Technical Lost and don't know where to begin

Hey guys new here, I recently bought a 30 coupe all original. My plan is to hotrod it and seat it on duce rails. The only problem is that this will be my first build and would like to take the credit for myself instead of paying someone to do it for me. My question then is how? Figure get my hands on some 32 rails but after that I'm lost.

 

How to build a Tradional Hot Rod Book by
By Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel, this one takes you step-by-step through building a traditional roadster.
On 32 rail's ,its a roadster but it's pretty much same as a coupe!!
Good start , build it your self , that way YOU will not be Disappointed buy
Someone that you gave money to do a task ,
& it was not what you suspected !!!

 

Ditto. HRP

 

Thanks I'll check that out

 

Question, why destroy a good car? Why not sell it and find a body (which is about all you will end up using). Should be able to get a body for a lot less than a complete car so you would end up with some money to build it with. Might be able to find someone who would trade you a body and 32 frame and maybe some other parts you would need for the complete car. I'm a Hot Rodder! but still don't like to see good complete cars destroyed.

 

Why not use the A frame?Dare to be different.

 

Take it slow and easy. A lot of first timers race out to the garage and tear their car all apart and things get overwhelming fast. If possible, get the old coupe running and have some fun with it while you make your plans. Tons of great build threads here as you may already know. A lot of your success will depend on your skill set and your desire to learn as you move along. Be realistic and enjoy the process as this hobby we all enjoy is supposed to be fun!

 

Didn't take long.

 

If you are planning on building or having a Deuce ch***is built for it I would have the ch***is completely finished and ready to bolt the body on before I ever thought about pulling the coupe apart.
That way you don't have the coupe spread all over the garage waiting for a ch***is and if it runs and drives you can still drive it to local events and burger and ice cream runs while you build the ch***is.

Then when the time comes it's lift the body off the stock ch***is and set it on the new ch***is or lift it off the stock ch***is, do the planned body work and then set it on the new ch***is.

 

For a first timer , putting A body on Duce Rails is not hard but not easy
If you have never built a Hot Rod , lost of Fabrication,
Like Mr 48 said , buy a 32 frame for A body !!

I agree with Jeersey said!!or build The coupe as a Banger A coupe !!!
So many guy's cut up to many NICE STOCK A's

 

Being a new member today, I would search as many model a build threads as you can to see what direction you want to go...

 

I know, just the way I am. I own nothing but Hot Rods and I would never own anything but a Hot Rod. But I have always salvaged a mess to make them out of. It still bothers me to see a good complete car taken apart for pieces. At the same time the car belongs to you to do whatever you want with it. It was just a thought as a complete car is worth so much more, if it were me, I would want to extra value to go to Hot Rod parts!!! LOL

 

I actually picked this up for what I thought was a good deal. I was originally looking for just a body but this came up for less than what I could find a body for. Most of the cars I could find in my neck of the woods were destroyed from sitting in the elements all these years and were also right around the same price

 

Wow. Ten responses in less than an hour. And every one of them is a keeper. Print them out. You came to the right place. Check in often and good luck.

 

Thanks frank this place is a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate all the help from everyone thanks.

 

Do some suspension work (springs) to lower it a bit, get a set of '35 wires and some nice tires ( and lower it some more),and run a hopped up banger, and that's a traditional hot rod, done on a budget.If you really want to go nuts, strip off the fenders and running boards,and cut down the headlights, then you're really makin' it a fifties bomber. Or you could follow the "blueprint" out of some book, and have a car just like 20,000 other people ( snore).Of course you could just throw in a SBC and some lawn chairs, and hang with the middle age cruise night trolls at the local Burger Palace. Your car, your decision, but..... chop, channel, section.........hmmmmm.....

 

I'd say take it easy and KISS (keep it simple stupid). If you pull it apart and go all out straight off the bat, the car is likely to be apart for a long time, possibly forever, being your first hotrod you may get frustrated with it (I don't know what your fabrication skills are like, this is just general advice) or you may find that you like driving it more than building it.

If it were mine I would probably upgrade to juice brakes, get it running nice, lower it and change wheels/tyres (in that order). @Mr48chev 's advice of having the deuce ch***is ready to go is also good if you're dead set on going that direction. Most of all have fun with it.

 

Right now I am just getting it in safe drivable conditions to drive as is for the time being just like mr48chev said until I gather the parts and money to do it the right way

 

All I see here is the potential for disaster. "Taking the credit" for building a hot rod usually comes after you've built it...and that's the tricky part. If you don't know any more about it than you are letting on, trade the A and some cash for a running hot rod and get some experience maintaining it before you start on a complete frame-up build. Please.

 

Wow.

 

Go slow and easy, and expect to redo a few things as you learn. As others have said, read and ask all you can before you get into trouble.
He wants to build it himself. Good for him.
Look at ALL your options before you start. Unless you've been dreaming of hot rod As all your life, you WILL change direction some as you go.
Find cars you like, then figure out how they're done. Good luck.

 

Also reread Mike Bowling's advice.

 

Don't get me wrong I'm no novice to fabrication I just haven't done my own car before or a hot rod for that matter mainly stockcars and late model body work. I have full confidence in myself that this will turn out

 

Keep in mind- cant eat an elephant all at once! small bite's first!
a lil at a time,progression will follow.......

 

Moose did an excellent thread, here, do***enting how he did his.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/another-a-coupe-build.94649/

 

Whatever.

 

I understand alot of the comments about destroying a good car for a hot rod. I looked for over a year before I got my coupe. During the entire year I knew where I could get a nice 29 coupe for a good price. I didn't buy it cuz it was pure stock, lovely two tone brown, and I knew I would hot rod it. I just couldn't do that to the 29. It was just too straight and too nice. Then one day my wip fell into my hands. I have never been sorry I didn't get the 29 and I know I will have a lot of fun with my 31. But that's just me and the purest side of me that likes antiques in good condition. Do whatever you want and don't let the rest of us rain on your parade....just my 2 cents worth. Here is the wip, i.e, "money hole in the garage"......lol

 

I understand fully the concern about cutting up a perfectly good car. That's not my full intention. My plan from the start was to use the body and that's all but after I purchased it and have been staring it in the garage all winter I fell in love with the car as it sits. So I changed my plan slightly to keep the stock "A" ch***is and drive train complete fenders and all then at a later date fine a body to put back on it. To me that sounds morally acceptable

 

You will be fine, then. I'd never customized anything at all before my current '53 Chevy but I had years of rust-repair experience and mechanical repair experience and it's all the same skill set as rodding & customizing.

 

I say knock it in the head and make your Hot Rod it would much more fun to not have to spend all the time doing rust repair.JMO