Attempting To Daily a 1930 Ford Model A

[vw1500]

Be great to get it up round the Folk Museum for a few pics!
They used to have a show there annually and let some cars park in the village

 

[althebass]

What size are the tyres on it I’m curious about the tyres now lol.

They’re 4.75x5 on a 19

Nothing really to report here, just driving away at the Model A.
It starts easily from cold so far and hasn’t really missed a beat, just clicking the miles over.

I’ll have to go straight to the petrol station in the morning!
I’ve been driving in the dark without the wee light on inside and hadn’t noticed the fuel level on Friday (fuel gauge float middle top).

Gave the old girl a bit of love on Saturday.
Stuck it up on ramps and power hosed the salt off top and bottom.
Did the same with the Model A

The ACF-50 I applied a few weeks ago has stayed on nicely as when hosing it down yesterday the water was beading nicely and rolling off.
Thanks to @StephenDc2 for recommending ACF-50 to me initially to protect the coil overs on the M3.

I’ll give the underside a good coating of it too but there’s a few bits I want to wire brush and paint with POR-15 so best do that first.

As it’s about to click over to an even 500 miles I’ll give it a good greasing and an oil change when it does then every 500 miles from then on.

Above you can see the steering column coming down from left to right with all the control levers.
The choke is on top and parallel going down to the carb.
It pulls to choke for starting and turns to adjust the running mixture.
I need to set it fairly rich for the cold weather but less so since blocking the rad.
The throttle linkage is coming up to the carb from the bottom left and the advance/retard of the spark can be seen going up to the distributor via a bell crank on a mount cast into the inlet manifold.
At the very end of the column just out of sight is the headlight switch operated by the wee lever in the centre of the steering wheel.

Here you can see the water pump and fan.
There’s an oiler and a grease nipple for the pump.

I’m still really enjoying the driving experience and still grateful for every successful journey

Ali

 

[svensktoppen]

Was looking forward to pictures of the car in the snow today

 

[stevieturbo]

That's actually a pretty cool looking distributor.

But if the engine/chassis is not rigidly mounted, it'd be nice to see a bit of flexible hose on that fuel line from filter to engine.

Even had to google to see if that jubilee clip was period ! lol....surprising they were invented back in 1921. I'd have thought they were much newer.

 

[Ged]

That's actually a pretty cool looking distributor

I can only imagine the curse words out of someone trying to diagnose a small leak or wiring issue on a wet cold night and accidentally leaning on the top of a plug or that thing

 

[Apis]

It was the sign of a real man if he could place his bare arm across the plugs and stop the engine running.

 

[althebass]

Hi!

Had fun driving in the icy conditions at the start of the week, the car took it in it’s stride.
I didn’t manage a doughnut but I did a wheel spin!

That’s the best I could do @svensktoppen

And then!:

The one eyed monster strikes!
Had a fiddle with the bulb to no avail, had a fiddle with some connections and no better so just drove on for that day then used the M3 for the rest of the week.

I had a chance to have a look earlier today and it’s one of the new LED bulbs that has failed. Not ideal as they’re quite expensive but I’ve ordered another couple and we’ll have another go with them and I’ll have a spare.
They had been flickering a bit as I mentioned before like there was a bad connection at the holder so not sure if that damaged the bulb.

Then I gave it a wipe all over with an oily rag soaked in ACF-50 took it to Tesco.

Fuel on, retard spark, bit of throttle on the hand lever, neutral, ignition on, richen mixture, foot on starter button, pull choke out for a couple of cranks and push in just before it catches.
Advance spark for running and away you go! Reduce the hand throttle and weaken the mixture as it warms up.
I’ve stopped reaching for the seat belt every time I get in at least

Ali

 

[svensktoppen]

That’s the best I could do @svensktoppen

Lol, excellent! That picture right there is like straight out of a gangster film, running alcohol and dead bodies across state lines in America

 

[carmad.]

wash the m3 lol

 

[althebass]

wash the m3 lol

Never!

 

[Michael M]

Spotted you past 6 road ends this week! You have some balls out in that weather! Did it manage the roads ok?

 

[althebass]

Spotted you past 6 road ends this week! You have some balls out in that weather! Did it manage the roads ok?

More or less thanks! The wiper isn’t great and it rains inside sometimes but the car just drove on through the puddles.

One morning in the worst of the rain it wouldn’t start, it gave 1 cough and that was it.
I could smell fuel so figured it was ignition related. I had a wee look and the distributor and plugs on the top of the engine were soaking.

The way the bonnet hinges in the middle means that any water sitting on it is dumped onto the engine when you open it.

I gave the area a wipe with a rag and a liberal dose of Plus Gas and it fired right up and gave no further trouble for the rest of the week.

The chassis was due for greasing so I got to it at the weekend.

Seeing as it was a dry day I started rubbing down underneath the car and painting with POR-15.

The front end isn’t bad as it gets coated in oil but at the back the salty roads have turned the rustier bits orangey brown.

The worst bit was under the offside running board.

I gave it a wire brush and wiped it down with panel wipe.

Then I gave it a single coat of POR-15 gloss black.
This stuff covers well and flattens out nicely to a shiny finish.
It really sticks really well to anything it touches so I use the small 114ml tins and cheap brushes which I don’t even try to clean. I’d recommend gloves too as it stays in your skin for days.

Looking better!
I did a bit of the other side too then called it a day. There’s plenty more to do but I’ll do it a bit at a time at the weekends.

Ali

 

[svensktoppen]

POR15 rocks Seriously tough too once it's set.

 

[swansty]

More or less thanks! The wiper isn’t great and it rains inside sometimes but the car just drove on through the puddles.

View attachment 311620


One morning in the worst of the rain it wouldn’t start, it gave 1 cough and that was it.
I could smell fuel so figured it was ignition related. I had a wee look and the distributor and plugs on the top of the engine were soaking.

View attachment 311610

The way the bonnet hinges in the middle means that any water sitting on it is dumped onto the engine when you open it.

I gave the area a wipe with a rag and a liberal dose of Plus Gas and it fired right up and gave no further trouble for the rest of the week.

View attachment 311621

The chassis was due for greasing so I got to it at the weekend.

View attachment 311611

View attachment 311612

Seeing as it was a dry day I started rubbing down underneath the car and painting with POR-15.

View attachment 311613

The front end isn’t bad as it gets coated in oil but at the back the salty roads have turned the rustier bits orangey brown.

View attachment 311614

View attachment 311615

The worst bit was under the offside running board.

View attachment 311616

I gave it a wire brush and wiped it down with panel wipe.

View attachment 311617

Then I gave it a single coat of POR-15 gloss black.
This stuff covers well and flattens out nicely to a shiny finish.
It really sticks really well to anything it touches so I use the small 114ml tins and cheap brushes which I don’t even try to clean. I’d recommend gloves too as it stays in your skin for days.

View attachment 311618

View attachment 311622

Looking better!
I did a bit of the other side too then called it a day. There’s plenty more to do but I’ll do it a bit at a time at the weekends.

Ali

I done the same to my discovery but pin p***ks of rust appeared through the POR-15 within days and a layer of "condensation" appeared on the surface which was orange when you wiped it. Have you ever seen similar? annoyingly it only happened on the car, not on the oul wheelbarrow i painted to clean the excess out of brushes!

 

[svensktoppen]

Did it clean off? Sounds like a leak or drip from somewhere else that just happened to collect there?

I've had things like salt crystallise on top of the coating as well. Wiped off. Never had anything break through it.

On a rough but clean surface it sticks really well. On a smooth surface it needs an etch primer.

 

[mark19]

Did it clean off? Sounds like a leak or drip from somewhere else that just happened to collect there?

I've had things like salt crystallise on top of the coating as well. Wiped off. Never had anything break through it.

On a rough but clean surface it sticks really well. On a smooth surface it needs an etch primer.

Same did all the underside of my mk2 in por15 and its best stuff i used.

Bar when it gets on your face

 

[Apis]

I'd be adding something like the brown Dintitrol 3125 all over the underside, unless you are planning any welding in the near future. Especially if driving in 4 seasons.

 

[K55]

This must be the one I seen in Asda earlier, fair play running about in that at this time of year.

 

[rupertfinch]

Genuinely thrilled to pass this at 4road ends yesterday.

 

[swansty]

Did it clean off? Sounds like a leak or drip from somewhere else that just happened to collect there?

I've had things like salt crystallise on top of the coating as well. Wiped off. Never had anything break through it.

On a rough but clean surface it sticks really well. On a smooth surface it needs an etch primer.

Was in the height of our summer last year so no drips. Was bone dry for weeks. Painted it onto a wire brushed chassis and underbody.

 

[svensktoppen]

No idea what went wrong there then.

 

[althebass]

I done the same to my discovery but pin p***ks of rust appeared through the POR-15 within days and a layer of "condensation" appeared on the surface which was orange when you wiped it. Have you ever seen similar? annoyingly it only happened on the car, not on the oul wheelbarrow i painted to clean the excess out of brushes!

That sounds weird @swansty
I’ll check what I’ve painted next time I’m underneath but I’ve always had good results where it dries to a very hard, durable finish.

I'd be adding something like the brown Dintitrol 3125 all over the underside, unless you are planning any welding in the near future. Especially if driving in 4 seasons.

Thanks, I’ll get the rubbing down and painting done then look into the 3125.
Not planning on any welding for a while hopefully! If the running boards get too rusty they might ‘come off for welding’

This must be the one I seen in Asda earlier, fair play running about in that at this time of year.

Yep! School run monster!
Park where you like and no f*cking about with car seats

Genuinely thrilled to pass this at 4road ends yesterday.

Thanks, been driving to work near there when I can.

I thought it was getting a wee bit hot when I got to work the other day actually so stuck the laser thermometer on the outlet at the top of the head and it was about 91c and the top of the radiator a few degrees lower.
There’s no temperature gauge, or thermostat on this remember!
That’s a bit too hot so I folded a few inches of the corrugated plastic back on itself when I got home

I do a half day on a Thursday ok!
Oh and the soft focus is oil on the phone

Friday I gave her a good thrashing to work.
It’s the first time since I’ve had the car by chance that the boss was behind me on the way there!
We all know that feeling: the sleeves were up, the spark was fully advanced and the window was down so I could hold onto the door when turning right
Spared no horses and this was the result:

That'll do for this month anyway!
Boss said my brake lights aren’t working

Didn’t get a chance to change the oil at the weekend but might try to sneak it in at work this week then some more painting underneath at the weekend fingers crossed.

Ali

 

[redxl77]

Have you thought about taking it to someone to shot blast and respray all of the underside? I thought you would be trying to keep as much patina as possible, until you used that por15.

 

[althebass]

Hi!

I gave the Model A an oil change in work the other week.
It only takes a few minutes as there's no oil filter and you don't need to jack the car up

It holds about a gallon so once its drained I just tip most of the container in.
I use SAE30w 'straight thirty' oil from SAR Lubricants which I get for about £12/5l.
It's just as well it's a cheap and quick job as it needs done every 500 miles.

That reminds me I must fit the new plugs which are sitting on my desk..

Lovely!

You'd have thought that would keep the old ******* happy for a few days but no!
Fuel started leaking really badly from the carb!

It was hard to see exactly where it was coming from, several different places it seemed but at times it was coming out of the mouth of the carb which would suggest the needle valve was sticking open or something.
I gave the top of the float bowl a few love taps to see if it was sticking to no avail.

The m3 was blocked in by a pallet of plasterboard so I drove it the way it was, doing about half a mile to the gallon for a few days, waiting for the fireball and quietly contemplating whether I should jump out the port side into barbed wire or starboard into oncoming traffic should the worst happen.
The fireball never came and the other day I pulled the carb off for a nosey.

The job was beautifully easy. There's some really simple and clever engineering on Fords of this age.
Only a half inch spanner was needed for the 2 bolts.
The throttle and choke linkages are held on by spring clips.
Here's the choke linkage for example. To do it's job it needs to turn to adjust the mixture, and pull in/out to do the choking for starting.
There's 2 matching squares machined into the rods then a spring loaded sleeve slides over the top to hold them together.

Strong enough to last, seconds to disconnect yet will never fall off.

I got the carb on the table and pulled the top off, gently using a blade to ease the gasket to only stick to one side.

Just one half inch bolt holds the lid on, the dirtier one on the bottom not the brass one.

The float bowl is on the lower right with the brass float on it's pivot on the lid above.
It works exactly like a toilet cistern with the float closing a needle valve to stop the fuel flowing in.

The wee pin pulls out and the float comes off to get to the valve.
I did this and found the problem!
The float wasn't, it was a sink!

I unscrewed the needle valve to check it too but the problem was the float was full of fuel.
The strange thing is there wasn't an obvious place where it had leaked in, and it wasn't for leaking back out.
The ethanol in modern fuel attacks brass parts, so I guess it sneaked in over time? Modern carbs have plastic floats for this reason.

I drilled a couple of small holes to let the fuel out then soldered them back up.
It sounds so easy written down but in realty I've never soldered from so far away and haven't been so scared in quite a while

I realise it's not a permanent fix so for the meantime I've been turning the fuel off early and running the bowl empty so I can sleep at night

Threw it back together and stuck it back on in a few minutes and all has been well the last couple of days.

You may notice I've been reducing the size of the plastic over the radiator a bit as the temperature is going up.
There's some play in the steering box bushes so in a few weeks I think I'll pull it out for a rebuild.
Hopefully she'll plod on in the meantime.

Ali

 

[Coog]

You might be able to coat the float in fuel tank liner paint which would seal and protect it? POR15 do one.