Projects Screw It Im gonna go for it! 36 Ford coupe to be

You have no idea. Been there,done it and it looked like a 3w! You guys just don't really know what's really involved....

 

I have a '36 too. Man I love your project! Keep it up!!

 

Haha, nothing like a bit of kiwi honesty, I agree though, it doesn't look like it should!!

 

Its getting close, to me your need lower or chop the front of the roof, basically it looks like its all sloping backwards, so hence chopping the front would help.

Also, try and stand back as far as you can and look at it, something when your right on top of things problems or proportions arent as noticable.

JEFF

 

How the hell can you say this.(You have no idea) Most of us all know the work involved and the measuring that it takes to get it right and the fabrication and the time and the head scratching and all that goes into a chop and a custom fab job like this. Keep up on the build man. You will get it . It definately needs some work but don't give up!!
Some of the work that people do here is simply amazing. I personally don't have the time or the patience to do alot of what other do. I do what looks right to the eye but don't spend every waking minute on one project. I have 11 cars at this time. I have restored 3 of them and am now putting together a 1929 Whippet 3 window Desoto Hemi powered and a 1936 5 window coupe. If my belt line is off on the Ford by 1/16" I really don't give a rats ass. If I only had one project I would maybe spend more time on detailing a bracket that nobody will ever see but at this part of my life this won't happen. My bracket will look good to the average hotrodder but the guys that are anal will look at it and could say "I could have made this bracket look alot better". Thats fine and you probably could. But once an idea is created, it can be duplicated and improved upon alot easier than creating it with evrything perfect to where know one could make it any better. When this builder did his doors and roof, he made a few wrong cuts . It can be fixed and I'm sure he can fix it. I have done alot of building and spending days just to tear the part off and start over. It's not the en of the world. And yes the door does look like shit but to say we don't know what is involve. Most of us do and thats why we don't do it. I sure won't cut my 5 window up to convert to a 3 window as I could buy a 3 window to start with and have just money changing hands. For me I make money during the day and time is of value. If I spent the time that you probably spent converting your car, I could have probably bought (3) real 3 window coupes. I know of a clean one for sale right now for $32,000 all done and running with a new interior and nice paint. I could buy it but I don't need another car at this time as I have no covered space for any more. If I didn't have the 5 window, I'd jump all over it. To the builder. here's a link to what the dimentions are from a 5 window to a 3 window. I don't know if it will help on your build but it may give you the shapes.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=659202

 

Thanks guys. I could hold all the pics back until I thought I was done. I could be selective and only give you the best angles in the best lighting. What fun would that be. If you choose to get all worked up that's on you. I choose to let you all enjoy the ride for better or worse. I don't want to buy a car, I want to create one. The drivers side isn't cut loose from the roof yet that's why it looks better. Haha. There are changes coming to the roof still also the car is sitting on a table in a tail dragger type stance. That may be why the A pillar looks too high to some. I'm pressing on! I'm not trying to copy a 3 window if I was like the guy with rabies said I shoulda just bought one.

 

Make it look similar to this....Your're doing fine....

 

To me it seems like your car should be about 5 inches longer through the door area and extend about 5 more inches from the rear of the cab to the tail pan. That'sjust me though.....

 

Thats the cats ass right there!!! If he copies your car, does he have to have the weak spring on the door handle also!! LOL!! KIdding!! That is my dream car. Instead, I will be happy with my 5 window which will be on its 3rd maiden voyage ( inside joke) in the next few days. I will have a 3 window someday in my life but not right now.

 

sounds like you're after this....http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=163762

 

Keep it up ,as long as you are enjoying it do it your way. To those who think they can do better please offer the man a large pile of money and do it your way.

 

Ok for those of you who like to squirm a little when you look at your internet...here's an update. Spent the better part of the day getting the drivers side to the Same stage as the passenger side. Keep in mind I'm not quite ready for paint yet haha. Also I didn't have spare coupe door tops laying around or want to pay marcel to make me some so I worked with what I had. If I come across a set of coupe door tops in the future I probably will replace these. Remember the car is sitting at approximate ride height. Nose up,tail down. Next step is to raise the rear of the cab 2 1/2 inches to get the belt line right an also lean the rear window forward. Also I cut the door frame from the c pillar at the height of contour of the drip rail. Thats why there's a gap between the roof and the door top. I've got a plan. Never fear.

 

Couple more pics. First one gives you a better idea ow how i started on the internal of the door jambs. Sorry if i made anyone nauseated. Didn't bother with the door bottoms as theyre rusted out and replacement panels are on the way. You can sorta see my proposed cut line to loose the rear window and lean it forward it's in yellow chalk.

 

Don't give up!!! I agree some of the proportions have me scratching my head, but it's a work in progress. Lets see the critics lay their dicks on the table!

 

Ok A little progress if you care to call it that. I have some pictures... I cut the rear roof loose so I could get the beltline right. After I cut it loose i took some pictures with the roof laid forward to different degrees.. As always I thought I would throw it out there for discussion. Keep in mind that things are just laying loosley from the doors back and there is much to do to get things buttoned up... Hold the pictures at arms length and get the general feel. I marked the three positions I,II,III. Personally I am leaning towards position III.

 

Update: Thanks to The Man the beltline has been put back in place. The cab is tacked in the approximate position. Pissed off the neighbor with all the cutting and grinding. Apparently he likes to take a nap fridays at 3. Thanks to Rogerradar I got some new ems pieces, tailpan, door bottoms rear quarter patch panels at used prices. I will be taking car builder up on his offer for accent line pieces once i decide on how far back to set the tailpan.

 

Starting to come together

 

Hey its looking like an Australian Ute with these picture.

 

So this is what I settled on.. Ive got it all secured with metal screws. Have to go back and cut and weld.... I was toying with the idea of getting a tig welder... I think it looks pretty nice. I had a moment of doubt when I was looking at the profile. I thought the deck was too high. I went back and looked at a ton of 36 pictures. In the end I saw the Norwegian coupe and felt that it was simmilar on deck height so I think I will leave it. Notice I have the tail pan mounted I think my length is 9 inches behind the original and that is already 2.5 inches longer than an original coupe. I also scored what i think is going to be a cool deck lid. I hope it works or can be worked in.... should get it tomorrow.

 

I'm sure you noticed the sedan is wider than the coupe, are you going to widen the tail pan or narrow the body?, I widened the pan on mine , seemed the easyest

 

Man, Carbuilder told me that the tailpan was made slightly oversized so it could be overlaid as a patch panel. He advised needing to trim about an 8 th inch off each side. Because I am extending the tailpan somewheres between 7-9 inches it seems that I will have to narrow it 1/2 to 1 inch as the tail tapers as it flows back. I got my deck lid today doesn't seem like its gonna work. It was off a 37 zephyr.... I was thinking coupe but it was a sedan.... The picture was grainy and the price was dirt cheap so I jumped. It's not a bad piece but it's all wrong for me. I need to go back and look at how you constructed the gutter around yours... I'm in the market for a deck lid if anyone has a lead....

 

I formed my gutter out of 1" square tubing. I just put it in a loose vise and gave it a quick yank every 1/4" Then I took a cut off wheel and cut the top of the 1" tube off. It worked great.

 

I did my gutter by making a piece with a 90D bend. 1x1 shrinking it to go around the edge, with the lip going down. then made another one opposite to go inside that one. With the lip going up, welded them , and ended up with a nice channel. In hind sight I should have made a stock style square deck lid, then I could have made the outer panels, break the edge and shrink it to fit. It would have been much easier . I recamend finding a stock deck lid and building around it, check the ford barn for one.

 

Man, I think your deck lid looks schweet. I was looking at your album again. Somewhere I read that you needed a family ride and were considering letting go of the 36. Don't do it. This is your signature piece. Oh and if you still have the door tops and the tops of the door jams that tie to the roof P M me I can put them to use. Also I need to learn about "breaking the edge" I need to get me some more edjumication on English wheel technique.

 

Rabid Dog, I appreciate your caveman style and may give that a try. I don't have a Shrinker/stretcher as of yet so it is right up my alley.

 

You will definitely need a shrinker& stretcher , brake, e wheel and bead roller ,as well as a plainshing hammer. In reality it's not that complex. People have been shaping metal for 700 years,. Just be prepaired to redo a few things. Check out you tube, tones of stuff on there. Like lazze. The guy is awesome



Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLh6ijMPx1k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Great to see your progress I hope to have enough parts saved up to do a very similar build in the next few years, the only thing I dont like is the small pics , would love to see better detail of all the work you are doing !

 

You got balls, project is progressing nicely. Profile pic reminds me of the Austalian UTE car/trucks.
Keep the updates coming.