If you are in the market for a nice 1930 model A Ford, let me save you alot of aggravation . My loss is your gain...............................................................................................................................................
I know more now about a 1930 model A Ford than I ever cared to know. I purchased this vehicle in mid March with the intention of using it in my limousine service. Time was a factor and I wanted to market it for prom season this year, but it was not meant to be.. I paid $21,000.00 in mid March to Streetside Classics in Georgia with the expectation of having to dump some more money into it but was not prepared for what I got. Although the ad had many pictures and accurately depicted the cosmetic portions of the car, the short video showing the car underway and travelling an equally short distance did not really tell much of the mechanical condition of the car. The sales agent for Streetside only advised me the car had a head light out and the horn did not sound. Upon delivery of the car, pools of oil formed under the vehicle. A coolant stain appeared on the large crack on the engine head after shutting the car off. Upon further investigation there was a large weld on the front of the engine block from an apparent crack repair. The first time I drove it on anything other than a flat road (hill), the car could not go over 10 miles an hour; the same approximate speed in the sales video. After removing the engine from the car and taking it to Schwalm's Babbitted Bearings, Inc. in Strasburg, Pa., the true condition of the engine was diagnosed. Again, I would expect to have to make some reasonable upgrades but I did not think I was buying a fixer upper. After contacting Streetside Classics by phone and thru the intermediary of the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU, they still refuse to refund any repair costs and wrap themselves around the fact that they had me initialize mutiple places on the sales contract that said the vehicle was being sold in "as is condition". I guess legally they are covered but I don't think that is any way to do business, if they in fact knew nothing about the expensive mechanical problems the car had. They say they are a consignment business and just connect sellers with buyers. Kind of like a piano player in a whorehouse playng away on the first floor and pretending he doesn't know what is taking place upstairs on the second floor. I guess they did not notice the oil puddles on their showroom floor, the visible crack in the engine head, lack of compression when running etc. I find it hard to believe they know nothing about their stock and just buy and sell classic cars. Well I'll be a monkey's uncle. Please, no wise cracks.
Anyway the good news for you is I have this car that now in the past months has a (rebuilt) short block in it, which to you means : I have spent over $4000.00 on repairs and that is with me taking out and reinstalling engine and components, which saved additional monies.
note: did not use original block which had the welded crack and numerous cracks in cylinder walls
the newly rebuilt engine has
1) Clean and magnaflux block and crankshaft
2) Bake and airless blast block, resurface, bore cylinders , install hard valve seats,rebabbitt, alignbore
3) Grind and fit crankshaft
4) Rebabbitt connecting rods, regrind camshaft
5) New pistons, rings, stainless steel valves, guides, adjustable tappetts, valve springs and timing gears
6) The block is sprayed with cast iron gray metal prep
We installed new gaskets on all engine components when reinstalling rebuilt engine.
Vehicle will now climb steep hill at 45 mph - not 10 mph.
Vehicle has a nice red accent stripe at mid body with matching freshly painted red wheels. Tires are like new. Interior photos to follow. Gray cloth seats with rear seat middle armrest. Gray cloth door panels. Nice black carpetting front and rear. Inside and out aftermarket door handles and window controls replaced. Matching gray cloth headliner. Vehicle has working fuel shut off valve under dash, steering column mounted hand throttle and spark selector. Amp gauge and fuel level gauge. Horn button for aoohgah horn, 3 speed trans and parking brake lever. Chrome knob for headlamps and running lamps. All lights are now operational. Interior mounted ceiling light over back seat.
I painted the engine Ford engine green, painted oil pan black, painted other engine components as well.
Sanded and painted removable front wood floor boards. Cleaned and waxed vehicle. Currently painting some undercarriage frame rails and relacing old hardware.
Greased all fittings...........more updates and photos to follow. I have many more photos of before and after.
Stay Tuned...........................................................
Ford Model A for Sale
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Auto blog
Wed, 05 Nov 2014
Of Ford's customized trucks, two feature the name of famous Ford racers.
Of all the OEMs making appearances at the 2014 SEMA show, Ford owns arguably the most significant group of vehicles, thanks to its new 2015 F-150 and Mustang. While you can look for our Mustang coverage soon, we've managed to sneak out and get snaps of some of a few of the F-150s on display at the company's sprawling, 20,000-square-foot display (look for even more aftermarket F-150 goodness in the coming days).
Fri, 25 Apr 2014
General Motors isn't the only Detroit automaker posting falling profits in the first quarter. Ford just released its Q1 2014 financial data, and it reported a net income of $989 million, down $622 million from Q1 2013. The drop is partially blamed on higher warranty and recall expenses than the company had anticipated.
Financially, Ford suffered a rough quarter almost across the board. Its pre-tax profit of $1.4 billion was also down $765 million from a year ago. Things were even worse in the North American market where operating profit fell significantly to $1.5 billion, down from $2.392 billion in Q1 2013. However, its global revenue ticked up slightly to $35.9 billion, from $35.6 billion in this period in 2013.
Ford admitted that it spent about $900 million on expenses that it hadn't planned for during this quarter. According to Reuters, the company paid about $400 million in additional warranty and recall costs in North America. The automaker didn't explain why the costs were so much higher than expected. However, in the last three months, Ford has had several recalls, including on the 2001-2004 Escape for rust, Explorer for its steering, Edge for its fuel line and others.
Mon, 16 Dec 2013
If waiting for the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang to hit dealerships is just too tall of an order, you'll be happy to hear that there is now an alternative means of getting behind the wheel of America's favorite pony car. The Mustang is making its video game debut in Need For Speed Rivals.
"We worked closely with the development team at EA to provide them with engineering data for the new Mustang, several months before we showed it to the rest of the world," said Ford product licensing manager Mark Bentley. "Computer design models enabled the game developers to create an accurate representation of the new Mustang before it goes on sale."
Players will have access to five unique designs for the Mustang, allowing a degree of individuality beyond solid colors and decals. According to Digital Marketing Manager Andrea Zuehlk of Ford, those designs are drawn from the four most popular designs on the Mustang Customizer, an online, mobile and tablet app that allows the public to design their own custom Mustang. A fifth design, penned by drift racer Vaughn Gittin, Jr., is also available.