QuestionJack, I have a 1931 model A, many people say the original carbs work great, but i recently ran into a man that said his 2 barrel down draft webber is best. Is there much difference between the two power wise? please advise me about the pros and cons in this conversion
AnswerNo, No, Keep it standard. Sure it would have more power with the down draft carb, but then it would not be a model A. There is nothing wrong with the A carb. Easy to fix, and your friend on tour would be able to fix it easily. I will paste a write up I did on this subject.
Good luck and have fun with your car.
jack
Model A Tip
Don’t kluge up your “A”.
Keep your “A” like Henry intended it. It’s not perfect, but certainly adequate. Some people put hydraulic brakes on them, modern ignition systems, 8 or 12 volt batteries, shimmy snubbers, modern shocks, leakless water pumps, and the like.
A basic problem of making your “A” unique is when you have trouble, only you can fix it. If you are on tour with your club and have trouble with that funny ignition system, you better have the parts and the know-how to get it right. Your friends have their cars filled up with the original type of parts and they can fix anything as long as it is not kluged up.
On the brakes; sure the juice brakes stop better, but when you lose them, you have nothing, not even the emergency brake. I saw one system that depressed the brake pedal and disabled the brake light when the emergency brake lever was pulled. I don’t want that on my car. You will eventually have a failure, and it could be very exciting. With the old mechanical system, you can always get home.
If a model A is running good, you will never need an 8 volt battery. It’s just a band aid for something that is wrong. Same thing for a 12 volt system. A good running A will start by just looking at the starter button. Those of you who have a good running A know what I mean.
The shimmy snubbers are another band aid. Get things tightened up and the correct toe-in, and you don’t need a snubber. Someone in your club will know how to get the shimmy out.
On the modern shocks, the biggest problem I see is the mounting system. Shocks put a very high impact load into the mounting brackets. Most mounting brackets are too weak. They will bend and fatigue. If you have modern shocks on your car, you have probably already failed a bracket or two. With a well engineered mounting system, modern shocks will do a good job.
Leakless water pumps; you don’t need them. There is nothing wrong with the original system. It will always get you home. When the leakless fails, and it will, you have to change the pump.
Now I haven’t mentioned the alternator we all run. I think that is OK, and if you do have a problem with it, just put on the old generator that everyone carries along.
This is just my opinion, nothing more. I will still try to help those who have a little uniqueness in their “A”.
If you want to keep your car running good, drive the heck out of it. They are tough little cars and it’s hard to hurt them from driving them. Let them sit, and you will have problems.
Jack Bahm Feb. 2007
