Projects 1934 chevrolet 4 door master - steel or wood?

Amazing advice. Looks like the front cowl on mine might be stretched out a tiny bit. Otherwise the body is sitting on the frame, no wood. I’d like to have the body sitting on its new baseline to see how it sits. And start from there. The way I was thinking is very similar to what your advise states.

When you put the steel bar across the door and found where you wanted it. How did you go about hanging them?


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Ya that rear section and front section I wish was in my car. Having it as a starting point would be awesome. And I do believe they were solid and quiet! Friend of mine from aus just did a 32 ford and when he shuts his doors it has that “sound” all car guys know the sound when a door shuts. Just that quiet yet firm sound. My goal is that with this car eventually. That’s why I’m so horned up about that lumber you got!


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This is kind of what I was thinking with mine, tork.
Since the entire bottom is gone, if I cannot land wood for the bottom and door mounting I’ll have to use pist’s advice and build lower end with steel. So the photos you guys have provided me has helped tremendously and can’t thank ya enough! Wish I could hand you fellas a beer lol


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Jim; Your cowl is probably stock. I don't car for the extended look of them so I got out the sawzall and fixed it.

Not exactly sure what your asking here. The door skin is hanging on the flat bar and fixed in place with Cleco's. That way I could remove and replace it in the Exact same spot a gazillion times, in witch I did. Please don't remind me.

 

Helped a friend with a 32 Chevy sedan.
All the wood was gone and we started with a pile of tin. The owner ordered a wood kit. Without that, building the structure would have been even more difficult.
The body was so bad that we had to suspend it from the roof of his shop. It couldn’t hold itself up.
We used the wood to assemble the body and started replacing with steel. Most of the wood was replaced. Some was skinned over with steel. You GM guys gotta love those cars to put up with what it takes to build one.

 

It’s not a project for a guy with a weak stomach lol


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Sorry I meant for the hinges, once you had the door hung with the steel were you able to do your hinges from the inside? Then cut the door loose?


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Again, go back to post 41 and look at the photos of the new hinge units. Yes, I worked from the inside to fab up everything. Check the doors and you'll see how I did things.
Someone here said "Real fabricators build chevs LOL." but forgot to finish saying ,, Only Once. Anyone that would do it again has major issues.

 

Ya this seems like a one and done experience lol I don’t foresee my future being a wood professional HHa


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I'm not much of a picture taker but here are a few of my 34 Chevy Master 5w coupe under construction. Zero steel with all wood being done away with in about a week. Since it was a street rod from the get go the doors were tacked to the body to form a rigid box and the floor panels, sub frame, cross members, sills, etc were simply measured and the shaped to fit. Has a 5" channel with no chop.

Wood was plenty good enough to get measurements:




Body measurements just transferred to steel and welded in:



Wanted to NOT be the usual Ford/Flathead/SBC so went with non Hamb friendly 4 cam Mercury Marauder---a true hemi head engine.

 

Nice job coilover. I like the Firewall treatment as well as what's sitting in front of it.

 

I guess I am that guy !!! Once you have done one ,the rest are easy !!!
Send your unwanted ,too tough to do chevies to Brantford , more than happy to do them !!!

 

Post n broke
You sure did a great job fabricating your car !!! You went way beyond where I want to go .
Hidden hinges , making the doors an inch thicker Bear claw latches , shortening your cowl and not sure what you did to your windshield post .That would be a lot of work in a steel car !!!
I am happy just replacing the wood and reusing the original hardware.

 

Thanks for the complement. And now you know why I refuse to do another one, and by the way did you take notice of where that Bear Jaw latch is?

 

Bear claw is reversed , post on the door and catch on the b piller. How is the catch operated ? Generally the catch is in the door and operated by a handle in the door .What is your plan ??

 

As you probably know the Window run channel is an issue with the Bear Jaw style latch. I have a personal issue with the Catch pin sticking out of the B post. The door must be able to be released by a manual inside handle in my book and it does. There is also an electric release and an emergence release. The inside handle in the door operates through a Morris style cable. A Hottronix window switch runs electric windows that can also be run down by Key Fob along with opening the doors. Standard treatment with a little Twist.

 

A couple interesting photos for the curious mind. Passenger side shows Window and Door handle units mounted and functioning. B post Driver side shows electric door release as well as inside Door handle and Emergency release cable connected and functioning. Slots in flat bars are so the inside handle don't move when Electric release is fired and when inside manual Handle is used it don't fire the electric unit. Not as complicated as things look.

 

Nice set up , never considered reversing the bear claw latches ,now I will have a closer look at installing them in my cars .Your right ,doors are too tight for latch to be in the door

 

I've got a '31 Chevy coupe. The only piece of wood that's still there is the rear window frame. My plan is to tack the doors in place to make the body one unit, get it squared up, and start adding steel structure. It will be a pain in the ass getting inside it to work, but having it all one unit will make sure everything fits when it's done and I cut the welds on the doors.

 

I sure wish you the best of luck there. Your statement describes an Out Standing welder and a very Accomplished fitter/fabricator. To many times I've seen results quite the opposite. For me being able to remove and replace the Door Skins was priceless and I was able to identify what little structural movement I had each time and correct it as I went instead of not knowing where it was. Keep us posted on your adventure.

 

pictures of my 33 for reference.

 

Nice work Pist-n-Broke. Here's some bear claw latches I modified for a '36 truck to use original handles.

 

Nice latches Gofannon, now I got to make a pair !!!!