If all you had was a cowl ... what would YOU do?

***UPDATED WITH PICS - SEE PAGE 2 FOR MORE INFO AND DETAILS ****
SO I've got a line on what looks to be a 29-30 cowl sitting on the front half of a frame. I'm still waiting to hear back from the owner, I spoke to his son-in-law today and I get the impression I can have it for cheap.
So, my question to you guys is this ... How would you proceed?

Would you wait around until you have amassed enough true body parts to make a complete body?

Would you fabricate something out of various pieces of later model and more readily available body parts (fenders, truck cabs, hoods, etc)?

Would you do what Zombie sketched out in a previous issue of Trad. Rod and Kulture and build a Woody for the cowl?

Would you hand fabricate a fiberglass shell?

Would you hang the cowl on the wall as "Found Art"?

Would you pass and hope a more complete body turns up?

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

 

I'd decide what I really wanted before buying parts. Scratch building cars from a handful of panels is a ton of work and if it's not the car of your dreams you'll probably never see it thru.

For the right price, wall art seems the best option

 

build the rest and run it roadster pu style!!!

Like this!!!

 

If you can get it for cheap, go ahead. They're not making any more of them. Hang it on the wall until you do something with it, or until someone else sees it and just has to have it. Either way, it keeps it in the gene pool.

 

I've collected a couple of cars that way...one peice at a time. The cowl is the easy part.

I've also wanted to build a rpu body from just a 28/29 cowl. They would be a lot easier than the 30/31 cowl. The 29/29 has a squared back and the doors could be made without the compound curve and look OK.

Then there's the whole Plowboy aproach..

You've listed a lot of options. Biggest thing is you gotta like what you do.

If the price is right the option to pass is not a good one.
Clark

 

Depends on what YOU want. Hang it on the wall until you find all the other pieces if you have to, hell send it to me for that matter, I've got the back half in my garage right now! Or, if you like the rpu look grab some tubing and some 18 gauge sheet and have fun!

 

When you get it bought, and you change you mind about having it setting around, sell it. They always sell pretty well.

 

I have always wanted a woody so I guess if you want to know what I would build out of just a cowl then it would be a chopped woody.

 

I'd strap it to a pallet and ship it to oldcarmike....

Seriously, I'd snag it and hang on to it until a vision of what you want to do with it pops in to your head.

 

Chadillac - I was about to be offended that you would suggest a site called ratrodz for inspiration - but I'd roll that thing in a New York minute.

37HotRod - I hear ya on that one - they are NOT just sitting around in good solid condition anymore, at least not originals, and definitely not in Maine.

Clark - I like your approach. And I hadn't even considered "Plowboy Style" ... of course that man is the master - I'd just end up making a bastardized bubbletop knowing me...

To Shifty I say this - A true hot rod has been a "dream" car for as long as I can remember. Being that I like most if not all old cars, and that my chances of scoring a deuce in my price range are about the same odds as me time warping back to the 50's with Marty McFly, I'll take what I can get and go from there. Yeah, it will be hard, but I'm not getting any younger, and besides, worst case, it would make damn fine wall art.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Building a "woodie" sounds like a nice weekend project, doesn't it?
In fact it is more expensive and much more time-consuming than metal fabrication.
The biggest problem is designing a body that is doable with the tools you have available AND is not just a flat-sided toybox affair with no style at all. Just because it's made of wood doesn't mean it has style.
The correct materials are also a necessity for long life and structural integrity.
Woodies were built from mostly oak or ash beams and used many forged and/or cast steel brackets in the stress points to keep the body together. They require regular stripping and refinishing to maintain their beauty and prevent rot. Many joints were pinned rather than bolted or screwed.

 

I built this back in the early '90's from a $10 swap meet cowl.
The rest of the body is oak and padded vinyl on a 1" square tube skeleton.
It's got a '51 Ford flat 6 in it and I sold the grill and took the bed off.
Gonna finish it some day...

 

I built this from a cowl and a door. i loved this car.

 

I did these 5/6 years ago
I always liked this concept, a 60s style show rod.

or Lakes Mod

Cheers
Jimmy

 

If all I had was a cow Id milk it, then have steak.............
Oh? A what?, cowl??

Build a home made speedster with a boat tail. Tah or hang it on the wall and keep on collecting the rest of the real steel.......

 

DrJ that thing is cool, lets see some more pics...... PLEASE!

 

Gigantor, hahaha. that just happened to be the site I googled for the throttler's pu. I've got some great shots of the inside, they made the doors and the back of the cab. Let me know if you wanna check em out. I can email em to you.

 

I'll have to scan some prints... it's late here, I'll do it tomorrow and let you know when they're up, ok?

 

ha ha ha that made me laugh!..... why didnt i think of that?

 

Ha/gr.

 

After seeing the roadster that used the 59 oldsmobile rear end I have been toying with a similar project using the rear of a 59 chevy. I had one as a pup and just love the looks of that rear end.

 

This started as just a '28 cowl.....Lot of fun to do and on the cheap.....No rust or rot to deal with either......

 

here is a post that might give you some ideas.I alway like the home build stuff.I have a few cowls a 30 chevy car as well as a on a 39 chevy truck cowl.They will be something someday.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167844

 

I'll tell you in one word, Plowboy
If that's to much to handle then my backup word is, Woody.

 

Rescue it! ............................so the guys here can accuse you of hoarding

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=159959
Rob's getting a cool roadster from what he started with.

 

Well...if we're talking about a FORD cowl here, then 29 and 30 are kinda different. 28-29 Model A cowls are pretty much the same, and 30-31 Model A cowls are the same, yet distinctly different than the 28-29 examples.

That said, they DO still make them (Brookville) and those are good enough to satisfy even the resto guys are being true to the original pieces. Granted, they aren't "dirt cheap"...but they are available brand spanking new if you want to start with a nice pristine cowl.

Although it sounds tempting to pick up a field gem used cowl and call it the start of a hot rod (rat rod?!) project, it's likely to spend many years occupying space as you struggle to collect the rest of what ya need...especially if you don't have a clear image in your head of what you want it to be. What started out sounding like 50% of your next project could just end up being a lesson in frustration in such a case.

If it were me, I'd go with your option of waiting for a more complete (and nicer probably) body to start with. There's enough rusty cowls sitting in garages with lawn chairs behind them and engines on the floor in front of them already...let someone else hang it on their wall or trip over it for a few years while you concentrate on finding something that really tugs at your heart strings to start with.

(You know...you've got to WANT something...not just want SOMETHING, if you catch my meaning there...)

 

Fat Hack makes sense BUT I'd still get it and hang it on my wall for now. You never know when someone will WANT it and you can get something you NEED in trade (like $$$ if it is cheap enough now).

I've got a few projects here that were the want SOMETHING types and I'm trying to learn from them to get to that thing I WANT, once I decide what it is.

 

Funny--that's exactly what I'm doing. With found/pack-ratted parts that I've had gathering for a few years now.