Most rodders can relate to the dream of finding an old Ford in a barn. But many times these stories have been embellished upon like an old fish story. "Yeah, I was hunting in these woods when I stumbled across an old distillery on the side of this mountain. After sampling some of the product, I found this 100-year-old barn that was full of cars. Full of '32s it was. Grille shells stacked to the rafters! Found one roadster in there that had Henry Ford's autograph on the dash. I'd wandered back to my car to get my flashlight when, after I sobered up, I couldn't find the barn again!"
Luckily, Michael Nalavany from Morris Plains, New Jersey, who for the past 8 years has worked as a jeweler, has never encountered any white lightning manufacturing facilities. He did, however, have the sense to follow up on a lead from his friend, Mark Conforth, on the location of a Model A sedan squirreled away for decades inside a wood barn. But that's jumping the gun on the story, which actually starts many years before.
Michael's father was an avid reader of the "little books." Though he never built a rod, Michael's dad was like many other readers: a dreamer who really liked those early hot rods. While he was growing up, Michael immersed himself in what the little pages had to say and how things were done. His dad always took him to the car shows and Michael helped him in the garage whenever he could. It just seemed natural to Michael that an old car is what he was destined to have.
The original idea was to get a Model A coupe and to fit a Cadillac motor in it (all the nice cars in the little pages had 'em, Mike says), and as far as Michael thought, a chopped and channeled coupe would be the ultimate. At a local cruise night, Michael was introduced to Mark Conforth-a gent who knew his way around the old-time rods. Mark gave Michael the insight into what type of parts he would need to build his ride, and Michael set out to find them. New York, Pennsylvania, and his home state were all fair game, and having already built his car in his mind's eye, he did quite well finding what he needed.
But the turning point came at the aforementioned tip on the barn. But it wasn't a coupe; it was a Model A sedan that he found (right next to an early-'30s Packard). The car was in very original shape (it probably hadn't been outside in decades), and it was very complete. The deal was struck, and for $2,500, the 24-year-old was now the proud owner of a 70-year-old car!
Mark was there to help Michael along the way, teaching him about chassis building, too. They used the stock Model A chassis but extended the wheelbase (ahead of the firewall) 3 inches before boxing both rails. Standard '50s-era suspension components were added ('55 Chevy rear, ladder bars, split wishbone, a dropped and drilled I-beam, etc.) as were vintage brakes (the stock '55 drums out back, '46 Ford drums up front).
Michael wanted a Caddy motor and got one in the form of a stock '58 365 V-8. The original Jet-A-Way Hydromatic transmission was still bolted up to it, so Michael took the whole package. About the only "new" items that can be found on the motor are the no-name finned aluminum valve covers from Moon and the Taylor wires!
The body was in pretty good shape, and Michael removed the Model A radiator, hood, and fenders before sizing up the rest of the car. Surprisingly, it didn't need any patch panels, but the lid was in dire need of being lowered! After going to shows to measure windshields of other cars to get an idea of what would look right, he was ready to re-profile his Ford. Hacksaw in hand, Michael and Mark spent one day taking 4 inches out of the posts and then reattaching the roof. At first Michael didn't think it was enough, but he has changed his mind since then.