Mark Hayward Is My Hero

I finally got the radiator back on the family Model A Ford. I took it off in the fall to get it cleaned and rodded, and then I didn’t get back to it before winter came. Over the last few days I have managed to spend some time out in the garage, and today I got the car reassembled.

It really wasn’t that hard a project, but I was being cautious so I could be sure that I was doing things right. After getting everything back together, I just had to close the petcock (the little valve at the bottom that you open in order to drain the fluid) so I could fill the radiator, but when I grabbed it I found that the little spring that held it together was broken. Since it was Sunday evening, all the hardware stores were closed so I couldn’t even look for a replacement spring, but lo and behold… Grandpa Mac came through again! In with the tools and parts that came with the car was a very dirty replacement petcock! I was amazed. After I cleaned it I found that it was in great shape, so I just switched out the broken one and I was back in business.

I got the car running so I could check for leaks in the radiator hose connections (found some), messed with the horn for a bit, and called it a day. I was hoping to actually get out and drive today, but the timing seems to be way off, so I have to adjust that first. There may also be a problem with the generator, but I don’t know. After I connected the battery, the generator started getting hot before I even started the engine. I have to ask around because I don’t even know if that is out of the ordinary. I would be LOST without my Model A Ford Mechanic’s Handbook.

I have a gig in Chicago tomorrow, so I won’t be able to work on the car again until at least Tuesday.

I’ve been slowly getting going on working on the Model A Ford again this season. I had big plans to put in a plastic liner and heat the garage this last winter so I could work out there despite the temperature, but the prospect of putting that much work into a garage that we will leave in a few months to a year was too much for me. I’ve only had a couple of 2-3 hours stints so far, but I’ve gotten a little bit done this week.

Last fall one of the guys at the neighborhood auto-mechanic shop told me about a salvage yard just out of town that has Model A Ford parts, so tomorrow my buddy Devin and I are going to go out there and see what they have. For all you Indianans who are in need of Model A Ford parts (I know there are a lot of you out there, and that you spend a lot of time online) here’s the info: Carter’s Salvage, 700 E Jackson St, Veedersburg IN 47987

It has been unseasonably warm here in Indianapolis the last few days, so I have been spending my time in the garage working on the Model A. It’s been great, and I’ve gotten a lot done.

Ok, so this is going to be an in-depth description of how I repaired the Horn Rod on my 1930 Model A Ford Sport Coupe. If you are not a Model A Ford person with a Horn Rod in need of repair this will probably be BORING. But if you are like me and have a non-functioning horn button, but a working horn on a Model A Ford, this description is going to be GOLD! GOLD I TELL YOU! (more…)

Yesterday I completely disassembled and cleaned the horn. It wasn’t working so I wanted to be sure that it wasn’t full of gunk first, before I looked elsewhere for the problem. It’s a pretty neat device, and very cleverly made. It’s really interesting to look inside something that was made in the time before today’s methods of mass production. If someone decided to put the same style of horn on a production car today the whole thing would be disposable. The instructions I have for the maintenance and repair of the Model A horn include information on wrapping the copper wire coils and all manner of things that no one would ever do (or in some cases, know how to do) today.

The horn is one of those classic Ahhwooogaaah horns, and the way it works it pretty cool. (more…)

This morning I got up early to take my Robot Car (aka: my 2004 Toyota Prius hybrid) to the mechanic, and as soon as I got home I went into my garage to work on my family’s 1930 Model A Ford. I love the contrast.

Here’s a picture of my Grandpa, Mac McBride, in the car in September of 1985, just after he got it restored.

(more…)

Today I woke up, took a shower and ate breakfast, ordered my new prop case, went to the dog park, had lunch, worked on the Model A Ford, had dinner, and made cookies. That’s almost the full spectrum of my life, and it was all packed into one day. I didn’t realize until I wrote this just now that the different activities were delineated by meals. If I weren’t so tired I would have to have another meal and start on a new chapter in life. Maybe as a Sumo wrestler….

The goal with the Model A today was to take off the radiator so I can take it in to a professional to have it cleaned. Last time I drove the car the radiator boiled over, and when I took off one of the water pipes it was LOADED with nasty gunk, so the radiator has to be filthy too. Taking the radiator off isn’t an insurmountable task but there are a bunch of things you have to do before you even get to the radiator. First you take off a couple of water pipes, then unhook the wires for the headlights and the horn (which run through the radiator housing), take off the hood, and THEN you can remove the radiator. Unfortunately I only got as far as the hood. I got everything unscrewed and I realized that actually lifting the hood off (and not messing it up) was either a two-person job, or I didn’t know how to do it by myself. Either way, I needed help. Since my neighbor Todd wasn’t home, the radiator will just have to wait. What’s one more day after being in storage for 15 years?

In the morning I perform at the Carmel Farmer’s Market, and then at the Rocky Ripple festival… if it doesn’t rain. I’m anticipating a rain-out, but we’ll see.

I finally got back to working on my family’s 1930 Model A Ford yesterday.

This is the best picture I have of it at the moment, since I haven’t gotten to go on a real drive in it yet. I’ve taken it out a couple of times, but each time a mechanical problem has stopped me before I got all the way around the block. Last time the radiator boiled over.

So yesterday I drained the radiator again, and took off the pipe at the bottom where the fluid goes back into the radiator from the engine. I took it off to do a “flow check” to see if the radiator is clogged with funk. Although I haven’t done the check yet, I don’t see how it could possibly NOT be clogged after looking at the inside of that pipe. Yeesh. There was SO much gunk in there. I chipped it out with a screwdriver, and got an astonishingly large plie. After I eat a little food, I’m going to go back out to finish the job.

PS: It only sounds like I know what I’m talking about. I couldn’t have done it without my friend Devin. He pointed me to Snyder’s Antique Auto Parts and to a great how-to book.