Where do I go from here??

[Blown Gasket]

Things around here for storage and even clubs are pretty sparse. Where we live is in the country, (about 4 miles off the Blue Ridge PKY), we have one general store and it is like Druckers on Green Acres Show the rest is just farm land mostly growing Christmas trees, 26 miles to the nearest town. So the car will stay here and I do have storage choices. One, I am building a carport with an open end, two, store it in the existing closed in carport where my John Deere sits, it also has an open end but is bigger. Three, put it in my big closed in barn that sits about 800 feet from the house. Last fall I smoothed out the dirt floor with the backhoe and laid down tarps for moisture control and put 4 inches of gravel on top. It is dry in there but has a history of mice. We had boxes in there and have now removed them and loaded it up with TomCat. Last check a week ago the TomCat was still there. Maybe the closed in barn is the best choice and remove as much of the chewy stuff as I can from the car plus leave the hood and rumble seat open. I have one small tractor in there now and it is mice free so far. Also in that barn I would not need to put on the fit cover I just bought. Ideas???
Question: Why not leave it in the cold???

[Chris in WNC]

Good advice throughout this thread.
Remember these cars survived decades without being garaged.
If your insurance carrier will allow you to keep it under a carport (Hagerty won't) that should be adequate until you can make better arrangements.
Moth balls under the seats might help keep mice out, as will keeping a couple semi-feral cats around your property.
If the brakes stop it satisfactorily, leave them alone.
I have not had the drums off our Town Sedan since purchasing in 2009.
Adjusted them once during the 12-13,000 miles it has traveled since.

[Blown Gasket]

Here is a funny story about this car, LONG and Embarrassing.

My wife and I are older and retired and wanted an old truck to take Sunday rides in. Years ago we lived on an island in FL and had a Jersey Speed Skiff that I built and would take Sunday rides in the boat. I found a truck but it got sold out under me. Then I thought about a roadster and we started to look and while looking discovered the Shay, I never knew it existed. It was in our price range and we found one in Bat Cave, NC. It took some detective work but I found the owner and he said the car was sold five years ago, so much for brokers. Then my wife found the ad for the real 31 but she thought it was a Shay and she sent me a link to the ad saying, here is a Shay. I looked at it and it and the ad only said, (1931 model A roaster, 13000 miles). I made an offer and found I was dealing with the sales people at Toyota and they had no idea what the car was. I talked running gear and fiberglass and it all went over their heads. So I shot an extremely low offer to then and to my surprise they accepted it. So I thought I bought a Shay but in the back of my head really wanted an original. I joined a Shay forum and posted photos of the car and all of a sudden people were saying, that's a real 31 not a Shay. I went back to the 5 photos I had and looked closer. I could see it had no gas cap on the side, had a starter button, choke and the entire dashboard was a 31 not a Shay also the wheels were 5 lug not 4. I think the owner who I have never talked to had his staff do the paperwork when he bought the car and now when he sold it to me and no one knows what the car is. The registration says it is a model T and has a funny serial of DMV13893 not the engine number. The sales manager told us that the Toyota shop did the restore but I'm not sure I believe that. So in the end we got exactly what we wanted at a very good price. In 2011 we lived in FL and found our property here in NC online, we bought it like the car, sight unseen and struck it rich as it was bank owned and we lowballed our bid and they took it. I designed the house, my third and we built it and it is our elephant dying ground and now we can take our Sunday drives, Blue Ridge PKY here we come.

[alexiskai]

Doesn’t sound embarrassing to me. Sounds like good bargain hunting.

[SDJason]

Sounds like you're a first-time Model A owner (congratulations!)

When I first got my Model A, I learned many things the hard way (and am still learning) - but off the top of my head, here are some of the things that a new Model A owner should do:

- Learn how to drive it - it's not like a modern car (e.g. manually setting spark advance and fuel mixture depending on conditions); get and read a copy of the Ford "Model "A" Instruction Book"

- Shut off the gas when done driving - that's what that valve underneath the gastank is for.

- If it hasn't already been done, install the "pencil filter" inside your gastank.

- Get a copy of Les Andrews' "Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook Vol. I" and "Model A Ford Troubleshooting & Diagnostics"

- Addendum to the above: make note of the errors in Les Andrews' books:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176535

- Learn how the electrical system is laid out and how to troubleshoot when you don't have spark.
(Les Andrews' Volume I Troubleshooting Chart 4-3)

- Related to the above - go through YOUR Model A's electrical and trace out the wiring. You may well find that a previous owner at some point in the preceding 90 years of your car's life added or changed things from standard. This can become an issue from a viewpoint of safety, and being able to troubleshoot when you have a problem. (I think I've removed over 20 ft. of unused and mystery wiring from my Town Sedan since I've owned it).

- Learn how to set the timing.

- Learn how to tighten the headnuts to the right torque - and remember to do so every so often - if you don't, you may well find yourself with coolant mixed in with your oil one day.

- You have a 1931, so this may not apply, but no harm in making sure:
If it hasn't already been done by a previous owner, install the 1931 steering column support (and uninstall the clamp from the original gastank mounted steering column support).

- If it hasn't already been done, replace the original steel fanblade with a new cast aluminum one (use a magnet to check what your Model A has - it won't stick to an aluminum one).

- Add a cutoff switch to the groundside of the battery - and turn it off when the car's not in use.

- Learn what to do if/when the starter gets "stuck" (place the car in 2nd or 3rd and rock it back and forth until it gets unstuck).

- Consider installing a voltage regulator.

- Most important of all: Enjoy your new ride!

[Blown Gasket]

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I finally got more information on my new Model A. Here is what the guy I bought it from said, "The vehicle was owned by an older gentlemen who lived in Jackson County, and originally brought me several pictures of it, which I don’t think I can find again. This was at least 18 to 20 years ago, and I don’t remember his name, and I doubt he is still alive.” Then from the service manager at the dealership, "The car has been stored here for two years". Plus he got me the engine serial number, A281671 which if I did my search right it was made 1/29/30 and the car with the gas valve inside was made before May 1931. I am still working on who restored it; to me it is important to have as much history as possible. The storage pretty much explains the gas stain on the dash and tells me to look deeper into how it runs. Still waiting for a shipping date, like a kid waiting for Christmas. BTW, I didn't mention this when talking about where to store it but I have COPD and I can reach the carport I'm making, the tractor carport and my backhoe by adding hose to my oxygen machine in the house, I just drag it around. I put oxygen bottles on the equipment to move dirt or mow. Storing in the larger barn would make it harder to work on it but I'm still thinking.

[Blown Gasket]

Originally Posted by SDJason

Sounds like you're a first-time Model A owner (congratulations!)

When I first got my Model A, I learned many things the hard way (and am still learning) - but off the top of my head, here are some of the things that a new Model A owner should do:

- Learn how to drive it - it's not like a modern car (e.g. manually setting spark advance and fuel mixture depending on conditions); get and read a copy of the Ford "Model "A" Instruction Book"

- Shut off the gas when done driving - that's what that valve underneath the gastank is for.

- If it hasn't already been done, install the "pencil filter" inside your gastank.

- Get a copy of Les Andrews' "Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook Vol. I" and "Model A Ford Troubleshooting & Diagnostics"

- Addendum to the above: make note of the errors in Les Andrews' books:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176535

- Learn how the electrical system is laid out and how to troubleshoot when you don't have spark.
(Les Andrews' Volume I Troubleshooting Chart 4-3)

- Related to the above - go through YOUR Model A's electrical and trace out the wiring. You may well find that a previous owner at some point in the preceding 90 years of your car's life added or changed things from standard. This can become an issue from a viewpoint of safety, and being able to troubleshoot when you have a problem. (I think I've removed over 20 ft. of unused and mystery wiring from my Town Sedan since I've owned it).

- Learn how to set the timing.

- Learn how to tighten the headnuts to the right torque - and remember to do so every so often - if you don't, you may well find yourself with coolant mixed in with your oil one day.

- You have a 1931, so this may not apply, but no harm in making sure:
If it hasn't already been done by a previous owner, install the 1931 steering column support (and uninstall the clamp from the original gastank mounted steering column support).

- If it hasn't already been done, replace the original steel fanblade with a new cast aluminum one (use a magnet to check what your Model A has - it won't stick to an aluminum one).

- Add a cutoff switch to the groundside of the battery - and turn it off when the car's not in use.

- Learn what to do if/when the starter gets "stuck" (place the car in 2nd or 3rd and rock it back and forth until it gets unstuck).

- Consider installing a voltage regulator.

- Most important of all: Enjoy your new ride!

Thanks, I'm as old as the hills and worked on all sorts of old cars including "T's" however being old you forget. Here are some of the cars I had as a kid.

[jg61hawk]

Buy an owner's manual first thing....amazing for a very small booklet how much you learn. Second get the red Les Andrew's book....it has a very nice couple pages (checklist) on things to check and maintain. Those two items will serve you very well.

[Blown Gasket]

Got it thanks.