Projects 60's Era Street/Strip Model A Coupe

I’ll tell you what I sure like metal work more than bondo and Wood!!!
Awesome job dude!
And here I was worried about my rear tires poking out too far! LOL!!!

 

Hey all, it's been a while.

We are in the busy time for my business (we run summer camps based the the values that lead to excellence) so I'm working 14ish hours a day making sure the 7 hours at the camp run smoothly. It's crazy how entrepreneurship works.

That said, I don't have any progress to report. I do have a project farmed out to a HAMBer pal. A box was sent out and there will likely be progress over the next week or so. This has been planned for a while so we're both excited for this... it's a monumental piece of the build. A real problem will be solved, creatively: one of the mantras of the build and funny enough, something we do at summer camp daily.

If you've read through this whole thread, you know that a time or two I've shared pics of cars that inspire the build or just fire me up. I came by the black and white version of this photo recently (I've colorized it) and that 5w is right up my alley.



Man... this pic fires me up.

 

Looks like a bitchin' car show/cruise in - showing a cluster of traditional hot rods, something I miss bigtime! I need to hunt down some traditional hot rod gatherings only, but difficult to find. Brent, your Model A would be a standout among those pictured in that photo...

 

Just checking in on the progress. Looks fantastic so far. Keep the updates coming.

 

I'm not spilling any beans, yet, but @TexasSpeed has this cool jig...

 

Looks like that could be exhausting.

 

That joke is witty. You're really using your head-er.

 

I've driven David's coupe quite a bit... never heard any tools rattling back there.

Love your coupe by the way!

I check in from time to time on your progress...

Sam

 

Yeah, was going to use "That's a total fabrication!" but decided to go the exhaust route instead.

 

I hate the oil can effect! Especially when you are replacing a patch!
I have found, if you do relief cuts and reweld the slices it gets rid of that sometimes. I have not played enough with heat shrink- quenching, and that sort of thing yet. I am too impatient!
Slice and dice!!!

 

Whew! What a journey, just one door! They surface this way sometimes, usually a 'Surprise!'
I just found my missing slap hammer, about to start on my doors for my '27 Touring.
Your door saga was a real lesson! Wrinkles and oil canning are the devil's brew...
(my former O.T. '52 Porsche convert had an oil canning in the floor! Chased it down, used your 'slice-and-stitch' method. Good fix)
I have lots of small jobs on the sheet metal of this T tub. (Fortunately have some extra quarters and rears)
Very neat coupe, followed it all the way through. Thanks.

 

My thinking about oil-canning was backwards and I'm glad to have messed with the doors up at Chris' because I have a better understanding, now. As the door was worked closer back to the original contour, any oil canning was gone but seeing how he worked both sides was what I needed to see.

I just helped a guy who is working out some dents on a 60s Bronco. He was struggling and I had the exact experience that he was facing. We chatted through it and the next message I got was a metal finished repair. He now feels like the master of metal, haha, and I understand that... and I'm a goob as far as my skill but when you get it figured or mistake your way into it - it feels so great.

Thanks, Mike.

The doors are so much better. I'm glad I kept at it (along with all the help from friends). I have a few little tweaks left and the passenger door has one last issue that hasn't been discussed, yet. It's a weird one.

Now that summer is over, I'll be getting back to it.

 

Speaking of doors, I've been looking for a passenger side door since 1995 when I bought my coupe and believe me, they are extremely hard to find and purchase... Ran an old ad that I ran here on the wanted section of the HAMB from 2017 and 4 HAMBERS responded! The one I bought is in GREAT shape, even sporting a bullet hole!

 

Speaking of bullet holes... LOL
My original tub has bullet holes from small bore, (.32 cal.?) in 2 doors. Driver door has 2 bullet holes, (.45) one went thru the trailing edge of the front door, ripped out some of the 'B' pillar. Other one penetrated dead center.
Many years ago, I would have been dissuaded to go with something with bullet holes, but oxy-acet (#0 tip) and hammer & dolly have erased any trace. Slap hammer flattens it out w/o losing metal thickness. (Followed by flat filing, very lightly, however)
Give me the bullet holes, you can have the oil canning! (Even oil canning is easier now that I've been 'schooled' @-Brent- explained this quite eloquently in this thread)
I recommend getting into this, it can escalate your psyche.

 

Back to top^

 

Passenger Door Top Adjustment:

Hey fellas, it's been a while!

I'm back on attempting to get this body into better shape and lessening the amount of issues before I call it good enough and move on.

The door top on this passenger door must've either warped or just had more curve than the piece it replaced. So, when the door was closed it didn't sit flush at the top.

For example, here's the driver's side:



Here's what it looked like:



The B-pillar side of the top touched the body while the rest had a lot of curvature. The upright part of the door top all sat flush on the b-pillar.

Pictures don't show just how bad it fit.

I pulled the door figuring that would be the easiest plan of attack but with the door off there's no quick reference and I didn't know where to start.



Once on, I quickly realized that the rear portion of the door (that sat flush on the b-pillar) was the first place I needed to work. A little movement made a big difference.

Then, as I worked the back (and a little in the front), I could address the center, slightly.



Now it fits pretty much like it should.



If this is how it was after it was chopped, I would probably have left it alone. Since I'm messing with it I will fine tune it a little more.

 

Great work as always Brent

 

I mean while I’m at
It I may as well…..


Lol looks good man

 

That's what I am trying to avoid, the never-ending "while I'm at it, I may as well..." But, this body still needs a bunch of love and so I've got to try.

 

Car is looking great! I need to start actually looking on this website and not just posting my shit box!

 

Sneak peek.

 

I thought those might be for you. Awesome.

 

Fun project to follow. You never want to get it in paint and see something you should have done before it got covered with primer.

Bob

 

Angry cool...

 

I always get excited to see an update on this thread!!

 

Brent,
First I want to thank you for posting all the photos and progress!
I'm starting a 29 Tudor hot rod with a rough body so reading this thread is awesome.
What is the benefit of using the wood in the interior? Is it just for mounting the stock type interior materials?

 

Thank you!

I'm excited for you! What era is the Tudor being built to?

For me, the wood chopping and finishing project was fun. I didn't need the top wood because of the 32 header panel and my roof insert really stiffen the top of the car (especially the visor section). Plus, I wanted the head room.

The window wood, header and the rest all serve their stock purposes and steel could likely be used but wood is easier in my mind for the interior, fastening the garnish trim, etc.

In some aspects I have used steel as a replacement: the bulk head, front floor, and 32 style insert. But where wood made more sense in my mind, I kept it.

I never really considered doing it any differently than how a guy would do it back when.

Though, I could see why some folks choose steel over wood these days. Some wood kits are hell to use or fabricate and metal skills are much more common, now. I just happened to have a quality kit (that I chopped up... hahaha).

 

Thanks. I'm planning on building mine late 60s ish. I have a 27 glass roadster that was an 80s build with 80s styling I don't really like. Billet, chrome, ect so I want this one older style. I hate to use "rat rod" but I also don't want shiny paint ect. I live in dirt roads so it pointless having a show car.
So really don't know if it will fit in a certain era? But for ease of assembly I'll be using alot of off the shelf parts from speedway. I'm gonna start a new thread with some questions relating to it along with some pictures.
Thanks for the answer on the wood. After really looking at my project I'll probably go with a wood kit.

 

Good progress! you're really getting the knack to the metalworking.

took me awhile to see the coupe all I saw was a wicked sedan on spindlemounts...

 

Brent,

This thing is straight outta 1965. Really like how you're going out of your way to put all 'the right' stuff on it. Dual quad small journal small block, power pack heads, muncie, the dash, the green line gauges, and best of all, imho....

That 59 Poncho rear. Light as that car is, you will never break that thing. I beat the tar out of mine. Broken axle shafts but never anything in the middle. Btw your axles are MW Hi-Torque with a Fabcraft decal. Sssshhhhh don't tell anyone. Lol.

LOVE the wheels too, that steel/mag mismatch, my gosh those are killer. Nothing says HOT ROD like plain black steels up front and (real) mags with pie crusts on the rear. Car looks so bitchin.

Just nice to see another younger dude spending paycheck after paycheck on a hot rod project with a vision. It's RIDICULOUSLY expensive to build shit now. I question this hobby and what I'm doing constantly. Nice to see I'm not alone. Looking forward to that post where you're finally twisting the key.