Projects The Wade Model A Coupe: Build Thread & Photo Journal

You know, I've had that thought myself a lot since I joined the HAMB (the "so easy" part that is), and in this case, I believe that it's just a side effect of the work having been done by Bass.

Every time I look at something the guy's done, I think "Man, that was slick, and it looks so easy." I get all fired up and want to go fabricate something. Anything.

But then I stop and remember how easy the chop on that Chevy fastback looked when he was doing it, and then how horrible the last several I've seen since have turned out, and how daunting the chop on my easy-in-comparison '36 Tudor is looking. Then reality sets back in.

I forget whose signature the quote is in, but it applies here in spades, "It ain't as easy as I make it look.", though perhaps it should be modified to read "It ain't as easy as Bass makes it look."

 

bendix brakes on early juice plates...

flowing i-beams...

that front suspension... hard to break new ground after so many years of rodding, but dude. i smell fresh ground being overturned here...

inspirational to say the least.

thanks for the tour

 

wow!

 

its gonna be a shame to cover all that with an old coupe body!
Great work.
TP

 

Holy monkey!! That is lookin bitchen!!

 

like jethro said teach us poor old mortals how to do it and the world will be full of gods ,its truly amazeing kev downunder

 

Awsome work !!! You do know your stuff !!

 

Can´t wait until you start with the cowl steering and how youre going to build it.I´m gonna build that on my -31 hemi coupe to but haven´t quite figured the build out yet.

/Michael

 

That is unreal!!! One of the sweetest frames I have ever seen. Great new ideas and designs. Can't wait to keep following this and see more.

 

How the heck do you know where everything should go?
Beautiful work!

 

Impressed beyond words! Can't imagine the hours. Great pictures too! Sure are glad you take the time to share. Looking forward to the rest of the build.

 

Ok this is starting to get stupid. Every time I open one of your threads I think this is the craziest shit I have ever seen then I open the next one and it's crazier and then the next on is even crazier. At somepoint this has got to stop because I can't take much more!!! INCREDIBLE WORK!!!!!!

 

Not much I can add to whats already been said Bass, Great Work! My eyes got welding flash just from reading this post.

Every build you've been doing gets better and better. Your skills, ideas, and quality, step it up exponentially on every project.

Gus

 

Brian, very nice work, your welding and fab skills are excellent ! And you gave a lot of thought toward suspension movement and ground clearance, which is often a miss. Question - why did you select the '41 rear spring instead of a narrower one such as the usual '40 front spring ?

 

thanks for sharing, great detail. Can't wait for the next installment

 

Bow down to the king. That is awesome work. I wish I knew about half of what you have forgotten!

 

anyone wanna buy a model A? i think im done workin on it now!!!! WOW!!!!!

 

absolutely insane Brian...Time to go back and start stealing ideas and such..haha

 

one of the most fascinating build off s i ever seen

 

That frame is beautiful, you have my admiration. Please keep
us informed on the rest of the build. Bob

 

WoW!!! What an incredible work of art!

 

bass,
magnificent work, yet another reason to visit texas one day.
thanks for posting.
Al.

 

wow

 

If I win the lottery big time I am going to call you first. And then my wife.

 

Wow!! Thanks, guys for all the positive feedback. I put a lot of thought and time into this car so far, and I'm really glad that everyone seems to like it pretty well. When you try to go so far outside of the box, it can be really easy to screw it all up.

I think this car has the potential to be something really special, and I'm really thankful that Lindsey is giving me the oportunity to build it.



Now, on to the question and answer segment.

I don't know if 'precision cut' is the right way to put it. Every single piece of plate was cut by hand with my Miller plasma cutter and then cleaned up with a 5" disc on an air sander, followed by Roloc discs and a drum sander on a die grinder.

I just make the patterns as precise as I can, and then carefully transfer them to the plate and cut as close as I can get to the scribed lines. I take LOTS of measurements during the whole process.

That is a serious compliment and I thank you for it....but there are many other guys out there who have been doing this longer than I have and that I believe are much better. I do appreciate the compliment though!

Thanks, but that should be "guy", not plural. I work by myself so 98% of the work seen on this post was done by me, but I do occassionally get some help from friends when I need it.

Bob Wilson, Jimmy White, Eric Carter, Kool George, Sam Chamberlain and Crackerhead Michael all have lended me a hand in one way or another on this project so far. Thanks fellas!

My hole saws tend to last a long time because I spin them really slow and keep them oiled and cool. Roloc discs are a different story...a project like this chews them up like candy. Lets just say I have to buy them by the box!

Thanks Dale. Yes, I went under the hairpins with the tie rod because that was the best place for it with the spring location. The steering arms really didn't need to be bent down any more than they would have if it were a dropped axle. Clearance is fine above the tie-rod.

I'm not sure I follow which measurement you are asking for? Do you mean distance between tie-rod and hairpin?

I'll give a how-to video some thought. But I have a feeling that the 'expert welders' on here would have a field day picking apart my techniques. I'm a self-taught TIG welder, so my method may fly against what most people have been trained to do....I'm not real sure.

I will tell you that I use a 3/32" 2% Thoriated Tungsten on a water cooled torch with 1/16" filler rod for most chassis work. I crank the amps up pretty high and use the foot control to vary the heat.

That is one of the nicest compliments that I have ever received. Thanks!

This is two months worth of work. I'm not sure how many hours...I give away quite a few so that I can get things how I want them.

Shoe, it just hasn't been cut yet. It's getting a 4" chop. You know me, I'm the antithesis of a restorer...I'd much rather cut stuff up!

I welded the front vertical piece to the top horizontal piece and then just ground the radius. I staggered the pieces so that there would be a natural V-groove that could be filled with weld, and then ground to the radius I wanted.

Jimmy, thanks buddy! I did get the cams...the one for this 392 is going to be perfect. Tell Fernie thanks again for me!

The other guy that answered was correct...those are just other steering boxes/columns turned upside down.

I actually don't have all that many tools...but I do try to keep investing in better tools when I can. Right now my tools are pretty much equivalent to a welder, plasma, grinder, hammer....a sharp stick and a big rock.

Ha...that's funny Coolhand, but it's pretty much correct. Tuck, the backing plate conversion is not as easy as it looks. It takes around 4 hrs to do one backing plate, and then you have to source all the right parts. I'm fortunate that I have Bob Wilson to guide me in the right direction when it comes to brakes.

Thanks Crazydaddy. I have a '39 front spring on the rear of my personal coupe, and I feel like it's a little soft. Also, with as low as the car needed to be in the rear, getting the rear spring hangers out away from the frame rails was also a consideration.



Thanks again to everyone...I'll keep you posted on progress.

 

What the hell is going on here, this isn't fair. This build is reedonkulous......

As always, your chassis's are insane!! Great build so far.

 

What brand/model of welder do you use?

 

Amazing!!

Your signature says it all;
"Practicing the last true American art form"

 

That rules Brian. Wow.

 

Brilliant Brian! I sure your client list just got longer. And in 2 months Mr. Wade is one LUCKY guy.