I'm happy to have paid too much for a nice looking steel 34 coupe body. I will be dragging it home this weekend, from MD to MA. It doesn't have a ch***is, it's just a bare bones body. I'm looking for transportation tips such as.. Is it better to stand it on it's nose or sit it on it's belly? Does it fit in a pick up truck bed or should I get a box truck or trailor? What are the over-all dimensions of just the body? What does a naked 34 coupe body weigh? If you've done this before, I'd like to know what you used and how it worked for you. This body is in decent shape, I don't want to risk damaging it. Thanks!!
I would set it on wooden blocks everwhere there is a body mount. Tie it down the same way of you can.
A cheap cushion would be some tires. No rims, just the tires. These absorb a lot of shock; I transported a 32 3w body w/o any damage. Did you get that chopped 5w body on the auction site ? The pics looked good.
Thanks, guys. If you're stuck in traffic this weekend, you'll know it's me, white knuckling down the highway at 45 MPH. I'd still like to know the dimentions of the body. I found a lot of info on 32 bodies on this site, but nothing on the 34. CrazyDaddy, I did buy that chopped 5-window on the auction site. I hope it is as good as it looks! Bidding went a little higher than I expected.
Dang i was gonna buy that car but when it went from 8,000 to 17,100 in ten minutes I knew I was out for sure. That is gonna be a bad *** car when built. Rusty
I dragged mine 350 miles home like this.As you can see it,s not quite so good as yours but the trip home didn,t make it any worse.
About that last 10 minutes - for a glimpse I thought that there was hope of finding an early Ford V8 coupe at an affordable price on eBay (!?!), and in good condition. Wrong-o !
Congradulations. That has a great chop on it. If I would have found that 9 years ago I'd have bought it and never learned that I could chop a top if I go slowwwwww enough. A lot of money but a VERY good looking coupe.
That body looks great. I would transport it on the floor pan w/some wood blocks like "Gahi" said and strap it criss-cross around the cowl to the rear and around the C pillar forward. (LIGHTLY). That should fit in the back of a wide bed no prob...at least it should, a model A fits with approx 6" on each side.
I fit a T coupe in the back of a Colorado. I put 2x4s across the inside if the bed and set the body on them. If you have a full size long bed truck I would guess it would fit in the same manor. If it comes the way in the picture on the wheels, I would rent a flatbed trailer. If U haul has one that is the right size you could rent it as a local rental for how ever many days you need it. I think that way would be cheaper than a one way rental. Good luck on the trip.
I brought a 34 vicky back from Va. to Mi. in the back of a full size F-250, but the body was on the bare frame, and I set 4x4 wood blocks under it and strapped it down really good, when I brought home a 32 3/W body once I borrowed a rolling Deuce frame from a friend, and put it on the trailer,... took it with me and bolted the body to the frame,.... this worked good because when I got there I just rolled the ch***is to the body, we all lifted it onto the ch***is, bolted it down and then just bound it on the trailer,... and loaded all the other parts and stuff into the back of the pick-up.,...... hope this helps.
Maybe I didn't pay enough for it.. The guy says it belongs to someone else... Today I asked him to re-evaluate. We'll see.
I'm pretty sure the bare body will sit between the truck's wheelwells. But to be sure, throw some studdy 4 x 4's in you truck to raise and support the body.
Another thought about making sure it'll clear the bed of a truck... Depending on how new the truck you're using to haul it is, there might be detents on the sides of the bed for what GM (I think) used to call "2 tier loading." Remember the old commercials... "Bring home the bacon AND the eggs" where they loaded a pig in a sling into the bed of a truck on top of stacks of fresh eggs? You might be able to stick some of these boards across the inner bedsides on your truck, supporting the load a bit higher off the floor. I'm thinking the distance between most fenderwells is about 49-50", but once you clear the fenderwells, you've got upwards of 65-72" or so. If I were to go this route, I'd make sure to add some additional support under the center of the wood cross bracing to keep it from sagging. If you know where a sheetmetal shop is located, usually you can get a wooden pallet for just hauling it off. You'd have to break it down, but they are usually made of red oak runners that are 3"x4"x9-10'. I used them to build my shed, and to also rebuild my privacy fence. I've broken down over 50 of these pallets so far, and the savings is phenomenal. In fact, I built my 10'x12' shed for a total of $250 with these boards. If you use them, you might not have to brace up underneath the body in the bed. When you're done with them, just cut'em up and use them for firewood since they're not treated.
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