by Kyle Smith // November 21, 2019 (submitted by Ted Lobley )
I rescued my father’s 1930 Model A from a life on jack stands. To keep it from regressing to its previous state, I plan to drive it regularly, which means it needs some work. All this leaves me in a conundrum: Do I make this car my own or keep it true to Dad’s vision?
My father and I differ on a handful of things, but we both agree on one thing about his Model A: If he had put it up for sale, it would have invariably become a hot rod. The coupe is complete and rust free. It would be a perfect base for a run-of-the-mill top chop and flathead install… and I just couldn’t watch it go through that. Stock Model As are too much fun to drive; this car doesn’t need to be cut up to be cool.
Which has me doing my latest mental gymnastics routine. I sit in the garage and look at the car while my mind flips and flops and tries to decide what to do with the car. The A needs work, and no small amount of it, to be safe and road-ready in earnest. The brakes could use attention, the wheel bearings are just about used up, and the front spindles are so loose the car catches a speed wobble at just 12 mph. Oh, and the exhaust leaks. Badly.
I see two options. I can keep this car true to my father’s experience with it and only replace the parts needed to keep it drivable and as stock as can be; or I can continue the patchwork history of the car and make it my own. Mainly, I want to do a few period correct modifications, but nothing beyond bolt-on parts—and nothing that couldn’t be finished by spring.
The look of the Model A with no hood is just awesome to me. When I first got it running the hood was off, simply for easy access and for photos documenting the process. I put it back on and realized I like the no-hood look enough that I pulled it back off again. The thought of adding a high-compression head, intake manifold for a single downdraft carb, and an exhaust header seems super cool to me. I could label and store the “original” parts on a shelf, and a weekend of work would.
Making these changes seems like a good decision to me for two reasons: The car isn’t factory original or correct, and I see no reason to freeze it in time as it is now. The coupe in my garage is a mishmash of parts but full of history. It’s these changes and their documentation over time that makes vehicles and stories like this so compelling. They become more than cars; they show the passage of time and become historical artifacts.
The best part about this Model A is that I have it now, and I get to tell its history while creating a new adventure for the car. I want the next chapter to be my tale of driving it and making it my own—while respecting the history it brings along. No V-8, no chop. Stock wheels and tires, and just a few little touches to make it mine. There are numerous factory-correct restored Model A Fords out there, and my struggle lies in my mentality that “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” But I can’t reasonably restore this one to perfect condition, so I might as well have some fun.
I guess I’ve made up my mind, but I invite your opinions in the comments below—who knows, you might sway me. No parts are on order yet, so there’s still time to reverse course.
A few of the comments included with this article:
It certainly looks like a nice old car. I would generally preserve it, but I have no problem with period correct modifications, such as head, intake and exhaust. I will say, in my humble? opinion, that the hood off look does not look as good as you think it does. Maybe it would be better after detailing the engine compartment, but it looks tacky in the current photos. I see several people telling you to convert to hydraulic (juice) brakes. I have no personal experience but I did notice when looking at the cars of the Model A touring society this past fall, that most of their cars had original mechanical brakes.
Feel free to ignore my opinions! I’m glad you are not hot rodding it!
Not sure how anyone could regret going original with a project like this. Having said that, I agree that bolt-on changes and saving original parts is a good option too. Be sure to keep as much of your dad as you can in what you do. Hopefully, part of the enjoyment of having it, is being reminded of him when you’re in it. It’s a good problem to have. Enjoy!
It’s always more difficult to bring a car back to factory correct, and so easy to bolt on parts from a catalog. Anybody can do the bolt on thing. It takes brain power to search for parts along with research to make it factory correct. If you take it back to stock you’ll be insuring that it has a future in a museum or with a purist. I vote to make it factory correct, and just buy yourself one that’s already been chopped up.
My two cents. Anybody can throw money at a car and turn it into whatever. Original old cars cannot be re-created. My barn find /survivor 28 roadster is getting new mechanical brakes, Winfield head, 97 carb but I am not even going to try to polish that original paint or remove some rust. At shows I encourage kids to sit in it and let their folks take pictures. Maybe I can help start a love for old cars in a youngster. But all of this is very subjective, I suggest you do what will make you happy.
