Storing a Model A vertically

[1crosscut]

Last Sunday our club was displaying our A's at an outdoor amphitheater featuring classic music when a gent who saw our cars and trucks came over and said he had an early 31 three window Fordor with a Murray body he would be interested in selling. He said he had completely rebuilt the chassis in 1978 and lost steam at that point. He did not work on the body and it was left mounted on a roll around stand of its own.
The next morning I was there bright and early to take a look. Body needs a good bit of TLC but the drive train was super nice. Absolutely everything had been done that could have been done and done quite well. The engine had been bored and sleeved back to standard with all of the documentation. He had gotten to the point of having a seat mounted to it and just needed to add fuel to a temporary gas tank, fill it with coolant, put in a battery and drive it. For some reason he stopped short of that and for the next 40 years kept it under a tarp and squirted a bit of oil in the cylinders a few times a year and turned the engine over with a hand crank once every month or so. Looking in through the spark plug holes it looked like it was done just last week. The price was too good to pass up and I bought it.
Now I just need to hang on to it until I either fix the body that came with it or find a better one for it.

So where to put it???

I wanted to get folks thoughts on storing it in vertical position either nose up or nose down. I think that I have just enough clearance in my shop storage area to make it work. My biggest concern is having the weight of the flywheel either pushing down or pulling down on the crank shaft for long periods of time.

Thoughts?

[gustafson]

doubt those thrusts were made for that.
What happens when someone walks by and it falls on them?
If no room now where will the space come from when it is done

[Kurt in NJ]

drain the oil first

[Tom Wesenberg]

I was in a barn about 20 years ago where the owner had about 10 frames stacked on end leaning against the wall, then a bunch of wheels with tires stacked up, then a bunch of bodies taken apart and parts stacked up. He said he did this to save storage space. I wonder if he's still alive and what happened to all those Model A's.

[gustafson]

one of the frames slipped, triggered a domino effect, and he was crushed at the bottom of the pile

[40 Deluxe]

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The flywheel weight (63 lbs.?) is nothing compared to the force needed to compress the pressure plate springs when disengaging the clutch, or the various forces at work in a running engine, such as combustion (not compression) pressure and the starting and stopping of each piston on each crankshaft revolution.

[1crosscut]

Originally Posted by gustafson

one of the frames slipped, triggered a domino effect, and he was crushed at the bottom of the pile

I realize that standing something like this up has it hazards. Rest assured I'm a nut about safely securing things. Just wanted to get folks opinions on weather or not something like this could be done.

[Jacksonlll]

Don't worry about the forces. They are nothing. Just be careful and good luck.

[davehc]

Is it possible that you have enough ceiling height you could raise it up near the ceiling , Safely , and have shelving / storage underneath ?

[updraught]

Take the diff out and the front end out at the spring. Drop the chassis frame from the engine and stack the engine and front and back ends in the corner somewhere.

Stuff the frame under your bed.

[Keith True]

I can't see any reason not to store it on end.Oil would be your biggest problem,and you can drain that out.Look at the pictures of engines being shipped out of the Rouge,they are all crated on end,and survived banging on the rides in hard floor rail cars to get where they were going.I don't think I would worry about static weight on the thrust bearing.

[SeaSlugs]

i thought i remember cars being transported radiator down vertically on railcars or something and the whole side of the railcar would open up flat like a ramp...

https://www.railwayage.com/mechanica...ic-vert-a-pac/

whoops were vegas... still an idea haha

[gustafson]

to each his own, given the poor quality of the babbitt alloys today I myself would avoid that method


get a 4-point lift

[Bob Bidonde]

Stand it vertically so the back end of the frame transfers the weight / load of the car to whatever you stand it on. I would also loop a safety chain around the engine & frame.


The frame horns in the front are not strong enough to withstand the weight of an assembled chassis.

[eagle]

Remember, most people here on the Fordbarn wear suspenders AND a belt, "just in case". As long as it is secured properly it won't hurt a thing to be stored vertically. I would use fogging spray in the engine once the fluids are drained. Lasts longer than oil. If you use some air to push the fog through the coolant orfices you could also use it there as well.

[Roger V]

Fifty+ years ago there was a guy in Detroit who had a massive car collection. To save space he stored many of his complete cars on end. Don't recall his name but was quite an auction.

[Purdy Swoft]

You can drain the oil from the bottom of the oil pan
but you cant drain the oil from the dipper tray without removing the oil pan . It will just make a mess . I would never even even consider storing a model A vertically .

[Corley]

If you could store it on it's side, there would be less chance of oil getting into the clutch, but the rear axle is going to leak oil out on the brakes. I've stored things by lifting them up to the ceiling, if you have the height, that's an easy option. Better than that, just drop it off in my shop.

[M2M]

Being you're contemplating storing a newly purchased car in a vertical position, my money is on this project staying untouched for another 40 years. I hope I'm wrong.

[braol]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

I was in a barn about 20 years ago where the owner had about 10 frames stacked on end leaning against the wall, then a bunch of wheels with tires stacked up, then a bunch of bodies taken apart and parts stacked up. He said he did this to save storage space. I wonder if he's still alive and what happened to all those Model A's.

OK, we want a name and address of aforementioned farmer!!!!

[ronn]

Fifty+ years ago there was a guy in Detroit who had a massive car collection. To save space he stored many of his complete cars on end. Don't recall his name but was quite an auction.

Barney Pollard..........

buy a box from a box truck for 500. and store it in there. problem solved and nobody gets crushed.

[eagle]

buy a box from a box truck for 500. and store it in there. problem solved and nobody gets crushed.

Actually, I am planning on getting a 40' storage container this fall, adding a weatherproof filtered ventilation system to it, and using it to store both my A Fordor and my 53 Chev P/up. Only 8 foot wide but thats fine.

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by eagle

buy a box from a box truck for 500. and store it in there. problem solved and nobody gets crushed.

Actually, I am planning on getting a 40' storage container this fall, adding a weatherproof filtered ventilation system to it, and using it to store both my A Fordor and my 53 Chev P/up. Only 8 foot wide but thats fine.

My Dad did that. What he ended up with was a mouse mansion! Those critters took up residence in his (now my) '40 and ate holes in the headliner. Didn't help that he lived on a farm-in south central Minnesota, actually.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by braol

OK, we want a name and address of aforementioned farmer!!!!

Don't know his name. I'd have to drive around the area about 40 miles west of Minneapolis to see if I can find it again.

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by Roger V

Fifty+ years ago there was a guy in Detroit who had a massive car collection. To save space he stored many of his complete cars on end. Don't recall his name but was quite an auction.

Roger I was at that auction bidding against YOU remember?

I came away empty handed. You had one 'up on me'