[Napa Skip]

It’s your car and you ought to do what you want, particularly if it results in a vehicle you like to look at, enjoy driving and/or makes it safer. That’s why I painted my 1930 coupe Washington and Riveria Blue with Tacoma Crème trim (not a factory-original color scheme for a 1930 coupe), why I run white sidewalls (although the next set of tires, currently sitting in the garage, will – for curiosity’s sake and economic and aesthetic considerations – be black walls) and why I will probably change the trim color to Hessian Blue, based on at least one avatar I’ve seen on Ford Barn. It’s also why I have a set of 16” rims that I’ll mount up sometime in the near future.

And, as long as I’m feeling froggy, I’d go so far as to say you ought to be able to modify other aspects of your Model A that suit your tastes. Although I prefer stock (or at least stock-looking) Model A’s (notwithstanding the 16” wheel comment above) you ought to be able to dago, fill, tubb, pinch, tunnel, roll, section, rake, drop, chop, channel, nose, deck, slam and/or french your A if that’s what floats your boat (although I hate to see a good Model A body chopped, channeled or sectioned and how you would nose, deck or french a Model A escapes me, but one should never underestimate the ingenuity of the average Model A enthusiast).

Our club recently participated in the 22nd Father’s Day car show in Yountville CA and our (more or less) stock Model A’s were placed adjacent to the rodded A’s, including one 1931 coupe that had suicide doors, a significant rake and the inevitable SBC, all showcased in a flat olive-drab paint job. Interesting…but the point is that it was his car and his choice (and I had never seen a suicide-door Model A, but then I’ve lived a sheltered life…).

This weekend (August 18th) we will have the Napa, California Main Street Reunion Car Show (10:00 am to 3:00 pm on - where else? - Main Street, and it’s free with over 400 pre-1976 cars) and while there will be stock cars, including several Model A’s, a lot of attention will go to the modified vehicles. I have yet to see a Model A low rider with hydraulic suspension go bouncing down the road, but I bet there’s one out there somewhere.

In a belated attempt to get back on subject for this thread, here are some comments about dressing up tires, including converting black walls to white. I have used McKay Tire White (Los Angeles CA) which is a rubberized product advertised as “For that new WIDE MOD LOOK” (ok, it’s an OLD can) or to “…create white walls on black tires.” I’ve never tried to convert black walls to white (I use the product to dress up my 35+ year old white walls when scrubbing won’t do the trick or after a particularly violent encounter with a curb while parking) but the can says you can do it with two coats (lol). One word of caution; work on the tire in the horizontal position (the tire, not you) and make sure it’s thoroughly dry before driving, otherwise you end up with these little white lines all over the black part of the tire (you needn’t ask how I know this…).

I also use No. 7 Tire Black (by Borden, Inc. of Columbus OH) which is good for dressing up black tires (and for covering up the white streaks after you’ve dressed up your white walls and didn’t let the stuff dry before going for a drive…).

Remember: Model A owners belong in Model A’s; Model A’s belong on the road.