I am posting this for inspirational purposes and Ultimately will become my 33 3 window build thread. Just a little about my background and what got hotrods into me. My Dad pretty much Always Had a hot rod of some sort. I rode to the baby sitters and to kindergarden in a 32 ford....He would build them and drive them, And when money was tight he would sell them. Even though he did not always want too. And with me being a young boy and not understanding what it takes to raise a family of 6 kids I would Cry and get pissed at him.....But he would Always replace the one he sold with some type of Old starter body. which would make things ok again. I have always wanted a 33-34 ford 3 window ever since I first saw "Jim Jacobs of pete and jakes hot rod parts" Yellow chopped coupe. That car just done it for me, But growing up in a lower middle cl*** home, And with the prices increasing almost daily, I did not think I would ever Own one. So I turned My focus to a more affordable hot rod. The Model A. And not just any model A, When I was 10 My dad and I started collecting parts for a "Jim jacobs" 1929 phone booth cab pickup build. To me it is the ultimate Model A.....Anyhow fast forward through many years of life lessons. And many model A's and hot rods. I have managed to Have every other Hot rod That I ever thought I wanted. Except I Never could find a 33-34 3 window that was afordable, But it turned out I was just looking at it from the wrong angle. It Did Not ever enter my mind to piece a body together from scratch and bits and pieces.....I had never heard of anyone doing that until reading the article on "Pete Flaven" 33 Build. What really ****ed about not thinking that way was I p***ed up buying a few old roundy round cars that by todays standards were very buildable. Anyhow a few years ago I started collecting parts for a 3 window build, Plan was to turn a sedan into a 3 window, but after seeing all the true diffrences from a 3 window and a sedan I realized I would never be happy with that. So I sold all that stuff and put it on the back burner once again. Awhile back i got the itch again, So I looked at the 3 window thread here and PM'd everyone here on the hamb who owns one and ask them if they would sell. Almost everyone said No. With decent Bodys fetching 30K plus these days, ( Which is out of my budget) things were not looking good. Then I get a PM from Jarod (angryfrenchman) telling me that a rough 33 body had just been listed in the cl***ifieds for $8500.00 by "Sam barnes" I called him and a deal was struck right then. Now I had just sold My prize 32 five window due to needing Money for life issues. And All that money was gone. So I borrowed 20K from my credit union on a 6 month note to Not only buy this project, But to buy and sell enough other stuff to pay back the loan in full. Which I was able to do early even. As this is a No budget Build, and I will only use parts I already had on hand or am able to trade or buy and sell other hot rod parts to pay for what I need. So far to get the parts I need and not have any out of pocket money in them, I have had to Buy and Sell (5) other 33-34 five window bodys and projects, (2) fordor's ,and a 34 pickup. I am going to stop here and post some pics of some of the stuff I have bought and sold to finance my Dream hot rod.
This is just a few of the pics I had handy which show 4 of the 5 Five window bodys and 1 of the 4drs...This is not even counting the tudor body I forgot to mention and the tons of parts....Anyhow You get the point. There is more than one way to be able to afford your dream ride other than taking away from your household income. I am still collecting Stuff for my 3 window build So until I have everything I want to get started, The build will have to wait. Here Are some of my fav threads that inspired me to go ahead and try to turn chicken poop into chicken Soup.. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/saving-a-32-ford-body.651878/ http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1934-ford-sedan-gender-re***ignment-surgery.857397/ http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...a-5w-or-another-4dr-bites-the-big-one.654839/ http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/progress-on-rockys-34-coupe-last-update-9-18-14.324582/ http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/34-3w-my-way.834932/ these are just the easy to find ones I will add the others when I find them.
I like the horsetrading aspect, although I personally would never take a loan out to hustle with. Still a neat project though, looking forward to seeing more.
What do you guy's think Did I get a deal. Or what??.......My Dad said I need to get my head examined And I just lied my *** off to the wife about what I payed...LOL either way it is all free now!!
I also had this body bought that was on ebay a couple of months ago. Guy offered to end the auction and sell it to me for $5000.00 outright. And I Messed around and let it get away, It sold for $8000.00 on ebay. That was a 3K mistake....LOL It was very rough even though it may look better in this pic My Body and doors are in better shape.
Glad to see you going on this. I have to admit that as rough as the 3w was, I still hated to get rid of it. No doubt she will be a nice piece when finished... Sam
Here is a list of stuff not pictured that I have Bought and traded for that I have For this project: 1 New SAR quarter Panels 2 A complete rust free (still has original paint on it) Floorpan and subrails 3 Very Nice 34 Cowl and header, with plently of roof to replace what is missing. 4 Nice rust free original Deck lid with hinges 5 New coupe tailpan, inner support, trunk latch pan, Rear quarter gussets, rain gutters, rear window drain pan, trunk hindge brackets and Door jamb covers 6 rear window garnish 7 enough 2 door garnish moldings and 4 door rears to make a set of 33 door garnishes. 8 Nice stock windshield frame, also nice old chrome chopped windshield frame. 9 My doors are hacked up on the bottoms, So I have 4 tudor doors that I am going to use to fix my 3 window doors. 10 Rust free stock frame with clear ***le Now in my name. 11 Very Decent 34 hood and Very nice paintable 34 grille shell. 12 New inner fenders 13 I have a Nice wood kit, But have ordered a set of donnie smart steel B pilars (Don't have them yet) Basicly the B pilars is what I am waiting on to get started on this. I would just go ahead and use the wood but I do not have the lower brackets that attach the wood to the floor. I do not even Know what they look like to make them. 14 Original coupe seat (gotta replace the wood) Adding All this stuff to the project I am Down About $3700.00 in Cash, But I still have a bunch of extras that I have not sold yet to more than take care of that. I am going to put my 1957 "Ed McVay" Built in 1965 301 small block in this car with six strombergs. Not sure on transmission yet. Although this was not the original Plan, I also ended up keeping one of the 5 windows and am going to build it for myself as well. I kept the one that looked the worst, But was actually the Best (In my opinion Anyhow)
I completely understand where you are coming from, As most people always play it safe, But If I had not took out the loan, I would still be without a 33-34 3 window. And you know what they say, "Nothing ventured, Nothing Gained"......LOL... Plus it has been alot of fun chasing this stuff all over the country and helping others get the projects and parts they been needing and looking for. I have put about 12,000 miles on my pickup going after alot of this stuff so far. And been to some neat places and met some great new friends.... I am also keeping track of where all my parts come from So when it is together I will Know how ****tered around this car was....
Very cool! I chased parts all over the US for my 5 window also. That's one of the fun parts IMHO. I can't believe you actually borrowed 20 grand to buy old ford stuff to sell! You got more stones than I do. Glad it turned out ok for you. I have a few extra Camaro T-5s if you decide to go with a 5 speed O.D. trans.
Rocky, I have followed your build, And it has been very inspirational too me. I still remember your post number 27 in this thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/wanted-33-34-3-window-ford.658435/#post-7307758 Great Advice! for anyone wanting to build their Dream car..... Bottomline is A persons dream may be 1000 miles away And it don't really matter If they Fly, Drive, walk, or crawl as long as they get there.
Here is a 34 3 window that was built from a sedan by Russ Eggleston. The only part of it that was from a coupe is the rear 2 feet of the body. Like I had mention I started out just going to do this and had everything to do it with. Then decided I just had to have a real one. Funny thing is the only thing I will end up using from the original 3 window I got from Sam is the doors and the rear part of the roof...As soon as I get my B pilar issue figured out and finish some work on a customers 34 pickup, I will start my build.
I know it has been awhile, But I just finished up some customers projects and am getting ready to get busy on this project for myself. I was able to find another Rough Donor Body to help this project along. (keep in mind as of today I am not out of pocket one penny on this project, As a matter of fact I am about $3200.00 to the good)
I went through a lot of what you are headed for. It sometimes seems like you'll never get there but just keep at it. I paid $25K for my 34 and ended up using very little of the original body, but you know what, I have a chopped 34 3W now and wouldn't trade it for anything. By the way, did you get your "B" pillars? I think I have the top sections of mine if they would help you make your own. They are very similar to the wood pillars,(same contour) just made from "L" angle. More complicated than it sounds but doable.
Footnote to that $5K body, I won that on EBay & the guy pissed me around and eventually sent my money back! Live & learn I say! Great thread to.
Dan, No I never did get the B pilars from donnie. Also I know what you mean, I actually Bought a pretty decent 34 3 window (Old Streetrod project) for $18,500.00 before I payed back the $20K bank loan. It would have been alot easier Body to build then what I am doing, But in the end I decided I did not want a payment So I kept a few small hard to find parts off of it and sold it for $22,800.00 and only owned it a little over a week. Also doing it this way, I may have alot of work to do but the car will be mine when it is done with no payments to make. Also it is funny The only thing I am using from my original purchase from Sam is a few pieces of the rear roof section and 1 door. Everything else I have replaced with better stuff.
Doug your story sounds a lot like mine. I bought and sold a lot of stuff to get my 3 window that I thought I'd never find. Sam even got my Halibrand V8 quick change. Let's see some progress pics
Really looking forward to following along. I can relate to the low buck, bartering etc build style. It used to frustrate me but now I really enjoy it. You sure have found a lot of stuff.
just found this thread tonight/morning. man, you have found a ton of cool stuff! love to see an up date!
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