Couple of good books on building hot rod Model A's

[Greg Myers]

Vern Tardel has been at this for awhile. His 1:1 building translates well into plastic models especially if you're into hot rod Model A's.

There are a bunch of pictures showing just how to 'Z' your frame for a lower stance, cutting the body so it will sit just right and a bunch of other great building ideas for a traditional hot rod.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Greg Myers

[Ace-Garageguy]

There's a whole bunch of Vern Tardel books 'bout working on ancient rod guts too.

[Greg Myers]

only if you're REALLY into it. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

But this one is without a doubt my favorite.

[unclescott58]

11 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

But this one is without a doubt my favorite.

Is the above still easily found? Has it ever been reprinted? 

[Greg Myers]

https://www.amazon.com/Ford-Speed-Manual-Bill-Fisher/dp/1931128065/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520363965&sr=1-1&keywords=California+bill's+ford+speed+manual

[Ace-Garageguy]

11 minutes ago, unclescott58 said:

Is the above still easily found? Has it ever been reprinted? 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ford-speed-manual-bill-fisher/1118054138?ean=9781931128063

He went on to become a Corvair guru too.

https://www.amazon.com/Hotrod-Corvair-Engines-Bill-Fisher/dp/B0007FWSSK

The guy is a genuine wizard. I have everything he ever published.

https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Fisher/e/B000APRIB4/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

Edited March 6, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[Greg Myers]

Should have recognized the name. I have every one of his books. The kids in my auto shop classes loved em.

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

Should have recognized the name. I have every one of his books. The kids in my auto shop classes loved em.

Smart kids.  

[Greg Myers]

One pit crewed at Indy, another was a Crew chief for Carl Edwards.

[afx]

On 3/6/2018 at 2:03 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

But this one is without a doubt my favorite.

Is the book well illustrated? 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, afx said:

Is the book well illustrated? 

I have a well used original copy, and though I haven't looked at it since about 2011 or so, I seem to remember the illustrations were adequate to convey ideas as necessary, but probably not as numerous as might be hoped.

And for some reason, the image quality of reprints often suffers. I haven't seen any of the reprints, so I can't comment on this aspect.

One thing I can say is that it's very well written. Fisher is an excellent technical communicator...which is the reason I have all his books.

But bear in mind it was published during a time when good reading comprehension was more of a given, and like most other light technical and printed hobby material from the period, there are a lot of words.

It's a completely different style than much of what we get today...the printed equivalent of 10-second sound bites, and lots of pictures.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[tim boyd]

On ‎3‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 1:53 PM, Greg Myers said:

Vern Tardel has been at this for awhile. His 1:1 building translates well into plastic models especially if you're into hot rod Model A's.

There are a bunch of pictures showing just how to 'Z' your frame for a lower stance, cutting the body so it will sit just right and a bunch of other great building ideas for a traditional hot rod.

 

I agree Greg.  I referenced this book (and pictured it too IIRC) in my article in MCM #203 on building a 1929 HIghboy Roadster on Model A (not '32) rails...similar in several ways (other than powertrain and lack of hub covers) to the cover art on the above Vern Tardel title.   TIM 

Edited March 10, 2018 by tim boyd

[Greg Myers]

Didn't see that one. Very nice indeed Tim.