This is the hobby in Russia

[M2M]

When you've got no money and A parts are not falling out of the sky like in the USA, you do what you've gotta do.

[cajunfirehawk]

Bravo!

[Terry, NJ]

Hey, Parts fall out of the sky, IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO MAKE THEM FALL! A parts aren't so cheap any more!. But that young man is doing great! Making his own fenders out of oil drums! There was a time when we did things like that in the USA too. I 'd like to donate a can of Bondo to him. Or a fender "Buck" to get the dimensions correct. A fender "Buck" is just a wooden frame that tells you what the dimensions should be at a certain point. I have some pics in my profile that show some of my woodwork and how I made seat springs from an old mattress bed spring. and some of my patch panels. Take a look Terry, NJ, My
Terry

[Chuck Dempsey]

Bravo, indeed....

[PC/SR]

Damn-that's good.

[dumb person]

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I like that fender, probably not the way i would have cut it, but functional.

[cradlescyth]

Dam good job!!!


Keep up the good work.

[FrankWest]

That is fantastic! Beautiful work! Necessity is the mother of invention. I heard the story on this board that someone's Grandfather during the Great depression, needed new engine bearings for his model A. Could not afford them so, used thick bacon slices in each bearing and was able to run his car. I wonder how long that lasted? I wonder if any farmers learned to pour their own babbit bearings, using molten lead only, which was commonly available even during the depression?

[russcochiolo]

WOW! I am impressed. "Necessity is the mother of invention", someone said. I would have not begun a task like this, this young man is to be admired.

[Liberty Garage]

Love this young man's determination and ingenuity, creating a fender from an oil drum is amazing!

[Terry, NJ]

I notice a lot of rust on that AA, Is that the one they got off the bottom of the lake? Lake Lagoda, Leningrad/St Petersburg.
Terry

[M2M]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Making his own fenders out of oil drums! There was a time when we did things like that in the USA too

Before my time but from what I've read the hobby in the USA/Australia in the 1960s seems to have been similar, see:

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90677


No, this isn't the truck found in Lake Lagoda, see:

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235201


This young guy is in Khabarovsk (5000 miles east of Moscow).

[M2M]

[M2M]

[M2M]

[woofa.express]

Necessity is the mother of invention. It's an old saying but just as true today as it was when the quote was first coined

You'd have to be impressed wouldn't you.

[Terry, NJ]

Hey, I'm a little disappointed. He Rushed that fender! It needs more work. The two sides have to match. Also, Henry Ford put a 1/8 (3mm) wire under the entire outside edge and the rolled the edge over it. This wire provided extra strength. I see he is using a small MIG welder. This machine is the kind that uses "Fluxcore" welding wire. Not good! He is probably not getting enough heat from it. He'll need a better welding machine for what he's doing. That Lathe, Is that a Polish AIS? (ANC) It looks so similar to Kris' that made me wonder.
Terry

[ericr]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Hey, I'm a little disappointed. He Rushed that fender! It needs more work. The two sides have to match. Also, Henry Ford put a 1/8 (3mm) wire under the entire outside edge and the rolled the edge over it. This wire provided extra strength. I see he is using a small MIG welder. This machine is the kind that uses "Fluxcore" welding wire. Not good! He is probably not getting enough heat from it. He'll need a better welding machine for what he's doing. That Lathe, Is that a Polish AIS? (ANC) It looks so similar to Kris' that made me wonder.
Terry

I always heard the wire prevented rumbling-----not so?

[Terry, NJ]

Sorry Eric, I don't know what it was for but any reinforcement always adds some strength. I assumed that was what it was for. I know that a model A with a four banger, idled way down sets up a terrific moment in the car and fenders. I once watched a beautifully restored A at a low idle from head on and the car looked like Disney's elephant, Dumbo. I felt if the car were idling little faster it would have absorbed some of the moment. Now I know how the fenders crack and that 1/8 " wire and rolled fender edge are not sufficient to prevent it. I've never seen a fender that didn't crack about 3/4 the way up the slope. I wonder when it started, in a year,? two years ? Four years? six years?
Terry

Originally Posted by ericr

I always heard the wire prevented rumbling-----not so?

[M2M]

After using 32 rubles worth of Russian vinegar plus water:

[john charlton]

AA trucks were built in England into 1936, factory fitted with the B engine with the fully counterweighted crank .Parts are still fairly easy to find here . My heart goes out to that Russian restorer especially his fender and battling with that dire welded up B waterpump ,I must have about a dozen or more in my "stores" . i would happily mail him one free for nuddinks If I could get his address in English and Cyrillic depending on mailing cost !!! PM me if I can help him.

John in sunny Suffolk County England .

[RandyinUtah]

I restored a 31 Cabriolet that came back to the U S from Finland that I believe spent some time in Russia because it had a Gaz engine. Someone had used a six inch knife switch for lack of ignition switch. You do what you have to do especially after WW11.

[M2M]

Originally Posted by john charlton

AA trucks were built in England into 1936, factory fitted with the B engine with the fully counterweighted crank .Parts are still fairly easy to find here . My heart goes out to that Russian restorer especially his fender and battling with that dire welded up B waterpump ,I must have about a dozen or more in my "stores" . i would happily mail him one free for nuddinks If I could get his address in English and Cyrillic depending on mailing cost !!! PM me if I can help him.

John in sunny Suffolk County England .

Kind offer John. I've sent him a message asking if he needs any parts...I will let you know. He tried to register on Fordbarn but wasn't allowed. I think this website has geo-blocking that stops people in some countries from registering.

[M2M]

The project started as this in 2012. The engine was fitted with a magneto from a Antonov bi-plane

[Terry, NJ]

I know that Plane! The Antonov AN2 Colt. It has an enormous 1000 HP , 9 Cylinder radial engine. How in hell do you adapt a 9 cyl. magneto to a four cyl, engine? I've got to see that to see how it was done.
Terry

Originally Posted by M2M

The project started as this in 2012. The engine was fitted with a magneto from a Antonov bi-plane

[john charlton]

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It all looks very familiar my AA was in the same state when I bought it in 1983 out of a farmyard. Was in use from 1931 to 1955 by an agricultural engineering company then stood outside .It was sold at auction in 1969 when the company ceased trading but again stood out in the weather .As the 4 speed is not rain proof the transmission and back axle were full of rainwater.The trans filled up and the water went down the torque tube . The 600 WT had preserved most luckily and my local bearing factor had all the trans bearings on the shelf. Let me know how that brave Russian guy gets on it is interesting that the "Model A Virus" (incurable) knows no borders. Stay in touch if I can help him . We need young blood in the hobby !!!

John in same place same weather .

[woofa.express]

Revisitan old story of mine. This is a response to a quote from M2M below which he said in his story “This is the hobby in Russia”story #1 and that too is a well worth read.

“When you've got no money and A parts are not falling out of the sky like in the USA, you do what you've gotta do.”
Butbovine do fall from the sky. Read my story number 84 in "tell a Model A related story"

[M2M]

By the way, the writing on the wall says NO SMOKING! which is not a bad idea when you have leaky old Soviet acetylene gas cylinders laying around.

[Terry, NJ]

I thought that's what it said! I was going to ask but got into other things. Leaky old cylinders are not something only Russians have to worry about. Our cylinders have to be hydrostatically tested once every 10 years and stamped. The oldest one I ever saw was a 1918 date.
Terry

Originally Posted by M2M

By the way, the writing on the wall says NO SMOKING! which is not a bad idea when you have leaky old Soviet acetylene gas cylinders laying around.

[M2M]

[woofa.express]

These Russians seem to have much rebuilding skill. So much so I'm starting to wonder if these shots were not infact Russian but were shot in the workshops in Hollywood?

[stewwolfe]

Love the jack stand, but I don't think I would get under it.

[Badpuppy]

That Mobiloil fender came out pretty decent, I'd say.

[M2M]

Some more info about this project.

This AA is actually on the island of Sakhalin, north of Japan. The young owner Andrey has moved to Khabarovsk (a city in the Russian Far East mainland), where he hopes next year to buy land and build a house (and workshop) for him, his wife and young daughter. Until then the AA remains at his father's place. Andrey works on the AA when he visits his father in summer.

Andrey is missing the following parts:

The light switch on the steering wheel, door handles, one headlight, a horn button, a tail lamp, a generator, a radiator cap and a gas cylinder, an ignition switch, Zenith carburetor, an ignition distributor.

If anyone would be willing to donate any of these parts I can put you in contact with him; send me a PM for his email address.

For people in the USA able to donate parts I can help getting small parts to him as I fly to Russia from the USA fairly regularly.

[woofa.express]

I admire both his skill and tenacity. Tell him that please.

[dumb person]

Those fenders turned out good.
If it helps him at all i made my own horn button from a generic button, a length of rod with flats filed in it for the light switch at the bottom, some wire, and painted fibreglass surround for the button at the top.

[31Cabriolet68-C]

Looks like he could also use a Ziploc full of cotter pins. Check out the nail holding the choke rod on. Wish Henry could have seen it. The truck, for sure, the nail not so much...

[31Cabriolet68-C]

Looks like he could also use a Ziploc full of cotter pins. Check out the nail holding the choke rod on. Wish Henry could have seen it. The truck, for sure, the nail not so much...

[31Cabriolet68-C]

Sorry for the resend.