'30 model A coupe

[Speedpro]

Thanks to everyone for taking a look and all the great comments. Very much appreciated. 

I have been working on the seat and trying to figure out exactly where it was going to be located. I found this hard to do, realizing that it would be a good idea to maybe have the steering column in place might help a little. To make things easy down the road, I decided to use a pin to help attach the column and drag link to the frame. When the frame was being cleaned up, the mount for the column on the inside of the frame was removed as it was not needed. A hole was drilled through the frame for the pin to mount the column too. Also drilled a hole in the bottom of the steering box. At the drop down on the dash, I decided to use a collar that was made using a piece of .100 solid rod drilled out to 1/16th that will slide onto the column. Had to file the drop down on the dash to fit the collar that will support the column. The drag link was a little more than just attach and be done. Ended up drilling into the link to fit the pin going through the frame, shorting the arm and since there is a slight interference with the radius rod, I made a longer pin and a sleeve to get the drag link to clear the radius rod. I know this is a small thing, but the hole in the firewall for the column was filed in and now fits the column much better. I think now the seat can be fit and be confident it's where it needs to be.

 

 

That's it for now. Till next time......................

[Kit Karson]

Super Klean Kolumn Installation! -KK

[Speedpro]

Below is part of a post I made on the previous page about Fixing the upside down wheel clyinders. It has been brought to my attention by @NOBLNG that there is actually nothing wrong with the parts in the kit. I thought it was just a mistake when the kit was made and thought I was doing good by showing how to fix it. I apologize to any builders that used this on their build. I'll try to do better in the future.

Speedpro

 

 

 

Ah, fixing one of the biggest flaws of this kit, the upside down wheel cylinder trick! I'm sure everyone knows about this so here's a couple picks of what I did to correct this issue...........put a flat on other side, add material to original flat, sand to shape and you are now 180 degrees in the right direction and the wheel cylinders are doing the same.

 

IF you are building a factory stock '30 Ford Model A, you really don't want to do this modification! 

 

 

[bill-e-boy]

1 hour ago, Speedpro said:

IF you are building a factory stock '30 Ford Model A

You would need to find some old rod brakes. Ol' Henry was a little late to the hydraulic brake party - 1939 for him

[Kit Karson]

Hey Brother! The part you ordered is packaged and ready to ship!! -KK

[Speedpro]

The time has come to start working with the interior. I have a seat from a '33 ford that I was working on awhile back. I'm going to bite the bullet and go the distance and make that seat fit the car. But before the seat, I wanted to take care of the slots that can be seen on the bottom side of the floor boards outer edge. This was a easy task. A couple strips made from 0.20 evergreen sheet were glued to the bottom of the floor board. I probably could have made them to be not so noticable, but chose to make them be seen. Adds a liitle character to a other wise flat surface. All that was done to the door cards was to sand a little off the 6 tabs that sit in the slots.

 

 

I think I have a fair plan for the rear deck of the seat as it needs to be lengthened. A piece of 0.60 evergreen was shaped to fit the opening for the rear deck. The rear deck was cut off the seat. It was done this way for adjustment reasons. It will be grafted into the piece that was made to be the new rear deck. After the two parts were joined, the seat and the new rear deck were glued back together. 

 

Some finish work still needs to be done. When fitting the two parts back together, it was obviuos that the fit of the overall seat was going to be right on the money. One thing that was noted was the steering column was not lined up center with the driver's seat. That will be adjusted. And what to do with those pesky door cards!

Till next time.............................

[Speedpro]

Worked on the door panels. Just had to get rid of the rolled pleat look. Made a couple templets out of tape. Transfered to .015 evergreen sheet. Eazy pezy. 

 

 

Not sure where it's going from here. It'll work its self out.

 

[Kit Karson]

You make it look so simple, Brother! Now, do something amazing with the dash! -KK

[Speedpro]

Some things are meant to be, and this just has to be done. I'v been working on the interior on the '30 and for a noticable change, the rear seat from the amt '33 ford street rod as been incorperated into the build. The door panels were smoothed out using evergreen sheet. But the stock dash sitting in the interior just wasn't looking so good anymore.  Looking for options, a few different dashes were looked at to replace the kit dash board. One of those dashes was from the '33 kit. It was test fit into the interior bucket and to say it fit perfect was almost an understatement. Right off the parts tree, it needed no modifications to fit. Amazing, What are the chances! So the dash from the '33  is now being used. The theme for this build is to moreless modify all the parts in some way. The plan is to remove the stereo/glove box door, speedo and tach and the two gauges in the middle. The toggle switches are staying. They will be marked as window switches because the window cranks have been removed. They were alittle close to the dash. As far as the vents go, both will be filled. I want the dash to have a smooth appearance. This dash has alot a character and I think it adds just the right touch for the interior. 

 

 

Got he dash cut out and vents filled. During the final fitting, I found that the dash has a arch to it. To the point that a piece of material was added where the top of the dash and the cowl meet. That was sanded down to fill the slight void it had. Now that the dash fit the top, I found that it needed alittle support to make it stay in the position it needed to be when installed. A piece of round solid rod fixed that.

 

 

The seat needs some adjustment at this point. This part mounts alot more forward. The old one mounts under the cowl. I'm also curious about the angle of the steering column. Thought I was past all that. I was, but this is way worth it. Thinking a section may be in the future...................

Thats it for now.................

[NOBLNG]

I like your clean methodical approach to all these modifications Paul.👍😎

[DJMar]

On 6/16/2025 at 1:20 PM, Speedpro said:

But before the seat, I wanted to take care of the slots that can be seen on the bottom side of the floor boards outer edge. This was a easy task. A couple strips made from 0.20 evergreen sheet were glued to the bottom of the floor board. I probably could have made them to be not so noticable, but chose to make them be seen. Adds a liitle character to a other wise flat surface. All that was done to the door cards was to sand a little off the 6 tabs that sit in the slots.

Great minds think alike and all that. I did something similar on my original issue of the '29 kit. I noticed that when building the channeled version, those notches are visible just outside the frame rails, and it was making me unhappy. Instead of trying to build the pan and interior as a unit and filling those gaps with putty, I added some .010 styrene covers. I had to work around the existing floor framing, but the idea is the same. It's one of those engineering bugaboos that makes me love/hate these kits.

Anyway, your work on this particular '30 is super clean and really inspiring. I  might have to revisit the '30 in my stash with some new inspiration.

 

[Speedpro]

19 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

I like your clean methodical approach to all these modifications Paul.👍😎

Thanks greg, My approach to building is more of "there is no plan, figure it out when ya get there". I just do one thing at a time and do it the best I can when I'm there.

 

17 hours ago, DJMar said:

Great minds think alike and all that. I did something similar on my original issue of the '29 kit. I noticed that when building the channeled version, those notches are visible just outside the frame rails, and it was making me unhappy. Instead of trying to build the pan and interior as a unit and filling those gaps with putty, I added some .010 styrene covers. I had to work around the existing floor framing, but the idea is the same. It's one of those engineering bugaboos that makes me love/hate these kits.

Anyway, your work on this particular '30 is super clean and really inspiring. I  might have to revisit the '30 in my stash with some new inspiration.

 

Thank's DJ, It's interesting to see what builders do with things like this. I've done it a couple times and this is the easiest way to deal with it. I removed all the floor framing as I wanted it to be smooth. Made it alot easier.  You did it the way I ended up doing it the first time I built this car. Came out as expected, but is was too much work.  Thanks for checking out my '30.

[Speedpro]

Have a small update on the seat. Decided to add headrests. The idea is to cut up another back seat (the seat was supplied by my good friend @Kit Karson) using just the top pleat of the seat back. It was shaped to what looked right and added some material to the back side to add some thickness. I used my calipers to make sure they are Identical. The plan is to mount the headrests on pins above the seat top. But plans change. I came up with a idea that will work with the seat better and not be so intrusive. And I didn't for how tall they looked. I took a measurement of the pleats, then applied that to the headrests. Now the headrests are the size of the pleats and the seat was cut to accept them. The end result is they don't sit so high and they blend right into the seat. Much happier with the way they look. Still needs a little fine tuning. 

 

I think the seat is done getting any more mods. When the top is put on, it look's perfect. I also cut up the rear package tray of the donor seat, and the speakers will be mounted in the kick panel below the dash.  

That's it for now...........................

[Kit Karson]

@Speedproglad to have had the extra '33 sedan rear seat to be donated to your A coupe project! The end result came out looking like the added headrests grew there naturally! Just one more add piece of eye-candy on the inside!! -KK

[SpikeSchumacher]

Amazing work going into this, Paul.