Ford : Model A Coupe

OVERVIEW:

This is a very unique and surely one of a kind 1930 Ford Model A Coupe hot rod. Having owned it for 22 years. it was built with over 8. 00 hours of labor and love put into it. with the completed build hitting the road in 1999. It has been driven about 10. 00 miles since. In that time it has been tweaked and fine-tuned along the way to improve its overall performance and handling characteristics. Although built to be driven rather than a trailer queen. all aspects of this vehicle still appear and perform as new.

The engineer. builder. and owner of this custom is a professional Red Seal journeyman mechanic who has also trained and mastered in many other disciplines. including welding and electronics. The photo documented project included cleaning the all steel body to bare metal. professional chassis and engine building. professional custom leather upholstery work. excellent body and paint work. all tastefully done.
Most of the fasteners used in this build are stainless. A manual full of notes detailing the work. modifications. electronics. etc… has been compiled by the owner and will go with the car.

This sweet ride is an eye catcher where ever it goes. Double takes are the order of the day when you walk by the open sided hood and see 3 times more cylinders than Henry put in it. It's smooth and fast. and you can be sure you'll get to the show on time!

DRIVETRAIN:

The engine is a Jaguar V-12 (326 ci. /5. 3 L). rated at 290 hp. . removed from a 1976 XJ-S with 46K original miles on it. Its internals were in excellent condition. so its build was limited to new bearings. rings. valves. and gaskets.
There is no Lucas present anywhere in the car. the Prince of Darkness has been banished for good. It carries ceramic coated original factory manifolds. Bosch fuel injection. and an SDS-EFI fuel computer. The fuel system was upgraded about 3 years ago to Wideband O2 fuel management. This ensures accurate air/fuel mix thru the entire range. resulting in around 20 MPG on average now vs. the 12-14 of a stock engine.

This engine starts easily. runs smooth. sounds great. and accelerates like……a Jag.
Start-up is via MSD-6A electronic ignition. this has an MSD mag pick up in the distributor. A new starter motor was installed last fall. it is a Denso permanent magnet reduction drive unit and uses only 85 amps to crank the engine.
It takes its breath thru dual custom air cleaners. using ‘80 K-car filter elements. Engine cooling comes by way of custom water manifolds. a high density radiator. and an electric fan. It has excellent cooling and never overheats.
Interior cooling uses a Vintage Air condenser. Sanden compressor. and ARA dash unit. This is an air conditioning unit only. no heat. so this car is meant for fair weather driving and going south.

The transmission is a rebuilt GM Turbo 400 3 speed automatic. as used on the XJ-S. It has a Transgo shift kit. and a 5 year old 3½” heavy duty driveshaft by Drive Systems. with heavy duty Spicer U-joints.

Rear differential is ‘72 Nova 10 bolt taken from his original owner car. It is non-posi with all new factory GM 3. 08 gears. and performance billet steel axles.

CHASSIS:

The custom built. solid piece frame is made of 2”x4” 140 wall square tubing. built on a jig. and all TIG welded. It is styled after a TCI frame. but longer. The front section ahead of the firewall has a 12” stretch over stock Model A length. the rear is stock length.

 The finished frame was painted black with acrylic enamel.

Front suspension has tubular A-arms with Kugel stainless steel upper A-frame pivots.  

 Chrysler torsion bars were modified for the application. GM '69 Z-28 spindles and disc brakes.

Rear suspension is a 4 link set-up. coils with air bags. and separate shocks.  

 Rear brakes are '70 Olds Cutlass with finned drums. The brakes are non-power.

The power steering rack is '85 Chrysler LeBaron GTS.

It has a new aluminized exhaust system with dual stainless steel performance catalytics. shorty oval mufflers. and chrome exhaust tips.

Fuel tank is custom built 15 gallon capacity with built in baffles. and uses an AC Delco fuel injection pump. It is located within the trunk.

Front tires are GoodYear Eagle GT II 195/60R15 with 3K miles on them.
Rear tires are GoodYear Eagle ST 255/70R15 with just over 6K miles on them.
Wheels are '69 Corvette Rallies. 15x6 front. 15x7 rear. with a 2” negative offset.
The hats are Corvette. the center caps are custom billet aluminum. and the stainless beauty rings are Vintage Wheel out of California.

There is a light duty hitch mounted at the back which was intended for pulling a small fiberglass trailer. It was never used and is easily removed.

BODY & PAINT:

The body is original all steel Henry. from our dry western climate here in Alberta. All structural wood has been replaced with TIG welded steel. The only wood remaining in this car is that which has been used as tacking strips for upholstery.
The solid body was Redi-Stripped. and subsequently soda blasted. followed by glass bead blasting. The steel was then washed with metal-prep. and 100% primed with DP-90 epoxy primer prior to body work.
The four fenders are Westcott fiberglass.

The body remains stock height and is very straight. An all steel roof insert panel was fabricated from a '78 Chev wagon ribbed roof section. It was 100% TIG welded into place. and metal shrinking performed to result in a bare minimum use of filler. Roof bows were made of ½” square tubing. and thermal insulation was installed.

The owner elected to assure longevity by welding in new metal at the bottoms of the front cowl and the bottom front part of the rear quarters.
The upper cowl was welded in and filled. The original cowl lights were subsequently removed as the owner didn't care for them. The side holes in the cowl for the mounting arms were left and ‘eye balls' were inserted with the intent of lighting them up in the future.

Stainless steel '32 Ford door hinge pins were used. Doors are original steel and solid.
The hood is one piece. all steel. side hinged. and awesome straight. There are no side panels. The rad shell is fiberglass.

The trunk lid is stock Henry steel with new hinges. Under side is finished with an aluminum panel. It uses a Miata release cable accessed under the driver seat.

The side aprons and running boards are all steel with a one foot extension added at the rear to absorb the lengthened frame. Running boards are covered with a pyramid rubber.

There are only a few minor flaws that have surfaced since the build. There is a small bump on the passenger side of the front cowl ahead of the windshield. caused by a wrench slipping when working under the dash. There are 3 small stars on the left front fender. caused by rocks hitting the underside of the fender prior to gravel guard being applied. There are fine-line cracks in the rear cowl. between the roof and trunk lid. along the seam where the quarter panels meet the rear cowl area and lower pan. These appeared a number of years ago and have not worsened over time. likely caused by just enough flex between panels while driving.

All other specs. spots. smears and such that appear in some of the pics are primarily dust. pollen. and bugs from the half hour highway drive prior to picture taking. They are showing up as a result of the pics being taken in the bright sun. which may validate the old adage….
……. "black cars look better in the shade".

All panels and body work are very straight on this car. Quality materials. primers and paints were used in the refinishing. Paint is DuPont Centari acrylic enamel. 99A Black. A Black Forest Green pearl was added into the clear top coat and shows up as a highlight under certain lighting conditions. In a couple of the pics the pearl appears as dust specs. not so in real life. The finish is for the most part ‘gun finish'. as only spot polishing was performed where required. The finish has excellent shine. and is quite smooth. The finish would be further enhanced with an overall cut polish.

ELECTRICAL:

Complete new custom made wiring harness. It has a circular MIL (military aircraft) 32 pin main master connector at the firewall to connect the motor and front end harness. All relays under the dash are tagged for identification. The battery is located in a separate compartment within the trunk.

Key electronic units are located behind the seats. Mounted on the passenger side is the fuel management computer. it has its own hand-held programmer which is easy to use. and does not require a laptop. The red box labeled PLX is the Wideband controller.
The driver side is home to the Sherwood 180 amp audio amplifier.

The rear mounted speakers are 8” Kicker woofers. The other speakers are Vifa high end units from Denmark. mid-range in the doors. and tweeters up in the front roof corners. The stereo unit is a Pioneer am/fm/cd din-mount in-dash.

In-dash gauges are Classic Instruments. and include water temp. . oil. speedo. tach. volt meter and fuel. A series of colored in-dash LEDs above the steering column serve as shift position indicators.

Equipped with a Clifford alarm system which comes with a manual.
The car has servo door lock pins. which also have a hidden manual release in case of battery failure.

Headlamps are halogen. Front turn signals are separate units under the fenders. the rears are thru the tail lights.
The windshield wiper motor is Austin Mini. cable drive transmission. and is mounted up top under the visor. Owners preference was to remove the arms. so the unit has been disconnected but is easily hooked back up.

INTERIOR & BRIGHTWORK:

The dash panel is solid ¾” Birds Eye maple. with an anodized billet aluminum overlay which houses the gauges.

The tilt steering column is '77 Impala. with a leather wrapped Lecarra steering wheel.

The seats and all interior panels are professionally and beautifully upholstered with quality Lackawanna automotive leather hides. and there is a matching extra hide that will go with the car. Lackawanna is known for its quality leather from penned cattle. ensuring the hides are free of marks and scarring.

The bucket seats are modified '80 Honda Prelude. seatbelt equipped. The back sides of the back rests have been left open. this is only evident when the back rests are tilted forward for access to the electronics.
The kick. door. and rear interior panels. as well as the sill plates are aluminum. with custom leather upholstered patterns. The window crank handles are billet aluminum. as are the latch handles which are mounted to original type repro latches.

The headliner is cloth. There is a custom built leather/maple upper console which houses the dome light.
The black carpet is high density automotive grade.

All new Low “E” green tinted safety glass was installed.
All brightwork on the car is show quality. The grille is a quality stainless reproduction. Headlight buckets are original polished stainless units. adorned with correct original Ford script glass lenses in perfect condition. The dropped headlight bar is stainless with stainless flex shielding for the wiring.
The tail lights are twin stainless DuoLamp which have new DOT/SAE lenses.

The outside door handles are quality stainless reproductions. The cowl molding is original polished stainless. There are twin outside stainless peep mirrors.
A chrome V12 emblem mounted on the rear pan will let them know what just passed them.

SUMMARY:

As previously mentioned. the owner has put together a manual outlining details of all the work and modifications performed. and this will go to the new owner. There is also a custom California Car Cover with an embroidered V12 on the front which is included.

If rod running in a classy little coupe with a big smooth mill turns your crank. then this unique and fast V12 Model A is ready for you to show and/or tour with and enjoy. It has gone far enough to be broken in. and for the bugs to be worked out of it. yet it still conveys fresh and new. The choice of a V12 Jag engine. and the quality of this build will differentiate this rod from the rest of the pack at any event.

Rest assured that this build was the passion of a talented. knowledgeable. and fastidious individual. and the result is a well built and reliable hot rod. The years of life accumulate. and it is becoming more challenging for the owner to maintain the car in the manner in which he'd like. so he has decided to make this fine rod available.

The car has been appraised by a reputable accredited appraiser at a value of $60. 00. This car could not be duplicated for the reasonable reserve price at which it is being offered here. which is set far below its appraised value.

PAYMENT TERMS:

This fine hot rod is being listed on behalf of the owner. Please email ‘carsgoneby@telus. net' or phone Rick at (403)534-2222 for additional honest and accurate information from a professional auto restorer. All information listed has been gathered from discussions and test drive with the owner. and visual inspection by myself.  
Additional pics are available for viewing at www. carsgoneby. com/PhotoAlbums/1930V12ModelA .     Additional specific pictures are available upon request.   No warranties expressed or implied. Successful bidder to make a minimum payment of 50% of closing bid amount (US funds) within 5 days of auction closing. with the balance payable upon vehicle pick up within 21 days (international) or 14 days (US/Canada).
Payment must be in certifiable form such as cash or wire transfer. Other forms of payment only acceptable with time allowance for instrument to clear bank prior to vehicle being released. Any deviation from. or changes to the preceding terms must be reasonable. and should be requested. discussed. and agreed to prior to bidding and auction closing.

IMPORTANT OTHER:

Please submit all inquiries prior to bidding. and please only bid if you are able and willing to conclude the transaction should you be the winning bidder.
This vehicle is being sold with a clear Alberta registration (title) document and bill of sale.
The car is located in Calgary. Alberta. Canada. about 3 hours north of the Montana border. Please be aware of your shipping costs before bidding. quotes can be provided upon request if necessary. We can help make this a smooth. hassle free experience by arranging all inclusive international transportation and brokerage for you. References relating to similar transactions are available. Cars Gone By has sold and shipped numerous collector vehicles to the USA and worldwide. the majority through Ebay transactions.
Please do not ask us to disclose the reserve price. In fairness to all bidders we will not do so and request that you simply place a bid that is comfortable for you.
Thanks for looking!

Also published at eBay.ca

Want to buy this car?