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In 1959, my two older brothers bought a 1929 Model A Ford roadster from one of their friends. Apparently he could not get it to run and was so frustrated that he just wanted it out of his sight. My brothers paid him $50 for the car, fiddled with the engine for about 30 minutes, started it and drove it home! That made their friend a little angry, but a deal is a deal.
The car was parked in a shed and left while other projects were attended to. It was never started nor driven again.
When my middle brother passed away last year, the car came to me. I have coveted this car since I was about 12 years old. I'm restoring a 1924 Chevrolet and have reluctantly decided to sell the Model A to raise funds for the Chevy project. I did want to play with the Model A a bit, however. So, I decided to see if I could make it run again. I wanted to at least drive it once or twice after all these years before letting it go.
A few parts had gone missing over the years, so these were acquired. It should have been simple, but these things never are. No matter what I did, that car would not run! I finally tracked down a very obscure and unlikely electrical short in the distributor. It started right up and ran pretty good!
After making a few adjustments, I decided today would be a good day to take it around the block. Victoria and I jumped in, started the car and drove it 5 or 6 blocks around the neighborhood. The car never missed a beat. (OK... it sputtered once, briefly.)
It was such a satisfying experience to drive this car that has not been started or driven since 1959! Now it will be advertised for sale. Hopefully to someone who will put it back into nice condition. In the meantime, there will be a few more drives around the neighborhood, just for fun.
The car was parked in a shed and left while other projects were attended to. It was never started nor driven again.
When my middle brother passed away last year, the car came to me. I have coveted this car since I was about 12 years old. I'm restoring a 1924 Chevrolet and have reluctantly decided to sell the Model A to raise funds for the Chevy project. I did want to play with the Model A a bit, however. So, I decided to see if I could make it run again. I wanted to at least drive it once or twice after all these years before letting it go.
A few parts had gone missing over the years, so these were acquired. It should have been simple, but these things never are. No matter what I did, that car would not run! I finally tracked down a very obscure and unlikely electrical short in the distributor. It started right up and ran pretty good!
After making a few adjustments, I decided today would be a good day to take it around the block. Victoria and I jumped in, started the car and drove it 5 or 6 blocks around the neighborhood. The car never missed a beat. (OK... it sputtered once, briefly.)
It was such a satisfying experience to drive this car that has not been started or driven since 1959! Now it will be advertised for sale. Hopefully to someone who will put it back into nice condition. In the meantime, there will be a few more drives around the neighborhood, just for fun.
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