Another new Model A owner.
 

Been a member for a while, but never posted, only read and learned. My other cars are HotRodded so my posts were always kept over at the HAMB. I did some “wheelin’ and Dealin’ “ and traded some things and got myself a fairly stock ‘30 Coupe. The owner passed away 2 years ago, and he had to stop driving a few before that, so it’s been sitting in the same spot for a few years. I was able to get it started on fresh gas and starter fluid, but really couldn’t drive it, the engine spits and sputters pretty bad and barely has power. Was an amateur restoration (paint, steering column, long block, juice brakes) with a file folder full of receipts. It’s definitely a 5 footer, but I wanted something original, or pretty close to it. I’ve got a 70’s style T-Bucket, and my daughter has a ‘32 Roadster that was built for her on a TV show, and they’re both cool, loud, and obnoxious, so this little 4 banger with a muffler is a drastic change for our family.
And I got it yesterday on “Model A day”.
Ken

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Nice looking car, looks well taken care of.


Sounds like typical issues when starting a car that has sat too long.


Good luck, keep us posted on what you find.

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Congratulations.

Very nice looking car. Good luck. Enjoy.

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Welcome ! ! !


Nice looking.
Try cleaning the points, clean (replace=W18's) and adj plugs, reset timing for starters. Put some MMO in the gas.


Paul in CT

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Looks like your sediment bowl is half full of water. Hard to tell from photo.

W. Michael

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Thanks, Yeah I'm going to do all that, have to move some things around to be able to work in the garage.

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

No I drained the old gas out, took the line off the carb to do it to be sure gas flows nicely (it does) up to the carb, and that's fresh gas right out of the pump, into my 5 gallon container into the tank.

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Looks like a nice car and welcome. Is there a plug in the wiper motor hole in the intake manifold? Cannot tell from the picture, but there are no signs of a vacuum windshield wiper line.
Dave

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

for the future,always remove the distributor and pour a quart or two of oil down the hole,it fills the valve gallery and oils the main bearings..after sitting five or so years the main bearings were bone dry,and the valve gallery takes time to fill once its running (about 30 seconds or so) so you spun your crank dry for awhile.

the best course of action would be to pull the oil pan,clean the oil pump screen and any sludge out of the pan, check your rod and main bearings(not from the dry start,its just good insurance) and fill with fresh oil.Then go about finding your tune issue..this way,once its running you are good to go..you can hotrod the A motor btw..

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Very nice car.Congratulations and welcome.

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Ken,would it be rude to ask what you paid, if you are uncomfortable saying I understand. I bought one that looks to be in similar condition as yours. Mine had a new engine and new brakes, no rust and minor paint chips from rocks etc.
I have driven it 10,000 miles in 18 months and am enjoying it immensely, very reliable and really quite inexpensive to operate.

Gerry Birch Bay WA

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Looks good! Enjoy....

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

check compression. timing could be off. use the timing pin get it to tdc with the crank look in the distributor is the rotor trailing edge on post 1? Timing lever on the left of the steering wheel needs to be up for start and half down for idle and slow driving at bottom for high speed. I use a nurex wrench and it sets me so the last notch or two is too advanced. Clean your carb. clean plugs clean points. condenser could be bad coil could be bad.

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Why mess with the timing?! It is not going to mysteriously change by itself! Just set the point gap to specs, and the timing will be fine. (Unless somebody loosened the distributor cam screw for no reason.)
Actually, the timing/spark lever on the steering column is the main timing control!

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Thanks everyone for the advice, the cam lobe locking screw was loose so the timing fluctuated pretty bad, the carb was varnished up bad, leaks too. The 6 volt battery was/is low and I don’t have a 6 volt charger, only 12 volt ones. instead of jumping in half assed, because even as simple as these engines are, I’m actually unfamiliar with them, I’m doing a lot of reading and studying about them, and then will tackle the issues.
I actually did some trading to get this, and I think I roughly traded off about 7-8 grand worth of parts, Car, engines for it, give or take.

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Good references are;


the Model A Instruction Book
http://www.motormayhem.net/wp-upload...ion-Manual.pdf

The les Andrews Red Book
https://www.amazon.com/Model-Ford-me.../dp/0965824004


For Carb info
https://www.modela.org/

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Welcome to the Barn. It looks like you have a 28/29 water neck instead of a 30/31. Maybe the picture is off a bit and it is no big deal just making sure the upper radiator hose is long enough.


Mike

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

If you end up rebuilding the Carb and replace the Jets Renner's Corner sell Jet kits that are flow tested.
http://www.rennerscorner.com/carburetor.html

Re: Another new Model A owner.
 

Good Morning...While you have the pan down, also check your oil pump to see if it is nice and clean and not full of sludge and other 'stuff' that might be lurking in the engine. Nice car...Ernie in Arizona