It's a 1948 Steve. It was a barn find Fordor that he cut up and has many good parts for sale in the Classifieds. Theres actually a thread on it around here somewhere...I found it 20 minutes ago!
Use it, that frame will be different than all the rest and i agree that the swooping lines will give it a non model A frame look, and have your personal touch.
Are you going to use use model A cross members with those side rails? Hell if you really want to get crazy you can cut a reveal similar to a 32 in the rails and probably fool some folks at first glance. Either way you can make anything work it is only metal and therefore it can be bent and welded up to resemble what ever you want it too depending upon your will to work...........
I don't know much, but I do know that determination gets things done. Not as much as cash, but still.... with determination, it turns out a whole lot better. Go for it!
Yeah...everyone was trying to ID it (including me!) and the darn thing had a post on the 2nd page describing it in complete detail! Hahaha HAMBers...we're not the brightest, but we mean well.
I built the frame under the coupe in my avatar from 2 X 4 X 1/8 steel tube back about 1980, but with the price of steel today a real A frame might cost less ! If you're going to channel it (as I did) just find an old A frame and box it and Z it. Or if you can get 2X4 or even 2X3 at the right price, build a frame.
Me and my wife like the swoop look in the front. My wife really likes the swoop and the old look of the frame. We where almost ready to start advertising the frame that we have until we figured that we would spend about half the cost of a professional frame. 48 frames are not worth as much as the earlier models. What would I get for the frame We have? then add more money and time so basically im saving in the long run for more parts. Sometimes harder is smarter. If this was my only car I wouldn't be using that body, I would of found a much nicer body and i like bringing things back from the dead.
Sounds like you had your mind made up before posting. I think it could be done and look good with a lot of careful planning and attention to how it looks along the way. Also seems like plenty of opportunity to get lost or take shortcuts and end up with a weird looking turd of a frame. If I were going to do it I would break the entire frame down into all of its various component pieces. Every rivet gone. Rails, X member, crossmembers, etc. Start the rebuild by cutting and shaping the perimeter frame, then using that as a guide to reconfigure and fit the X and crossmembers back in place. Sam's advice with your welder buddy sounds pretty good too.
Yes we kind of made up our mind Kevin Lee and yes i agree with you and many others to think and do it right or I might as well just give the frame away now and save myself a lot of misery. I have been pondering over the different ways I can put a frame under the coupe. There is a bunch of great builds here on the Hamb and many of them are a work of art. Our car is not that! it will be decent but not a work of art but I guess it's all how you describe art. Everyone has their own vision of art.
Do like a painter does and look at it for a few seconds...then Paint your masterpeice like in this liked video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsJWnt6dwxM
Yep... that't the way I'd do it too... that's some good metal you have there, and it can be shaped any way you want it. Sam
Obviously, this guy has neither seen my coupe or Jimmy White's for that matter. So, there for, I'd hate to slam you guy, but, here goes: you don't know what you're talking about. It looks great when its done right.
F*%@ all the nay sayers Steve. You know as well as I do, that model A frames look like crap, especially when they're 'Z'-ed. The guys on here that are telling you not to do it, would just as soon have you build something that looks like everyone else's, just to keep the status quot. You just keep on keeping on and you will have a bad ass coupe, on a not so common frame, and be different from all the others. Different from even myself or Jimmy White, because, you're using an even later model frame. Go on with your bad self, Steve. Here is a photo to inspire you:
Those side shots make me lean more towards that than the usual Model A or Deuce frame. Holy shit that looks cool.
Thanks Hot Rod Michelle, you car will be killer and different from the rest when you get it on the road. I take my hat off to you for putting another Hot Rod back on the road. Your dedication to the sport has inspired me to build a car like yours but also different. You will have a Hemi and i will have a 327 SBC with trip's. I also want to thank all the people here that gave me advise on my car over the past year or so. I have taken a lot of great ideas from each and everyone of you. This is my first Hot Rod build but this is not my first project car by all means either. I have been bringing cars and trucks back from the dead for the past 30 years now ever since i was 13 years old. I Loved it then and I Love it Now but I dont get them done fast enough like i did when i was younger.
I think the "title" of the Thread is what set it in a negative motion,,,as its not a poor mans anything..and in most cases "poor man's " would denote the easy route ( which this is not ) that being said ,perhaps " 48 frame under an A " may have been better anywho,,see no reason why it shouldn't work fine,,though as several have,,will take some work ,,, Measure 3 times cut once ,,etc etc keep us posted on it
He's crazy as a loon ,He will do it and Im looking forward to pics ,And thats coming from carcrazy john
Sorry for posting such a big picture, but, at least now one is able to see the frame really well. I am pretty sure that Zibo used a model A front cross member in order to pinch it down in the front, but, you will have to ask him directly in order to be 100% sure.
DO IT! But wait til Tech Week and post the results and then you might win some cool shit and if you do a good job the price of fat fender frames will triple.
John,If my wife gets a copy of this quote it could be enough evidence to put me in the Loony bin this time. LOL.When is Tech week coming up? Im taking apart the frame today and that should push me over the edge. It will be a lot of work but so is building a set of 32 rails from scratch also. Ill take some pictures as we roll along. I might repost this build like Grits,Bass,Evil or any of the other great builds on here. Should I do that and what would the Name Title Be?
The Jalopy Journal
