Frame Progress

Well, you have to start somewhere, and the frame is probably the best place to get things going. The search is always on for parts, but it was time to get things rolling on the frame work of this project.

This frame was picked up in Illinois, just a few miles from the border of Iowa. It's an orginal straight model A 28-29 frame.

Step one was to knock out all the old rivets on the cross members for the front and center. Then begin filling those old holes.

A wire wheel and a sanding disk or two revealed the metal under 80 years of rust.

A big task on these old frames is filling up the old holes. There are a ton of them on the top, sides and bottom. I didn't even bother to count, just got down to business. The small holes can be filled by welding with a copper piece to back it, while the larger holes need some sort of filler. A fender washer works well for this.

Here is a larger hole filled with a fender washer and ground flat

Never Never knew there was an 1 1/2" hole here!

Here is the side of the frame with the holes filled.

The old front cross member that was cracked was replaced with a new Model A styled cross member courtesy of Ionia Hot Rods

After as much clean up on the frame that could be done by hand I had the frame blasted to get all the nooks and crannies. After a fresh coat of weld through primer, I started boxing the frame back to front.

The boxing plates are welded in here with clean up left to do.

Heres where two plates came together. It was v'ed on the edges to sink the weld in better. More clean up grinding left to do.

Made some quick gussets for the rear member to the boxing plate. I dunno that it helps all that much but it can't hurt. Passenger side.

Here's a better look at the boxed frame from the inside.

Wanted to finish the box to the other side of the front cross member, but not the whole horn so I did a little looking around to come up with this idea which mimics the curve of the horn tip.

Had to do a bunch of relief cuts to get the curve correct. Here it's roughed out. I sandwiched both sides together then cut away for symmetry.

Here it is all welded in place.

Cut up a small part of my old center cross member to get a nice radius piece to fit at the end of the boxing plate and the front cross member.

the piece worked well with some finessing and grinding.

A quick shot of primer shows the front horn grinding. I may not need much body filler!

Here is the grafted in radius piece ground and primed.

-Up next, Engine mounts and center member.

Frozen Lakes vs. Dry Lakes

As the Winter takes hold on your sole outside in Detroit I can't help but think what kept people warm back in the day. I get bitter cold just reading that it's 10 degrees outside right now. Awhile back I did a shoot at the Ford Piquette plant and came across a photo of the famous "999" Racer aka The Red Devil. This was actually one of two cars built by Ford, the other one was dubbed "The Arrow" and was painted yellow instead of Red as above. Logic only says that if you wanna race that you'll need two cars right?

The Arrow crashed and killed the driver Frank Day during a race in 1903. What remained of the Arrow was brought back to Henry Ford for repair where its yellow paint scheme was retired and became known as the new 999 as the original 999 was retired.

The new 999 was personally driven by Henry Ford in a "land" speed race in January 1904 after the repairs were made. It achieved a speed of 91.37 on the frozen Lake St Clair. While out on the other side of the country folks were racing the dry lakes like Muroc, El Mirage and the Salt Flats of Bonneville, we had Henry Ford throwing the throttle down on frozen lakes!

I think if I could pull off speed trials on frozen lakes in the winter, I wouldn't mind it only being 10 degrees outside. Something to make plans for next winter....

EDELBROCK *new* 94 CARBURETORS?

With all the craze and nostalgia of the two barreled carbs being on every hot rod again, I guess the market is here to help you keep it looking old with something new. Speedway Motors did their version of the two barrel modeled after the Stromberg called the "9-Super-7" after no one seemed to be able to afford the genuine new remanufacture/reengineered Stromberg 97. Speedway made them more affordable then their competition, so I'm curious about these Edelbrock 94's.

Hopefully it's true about the 94's being made in the USA. That would be great... but I wonder about the affordability of them! I'm sitting on 6 originals that I have plans for.. Mooohooohaha!

Press Release:

Edelbrock 94 Carburetor In 1938, when Henry Ford needed a more efficient carburetor for his new 24-stud V8 engine, he contracted development to the Chandler-Groves Company and the 94 two-barrel carburetor was

born, fueling Ford Flathead engines until production ceased in 1957. Flash-forward to 2010 and the
94 is once again available, by none other than Edelbrock! Adding to Edelbrock‘s reputation of bolton
and perform carburetors, the Edelbrock 94 two barrel carburetor is intended for nostalgic and
period correct hot rods and restorations, providing the most accurate and best performing solution on
the market. The Edelbrock 94 features die-cast bowl and air horn with a cast iron 3-bolt flange. It‘s
throttle shaft has been extended to make it easier to set-up dual and triple carburetor combinations,
especially when used with Edelbrock‘s exclusive progressive linkage. Extensive testing, both on the
road and in our state-of-the-art engine dynamometer facility has
allowed Edelbrock to fine tune power valve and jetting
combinations to deliver smooth and strong performance.
It is finished off with a zinc-dichromate coating for
durability and classic looks.
• 3-bolt flange and cast iron base
• Designed and calibrated for use
in small cubic inch engines
• Match with an Edelbrock intake
manifold, cylinder heads, linkage
and fuel blocks for the complete
classic look of the hot rod era
• Will fit Edelbrock Ford Flathead
intake manifolds #1100, #1103, #1108, #1109 and Small-Block
Chevy #5414 and #5418
• Coming in Spring of 2010…
Triple-Deuce manifold for Ford 289/302
Edelbrock 94 Carburetor (Primary)...........................................................................#1151
Edelbrock 94 Carburetor (Secondary).......................................................................#1152