May 2015: The car is finished and back on the road after nine years of restoration and for the first time since 1961!

This is a Model A Restoration Picture Website

In January 2006 we aquired this Ford Model A Town Sedan Briggs Body in France. It stood in an open barn for more than 40 years. The condition was very bad. Not beeing a mechanic the internet was our major source of information for the restoration.

So we profited of other Model A enthousiasts around the world, who presented their cars and projects, and above all their knowledge.

Especially thankful we were of photos, which helped to detect the original setup of many of the areas of the car.

With this website we want to provide especially photograps of the various stages of the restoration.

The procedures applied were mainly taken from the books shown in the books section, so we do not describe things which are provided there.

We try do discribe only those aspects, which are of further interest regarding special problems wit the procedures described in books, reproduction parts, specialities in respect to our car or other aspects. You find these comments in the test or directly below certain pictures.

We started this website in March 2012, and we try to keep it up to date. You will find the newest changes under "news", and at the bottom of each respective page for details.

The structure of this website is in accordance to "Restorer's Model A Shop Manual" by Jim Schild.

Our restoration concept is: Reuse as many parts as possible. Replace unusable parts with original parts. Do not consider condition of a part, but the possibility to restore it to usable condition, not to "as new condition". Use reproduction parts only if unavoidable. Due to this the car will not be "as of the assembly line".

I read the following on fordbarn, I think it was a statement of Synchro909:

"Drive it repaired - not restored. They're only original ONCE!" That is it!

Please enjoy our site. By the way: My name is Michael.

Identification

We identified the car as an early 1930 Town Sedan, original colour black.

The car was assembled in France early 1930, and so some parts are of 1929 (use up old stock, even if in the US certain parts were not used any more at this time), others are early 1930.

According to French laws in 1930, aproximately 10% of all parts had to be of French origin. In the second world war the factory near Paris and all of the documentations were lost, so that today there is no or little account of which parts were French.

The car went through at least two restorations with very rough methods, possibly after or during the second world war, in lean times.It seems that one of the repairs was due to an accident, as the radiator rods went at some time through the fire wall, which was accordingly welded.

It seems that at some time in the early sixties the cam shaft gear broke and the car was driven in a barn and forgotten. In some winter after that the cooling water frooze and the head broke.

We think that the car is a Town Sedan, but only almost sure. The following pictures show some of the identifying features. Rear armrests, holes for cowl lights, light switch in door column and remains of mahagony woodgrain.