The opportunity arose to rearrange some resources. I now have entirely too many projects in my pasture but none of you would say no to this so I don't wanna hear it The Fordor is going away and my other projects are taking a backseat until this is at least a roller. It came with a pretty solid spare 31 cowl I can rob whatever tin I need off of... I don't have a lot of time lately but I want to burn hard on this and get it on four wheels ASAP, and I have a sweet running early DeSoto hemi sitting on a stand that has the perfect character for what I have in mind. My plan is to pair the DeSoto with a Mopar A833 using a Hemi Hot Heads adapter through a fresh rebuilt 49 F1 rear end I've been hanging on to. I have a T5 sitting around, but I think I'll break it, even stock the hemi makes more torque than the T5 is rated for. (I also have a good 39 trans but I think that's not even worth considering for this.) I think I want an 833OD for this... so I'll have to start fishing around junkyards. I need pulleys for that engine if anyone has any laying around... Something's telling me to build a 32 ch***is for this. I have a cut up A and a cut up AA frame I could rob crossmembers from. But I also already have a complete A frame and I'm leaning towards full fenders, so I'm not sure if there's any real reason to build a 32 frame just to cover it up with fenders. As we move into the fall and winter months I'm hoping I'll have a lot more energy and time for my cars. It's been a brutal and busy summer of just fixing other people's ****... at least it pays the bills.
30 years ago there was a guy in Nebraska where my grandparents and aunt and uncle lived that had a heavy chopped 30 31 sedan on a 32 frame with 32 fenders and running boards that looked killer. Im sure the rear fenders took all kinds of work to fit the body right but man it was a cool look.
Couldn't be more excited for you, Trevor. As soon as I heard the Hemi and '32 rails plan, I immediately thought of this car. Looking back, there are some things on it that aren't my favorite, but the overall feel is bona fide hot rod. Carry on!
Thanks Joey! I'm still waffling on the 32 frame. I've been doing some homework and came across this car: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/model-a-hemi-and-the-six-inch-chop.969142/ There is some extreme fab wizardry at work on this one that I can't hope to match, but this answered some critical questions for me -- basically I think I can get the car the way I want it on an A frame. Right now I have two A frames, both underneath cars, or a guy has offered me some boxed 32 rails for $1000 which I could finish out with A crossmembers from the junk pile. Right now I think the best move is to break up my blown up T-bodied A and use the frame from it as the starting point for this car. I've had a nicely built Z'd T frame sitting around forever I can rebuild the T on down the road and the A frame under that car is really nice. The frame under the Fordor looked kinda tired. I'll give it a closer inspection tomorrow, but I think it's rusty and probably not completely straight from how the car is sitting, and I know the frame horns have been broken and roughly re welded.
Moving ahead. The car is coming home with me today so we can start on the prep work and patches. I've settled on stealing the frame from my T RPU (I will rebuild it on a z'd T frame I have). This frame will get the Tardel step treatment, a 31 AA front crossmember (to correct the radiator height), and I'll have to fabricate a K member for the A833OD I'll be bolting to this DeSoto using the Hot Hemi Heads adapter. I want a nice dash treatment in this car and I've decided to lean into the DeSoto theme. So I went on a little shopping spree. This 57/58 Fireflite dash cluster came loaded with all the gauges, complete dash harness, interior lights, dimmer switch, blinker stalk, etc. I'll have to figure out a good dash panel to mold this into once I get it in hand but shoebox dashes look pretty versatile and available so I'm leaning that direction. I found this great switch panel insert for that dash - machine turned with a Fireflite badge that will match the Fireflite wire caps on my valve covers. And since there's an ignition switch in it I figured I'd finish it off with a DeSoto key. I should be able to get any locksmith to cut this blank to work. Millworks has the boxing plates and early hemi motor mounts, so that's coming up once I get the frame out.
Salvaged the fuel tank, windshield frame, cowl band, dash rail, and filler panel off this cowl. The tank is rusted out at the bottom, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to retain a cowl tank anyway, so I'll just prime it for now and use it for mockup. I may come back for the firewall later. Right now I think it's a boon that the firewall is out of the body, it will really help with positioning everything.
Set of front juice brakes to go with the rears. I forget what drums these fit but if I remember correctly I have spindles for these.
Starting on primer so I can stabilize the car and get an idea of what I'm in for. I figured if I can get one panel a day at work it'll be one color before I know it. Got more than one done today but it was hours and hours of sanding to get to this point. I decided to start with the bad side and I was really surprised just how straight and solid it is. A couple little wrinkles and the usual rot at the bottom but it's really really nice overall. A lot of guys would just about bolt it down and run it as is...
When you are ready to start on yours, let me know. I have an extra Chrysler 354 over here collecting dust.
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