I think i searched the whole hamb but only al lot of piched frames. I got a nice 1929 coupe body and a good stock 1932 frame wich i like to throw the body on. I like to keep the frame stock in case i will ever be lucky ( or rich) enough to buy a 32 5 window body. A steadfast subrail kit is ordered for the rear of the body. I like to see some (detailed) pics. of 1928/1929 bodys on stock non piched 32 frames and what you did to get the body flat to the frame without the usual gap. Thanks, Dennis
The only way to get a '28 - '29 body to fit "without the usual gaps" on a '32 frame is to mildly channel it at the cowl. But to do this without pinching the frame you'd have to spread the lower cowl area about an inch on each side. It can be done but is not easy, nor is the finished job all that satisfactory. The spread cowl looks weird and you'd have to chop the grille shell to compensate for the changed angle of the body on the frame. Your best bet is to sit the body on the frame, trim the subrails in the back to fit down over the '32 kickup and fabricate a filler for the gap. This is the true "traditional" way of doing this body change...and the way I'm doing it on my project roadster. See my build thread as referenced below. Good luck!
Several years ago I sold a 32 sedan highboy to a friend of mine. After a couple of years he had me build him a new chassis for the sedan and he took the old 32 stock dimension frame and mounted an original 29 roadster body on it and it looked great as a highboy. He kept everything just as I'd built it for the sedan and for his own taste he bobbed the rear horns. It can be done.
I too dont think spreading the 1929 cowl will look ok. What about pie cutting the bottom of the cowl ? I believe the part of the frame that is swept up is only under the cowl , correct ?
I'd do it like the backyard rodders of old would have, just remove the rear subframe, set the thing down on the frame, and build a thin wood spacer to fill the gap under the door. Then install a new subframe in the back. Don't worry about the alignment of the cowl sides to the frame sides. So what if the frame is a little wider? A local guy did this about 20 years ago. He took a stock 32 chassis and plopped a 29 roadster body on with no frame work at all. It looked ancient, like it was originally hotrodded n the 40's.
Yes, it can be done that way also, but I don't think you'd close the gap completely. And you'd still have to deal with the radiator shell issue. The Model A frame is dead flat through the middle, but I think the Deuce frame has a bit of a sag in the middle as I recall. I'm doing a '29 on '32 rails with a late '40s to early '50s flavor as I mentioned before. As Alchemy mentioned a couple of posts ago, the original rodders didn't get all pissy about the gap, they just cut off the rear frame horns, trimmed the subrails in the rear, welded on a few tabs and bolted 'er down. That's pretty much the way I plan to do mine, not that it's the best way but it is the most historically authentic way.
I have done several 28/29 and 30/31 roadsters by pie cutting the bottom of the cowl to drop the front and modifying the rear to fit the 32 kickup. sits the body flat on the frame. It does require a little shorter radiator to get the hood to run downhill correctly.
That is pie cutting for the with off the cowl , i think that would be too much when done with a 29 cowl since they are smaller. I want to keep the width as it is but pie cut to bring it flatwith the frame like Krylon32 suggests.
I did a set of deuce rails for my 28/29 roaster pickup cab by moving the front cross member forward 1", then tacked a bar at the normal width just before the rear kick up, and then pulled the rails together about a half inch, then put the cowl where the width was good and built the x members to hold it all together. SBC with short pump fit swell.
Here's a couple pictures from an old Hot Rod feature, gives an idea of the '28-'29 cowl width compared to stock deuce rails. Probably don't want to look too close at the '60's style frame Z in back tho. Anyway, if you set your coupe on stock width deuce rails and use a wood filler strip; street rodders will likely be the only ones butt hurt.
My roadster will be ready soon and after that i will start on the coupe. Just want to have one car to drive. I will just see where i will going as i go along. This body: On this frame , maybe sell the sedan body or keep it for a future project. Some say i'm crazy but i alwas wanted a coupe
most of the pictures are gone but junkhunter split the sides of the firewall and spread to fit like shown above. might have the pictures saved somewhere else or restore the thread https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/jays-hot-rod-av8-pickup-build-thread.668482/page-4
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