'29 Model A Roadster

[Speedpro]

Normally when I am doing a build I'll post my work in progress. I like letting everyone see what goes into a build as it progresses. I have one here that I built in a 4 week period last april that I never had a w.i.p. posted on the forum. The reason I wanted to do this build was to have a car I could enter at the GSL in the '29 Model A Roaster common kit class. So many nice builds. Its was a great time. Like i said, This car was conceived and built in a 4 week period. With the idea I had, it was going to be quit a undertaking, But doable. So the plan was to build a '29 with really nothing special except the engine, wheels and tires and a few details. The engine was going to be alittle pontiac 4 cyl out of a '62 tempest convertible kit. Was going to add a supercharger, like the one in the revell Attemp 1 kit. I thought this is going to be the only car with this blown 4 cyl, So I'll have something alittle different than the next car. Easy enough, or so I thought. I started getting everything together And wouldn't you know it, Someone else happens to have the exact same idea for a car he is building for GSL in the same class. Are you kidding me, I thought to myself.

So it was back to the drawing board. Not knowing what to do now, I started going through my stuff, looking for something with a ford engine in it that I could apply to this '29 roaster. Just kept thinking, I gotta try and make this thing different, But this is almost like reinventing the wheel. Just look what what's been done with a '29 in 1:1 and 1/25 scale. So many great ideas out there. But I wanted more. 

This is what I eventually end up with in front of me, wondering now if I bit off more than I can chew! I'm going to do a kit bash between the '29 roadster and the Matt Hay Pro Street T-Bird. The engine out of the T-Bird was definitely going in that '29! Question is, What's it going to take?

All the photo's of this build are already taken of course. I'm going start posting the pics of the build every day. I'v posted the car on here awhile back. Went and found the thread, but the pics were gone. I'll post a few pics of the finished car at the end of the build. 

On to the build,

Started with the '29 frame, added a new crossmember for the trans to mount too. Used the part that was cut off the original trans mount to make the new one. Had to leave the original crossmember in place because the floor mounted to it. It registers where and how the body fits. Got the engine sitting in the frame. At this point the body can start being fit

 

 

more to come, thanks for looking

[Dennis Lacy]

Loved the finished model. Looking forward to seeing how it was built. 

[ColonelKrypton]

Interesting take and start to a familiar subject.

cheers, Graham

 

[TarheelRick]

That looks like some serious horsepower. Should be an interesting build, looking forward to updates.

[Zippi]

This is going to be one mean 29 Roadster.  Looking good so far.

[Rattlecan Dan]

I like it already. Bet I can pick up some good tips and apply them to my next MPC Modified build.

[slusher]

Very nice start and going to have some killer powerful engine !

[Chris B]

This looks interesting, can't wait to see how this one progresses

[NOBLNG]

Wow, that’s a lot of engine for that little car!?

[SpeedShift]

Good work so far.

I'm partial to '29 roadsters.

[alan barton]

A big fan of 29 roadsters ( cos I drive one!) so can't wait to see how this develops.  It makes sense to do it as a model because it would be a nightmare to work on in real life - those model A engine bays are tiny!

Cheers

Alan

[FoMoCo66]

8 minutes ago, alan barton said:

A big fan of 29 roadsters ( cos I drive one!) so can't wait to see how this develops.  It makes sense to do it as a model because it would be a nightmare to work on in real life - those model A engine bays are tiny!

Cheers

Alan

Yeah they are! Stuffing a big engine into a 20-30s ford kind of reminds me of this 26 t pickup with a ford cammer in it! This guy could still fit his hood on to. 

Link: https://www.motortrend.com/features/1926-ford-pickup-find-427-sohc-ford-motor/amp/

Side note: I might have to build a model inspired by this truck.

[Speedpro]

As progress continues, fitting of the engine is being somewhat of a challenge. The supercharger has a mount that is part of a crossmember that is to be added to the frame. This mount has to be in a precise location. The problem is, The supercharger is hitting the radiator. I ended up thinning all the parts of the supercharger, moving the drive belts closer to the engine block and thinning the drive belts (all thinning of the parts were done after these pics). The crossmember was then installed to the frame. Things are fitting pretty good now. 

 

Moving to the rear end, The 4 link bars from the T-bird kit were used. Made up some mounts to connect them too and modifyed the housing ends to fit the 9". Everything is working together well at this point. I could have done more back here, But frankly, I just didn't have the time

 

Another part that was cleaned up was the floor. Actually, I messed up the first floor by cutting it too much. I was more carefull with the second one. Once the floor was fit around the engine, I got the sanding sticks out and removed all the ribbing and details except a couple support bars on the bottom side. Really cleaned up the bottom side. Looks smooth.

 

 

It was time to decide on wheels and tires. The Pro Star wheels came out of a Bob Glidden T-Bird kit. I like these wheels because the rear wheel has a center cap. Latter pro stars I found didn't. Front tires are Front Runners also from the Glidden kit. The rears are some BFG's I'v had since the early 90's. Can't remember were they are from. Good looking tire. The firewall was installed and I started fitting it around the engine. Even the headers are mounted to the engine temporarily to make sure things are going to fit and have enough room around the whole engine

 

 

That's it for now. More to come and thanks for looking.

[Speedpro]

Things are beginning to take shape. Finnished getting the body around the engine at the firewall. The next item to be built is the engine cover inside the interior. This was probably the hardest part of the build. And took the most time. It was made out of sheet styrene of various thickness. This part, when installed, requires no glue. The trans tunnel will be glued to the floor, but not the cover. Its held in place by the floor and door panels.

 

I knew there was going to be an interference issue when the air box of the intake manifold was in place. It's going to take alittle extra work to make that work.

 

I'll have another update tomorrow. Thanks for looking and your comments................

Edited March 5, 2024 by Speedpro
Fix page

[Rattlecan Dan]

Wow. Watching some really nice work going on here. Great patience being displayed.

[Speedpro]

The engine cover is pretty much done. The last thing that it needed was the part built around the air box. fits perfect. The floor is finished after filling all holes and slots. 

 

The chassis is almost done in this picture. One thing that was done is lowered the front end. No photos of that being done, bummer.

 

Started priming some parts. Made some wheel backs for the rear wheels. To get the track width looking right with the big rear tires, the rear housing required some narrowing.

 

more to come..................................................

[chris chabre]

Love it so far!

[slusher]

19 hours ago, chris chabre said:

Love it so far!

Me also!

[Speedpro]

Did some mock up to see how things were looking.

 

 

Next time, Fun with exhausts..............................

More to come................

[slusher]

Been folllowing your build with interest!

[Speedpro]

Onto the exhaust, Found a couple mufflers in the parts box. They were cleaned up and drilled to accept a 3/32 evergreen tube that is being used to create the exhaust pipe with. Next the mufflers were figured on the chassis floor. Two holes were drilled through the muffler, placed back on the chassis floor and used to drill the holes to mount it to the floor. Next the mufflers were fitted with 1/16 evergreen rod. This method holds the muffler in place while the pipes are being made and fitted. When done, all the parts are removable so they can be painted. Makes the final install a piece of cake also.

 

Thought I had pics of making the tailpipes. Unfortunately there are none. All the exhaust parts were cleaned up and will get some alclad applied. At this point the body got some primer and everything is headed to paint.

 

more to come........

 

[FoMoCo66]

Nice method. Looks very cherry. Ceep it up.

[James2]

Excellent fab and engineering....

[slusher]

Nice exhaust work,I was wondering how it would work out..

[Speedpro]

Everything managed to get painted with no hicups along the way. Time was running out fast and that would have been disasterous. The body ,frame, engine and a few other things were painted with MCW Nassau Blue and cleared with MCW gloss enamel. In the interior, the seat and door cards are painted testors light earth. The floor is going to be a tan colored embossing powder. A few extras have been addedto finish it off. In these photo's, the engine is almost complete and installed. Got the exhaust in place. All the parts were layed out and double checked before final assembly.

 

I think I can explane how the front end was lowered using this picture. You'll notice were the front axle mounts, there are now 2 cross members. The bottom one is what is left of the original one that the radiator mounts too. Its important to keep this part of the frame to keep things in there stock position. The crossmember on top is a piece of sheet plastic mounted as high as I could get it. The square slot is for the locating block on the front spring. I also thinned down the spring and a new block was added back to the spring. The frame also required a notch cut out of the frame for the spring to pass through. I got this thing as low as possible in the front. Wish I had taken pics while doing this. 

 

In this photo, you can see the notch in frame for the front spring to pass through. All the parts that are not blue are painted with alclad finishes

 

Next update is the last one. Thanks for looking.