheel well patches, lower quarter patches, a little subrail work, and some hammer & dolly work on the roof panels..but not bad...
...but, the doors and cowl, are absolutely MINT! I haven't seen a cowl or doors this clean in a long time! Beautiful, original sheetmetal, NO PATCHES!...obviously, not from the same car as the back half!
The chassis, on the other hand, was a product of some sort of backyard engineering, (I'm sure this is where the "show car" part comes in!)...a '57 Chevy frame, with stock front suspension, the rear frame rails bobbed, (too long for the Model A body), still had the '57 rearend, but the original leaf springs had been discarded and switched over to coil springs with 2X3 lift bars, and a Panhard bar!
Actually, they didn't do that bad of a job...of course, the front suspension was too wide, so they clearance notched a pair of fiberglass fenders to cover that, and there was a pair of widened 'glass rear fenders!
It came with a set of big-n-little Appliance wire mesh mags on bias-ply, white letter tires...a fresh, rebuilt Chevy 327 short block, heads, and Weiand aluminum 4-bbl intake...a Turbo 350 trans...handmade, aluminum hood top...and a nice '28-'29 grille shell!
Well, the price was INSANELY CHEAP! The guy just wanted it gone and out of his shed...we bought it, and trailered it back home...
...once back to my buddy's, (the one who wanted the project, and is a hardcore Ford guy), we start looking thru all the parts, when he say's, "get this Chevy crap out of my yard, or it's going to the scrap yard!"
So he procede's to GIVE me the Chevy frame & suspension, the wheels & tires, the 'glass fenders, the 350 Turbo, and the small block motor! I trade him an extra '48 banjo rear w/ radius rods and hyd. brakes...
Well, my buddy has a habit of impulse buying projects, and never doing anything with them...the Model A has sat since we brought it home!
A couple weeks ago, I'm over at his place helping him clean up his property, and he asks me, "Do you want that Model A?"...I already had half of it anyway's!!
He say's, "Give me what I paid for it, and you can have it." He didn't have to ask me twice! We loaded up the body and the banjo, (since he was getting rid of the body, he didn't need the rear!), and I took it to my shop...
Here's what the body looks like mocked up, without the 'glass fenders...
...oh yeah, it was only $200!!! Honest! I swear!!
The thing turns out to be a '28-'29 Tudor sedan...the back half, from the door jambs back, is "OK" for a Michigan car, meaning it will need wheel well patches, lower quarter patches, a little subrail work, and some hammer & dolly work on the roof panels..but not bad...
...but, the doors and cowl, are absolutely MINT! I haven't seen a cowl or doors this clean in a long time! Beautiful, original sheetmetal, NO PATCHES!...obviously, not from the same car as the back half!
The chassis, on the other hand, was a product of some sort of backyard engineering, (I'm sure this is where the "show car" part comes in!)...a '57 Chevy frame, with stock front suspension, the rear frame rails bobbed, (too long for the Model A body), still had the '57 rearend, but the original leaf springs had been discarded and switched over to coil springs with 2X3 lift bars, and a Panhard bar!
Actually, they didn't do that bad of a job...of course, the front suspension was too wide, so they clearance notched a pair of fiberglass fenders to cover that, and there was a pair of widened 'glass rear fenders!
It came with a set of big-n-little Appliance wire mesh mags on bias-ply, white letter tires...a fresh, rebuilt Chevy 327 short block, heads, and Weiand aluminum 4-bbl intake...a Turbo 350 trans...handmade, aluminum hood top...and a nice '28-'29 grille shell!
Well, the price was INSANELY CHEAP! The guy just wanted it gone and out of his shed...we bought it, and trailered it back home...
...once back to my buddy's, (the one who wanted the project, and is a hardcore Ford guy), we start looking thru all the parts, when he say's, "get this Chevy crap out of my yard, or it's going to the scrap yard!"
So he procede's to GIVE me the Chevy frame & suspension, the wheels & tires, the 'glass fenders, the 350 Turbo, and the small block motor! I trade him an extra '48 banjo rear w/ radius rods and hyd. brakes...
Well, my buddy has a habit of impulse buying projects, and never doing anything with them...the Model A has sat since we brought it home!
A couple weeks ago, I'm over at his place helping him clean up his property, and he asks me, "Do you want that Model A?"...I already had half of it anyway's!!
He say's, "Give me what I paid for it, and you can have it." He didn't have to ask me twice! We loaded up the body and the banjo, (since he was getting rid of the body, he didn't need the rear!), and I took it to my shop...
Here's what the body looks like mocked up, without the 'glass fenders...
...oh yeah, it was only $200!!! Honest! I swear!!
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