90-1500

[Cheezebandit]

Not just derailed,total train wreck. Valve cover gasket?

its a ford 3.7. both valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube groments and intake manifold gaskets since it has to come off to get the passenger side.

not a terribly hard job. just eats up my time, especially since its in the elements and raining most of the week. while waiting on parts.

I believe the color scheme on the model A was factory offered. this one being a 31. although it was never a complete car, it was bought in pieces and assembled in his garage. He also painted it himself, so there could be some variation from factory.


Incoming Personal Note...
My grandfather worked for decades trying to finish this project, alzheimer's and dementia got the better of him later in life, he never saw this actually completed and running reliably. He would haunt me if he knew what I wanted to do with it LOL. Not a small block Chevy or anything too wild. I want a turn key 1931 ,looking from the outside, car. I've thought about swapping a 2.3L and a 5 speed from a late 90's ford ranger into it. just for ease of drivability and maintenance. these cars are known for distributor failure (most original model A guys have a spare or two in the car with them on trips along with a lot of other parts known to fail)

 

[Scooterwrench]

its a ford 3.7. both valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube groments and intake manifold gaskets since it has to come off to get the passenger side.

not a terribly hard job. just eats up my time, especially since its in the elements and raining most of the week. while waiting on parts.

I believe the color scheme on the model A was factory offered. this one being a 31. although it was never a complete car, it was bought in pieces and assembled in his garage. He also painted it himself, so there could be some variation from factory.


Incoming Personal Note...
My grandfather worked for decades trying to finish this project, alzheimer's and dementia got the better of him later in life, he never saw this actually completed and running reliably. He would haunt me if he knew what I wanted to do with it LOL. Not a small block Chevy or anything too wild. I want a turn key 1931 ,looking from the outside, car. I've thought about swapping a 2.3L and a 5 speed from a late 90's ford ranger into it. just for ease of drivability and maintenance. these cars are known for distributor failure (most original model A guys have a spare or two in the car with them on trips along with a lot of other parts known to fail)

Yeah,the 140 OHC is a common swap for A's. Model A dist. are not the problem,it's the crappy replacement parts and people that know nothing about breaker ignitions. One of the most common mistakes people do is threading the conduit that goes in the side of the dist. too far and either bending the contact plate or grounding it out. Too bad I didn't live closer,I'd have you up and running toot-sweet.

 

[zach_rabey]

The issue was with the old NV3500 was being broken LOL I broke the synchros from shifting too fast for the power it was making. that trans was really intended for the 5.0L making 180 HP not a 383 making (hopefully) 450 ish.

The T-56 is fantastic, its a very expensive hurdle, if you can afford it its a permanent solution for me, rated for more power than I plan to make. I went with the complete swap kit from American Powertrain. you can piece it together yourself for cheaper, my way was a less hassle solution. It took all the guess work out of the swap.

The mid mount shifter is Very close to the stock shift hole, minimal trimming and easy to make a cover plate for. you do have to source your own shift lever, however its not hard to find one that fits or fits your needs.

Ok thanks because I was planning on using the stock 350 and building that motor

 

[Scooterwrench]

Ok thanks because I was planning on using the stock 350 and building that motor

The NV3500 is not as weak as many claim. You hear the story all the time',"I rebuilt my motor and put a cam and heads and high compression in it and the tranny blew. NV 3500 is junk!" What they didn't say was the truck had 200,000+ miles on it and they didn't do anything to the tranny. You can't expect an old tranny or one that has had a half ass rebuild to hold up when you put a fairly hot motor in front of it. In this mans case it only broke a synchronizer ring which may not have been replaced when the tranny was "rebuilt". The fact that the case held together and the gears didn't break is a testament to what these transmissions can withstand. When I had my shop there was a kid that had an 89 1/2 ton with one of these trannys in it and he beat the ever loving snot out of that truck and the transmission never missed a lick. The truck eventually wound up in my scrap iron pile. Granted he didn't have a lot of horsepower but he didn't show it no love either. Now I'm sure if you put 400-500hp,a spool in the rear and hang big fat sticky slicks on the rear and take to the track you will be sweeping it up with a broom eventually.

 

[Cheezebandit]

Yeah,the 140 OHC is a common swap for A's. Model A dist. are not the problem,it's the crappy replacement parts and people that know nothing about breaker ignitions. One of the most common mistakes people do is threading the conduit that goes in the side of the dist. too far and either bending the contact plate or grounding it out. Too bad I didn't live closer,I'd have you up and running toot-sweet.

Yes, cheap repop parts are horrible for these. One of the. Bigger issues with the car is also part of the story. Built a piece at a time, bartering for parts at a swap meet not really knowing if it was actually good when you got it or if someone put the junk repop components in it.
Florida is a long way, appreciate the sentiment though

 

[Scooterwrench]

Oh Yeah,I forgot. If you decide to put a 140 in it the one you want would be an earlier one with a carb. Mid 70's Pinto, Bobcat, Mustang II, Courier pick up, 83-85 Ranger. The Mustangs had a progressive two barrel carb and the earlier Pintos, Bobcats and Couriers had intakes that would accept a 2150 Ford two barrel or Holley.