Investigation of vehicle history

[olut]

Hi guys,

Since a few weeks I am a proud owner of my second model A, after a Roadster Pickup I recently purchased a 1929 Phaeton from Casselberry, FL.

I imported the vehicle on a single ride container to Austria and currently the vehicle is under restoration, in two months we need to be ready to obtain the vehicle registration and passing the technical approval.

During "stripping" the vehicle, we found some interesting technical details, which differ from our 1929 roadster pickup.

1) the fire wall passenger side, the area which is used to pass the steering wheel shaft for right side driving versions, is punched out exactly in the shape of what is done on the left side.
--> could this be an indication, the the vehicle was originally built as a right side driving vehicle ??

2) the previously renovated front axle shows some alterations, shocks and levers for shocks are missing
--> this is cleared meanwhile, the vehicle has been modified to hydraulic brakes and has been fitted to the original brakes by the previous owners

3) the vehicle is currently painted in cream white with black fenders, we found a total of 7 paints, the original one was some sort of tan, just like our roadster pick up is painted.
--> has there ever been a cream white 1929 phaeton ??

4) the vehicle story tells us, that some years ago, approx. 30 years, the vehicle has been returned from South America, where it was in use for several years. It was an US-build vehicle, so it was most likely not a right side steering vehicle from the beginning. If it ever has been modified from left side steering to right side steering, before it has been build back to left side steering, which South American Country had left side traffic between 1929 and, let´s say 1955 ??

Any input from you guys is highly appreciated, I am trying to investigate the history of this beautiful vehicle.

Best Greetings

Albert

[modelAtony]

Olut, very nice looking pair of A's there. Don't have any info for you , but thanks for the great pictures. Have fun modelAtony tony white Lafayette, LA

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by olut

Hi guys,

Since a few weeks I am a proud owner of my second model A, after a Roadster Pickup I recently purchased a 1929 Phaeton from Casselberry, FL.

I imported the vehicle on a single ride container to Austria and currently the vehicle is under restoration, in two months we need to be ready to obtain the vehicle registration and passing the technical approval.

During "stripping" the vehicle, we found some interesting technical details, which differ from our 1929 roadster pickup.

1) the fire wall passenger side, the area which is used to pass the steering wheel shaft for right side driving versions, is punched out exactly in the shape of what is done on the left side.
--> could this be an indication, the the vehicle was originally built as a right side driving vehicle ??

2) the previously renovated front axle shows some alterations, shocks and levers for shocks are missing
--> this is cleared meanwhile, the vehicle has been modified to hydraulic brakes and has been fitted to the original brakes by the previous owners

3) the vehicle is currently painted in cream white with black fenders, we found a total of 7 paints, the original one was some sort of tan, just like our roadster pick up is painted.
--> has there ever been a cream white 1929 phaeton ??

4) the vehicle story tells us, that some years ago, approx. 30 years, the vehicle has been returned from South America, where it was in use for several years. It was an US-build vehicle, so it was most likely not a right side steering vehicle from the beginning. If it ever has been modified from left side steering to right side steering, before it has been build back to left side steering, which South American Country had left side traffic between 1929 and, let´s say 1955 ??

Any input from you guys is highly appreciated, I am trying to investigate the history of this beautiful vehicle.

Best Greetings

Albert

Chief, (RIP) my Dad, always said, "Model A's are like Dogs, you cain't own jist ONE"! Too bad they don't MULTIPLY
Bill W.

[Stretch Cab]

If the car came from Argentina it was probably a Right hand drive car. My Cabriolet came from there and it was Right hand drive. It is not uncommon to find S. American cars that have been changed to Left hand once they were brought to the US. Good Luck!

[Lona]

Basically, all the South American countries originally under British influence drove on the left side of the road while the remainder drove on the right. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay changed from the left side to the right in 1945; Portugese influenced Brazil in 1928.

Can you imagine the amount of accidents that happened the day they changed? Good to be in the body shop business then.

There are several folks on this forum who have detailed knowledge on the Canadian and overseas model A manufacturing facilities and the numbering systems for these cars. Hopefully, they will reply to you with answers that will help you determine the origin of your car. I'll keep an eye on this thread and if nobody replies to you in a week or so, I'll try to give you some names you can contact. However, from your description, I suspect your car was not made in the US but I will leave that determination to the experts.

Glen

[olut]

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Thank you guys for your kind input, it really opens my horizont.

Meanwhile we came to the point, where we decided to go for a body off frame restoration. During stripping the car we have now evidence, that the vehicle was build as a RHD, that further means, it has been put into operation possibly in Argentina. The conversion into LHD was professionally done with proper components, except the proper steering wheel shaft bracket and the bit sloppy cut out.

This car must have tons of stories to tell....

[1930artdeco]

The paint scheme while nice I don't think is original. If you like it and it is a good paint job why not leave it until you decide to do the full restoration. It would easier to change colors then.

Mike

[olut]

Hi Mike, since we decided for body off restoration we will dry ice blast everything and start from scratch, according original color scheme ...

Best Greetings

[dave in australia]

Olut, I think the original colour that you take for a light tan, could be Arabian Sand, or Santa Barbara Sand.

[Charlville]

Model A's were built at Trafford Park Manchester & Cork Eire for the GB market.

Dagenham opened in 1931 and for a while ran parallel with Trafford Park, so there may have been a A's built at Dagenham on model runout?

[pooch]

Has your steering column bracket just been swapped over ?

Does it have a hole through for the choke rod ?

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by olut

Hi Mike, since we decided for body off restoration we will dry ice blast everything and start from scratch, according original color scheme ...

Best Greetings

I never heard of dry ice blast. How does that work?
Thanks

[Charlville]

Here you go, it's gaining in popularity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry-ice_blasting

[Tom Wesenberg]

I figured that's about how it would work, but Dry Ice boils at such a low temperature it's hard to imagine it working as a solid or even as a liquid when it's in such small pieces. With that much rapid cooling it also seems like it could damage panels, or crack cast parts.

[olut]

Hi guys,

About dry ice. Dry ice for blasting is available in different sized pallets, larger pallets are for rough works, smaller ones for delicate blasting. Next to that you need a high flow air compressor, the air/pressure must be adjustable.

Advantages: dry ice never damages the metal ground and never causes a surface stretching effect, does not close pores in which humidity can remain. Dry ice is frozen CO2, once vaporized it leaves a dry surface. There is less dirt than using sand.

This technology is getting pretty common for automotive restoration, is also used to remove graffities from stone without damaging the surface.

Referring the whole for the steering wheel shaft: we found clear evidence of the original position on the right, the choke stick got a retrofit bracket under the tank. So it is 100% confirmed, this vehicle was manufactured as a RHD vehicle. We decided to fit a perfectly cut blind plate for the right whole and use the two existing threads to fix it, we don't want to eliminate the history of this car.

...I like this history, born in US, lived for decades possibly in Argentina, returned to the US and retires in Vienna, Austria

[olut]

http://youtu.be/2hS95SV7tJU