Penultimate Model A
 

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, Hoonigans of all ages...

I introduce the penultimate Model A project. Well under way on the parts gathering process. Starting the design phase.

Mission Statement: Build a 2 seat Hot Rod that can annually win at least one Good Guys autocross (free set of tires and swag :thumbsup: ). Reliable and roadworthy enough to drive to work and in stop and go traffic. Wickedly quick acceleration. With the right driver, fast enough for top 10 at Optima. Look good doing it.

Target weight: under 2000# with driver.
Tires: 315/30-18
Wheels: GM Speedline Z06 18x10.5
Safety: FIA rated seats, 6 pt Harness, Fire Extinguisher (Fire system?)
Motor: 4.6 DOHC Ford Modular, 1995 Lincoln Mk VIII
Trans: Ford Motorsports TKO600
Rear end: Ford 8.8, Aluminum Housing, IRS
Spindles - Brakes: 2000 C5 Corvette
Suspension: Likely use the C5 front lowers and Rear upper and lower arms, custom upper arms, inboard pull-rod shocks, power steering, adjustable roll center heights, and rear steer.
Body / Frame: Real Henry Ford Steel 1928 Model A roadster (saved anther one from the grave)

The chassis and suspension will be designed in CAD. My plan is to water jet cut the fixtures out of plywood. Lay in all the tubing, weld it up and then unscrew and remove the fixture.

Time line: I'd like to have it running and driving in a year, but 2-3 years is more likely.

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Offset drivetrain for weight balance and driver height.

Enjoy the show>

This looks gooooooooooood:thumbsup: Hell even the doggie is interested!!

I for updates.

Andrew

Funny, I thought the dog was "Whatchou talkin 'bout Willis?"

in for the thread.

Now this is ambitious! It's what makes the addiction real though! Build on brother...very cool!:thumbsup:

Well, at least the body doesn't need much work! :)

Watching. Interesting engine choice given the target weight.....and the fact that it is wider than the cowl.

That might be the most mangled stock frame I have ever seen.

Sounds like a heck of a project. Good luck! Keep us updated. I want to see this one come together.

Wow! Going to be cool.

I have to agree with Donny on this one.... why create a bunch of issues with the motor choice. You won't believe how small these cars are until you start working on it.

This kind of build gets my juices flowing! Frankly -- another '69 Camaro just kind of lacks the punch that it used to for me. This little rod is going to take some serious fab work just to make it work vs another tucked bumper. LOL

Love your previous ingenuity and I'm looking forward to seeing this build come to life!

Thanks for the comments so far. I started a spread sheet today to get a better guesstimate at weight (and cost). I think it will be hard to get this under 2000# without driver. It is tough to get a decent motor weight, I haven't pulled it from my donor car, but from what I can tell the aluminum Modular motors are within 10 pounds of an aluminum LS. Once I pull it, I should be able to get a better estimate.

The motor choice was mostly based on dollars per HP per pound and I am too far down the rabbit hole for a different option at this point. You can't beat getting a running almost driving (transmission slipped) car for less than $500, add $400 worth of cams and valve springs, do some porting, re-flash the ECM and have a 340+ HP and rev to 7200 RPM. The donor also has all the accessories, fuel system, radiator fan, diff etc. to get it running in a hotrod.

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Not much to look at now, but move the coils to the back, get rid of all the plastic airbox stuff and polish the 16 intake tubes and valve covers and BAM.

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28 spline 8.8, aluminum housing

Believe it or not I am familiar with how small hot rods are. I helped build a couple in college, and we drove 2 very traditional rods down to Speed Week from Chico in 2004. In my opinion, the engine compartment space (without hood sides) is not the problem, foot well area is usually sacrificed due to transmission and bell housing placement. Driver placement / ergonomics will not be sacrificed in this build. I am probably going to split the cowl and widen it a couple of inches so the whole car will be asymmetric and biased toward the passengers side. No hood side on the passengers side, with a pile of snakes 180* header hanging out the side.

Very interested sounds like a coooooool project! I'm with Greg on not another Camaro build!! :thumbsup:

I'm loving the idea. Kenny and I have talked about doing something similar with an old pick up but with an ecotec 4cyl.

So I'm really excited to see how this project progress.


Marty-MJ
www.garagescene.net

Craig --- I knew you'd have a plan! That's just the way you seem to work.


Oh Yeah - splitting the cowl will really help with packaging. Certainly easy enough to do.


Brizio and company really like to keep a Ford in a Ford... but it just creates so many issues... I wasn't willing to deal with 'em so just chose to piss everyone off by using the LS motor instead. It was that or go to an old school SBFord and I didn't want to do that either.

Interesting proposal, what makes it "penultimate" ( next to last ) ?

Yeah, didn't say it was a bad choice, just interesting. Don't forget goodguys 10% rule.

FWIW my roadster weighs 2450 without me, with a 1/2 tank......51% on the rear.

It's great to see you get going on this, Craig--I can live vicariously through your crazy build while suffering through law school.

I get the weird engine placement--I saw something similar on Merc9 (crazy car) out at Laguna Seca. I think the motor (1000 hp) was back about a foot and over six inches to the right. This was about the biggest freak of a car I've seen, and it of course just ate the track.

It's got to be said: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." That dog...

Those of us who know have faith in your engineering skills, since you're an engineer...

That's it, next to last or final. There will always be someone or something with more. More power, more brakes, more talent(?), more money. Or the next build, the next tire, the next rule change...

I am going to go for it here and now, build it the best I can with my current knowledge and skill. Next time it will be even better. I'll refrain from further updates until there is some progress.

-Craig

Small Update:

I got the Mark VIII parted out the last weekend in December and picked up the rear of a '27 T Phaeton and an A door skin to use for a template so I have pretty much a complete car. I going to do a couple of interior things on the Falcon to finish it up (disassemble and paint the dash, rear seat cover, new carpet). Then I should start working on it.

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The Phaeton... was that the model that had dual cowls? Or maybe dual doors?
A four door T rear would make a good starting point for a decent stretched cab 2 seater ;)

subscribed :confused59:

I'm watching too.

Cool idea! And it'll be fun to see it whipping around the track! Despite being a GM guy I like the engine choice, it fits the motif. I would prolly rather like to see Ford wheels on it to keep the theme going, but if you already have the Vette wheels roll with it... pun intended. ;)

I've never really understood what you do with those horribly rusted old bodies - do people really media blast them and then patch them ? Or do you just use it as a template to attach new metal until nothing is left of the original ? It just seems like if you media blasted something like that there wouldn't be much metal left.

Side note - Ever since a drag racer built a black Mark 8 with giant tires and a snorkel scoop when they were new I've always wanted to build a hot rod Mark 8. I'm sad to see one get parted out - oh well at least its a lame cream color one.

People do both. I my plan is to leave it mostly as is. I will make or buy new panels as needed but my goal is to keep it as light as possible so I will be using composite or aluminum. I will dissolve the rust where I need to weld with HCL (which works quite well but can cause serious chemical burns) and add material so I have something to mount to.

I mostly got the parts I did for cost and so I would not be ruining a restoration candidate. Also, USCA rules require a factory vin so I needed to start with a real car.


Vette spindles = Vette wheels, plus the OEM Z06 C5 wheels are the lowest weight per dollar available.