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I sold my first restoration, a 1928 Ford Model A p/u and I kick myself everyday for doing it. I had hoped to use the money to restore a family friendly car, which didn't happen. Just stupid on my part, but hindsight is 20-20! I started this at age 17 and took 10 years to complete. We enjoyed it for 16 more years. The picture were taken at time of sale, still looking good! Boy, was I stupid! I snuck in the bright headlamps and shell from a coupe that I had before the truck, just to save money!

Without actually seeing the extent of the damage, I would think the best way to repair would be to use a Heli-coil kit and replace the threads altogether. While it's a little expensive, these do a great job.

Punctuation is a lost art!

Unfortunately, when people go out of business or change ownership, especially small businesses, they often neglect to take down or upgrade their websites. Hope you can get hold of this guy and that he's doing well.

The repro parts accessibility now is way better that it was in 1976. Back then, many of the parts were made in India and were poor to fair copies, which almost always , didn't fit right. There were some sheet metal parts available, but no full bodies or fenders that I can recall. The flip side was, at that time, many of the mechanical parts were still available new from NAPA and other good parts stores!

Looks like one of the old J.C.Whitney knockoffs! The Model A caps said 'Bool' on them in script!

Here's the photo I have. These were built in Florida, I don't think the other 2 were. This should clear up some questions as one can see that this is neither a Shay or Glassic. It would be interesting to find someone who actually owned one to get more info. I was going to post on the Model A websites, but seems one has to join first. Please don't think I'm bashing the Shay or Glassic cars. To each his own! I just get upset when people try to pass of one thing for something else altogether.

How'd we ever get on the Shay and Glassic thing when the car in question has nothing to do with them?

I did come across some info on the Ford Barn. He was building replicas of the roadster, coupe and pickup. They did have fiberglass bodies and had real ford engines ,drivelines and wheels. They also only came in authentic 1931 Ford colors. That was the extent of the info. Apparently, these were built in southern Florida. Any more info would be appreciated, only for my own curiosity. I'd like to know if any of these cars still exist.

Terry, the photo is very yellowed and poor quality even for 1976. I'll try to scan it and see what happens. I could never understand the draw to these replicas. They are poor representations and are almost always listed as Ford Model A's at the shows. Unknowing people think they are the real thing! If one wants a Model A, then buy a real Model A! To me, this is like substituting a blow up doll for a real woman!

I don't think it was any of these two replicas. The photo shows it to be a very original looking 1930 roadster and they are claimed to be 'exact' replicas, so I assume that they had an all original drivetrain. You can pick out a Shay or Glassic car as a fake from 100 yards away!

I would imagine that the Cord fender might bring a pretty penny!

I have a small photo cut from a 1976 newspaper with a few lines about a man named Frank Laumer who was building 'replica' Model A Ford roadsters around that time. The car is touted to be 92% new and was selling for $9,500 at that time. There is no mention as to his location or any info on the car. I'm curious to know if anyone ever heard of these cars or ever saw any in person. I can't imagine that he was in business for very long due to trademark and patent rights. This too, would be before the time of really nice repro parts would be available for the "A".

I would stick with the original style bias tires as they should give good performance. As far as driving an old car, if the car is well maintained and safe, don't be afraid of it. I used to drive my Model A all over at 45-50 mph with no problems. That's not to say that you can drive it like a modern car. You'll still have to compensate for handling characteristics and pay attention to traffic conditions. We used to take trips of over 100 miles one way and I discovered that it took almost the same amount of time to a destination at 45 as it did at 60, because speeds vary, sorta like the tortoise and the hare! Enjoy the ride!

This 3d printing is really amazing!

The part looks great, but I have a question. If the part was to be cast in a metal, wouldn't the pattern have to be made a certain percentage oversize to allow for shrinkage, depending on the type of metal being cast?

Great discussion; this should be a whole new thread, we're not getting Pete's parts fixed!

How many platers did you check with? I've had some small pot metal pieces repaired with no issues, but maybe no one wants to touch them now. As far as shop classes, my son, a tradesman, sits on the board for the carpentry department for a local vo-tech school. They can't seem to find qualified teachers for one thing. Most of the teachers are retired from the trades, but have no teaching degree. They are required to go to school to get their degree, but the time and expense does not justify the pay scale for the positions, so most quit after a year. Also, the quality of the students has greatly changed in the last 50 years. Seems today, that many of the trade students are there for two reasons, they can't make it in the regular classroom or they are trouble makers. Maybe 1 out of 50 kids really wants to go into the trade! Who would want to teach if no one is interested. Even in the vocational college my son attended, few in his carpentry class really wanted to be carpenters. Besides, have you ever tried to find a young person who really wants to do manual labor, no matter how much they can make! Recently, a large, well known trade school has been closed for lack of interest!

Actually, that looks like a pretty nice repro, provided it fits correctly. I think the fiber mat, aside from some insulation, provided some strength to the cardboard outer covering. I would imagine, that if lining it with the homosote can't be done, gluing up about 4 layers of the 'jute' will give you about an inch of thickness, assuming that is how thick the original was. I can imagine that the fiberglass piece is not cheap.

Make sure to mark you caps by cyl. and position. Good luck!

I tossed around the aluminum route myself, but procuring a large piece of very thin aluminum may be difficult. Do you still have the old one? Does the old one angle out at the bottom to follow the contour? if you have the old one, it might help to see it's actual configuration. Usually, the pads are about an inch thick, so you might still need the homosote to act as a filler. Don't give up, we'll keep working on this until we find a solution!

That's a Holley contract carb, basically a copy of the Zenith carb.

Be advised that Restoration Supply and Restoration Specialties are 2 different companies. I did experiment quickly on those 2 products, but found that they would not be conducive to your application. Can you furnish a picture of your pad, that might give someone more ideas. There is the option of building the outer sheet from fiberglass strips and resin over a form, finishing it smooth and coating it with a wrinkle type finish prior to painting it. A bit of work but may be an option! I would make it oversized and then trim it to the proper contour. You might be able to make a box from plastic or wood, graft it into an opening in the cowlboard, then overcoat it to get the grained finish , then paint. No easy fix on this one!

There is also a material called door panel board, which is a little thicker than the cowlboard and seems to have some treatment to make it water resistant. This material, along with the cowlboard, if one's careful, can be dampened and formed to a certain degree. There is also the option of layering a thinner type material to conform to a pattern. Imagination is the key! I might experiment on a scrap piece to see what happens.

The wavy bed floor is the result of the cement on the crossbraces acting on the thin plastic. I did not expect that at all! With a little weathering it did look realistic! Thanks! shortly after getting the truck, my son converted the end gate to a barn door swing out type, to prevent demolition material from getting hung up on the gate. i didn't feel like getting into all that! And Biily K., there was a company, now defunct, that had a resin cab unit available for a time, but it had the front lift hood and, from what I had gleaned from the internet, not very nice! I think I'm happier with my version!