Hot Rods What have I started!!!! 31 Coupe...

^^^ sweet buttery Jesus!

 

I am curiously watching your build, because you experience exactly what I anticipated when I had to decide either to buy a built Hot Rod from the states or to start with "unrodded" original parts.
Finally, I decided to start from scratch even though I thought a once completed car might have given me some knowledge and confidence, no matter how bad the making would have turned out.
I am over the hump now and I learned everything I needed to know from kind helpers (and from the HAMB - so, thank you all, here) during the process.

But it's great what you do - you can sport a big, proud smile at the end, saying "See, that's your ex-car now done accurately!"

Two thumbs up and my appreciation! I'll keep watching.

André

 

Love the picture but on the colored photo, it looks like "NO DUST MASK!!!!!!" UGH!!

 

Ha! Black and white is awesome! Thanks for that.

Ya I didn't grab a mask at first because I didn't expect that much Bondo under there. That pic was after only a minute of grinding and it was so bad I had to go outside. Hooray for surprises.

It is amazing what you find. Honestly if I wanted to make the car perfect I would have had the body blasted and done it 100% right. I didnt want to go that far. This work we're doing will make it acceptable and a huge improvement over the condition it was in. I'm going to drive this thing all over and enjoy it. A huge thanks to Lucky who has worked very hard to sort through the many issues this thing had. I'm sure he curses me when I'm not there for bringing him this body and I can't blame him.

Should have the body getting prepped for paint this week. I've been doing the little things at home. Rebuilt the door latches, made some plug wires instead of the octopus that was there before, finding little parts here and there. Still a lot to do but it's progressing.

 

I am dealing with the same issues with my 1936 but not on the body work. Its all about everything welded way off and having to grind and cut every piece off and reweld or fabrcate new stuff. Every day I find something new that needs to be redone!!! Ugh!! I wish it was just bodywork!!

 

Wow!! I beat you on the holeshot by 10+ hours!!!! ? LOL!!!

 

Its funny how people think that bondo will crack if you put it on thicker than 1/8". I worked on my other car and the body looked amazing. When I redid a quarter patch, the body man that fixed a dent I put in it 20 years befor, just filled it with bondo/ body filler. It was almost an inch thick and in 20 years, you couldn't notice a thing. Todays filler is way better than the old stuff so it will fill without cracking no matter what. Be prepared to go over these bodies with a magnet. Mike at Killer Paints is finding very thick filler on his Merc he just bought. It must have had a 5 gallon bucket of filler!!!!!

 

Well that front kick up is just crazy so that is where i would start because just a mild channeling would be fine with the z that is already in the rear along with that dropped axle it would look great. Then of course those wheels gotta go. Other than that ROCK-N-ROLL

 

lol You look like chimney sweep

 

Chimney sweep lol Epic

Quick update-Lucky dropped the body off at the house thursday. Decklid operates as it should, doors close properly, font windshield operates properly, 37 lbs of bondo gone, roof replaced, and tons of other little things. Body work should be done by the end of this week. -fingers crossed- then on to setting the body on the frame and clearancing the wheel wells with the channels for the rear axle and spring, then fabbing some rear body mounts. Then on to paint and final reassembly. Lucky has knocked himself out trying to fix this thing to a decent state. He did a bunch of metal work on the dash to get it to fit properly and look 100% better than it did. Ill post more photos as soon as we get the body work going.

 

Go man go!!! It's going to be awesome when it's done! Lucky is a talented sob!

 

great project , good to see all the plastic going away ,

 

Just a minor update-After losing a week to being jerked around by three different body guys, its finally getting done. Costing a little more than I planned to spend but it should come out nicer in the long run. Should have the body back next week and then time to thrash on it at home. Lucky and Piero are going to come over to help with the items that need to be done and I can't thank them enough. After everything thats been so super busy in my life I cant wait to get this on the road and to be able to relax and take that long drive to Austin.

 

Great job bringing it back.

 

cant wait to see this thing done!

 

Good stuff! Cant wait to hear about that drive to Austin

 

Does that mean you're making the trip to South Carolina with them too?

 

WOW! This looks great. Good luck.

 

OK so Lucky and I drove down to CW Moss today and picked up some of the last things we will need and on the way back I figured I'd call Wheel Vintiques to check on the two rims I ordered a month ago and they say they have no record of me ordering them. Spoke to the guy I ordered them from, credit card info and all and nothing. Totally F@#$%d. Now to try to find some wheels around me in the next couple of days that I can put this thing on the ground with so I can throw the body on when I get it back.
Pissed.....

 

Contact Weldcraft Wheels, fast service and no BS. Reasonable rates too. They widened two 17" steel rims for me, something Vintiques wasn't capable of doing.

 

Ok well things have been busy as hell on the car and for me in general. Days are running out and Im a bit concerned but things are getting done. Still wont have the body back until later this week(they say). Got a call from Lucky today and he had some time to come over and get some work done on the car. Piero came with him and they worked for hours. I was busy today and I wasnt able to hang out and help them but they kick ass and got a ton done. They welded on the front and rear frame gussets. Piero cut them out at Luckys shop and he got em on today. We figured that a little bit of extra work couldnt hurt especially when it comes to safety items. Lucky grafted on the 32 frame horns in front.The model A horns on it were too short and just tacked on. Now when the radiator is moved forward and down to match the cowl height it wont look as odd and we have room to move the headlights forward to the right position instead of behind the radiator. The car had no rear shocks when I got it because the upper mounts had ripped out of the rear cross member. He replaced and reinforced the crossmember and instanned the new mounts and reinforcement for them. A week ago Lucky also finished the work on my dash that didnt fit at all before. Now it lines up nice on top and on the sides. Im so jazzed.

Not following them to South Carolina. Real life demands that I get going back home after Austin. Oh well....

Piero also almost got a low cost circumcision when the cut off wheel disintegrated and jumped and caught him through the pants,boxers and a little bit of skin. Never a dull moment eh. Another reminder to be careful. Piero shedding a little blood over my car is funny after the fact. Sending a buddy or yourself to the hospital to have things sewn back on is not.

I owe these guys big. The help they are giving me is making me being able to take this trip and I appreciate it greatly. Just another reason why I have to try to keep them both out of the hospital.....

 

that is one hot model A

 

Nice welds on the frame. Damn. I spy a Panhead too.

 

Shit is going down!!!

 

Great start with a lot of possibilities. Had a similar coupe awhile back. Sold it to a friend who turned it into an awesome ride.

 

hell yea!!!

 

Joe great build, great thread. As time permits, would you include some detail shots of your parking brake setup and rear bones? Thanks

 

Joe, hope you make it for Austin man!

Piero, Ouch! That's scary-

 

3,2,1.......prepare for a$$ raping!!! The body guy was supposed to have the body done Thursday. He asked if he could have it until Friday morning. I didn't want to rush him anymore so I figured that would be fine. Friday morning he contacted me and said that it would be ready in the afternoon. I told him Lucky couldn't pick it up after six so we would need it done before that. He called me about 4 and asked if Lucky could pick it up at 8. Duh. I asked him what time we could pick it up today and he said noon. I asked Lucky who was busy as hell and has so much of his own stuff to do if he could get it at noon. He said sure and we were going to have it back at the house by one to start the thrash. I got 2 friends to be at the house to help out. He called me today at 10 and asked if we could pick it up at 3. Lucky was already out and about so he just ran misc errands until 3. At 3 he was there and the body still isn't painted!!! Jackass. He wasted the time of all of us. He told Lucky that it will be ready tomorrow morning at 10. I'm trying not to choke this guy to death. At this point i need every hour to get this thing done. -vent-

Crap.