I know, there's no rules in hot rodding, until you break one. I'm already breaking one by building a four door sedan, and wouldn't mind some input as to what way to take this project. There are some pretty nice looking four doors out there, but there are some pretty hideous ones, too. Coupes, roadsters, and two door sedans seem to have a bit more of a "margin of error" when it comes to ride height, stance, amount of chop and channel, etc. The better looking (to me at least) four doors I've seen are some of the slammed to the ground ones, and those that are unchanneled, with their fenders removed. I've seen a 32 Ford in Cincy like the latter, and it looks really nice. I think the owner may be on the HAMB, so hopefully they can chime in. On the "hideous" side, there's a later 20's Chevy in my area, that has full fenders, an IFS, and a chop. The workmanship on it looks very nice, but the car itself just looks wrong to me, and I can't put the why into words. My car is a 1928 Chevrolet that is in reasonably solid shape, except for the lower wood. Since I plan to channel it, I'll be replacing most of the wood with steel. Mainly, though, I'm hoping you can share some thoughts and ideas for helping me make this car look right. My mind's eye is a little foggy, and photoshop hasn't been the best help for me yet (I need pics of my car w/o fenders, I think). First and foremost, the car must be reasonably driveable, since it'll hopefully become my fair weather daily driver. It also needs a functional rear seat, as it'd be nice to bring the family along for rides. Those pretty much preclude a wild rear z in the frame, and an insanely low stance. Ohio doesn't have inspections, so I can probably get away with a pretty serious chop, but I don't hink it would look right. Maybe just a 3-4" chop, maybe a touch more. To get it low enough to look decent, I was thinking of z'ing the front and the rear an equal amount, just the height of the frame, and channeling the body to hide the frame. The fenders and running boards would have to go, but I might make a set of removable bobbed fenders for the rear and motorcycle style fenders for the front, mainly for long trips where weather could be a problem. Any advice from those with a good artist's eye, or anyone who's gone down this path before, would be greatly appreciated. Pictures of end results would be good, too, especially since I don't recall seeing anything like I've described above. Which may be a sign that its a bad idea. If the end result is real bad, the nuclear option would be cutting the roof off and making a touring car...
Personally, I'd leave it full fenderd. Chop the roof. Big n littles wide whites, raked, chrome steelies or 56 Olds spinner wheelcovers, no hood sides to show off the dressed up 235, & run an S-10 5 speed. Billy
If you filled in the small third window, it would not look so much like a four-door....or you could take it a step farther, and fill in the windows on the rear doors, too. Make sure the side of the body above the beltline is flat, without indentations, and paint it like a panel truck. I guess you would have to "lose" the rear door handles, and use dark colors, so the seams aren't so noticeable. Another option would be to paint it like a woodie, or cut away the rear body, and build your own woodie. I like the touring idea, but you might want to figure out how to build a convertible top, so you aren't afraid to leave home on a cloudy day.
Sorry, but I just can't shake the motto of my generation on this subject: "I'd rather have a sister in a *****house than a neighbor with a 4 door car". Seriously though, I like the idea of full fenders and as much top chop as you can handle comfortably. Let's face it, if it ain't comfortable, it ain't fun to drive. Dave
given the seating limitations, id stuff a locker an some monster slicks under the back with some kinda shiny wheel (always loved the cragars for cruising). drop the front axle and run real narrow tires. keep the hood and all the fenders. lose the hood sides and maybe go for some wider fenders. roof chop--an even drop on a four door like that will look pretty ridiculous, plus probably be uncomfortable with stock seats. id say rake the roof, give it a mean stance. what kind of motor are you looking at? im partial to the straight 6 chevy motors, but for style points pick out of your favorite American V8 and go for some nice looking pipes (dont go overboard on the shiny here). let me draw up a couple of quick sketches to give you an idea of the stance im thinking of....
In my opinion, four doors can't be chopped as much as other models. The windows are almost square on 4 door cars of the early 30's and dropping the top more than a slight amount really messes up the proportions.
I shot this 4-door rod at last year's Autorama...I thought it looked pretty good....Maybe it will be helpful with your project.
TJ I think that a 4 door can be just as cool as a 2 door. you are right some 4 drs are just ugly but yours is not one of those. I like the idea of keeping the fenders, first, cause yougot em and two i think that a four door looks better with em. i say chop the top. i really like the idea of welding the back doors shut, and eliminating the rear window post and making it a delivery. good luck Pablo
I agree with the delivery theme. Unless you have family requirements, and 4-doors will be used to haul them around, maybe just converting it to a panel would open up some possibilities. Maybe even just a big window with a heavy tint.
I guess I'm the odd man here, because in early '30s body styles, I like, and actually PREFER the 4 door bodies, whether it be Ford, Chevy or Mopar, gimme a good old 4 door over one of those more "popular" body styles any day! I just Love them old "suicide" rear doors, and the ability to load up the fam, or a bunch of buddies and go for a spin. Hope that you don't let anyone talk you into trying to make "something else" out of such a really neat old car. I agree with shoebox72, full-fendered, full-height roof, or a minimal chop of only 2 or 3", Big & Little's for that "right" rubber rake, with a modified and chromed up 6, or a nice little Tri-Power 283, or early Olds Rocket, and you cannot go wrong. Leave that "chopped-up" and "cut down ground s****per look" to those rat-rod builders that are starting out their builds with nothing but s**** metal quality body shells. You got something better there, ferget the latest fads, and capitalize on what you got. It will maintain its "value", and will always remain in "style" as long as you keep it "cl***ic".
I agree with jessie j. Im a weird-o too, I love the odd ball cars. 4 doors and wagons are cool and away from what everyone else has. I enjoy the idea of being different and standing out. Some will think its cool and some will still see it as a 4door no matter what you do to it, and overlook your style. Even if you had a 2door, you wont please everyone. But being happy with your own ride is what really counts. If you get over worring about what others may think, you'll be happier with lots of choices in your life. Too many of them are chopped up to look like something theyre not, as if youre ashamed of what you have. If you wanted a 2 door or a panel, then sell that 4door and get what you want. Welding the back doors shut doest fool anybody and looks worse than just running a 4door. Its definately not what everyone builds and its in its own cl*** compaired to the popular 2 doors, but its still way cooler than any new car I see everyday! I have a 27 dodge 4door. I dont have kids, but I plan on hauling my paintings around to car shows, and the extra space will be perfect! Its different, its weird, and I think its cool just because of that. Just look at some pics on other threads showing 4doors and see what style/stance you like before trying to make it into something other than a 4door. my .02
Ah yes, 4 doors seem like the fat chick at last call. Most people seem to do them and then lie about why later. I think what kills a 4 dr is that a lot of them are done to disguise the truth. Use your imagination and combine it with good taste and it could be great. A couple of the ideas already posted are very sound. Maybe cover the thrid window and don't chop the hell out of it. Leave the hood sides open and dress your engine up nice. A flathead in full dress would fit the bill too. Next, I'd go with steel wheels and baby moons, with wide whites for tires. 4 doors will never be a number one choice for a lot of guys, but then they are usually the ones with a big, ugly trailer dragging behind their hot rod because they decided to carry an extra change of clothes to a meet up. It will also put you in good with the significant other when you are trying to sneak in another project. No woman could say no when you explain how the FAMILY will ALL get to enjoy the fun!
i took a 34 ply 4 dr and turned it into a sedan delivery,wacked the rear post,welded the rear doors and welded in a panel,its got the correct look, on an A there are back door and jams available in gl*** or make your own ,tack on anoyher layer of sheetmetal to where you want you door edge and cut the back of your car out,thers your door skin with a thick edge, the make you own jams,its not that difficult if you have some welding talents. also used my old rear posts to fill in the gaps at the bottom of the posts. just another option for you,myself the 30s four fours dont tickle me in the right ways so i opted for sawsall real quick
leave it a 4 door... dont try to hide it. or let someone else who WANTS a 4 door build it and go buy yourself something else!
I´m not wild about fenderless four doors, but I threw this together for you. I like nice chopped four door too - looks very gangster.
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I definitely want to keep this one a four door, and don't intend to hide it. It needs to haul more than two people, and I'd like everyone to be able to get in and out easily. Also, since this is my first build of anything like this, I wanted to try my hand on something that wasn't as valuable as some other cars. I picked this up for under 2K. In the far future, I'm planning a full fendered Model A Tudor. I agree with the general concensus of going open hood sides. Not sure what drivetrain to go with yet. The original four banger is a no go, and all I have in my garage right now is SBF/C4 stuff. It could be fun to do an "opposites" thing, but really, I'd rather throw a GM plant into this for various reasons. Still debating about the fenders. I'll have to remove them to get everything de-rusted, so I'll try to drop the body back on without them and take some quick pics. The grill is definitely staying. I like how big and imposing it looks. Oh and this will be a "finished" looking hot rod. Not a fan of rust, and would prefer shiny paint, but may consider going sued if I think it could look good. The major reason I have been considering channeling the body and Z-ing the frame, is I'm not sure how low I can get the car, and keep the parallel leaf suspension. Gues I could swith the axles to spring-under, de-arch the springs, and notch the frame for axle clearance. Just not sure how much drop that will buy me. Weaverville: That looks a bit closer to my idea, only with the body channeled over the frame, and the frame not so low. Ohio roads (and my driveway)aren't overly forgiving to low vehicles. James D: Thanks for the photochop. I've been doing similar stuff, but hadn't blurred out the support post. It looks better that way. Judging from the cinder blocks, that looks like about a 5-6" chop, which might be pushing it. The ride height change looks pretty good. I wish i could find a photo of one of the cars I've seen so you all could critique it, and let me know why it looks "off" I'll keep looking. I've got to thrash on my racecar for the next month, so I won't be able to pull the Chevy out of the back of the garage until early April. Then it'll be game on.
Oh yeah, one other thought I've had but not seriously considered yet, is to remove the fenders, no chop, no channel, and do it up to look like an old dirt track jalopy racer. Not so sure abou this idea, though.
Don't cut it! There were lot's of 4 doors in the early sixties that looked good with out body mods. How about a candy color, white tuck and roll, Radir 5 spokes, big and little whitewalls, and get the ch***is as low as you can. Or, you could do black or black suede with cream colored painted wires with big and little blackwalls.
That car is even more *****in in person. I have had the opportunity to shoot it a few times and once for a feature. The owner built it as a "shop car" to take his guys to lunch. Cool boss!
Early 4 doors rock. I have a '29 Dodge 4 door that I'm building. The below is the same car, but not mine. Just a 2 1/2" chop I'm breaking a bunch of 'rules', like I'm using a V6, an auto trannie and all the fenders and even the bumper! It'll be a cruiser not a drag car ( I already have one of those) Keith
The chop on that Dodge looks nice, not entirely sure about the wheels. A sedan delivery would be neat, but highly impractical. At this point I'll definitely consider keeping the fenders, but will be doing some more photoshopping. Here's what I've come up with so far, which proves how bad of a photochopper I am. At the very least, I need to switch to wheels more like what I'd use. Channeled, about a 3" chop, no fenders:
Best said. Full fendered, four door rod with no chop. Chrome steelies with black wall tires and a bright color paint job.
4 dr 53 currently 12.0's with room for improvment. no shame in a 4 door. nothing like loading it down with your buddies and doing donuts and burnouts!!!
damn it, that 28 chevy looks sweet!! Thats just about the right stance and wheel base and rige height. Looking goooood!!
I've seen several good-looking deuce fordoors in the last couple of years, both fendered and non. Here are some examples. The first one is the immortal Chet Herbert car, which looked a lot better with its GMC engine and '50 Merc hubcaps than it does in this later getup. All the others are recent builds, and I like 'em either near-stock and fendered or as whacked highboys. Your Chevy isn't a '32 Ford, of course, but I think it would work well in the same styles as these.
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