1930 Ford Model A - Employee Rides: Joe McCollough
This is my 1930 Model A hot rod project. I bought the body with my first paycheck after graduating from college 14 years ago. Since this project started, I’ve lived in four states, gotten married, earned a second college degree, had kids, bought a house…you get the idea. But I’ve lugged this car and this dream with me through it all.
The body is a 1930 Model A Tudor that was found in a field. The lower cowl and door bottoms were rusty and have been replaced on both sides. It’s been channeled, chopped six inches, and the a-pillars were laid back until it looked right. A chopped ’32 Ford windshield frame will be fit and I’m planning to fabricate all the surrounding metal to resemble ’32 parts. Right now, the chop is just tacked together and there are big scary holes where the windshield header and surrounding metal should be.
The chassis is based on an original Model A frame. The front crossmember is flat, fabricated from tubing to lower the car. The rear crossmember is a stock ’40 Ford piece that was pie-cut and flattened. There is also a frame-depth Z to lower the rear, and the rails behind the Z are made from fresh 2”x3” tubing. The rest of the frame is boxed, and the center crossmember is a Speedway Motors 4” drop piece with tabs added for the rear wishbones.
In the front, a four-inch dropped original Model A axle mounts ’41 Ford spindles, backing plates and drums. The wishbones are stock Model A, split with Speedway Motors bungs, rod ends and bolt-on radius rod brackets. The steering arm and tie-rod kit are also from Speedway.
The rear axle is a swap meet ’46 Ford banjo with a rear spring found buried in the dirt at a junkyard. The brakes are ’46 backing plates with Speedway Motors drums. It’s mounted to ’40 Ford wishbones that were shortened and fitted with Speedway bungs and heim joints. It all rolls on early Ford wheels that were removed from a trailer at the junkyard. 4.50 front and 7.50 rear Firestone Deluxe Champion tires provide the rubber rake.
Power comes from a ’55 Chevy 265 that was remanufactured in early 70’s. It will breathe through an Edelbrock 3x2 intake manifold and Speedway Motors 9 super 7 carburetors. The transmission is a ’63 Chevy Muncie 3-speed.
It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but I’m starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. When I started this project, I could never have guessed how long it would take or how much life I would live before it was finished. Now, I’m thrilled that I get to share the struggles and the triumphs with a supporting and patient wife and two little girls who can’t wait to go for a ride. Through it all, I've learned that things don’t always turn out just the way we've planned, but often they end up way better than we could have dreamed.
