I stumbled on an add in the "list" for a set of brand new MT Sportsman SR 30-1200 tires. It took two days of calls/texts (I HATE texting) to get in contact with the seller.
Since the the price was right (did I say the price was "Dirt Cheap"), I jumped in the Diesel for a 50 mile round trip where I found a new pair of shoes in plastic trash bags in the guys bedroom???
These appear to be a more appropriate size for the Coupe. I hope that the tread pattern is mild enough to minimize rock throwing.
Eat your heart out Howard, these are gonna hook up. You gonna be sittin in the smoke, and I be gone like the wind (maybe that was Gone With The Wind??).
Having had some very interesting experiences with local upholsterers here, I got together with a shop in Arkansas who does Model A interiors routinely. Very reasonable cost.
This resulted from visiting local shops that I would not take my "A" to as well as being treated like I was a turkey that badly needed to be plucked??? I am sure that my Model A does not needed titainium foil clad carbon fiber composite panel material!!
Basically, this is a standard "A" and most of the interior is actually stock "A". There are a few differences and I want to use hidden fasteners wherever I can.
Lee suggested that I prepare the interior panels myself to insure that any differences are handled prior to upholstery. He provided a set of paper patterns to work from.
He's pretty sharp. After cutting and shaping the panels, my Plan A for the fasteners went in the trash. The interior of the "A"is a "install in sequence' project that cannot be totally prefabbed and snapped in.
We are currently reviewing options for "Plan B" on fasteners, and hope to have Lee's approval of the fabric today. With approval, I can take the interior garnish to be powder coated in a matching brown.
Did I mention that after 10 hours of cleaning and polishing my aluminum windshield (including carefully removing the glued in ,scratched glass) the glass shop (knows everything!) promptly broke the frame into four pieces. They're sorry, I'm not the least bit impressed!!
I'm definitely old school and definitely as old as dirt. I went down to the shop last week and bent up a couple tail pipes and picked up two pencil tips. No stainless rolled slash Megs stuff for me!!
The exhaust is now complete (fitted, trimmed, and hung). I like it (just like 1960)! A side note, being raised in Dad's muffler shop in East L.A. means that Dick, Tom, and I had every conceivable exhaust on our cars for years. We changed exhaust systems when the tips got dirty!
I wanted this one to be simple and clean at the rear. The only new technology is the LED licence plate light and third brake light. The 39 ford tail lights are LED also with a Rapid Fire circuit.
It's gettin there!!
The folks at Weiand are correct, the B&M 142 will bolt to the Weiand manifold. They neglected to mention that the B&M is 1/4" shorter than the newer Weiand. I didn't pay enough attention to the Weiand dimensioned drawing, or measured wrong?? but the bottom line is that the supercharger drive pulleys did not line up. I mocked this up four times and measured 25 times and nothing changed.....
.222 inches out of line.
That's not all, the new V-belt pulley set was .145 out of line also. Water pump and alternator pulleys were .145 behind the crank pulley. Two unrelated systems and 5 pulleys, all out of line.
It took a lot of talking, but I finally convinced the machine shop to machine the new harmonic damper for me. I had them remove .145" from the nose and reinstalled the water pump/alternator/crank pulley assembly and that aligned the V-belt drive.
Mocked up once more and then had them remove .072" from the back of the Weiand crank pulley. All is lined up correctly now. After fabbing an adjustable Idler mount, I think it might run.
Measure 25 times.......cut once! The new harmonic was identical to the original beat up 327 Harmonic in every respect.
It's time to stop looking at it and get back to work. I got the EZ Wire kit out and spread it all over the garage. Huge looms and this is only the 12 wire kit. If you follow their instructions it works very well.
I used this same kit on the '34 Chevy and was more than pleased.
After changing the looms to my specifications, the fuse panel and all of the looms had to be installed and laced through the car. The "A" is about 3 feet shorter than the Chevy and there was MORE then enough wire.
I'm a plug and play kind of guy and the instrument cluster, light switch, and a misc. accessory loom had to be soldered into plugs. This allows removal of anything to be worked with at a later date. Twelve wires in the instrument cluster plug!
What do you think??
The ignition key is on the right to prevent inserting it under my knee cap during an unforseen incident.
I had to take a break this morning to call "My Machinist". This is Dick's birthday and I had to find out if he was older than dirt or just as old as dirt!
He's about 5 weeks older than me so I guess he is only as old as dirt.
The radiator is fitted to the frame on polyethylene pads and the shell then mounted and assembled. A few issues with this but all resolved prior to painting the shell.
The exhaust is run back to the rear of the seat. New brake lines bled and good.
Prior to installing the fuel tank, I needed an upholstered panel on the bulkhead in front of the tank. Actually need materials to upholster the inside of the trunk but in front of the tank had to be done now.
Fortunately, Bart arrived for a visit and we cut and glued a panel for the bulkhead after a quick visit to the
upholstery supply.
Bart is an extremely handy cabinet maker with advanced skills in every home improvement area but I never knew he could 'polster.
We did have some fun!
I think I'm going to keep it!!
Amazing myself, I got the body on with no scratches and only minor bloodletting.
Thanks to my support crew and Mr. Clearcoat, I have a start on one of the nicest vintage cars I have ever owned.
If I bought two plots, ya' think I could be buried in this??
Dick and Tom be lookin' over their shoulders, I'm going to park next to them real soon!!!
I won't have to park in the back lot with this one!
These appear to be a more appropriate size for the Coupe. I hope that the tread pattern is mild enough to minimize rock throwing. 
