Newby

[hairdog]

Hey gang I just bought a 1930 ford model a murray body. It has been my dream for the last 30 years to own one. The guy I got it from was going to take it to the scrape yard and I just couldn't let that happen. It will need a ground up restoration which my wif thinks I am crazy. It will need all the wood replaced which leads me to a question as to how much are parts interchangable with other model a's? What is a good manuel to get to help identify parts of the body and thier location on the car. I am not disillusioned as to the time and expense that is going to be involved in this project. I have been doing research and have found out that it is a 1930 Model A ford Murray body 165c but I do not know what is original on the car as someone has started a restoration years ago and it was of very poor quality like trying to make it a hard top by bolting a piece of tin over the top and glueing contact paper on the interior and trying to convert the brakes over to hydralics. Like I said a ground up restoration. Any help?

[28ACoupe]

First off, welcome to the hobby and the Ford Barn. You are now on the best place for answers to questions like yours.

I would say the best place to start is to get two sets of books:

1) The Les Andrews books:
http://parts.modelastore.com/show_Product.asp?ID=6046
http://parts.modelastore.com/show_Product.asp?ID=6048
http://parts.modelastore.com/show_Product.asp?ID=6047

2) The How to restore your Model A:
http://parts.modelastore.com/show_Product.asp?ID=6070 -there are several books in this series. Get them all.

Also, you will want to bookmark the major suppliers:
http://www.modelastore.com/
http://macsautoparts.com/article.asp?camid=MDA&ai=144
http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/modelaparts

My personal recommendation is to buy from Berts. I have used them for years and they have never let me down.

A final note: Don't be in a hurry to get this done. You have a rare car there which will be beautiful when you are done. But, only if you take your time and do it right. Don't cut corners. There is never time to do a job right, but there is always time to do it over.

Cheers,

[1930artdeco]

Welcome to the barn and the addiction! Congrats on saving another car and your dream one at that. The fordors had the most wood of any Model A out there-except the woodies. That being said if you have a 165C then I think-bad memory here-you may have a 31 slant window. If that is the case then there is not as much wood to replace-that is good.

If it is a fordor with all of the wood then be ready for a looonnggg time at fitting the wood. These cars depend on the wood for their strength and support so make sure you do it right the first time. As I don't think you will want to redo it-I know I am scared to dig into the wood of my car.

A good set of books to pick up are:
-Les Andrews books-at least the first two. Number three is all about mods.
-The Judging standards
-The original full size factory shop manual (name escapes me at the moment) all of which you can get from any of the parts suppliers.

If you are new to Model A's then may I suggest you join a local club (add your location here too), the National Club either or both and well you already have done the first thing by joining the Barn. And as far as us barners go we love pics! Also, original parts are almost always better than repo parts.

Mike

[Terry,NJ]

Whew! Here we go again! If it's a 1930, it's not a Slant window. To my knowledge, they were only made in 31 (The "slant" of the Slant Window is not more than ten degrees and no visor) You're not going to like what I'm about to say, To replace the total wood (Total, I mean 4 doors. bottom wood, body wood, and Top wood) is about $4000. Now the good news is, with diligence and care, you can make some yourself. How do I know? I have a 30 Briggs Town Sedan and I've been making a lot of the wood myself. Another thing you'll need to do is strip out all the "farmer Fixes". but thats after you remove the body from the frame. For equipment you'll need a MIG or a TIG welder, some pretty accurate measuring stuff, a table saw with a good motor and that's just for starters. I hate to throw cold water on your enthusiam. However, When you face these challenges head on, you're less likely to falter. I'm wishing you to start and DON"T be afraid to post five or ten questions a day. We like helping people! Some of the best and most knowlegable people you'll ever meet are here in the Barn. Go to my profile and look under "My A". I have many more pics to put up yet.
Terry

[1930artdeco]

Terry, I just checked out your pics of your resto and am now thoroughly scared about dealing with the wood in my car. But, when I have to, I will just have to buy more tools to do it-rats. I was not sure about the model number I was thinking TS and I thought that with the 165 number it was a 31 year.


Mike

[dumb person]

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You can do woodwork that will be structurally ok with less tools if you are prepared to spend forever doing it & are not worried that it is not good enough to varnish over & call art (unlike some peoples woodwork). It does get covered with sheetmetal. But doing it right (like, pulling it to the ground & starting over from the bottom upwards) will take forever.
a tool like this can be used for things more expensive tools can do better. i do not own one, i merely borrow them.

[Cory Moffat]

May. I say welcome also and take your time. A frame up restoration is the way to go expecially if you do it yourself. Lots of reading and help here at the barn will make you proficient in the servicing and maintenance of your A. I got my Coupe years ago and it took me 13 years to restore it ground up. Shure don't regret it

You can do it all if you try. I did.

[desotoguy]

For replacing the wood in your car, you should assess your woodworking skills, experience, and tools and equipment that you own and have in your shop. If you have to purchase power tools for the job and go through a learning curve by making and remaking the parts, then the cost of a kit may not be so bad. Just because someone else can do it does not mean you can. Here's wishing you the best of luck with the restore.

[Skibb]

Originally Posted by desotoguy

For replacing the wood in your car, you should assess your woodworking skills, experience, and tools and equipment that you own and have in your shop. If you have to purchase power tools for the job and go through a learning curve by making and remaking the parts, then the cost of a kit may not be so bad. Just because someone else can do it does not mean you can. Here's wishing you the best of luck with the restore.

Hi Newby, welcome and Merry Christmas. Well, Desotoguy hit the nail on the head as well as has the other Ford Barn'ers here. They have said it so much better than I could. I know about restoring a 1930 although it's a Briggs Sdn. I with the extreme assistance from two superb car men are doing the restoration. "Extreme" means old guy who knows squat gets big time help. My A was out of state with a "restorer" who practiced for 15 months total fraud. We towed it back to Fla to discover that almost everything was done wrong - often maliciously. So it all had to come apart. A couple of months ago, we replaced the wood in the chassis, roof, door and body. I'll keep this short. Our restoration has taken all kinds of tools, parts, cash, time and effort. Perhaps you are paint and body man or expert mechanic, if not make a complete parts list first, price it out, then consider tools and outside vendors and put a price on that. Then consider where you are going to do all this and how much time you have. Your welcome to come down here and take a look. And, I wish you all the luck in the world.

[Bob/Kansas City]

You are taking on a big project in replacing the wood in your car. Maybe an alternate plan would be to remove the body and fenders, do a complete restoration of the frame and all the mechanical bits which you're going to need to do anyway and then look for a coupe body to use while you work on the sedan in your "spare" time. Coupes used very little wood and, for a first project, are much easier to work with than all that is involved with a sedan.
Just a suggestion for what it is worth.
Bob