The Ford Barn - View Single Post - Straightening up a couple of Model A's (Advice needed)

rotorwrench · 03-06-2024, 01:52 PM

The 155C Town Sedan was an elegant model for 1930 through mid 1931 but they did have a lot of wood structure. A person with a well stocked wood shop and a fair amount of ash wood in inventory would take a while to fabricate all the pieces even if they had the patterns. Ford Wood and other suppliers have what I refer to as oversize patterns so that a fit can be better guaranteed but it required some careful fitting (removal of the slight excess) to get all the structure to fit the sheet metal back over it. You can take wood off a piece but it's not so easy to add it back.

A friend of mine from my early days growing up in Kansas, helped his Dad build up an old family owned since new Model A Fordor Sedan. I donated some very nice headlights that had been in our barn to the project. His Dad had been a body man for a while after the war and he was also an excellent carpenter that built two of the family homes. He had to make the wood to fit the sheet metal and that was all they had to work with. By trial and error, they managed to get everything back together and fitting as good as it was when it left the Murray body plant. This was it the time when we had no internet nor cell phones. It was hard to get everything back in the 60s & 70s but they got it done in the space of about 2-years. They were farming by this time and had the winters to give them more time to work. The car is beautiful and quite an accomplishment. They later restored several other body types after they got the bug.

Anyone with good skill sets and a lot of time can do it but it will be quite a challenge. I learned body work and upholstery work with publications and repetition. I was an aircraft mechanic by trade for 40+ years so that helped. I've tried a lot of things that most people have never though of doing and have been relatively successful. I figure if I can do it then anybody can.

Finding one of the model A body designs that have less wood is sometimes a better choice for the beginner. Not being able to drive the thing will sometimes make a person lose interest and there is will set.

03-06-2024, 01:52 PM	#14
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,464	Re: Straightening up a couple of Model A's (Advice needed) The 155C Town Sedan was an elegant model for 1930 through mid 1931 but they did have a lot of wood structure. A person with a well stocked wood shop and a fair amount of ash wood in inventory would take a while to fabricate all the pieces even if they had the patterns. Ford Wood and other suppliers have what I refer to as oversize patterns so that a fit can be better guaranteed but it required some careful fitting (removal of the slight excess) to get all the structure to fit the sheet metal back over it. You can take wood off a piece but it's not so easy to add it back. A friend of mine from my early days growing up in Kansas, helped his Dad build up an old family owned since new Model A Fordor Sedan. I donated some very nice headlights that had been in our barn to the project. His Dad had been a body man for a while after the war and he was also an excellent carpenter that built two of the family homes. He had to make the wood to fit the sheet metal and that was all they had to work with. By trial and error, they managed to get everything back together and fitting as good as it was when it left the Murray body plant. This was it the time when we had no internet nor cell phones. It was hard to get everything back in the 60s & 70s but they got it done in the space of about 2-years. They were farming by this time and had the winters to give them more time to work. The car is beautiful and quite an accomplishment. They later restored several other body types after they got the bug. Anyone with good skill sets and a lot of time can do it but it will be quite a challenge. I learned body work and upholstery work with publications and repetition. I was an aircraft mechanic by trade for 40+ years so that helped. I've tried a lot of things that most people have never though of doing and have been relatively successful. I figure if I can do it then anybody can. Finding one of the model A body designs that have less wood is sometimes a better choice for the beginner. Not being able to drive the thing will sometimes make a person lose interest and there is will set.