Hi, Although right now am pretty far from reaching the real buy yet, I am, besides the shoebox Ford, dipping more and more into the 30.-s cars ideas, liking the long tailed coupes with short cabin (a´la lincoln zephyr, 36 ford 3 window, etc) the most. Just to get some education from you the cool H.A.M.B. folks : What if to get something like this (a Tudor) in pretty complete form, with title, with much cheaper price than a 3w, then find a reasonably repairable bare bodyshell of the 35/36 coupe, and swap the bodies? Would it be basically fittable ? How much (and what) actually should be adjusted to fit the 3w body onto Tudor ? Lots of work, or would the match be easy, up to dashboard and even fenders (with assumable small sheetmetal work) , not to mention the frames matching - wheelbase etc ? The reason to ask such stupid thing is to find out the cheapest ways to possibly get a complete 35/36 3w ford ( I hopefully will own something cool from Ford´s Flattie era one day ) thanks, telbert
Yep it's been done... someone on here took a customers 5 window coupe that was hacked to crap and used a sedan body to repair everything even the quarters were used. Turned out really nice!!! Someone will chime in with the link, I can't remember who it was?
Not what you are looking for but http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=163762&highlight=35+build or you could bite the bullet http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458390 or http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460399&highlight=36
That 36 Ford roadster that was done by Rod and Custom back in the late 60's-early 70's had a 35 Ford Tudor frame. I believe that the big differences occour with an open car 35-36 as there is an extra brace to support the cowl area.
Thanks Ron, I was trying to find your thread to post but couldn't come up with the rite search words I guess.
I have a 36 3-window jalopy body, a friend of mine left me a deposit on it , but he is not shure whether he can come up with the rest of the money, It is cheap $4000.00 dlls, I will ask him if he wants me to sell it. And yes the twodoor doors are the same from the belt line down, as well as the cowl and floor pan . Call me if you are interested at 619-573-2637
Don't forget this one: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=222004 He made is own coupe back by hand though, way beyond!!!
Yep, all the frames are the same. The rear fenders are not interchangeable but can be modified to work. Sedan fenders all interchange with other sedans. Coupe/roadster/cabriolet fenders interchange amongst the 3 body styles. Sedan Delivery fenders are unique, as are woodie fenders. All fronts and running boards interchange. All dashes interchange with the exception of the roadster which is unique. Cabriolet and woodie dashes look the same but they will only interchange with each other. '35 sheetmetal interchanges with 36 and vice versa.
It can be done but think about the amount of work to do it. Then consider just finding a 3 window to start with. What's your time worth?
You have a wallet that big? A nice 3-window is far from cheap, a scroungy tudor can be had for next to nothing by comparison.
Dude re-read the post, he is trying to find a cheap 3 Window body and add it to a cheap 2door frame...
Who is selling it? All I could find were Reggie's 5 window roof and kbcookout's 5 window roof pieces.
Sorry, let me fix my post so it's more clear to whom I am replying. Unless you get REALLY lucky, there is no such thing as a cheap 3-window body. My buddy scored one - he got lucky - you could buy it for about $10K. It's an old stock car, I did some research, it's probably worth about $5000 if you wanted to sell it quickly.
How about this?? It makes me think ANYTHING is possible!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=163762
Now I can't find it. Maybe it got removed? I think it was around $3,000 for the roof? Some kid selling it for his Dad or something like that.
I bought my complete rust-free 3W for $4k ...... but that was 13 years ago. I think I got real lucky on that one
So, roughly speaking (talkin about same year models ford tudors/fordors versus coupes respectively, 1935-1940 era) - *the frames - are they same in all major aspects (wheelbase, eng./tranny fitting points, steering column position, etc) ? *The body attachments to the frame - are they same (with possible minor modifications needs) ? *the front fenders and nose sheet metal - are they same? *The sedans back fenders - can they be modified to fit the coupe´s body, with reasonable amount of sheet metal work? * the Tudors doors (or the Fordors fwd doors? ) - are they the same as 5 window coupes doors (with the possible exception of deluxe clube coupe, which may have something longer somewhere ?) ? *The dashes - are they the same (both the sheet metal and the gauges) ? thanks, telbert
No comments on the previous post? The (possibly crazy and utopistic) idea is just to think out how to get and build a coupe ford ´35-´40 with the tighter budget
what exactly is the question? you last post is too hard for me to follow if this helps , my `36 three window is mounted on a `40 ford sedan frame. the body was made from scrap pieces and swap meet/ebay stuff
Things get more complicated when you include 37-40 bodies. They are all unique from year to year. Then there are differences between standard and deluxe bodies, like firewalls, fenders, and hoods with respect to how they bolt together. Some those parts are not interchangable from what I understand. You might have better luck sticking with 35-36 since most of it can interchange. Besides, if you want a 3-window, 36 was the last year.
My motivation to educate myself is very simple - the sedans are much cheaper than the coupes. I want a ford coupe, ´35...40. But apart from inside US , I need to pay all the extra stuff to get it into EU (local transportation, title organising, shipping, customs, etc - huge amount of extra money, talking thousands of extra dollars) So, I want to know , how to get a pretty complete full project here as costeffectively as possible. Hence I want to know whether my assumptions hold water or not, i.e. in my post nr 21 , I asked whether the listed things are ´swapable´/exchangeable between sedans and coupes ´35, sedans and coupes ´36, sedans and coupes ´37 , sedans and coupes ´38, sedans and coupes ´39, sedans and coupes ´40. If so, then one possible way to cut cost (and pay for it with the extra time of work laterwards, of course ) would be to buy a cheaper and more commonly offered sedan and then a separate coupe body and plant it onto the sedan chassis. If it turns out to be too much of hassle, then there is time to start to think how find some extra money for real coupe...
That's what I'm talking about http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=222004&highlight=blacksmith+36
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