Yes the grill is 34 Ford truck and the button was little messed up, so when we fixed it, we flattened it a little, to give it more a 32 look, It was a bitch to fit the stainless after that. The cool thing about the 34 grill is, that it is deeper. So we actually had to shorten the hood. Usually if you run a 32 grill with 32 frame 31 body configuration, you have to lengthen the hood. The grill gives the roadster a little tougher look, that helps especially because it's all shiny and painted.
At the suede palace GNRS. At that time we didn't have the fenders made and Richie came over from Germany to see his car at the show. After the show it took a lotta work to get everything dialed in. The back part of the top was later redone for a better look.
The pictures were worth the wait. Wow, thats a great looking hot rod, great build. That will be a cool way to cruise the Black Forest. Chuck
I'd be interested in knowing, beyond the fenders and presumably exhaust, what the requirements were for shipping the thing to Der Vaterland?
Getting the car over to Germany is easy, getting it street legal is something else. We built the roadster specifically for the german DMV rules. Fenders, turnsignal, e brake, windshield wiper, rear view mirrors, H4 headlights with the parking lights perm on when the low beam high beam light are on. Hazard lights need to have priority to brake light. Anyway, when any car is getting registered first time in Germany, it has to undergo a very major inspection by the TÜV. After that, every car has to be inspected every other year to get the stickers to be legal. The 2nd checkup isn't too bad anymore. You need good tires, not old or worn, they will check the date of production. Brake lines, brake performance, shocks, suspension and rust. No rust holes are ok. After the car passed his first inspection the title is created and all the specs are listed in the title and registration, so that the cops can see any afterward modifications. That means tickets, points and suspended registration driving without insurance. Crazy ha? In Germany the VIN is mostly part of the chassis, not the body. We used the Vin from the real 32 Frame and got the car registered as a 32 Ford, what helps in Germany to explain the cops, why the car has a V8 instead of the 4 banger. In other words, to drive a hotrod in Germany, you gotta be a little bit of outlaw. Crazy extreme rods with major frame modifications are pretty much out of luck. Our roadster is pretty mild and period correct. Most inspectors would consider the car as an antique, not a hotrod.
I would agree with Stephan that the 34 truck grill makes the car. Most traditional roadster are built the Tardel way, a 59ab is used with a 39 standard generator , a 32 to 36 fan mounted on the generator, 49 truck pumps and a 32 to 36 lower pulley. this lets you avoid using a second belt for the fan or god forbid , an electric fan. By far , the 8ba was the most dependable flathead engine Henry made, it does'ent have the pain in the ass crab distribuitor, ran cooler and had more horse power. The drawback is that you have to run the second belt for the fan if you want to keep the later distribuitor. If you look at most early hot rod pictures from the fortys, the kids were using 33 and 34 truck grills, there were two reasons for that, even back then, a 32 grill shell brought a lot of money and the other reason is that since the truck grill is thicker, you don't have to lengthen the hood as much, the truck grill is wider also, so we narowed it a little so it woud'ent have that funky look. We ran a 56 ford generator and mounted a aftermarket wide belt pulley and a G.M. alternator fan, we had to machine a half inch of more thread on the shaft but every thing bolted on, we used 49 truck water pumps and 59 ab lower pulley and a 59ab fan assembly . this allowed us to keep the 8ba distruibuitor and gave us a 12 volt system . The car has a 32 wheelbase and thanks again to the 34 grill, we did'nt have to lengthen the hood a lot which keeps the car from having a funky look and we were able to use the stock model A gas tank and Richi got to keep full use of his trunk area and the car does'ent have the overdone cookie cutter bolt on so.cal look. The radiator is a gennie 32 unit that we cut down to 31 specs and recored. We had to modify the lower center of the stock firewall but not much so we did'nt lose a bunch of leg room.
some pics from the interior. Tijuana leather The gauges are 50 Plymouth and fit perfect in the 32 dash. All functional. The temp gauge was converted from mechanical Mopar to electrical Ford.
Belgium did a photo shoot for Car Culture Deluxe/ Oldschool Rodz. Should come out soon. Special thanks to Belgium to make it happening in the one day only timeframe. It was fun.
Hmmm, Would "roadster" be masculine, feminine, or neuter in German?... Der Deutscher Roadster, Die Deutschen Roadster, oder Das Deutches Roadster?
I have to say ut again , a very cool roadster !!!! A lot of cool parts on the car! Soooooo much better than a lot of the so called traditional Builds
40 rear end was freshen up and center shaft was cut down and resplined, rear end has 3.78 gears and with the tall rear tires, it should bring it down to 3.54 gears which should at least get the car in the slow lane of the autobaun. The tranny was rebuilt with 41 to 48 pasenger gears which gives you a nice long secound , to get the car up to speed. The face of the stock A gas tank was dimpled so the 50 mopar gauges would clear. 34 pedals were used on the 32 crossmember and the brake pedal modified for hydralic brakes.
Very nice! Looking forward to meet this roadster on the streets. @mac: It's masculine, would be "der deutsche Roadster" or "das deutsche Kabriolett" if you want to use the german word for roadster.
Richi is a vintage bike guy and drives his bikes everywhere , every year , he makes the trec to the hill climb and got bit by the roadster bug there. He should have it out there this year, rain, snow or shine, he is talking the roadster out there, hopefully he will send us back some pics of his journy
Having built (2) 31's, coupe and ragtop m'self, this one turned out great! maybe those Euro's will appreciate a real car.
After grand national, Richi told me he wanted side curtains added to the car, I thought it was going to give the car the old man, weezer look, but with the chopped top, the curtains have turned into an asset and give the car a pissed off kubelwagon look and a bitchen attitude.
Man, there isn't anything about this roadster that I don't like. The stance, big white walls, colors, those side curtains, the slight awkwardness of the grill shell....you guys nailed it.
In the late forties, except for the lakes or at the strip, the guys had to run fenders, the fronts were usually 35 to 36 spare tire covers and the rear were the stock fenders but were bobbed . Back then, cops did'nt like hot rodders and this was the perfect excuse to pull them over. As Stefan mentioned, the fronts are 36 units and the rears he scored on , there old motorcycle fenders that had once been on a hot rod but they were set up for 15 inch wheels , so we redid the wheel arch and the brackets. The trick was to make them so you could dismount the tire with out taking the fenders off, but not leaving too much gap between the tire and the fender, so they did'nt look like an after thought. I think the motorcycle fenders work well in the rear and they help fill the rear wheel well area and are in proportion to the bigger rear tires. The left front tire brackets are different than the right, this is because you have to clear the left steering hoop.
What a cool car Miguel...I was wondering first at the thicker grill and it's a cool detail out of the box,good thinkin guys...you sure do lot of love and heart in your work and it shows big time....hat off to the whole team,fantastic subtle rod Actually I forgot but I'm honestly thinkin to send one of my 32s your way to Tijuana and get it done the proper way...will call you soon amigo!!!
I really like this car. I was never a huge fan of cycle style fenders, but since they are required over there, and painted black to almost disappear, I could live with them. Great color choice and nicely done all around.
This is one of those cases, I think, where having to build something as a driver to fairly tight requirements - real brakes, no big-and-littles, etc - produces a better result.
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