Very nice car, beautiful engine, probably a perfect small block IMO. Glass Steel who cares when that much detail and form is in a car. There are several cars on the HAMB that are glass that to me are perfect no matter what the body is made of.
I'd love to own the car! With the scarcity of tin in our area of the U.S., it's the only practical choice if ya wanna build your dream car and not mortgage the farm.
Glad to see glass getting some respect.. I'll try and post my 34 3w soon. Its hemi powered and will be as traditional as reasonable. Seems to me the issue of glass vs steel is only an issue if its for sale. Yeah its a great feeling knowing you have some vintage tin, but its equally satisfying in a gorgous 3 w that you constructed yourself with as many fabricated pieces as any other traditional rod.
Chris - If you're reading this, it's good to see that thing finished and sitting next to your '39. That roll bar rules all.
Fiberglass may not be "traditional", but neither is a reproduction steel body. Build what you can afford and what's available to you. Nice car, period.
Absolutely. This 34 and the gold A prove that. Details details details... Think of all the steel cars that got that stupid fucking swoopy modern look over the last few years that were the basis for all the stupid fucking swoopy glass bodies you can buy today. Nice cars.
I checked the Journal today, and was humbled. Thanks so much for the nice words guys and specially Ryan. I'm flattered. I never went looking to build a glass car, just was the material I could afford at the time. Do I wish it was steel? Hell ya, but that would have wrapped up another year and allot of $$$. Plus would I really have a real '34 or a stock cowl and rear quarter with everything else being new patch panels? I spent several years working at Pete and Jakes and decided to call in a favor for a Gibbon Body. Generally I hate glass '34's too so made sure this had the right look; rounded roof, slanted pillars, stock firewall, hinges, manual windows, '40 dash and a crank out windshield. It took a while for me to embrace, however decided that glass shouldn't be a factor in my vision of an early hot rod. It might have even let me explore some details that a pricey steel car would hinder. Example I wanted that drag bomb/flats look so didn't think twice about attacking the rear fender well with a hole saws like I see in all the old books. If it had been steel, I think resale value would have told me no. Once I took this attitude I didn't want to build a fake rust, pigeon crapped on car, but just built what I wanted too. I used as many vintage parts as possible, kept the exposed wiring to cloth wrapped style, stayed away from generic hardware store bolts, no stainless brake lines ect. I didn't try to fool anyone with it being glass but took away some of the obvious areas, little things like door edges sanded down to a proper thickness and chrome plating the window moldings (yea there glass too) I didn't want a "rat rod" but knew how to keep finishes and materials true. I made sure the welds were visible and stopped the chrome shop from restoring the grill to perfect ~ then I covered it. She's only been on the road a week so there are some additions to follow. I had Little Howard punch up the hood (as well as the deck lid) and stock hood sides to go on it. Plus a early football style front tube bumper and a set of my bomber seats to complete the look. Maybe a different set of wheels and rubber as the mood strikes me. Looking back, I kind of took the feel as it was a restoration of an early glass bodied drag car. I been feeling like playing up the glass thing, maybe some old logo under the Hollywood Cross logo that says "Gibbon Fiberglass Drag Bodies" might be a fun way to do it. Thanks again guys.
IMHO : A "spot on" Hot Rod with a "glass" body is FAR cooler than a fucked up steel bodied "Hot rod-wannabe" ... Do any of you remember " Conrads classic " ??? ( hot Rod mag feature ca. `75 by Dad-B ) Anyways .. Ryan : Thanx for sharing CHRIS : NICE Work !!! Klaz
Two things: 1. Some of you have noticed the lack of a clutch pedal. In this case, that is totally cool cuz this tranny isn't some run of the mill TH350... It's a B&M Hydro... Possibly the baddest early drag tranny ever. 2. The grille insert. That's actually my favorite part of the car... I dig the idea and think it turned out great. It just feels right with the roll bar, the lettering, etc... I think it needs gloss black steel wheels with some of those Firstone Dirt Trackers from Coker just to run on occassion...
Further proof that GOD is in the details. Neat, neat little car. Love the grille insert & swiss cheese wheelwells. JH
This is a pretty cool car. I think you can look at hot rods in two ways, from a historical perspective and from an aesthetic perspective. The two can be inclusive or exclusive and the car can still have a lot of validity. In the real world we can't all afford to buy real steel cars, I think it would be a shame if someone with a great vision didn't build a car just because they couldn't buy a gennie to start with. This car has great aesthetics, but no history. So who cares, it is still a very cool car.
Ryan & Chris, Back in 87 I bought a really loosely constructed 34 Steel 3W coupe, Got rid of a 12 yr Vette for it (It too had a Fun Factor!) This body needed a lot of work as well as wood. I spent a few thou on it & it still needed like 10k more to go! This was in the high $ late 80's when everyone was looking to make a fast buck! I worked a normal 12 hr day then 6 days a week, so I was not in the position to get it done myself, nor did anybody have the time to teach me. I took the easy way out, did what the mag advertisements showed. Bought off the shelf stuff. A guy I knew had a brand new glass roadster body & said that he'd sell it to me. Well I sold my steel body & regretted it the moment it left the driveway. Now that the steel body was now gone, the other was no longer available=I was pissed! I did the next best thing, stored the 34 chassis & built a 30 RPU=glass. drove that about a yr & made a chopped close cab by changing out the cab=Was another steel body needing a shirtload of work! This one I did. My cousin saw it & had to have it, so a deal was made & I started searching the ads. = Found a 3W coupe body-needing no work!=Glass. It was chopped already, roof filled, had every body line & lots of steel in it. that sucker was heavy! Latches were OG style as was the window mechanisims & window frames. @ first I had a glue in windshield but then I put in the orig style=hinges & all. By far this was the most fun that I had in a car!-Did it have a soul=Hell ya-Mine! This drove to bonneville,el mirage,1st Americruise with Sneak & Jerks. I regretfully sold this 34 in a swap for a 54 capri & money that was never paid to me! Sold the Lincoln to buy my house. Karma stikes back though! I end up finding not one but two steel 34 3W's in the course of few months of buying the house. In the interim I ended up buying the 34 roadster body that I spoke about above as well as a chassis that I did for him 6 yrs before. That is my glass 34 purple roadster & believe me, she has a soul as well as an attitude! It too has a fun factor! So I feel that if you dig cars, it doesn't matter what they are made of. Just go out & drive em & have fun!
I've said it before....some of the coolest cars ever built were constructed from fiberglass....thanks BDR!!!!!!!!!!
QUOTE=Ryan "It's a B&M Hydro... Possibly the baddest early drag tranny ever." If you ever had one, you'd know they were "bad" alright, but not in the modern sense! - LOL Notice how they went away as soon as the Torqueflites showed up - and soon, other rebuilders (Art Carr, for instance) left B&M in the dust. Part of the reason was simply that the TFs were far lighter and a more modern design in every way - but the dark side was that the B&M Hydros had a rep of being hard to get working right. It was best if you lived very near the plant, because shippng one back and forth to California got expensive quick.
hey chris, the 34 looks great. I have personaly seen this car go together and it has all the right stuff and the fiberglass body doesn't in my oppinion take anything away from how great this car is. Chris has some of the nicest cars I have seen and they are all done to a very high level of craftsmanship.
Great car Chris!! Awesome attention to detail. I've seen some steel cars that had so much filler in them they might as well have been fiberglass!!
Chris, great looking car...I don't care one way or another if it's glass or steel. What I like, is the fact you built it with your hands and with your vision. I don't have a predjudice against glass, like some people, I like traditional looking hot rods, and for that matter, old cars in general. John
Chris, Great to see the coupe is almost finished. Is she a driver yet? Drive it to work on Friday and PM me your work addy and I can drive by and honk at ya'. I think that you mentioned I work out in the area where you are at. Chris Nelson Kansas
Boy, am I glad to read this thread. I’ve only been lurking around the HAMB a couple of months and have been a bit confused as to what was acceptable as “traditional”. This helps. If there is a thread that fully covers the subject I’d like to know how to find it.
Just when I think I'm sick of too many black cars, sumtin' else comes along that strikes my fancy. As far as the glass....hey keep in mind despite Ford making 563,921 vehicles that year(Chronicle of the American Automobile), that was over 70 years ago. How many can still be available?? Betcha' we start choppin' up restored examples, probably worth more as a Hot-Rod. JT
Let's not forget Henry Fords work with soybeans for making bodypanels....now THAT is traditional!!!......I'm gonna get me a soybean deuce...with a side order of wheat pistons.
Nice car Chris- Kudos to you for building it and Ryan for applauding your build. I think what we all have to realize is that a nice steel body setting on a pallet would fetch more than it costs to build an entire car done via -Glass body route...... That is when we have to re-evaluate or fixation with real steel. I can tell you unless you bought a mint steel body you are looking at about as much in metal work on most steel bodies available-than it costs to buy a glass body. In closing Id like to remind all of you that what Chris has accomplished here with this car is what HOTRODDING is and WAS all about....... INGENUITY- ADAPTATION-IMPROVISATION-DREAMING THE DREAM AND IGNORING THE NAYSAYERS BY SEEING IT THROUGH TO ITS FRUITION!
The Jalopy Journal
