The idea is to end up with a brand new car. Fix it once, fix it right. Show the world that old things are more than up to the job, and defy mind-numbing stereotypes such as "candle headlights", "unreliable", "imaginary brakes" etc. when they're done properly.
09/11/22
Once again grateful for Dad's help, heading into work early two days this week, to make a painful task quick and easy for us both.
He doesn't drink, but I owe him one. His colleagues were surprised to see what sort of wheels he brought in, after asking the boss' permission.
Weird to think those tubes last saw the light of day on the other side of the world.
These 1988 bias tyres still have plenty of tread left on them, but they're (just) starting to dry rot. Many people run on far worse, so they were sold.
If this was your average Sunday ice-cream-getter, I'd have kept them. But for a daily, a set of new radials will provide the best value per mile.
13/11/22
To cut a long, boring, painful and expensive story short: I gave up on the sandblasting cabinet at the railway museum, and had the wheels blasted by a local powdercoating shop.
No cracks or loose spokes on these two, just straightened a few slightly bent spokes with a hammer and drift. They were then thoroughly cleaned with meths and rags, then sprayed with epoxy primer. Won't be sorry to see all the wheels finished. I'm no stranger to tedious work, but these wire wheels are up there among the worse..
One wheel has two tiny cracks starting from the stud holes. You could TIG weld it, but the metal itself is fatigued, they'll just crack elsewhere.
The only solution is monitoring, and replacement as soon as a better wheel can be found. Also need to find a replacement spare wheel.
Max. wobble for road use is ⅛". The spare has a ¼" wobble in it - I'd say it hit a kerb very hard early in it's life.
22/11/22
Steering column pulled. New horn wire, chrome redone, (proper stuff with the copper layer) worn out control notches built back up with weld, then cleaned up with the grinder and re-cut with files.
Dulux overhaul besides. Needs mechanical rebuild but no money at the time. I later pulled it out again, bought new parts and had my local "A" friend rebuild it for me.
25/11/22
The clutch pedal trunnion was worn to the usual degree, (sitting on the vice at upper right) along with the egg-shaped hole in the pedal. I don't have (don't want to spend more money on) the correct drill to weld up the pedal and fit a stock replacement part, so I roughly rounded out the pedal hole with a stone in the dremel, and finished with a Poor-Man's Reamer to fit a new oversized trunnion. The latter was made on the lathe, using the original clutch slider shaft from the bell-housing.
Bellhousing overhauled. New shafts, bushings and grease nipples added to pedals.
03/12/22
On this 95th anniversary of the Model A's unveiling to the world, my humble Tudor reaches a little milestone of it's own. The front axle is complete, (minus fitting refurbed tie rod and drag link) ready for it's new iron drums and Timken bearings.
To summarise 4 months of work: New spring & shackles, along with tube-type shock absorbers fitted, roller tracks welded and re-ground, brake rods welded and re-drilled, all new pins, rollers, bushes, shafts, new kingpins, (properly shimmed to this axle) brake adjusters, front brake shoe floaters fitted for improved braking, all grease nipples standardised with modern fittings, (they were a mix of proprietary Ford, and modern grease nipples - screw you Henry Ford) and new steering ball joints, along with the above mentioned drums and bearings.
In other words, it's had everything. This thing should drive like it's new.
10/12/22
The radiator shroud looks a bit sad. I was able to strip the paint without further scratching to the stainless, by laying the shroud face-up on the bench, covering the paintwork with old rags, and soaking them in dirty thinners.
All the little kinks and bends in it were straightened out to be best of my ability. Not perfect, but a lot better than it was.
Test-refitting to the old radiator showed where the shroud had been touching the radiator neck, and crudely opened out, resulting in the cracked top ring. Some more careful bending improved the split, which thankfully is hidden quite well by the radiator cap.
With all that out of the way, the process of sanding out 90 years of scratches began..
19/12/22
Returned from the Model A Club xmas party yesterday.
The ruined engine quickly found a happy new owner, and I sold enough leftover parts to almost recover the cost of the sandblasting and re-plating.
That spare rear axle I mentioned earlier, came with three axle housings and two "banjo" differential housings.
After picking the best housings for future use, I realised the surplus housings would make an ideal 16mm scale industrial chimney.
Picture the cardboard as a corrugated sugar mill structure.
The parts being hollow would suit a smoke generator, too.
Nolwyn Valley Tramway
