Hot Rods What would you do?

So I have had the car on the road for over a year and a half now, had some fun, don't have room for another build so we all know what happens now. Time for a rebuild and make some changes.

This is my list of things I am doing no matter what.....

Body Work---extensive to fix dents, holes, rust etc
Nice top insert--- vinyl or steel just for the rectangle opening
Raise it up a bit... Either suspension or with wheels and tires.

Things I am considering

Possibly Un channel it 1 to 2 inches... POSSIBLY its a lot to un-channel it that's a big if.
Paint---Body and smooth and make the frame beautiful also.
Nice seats and some finishing on interior
Possibly a wheel and tire change, really have thought about 18" --32 style wires with whites
Lake style headers with baffles "so I can hear myself think" or maybe I don't need to think just do. haha
Have toyed with ditching the 440 and doing a 331 hemi. Just a big investment there in the 440 and larger in the Hemi. And space requirements on Hemi are a bit different.
Ditching the Tunnel ram and doing 3 duce setup on a old skool offy intake or something. This is a hard one to justify.
Doing all fabric coated wires...

So here you go, Now's your time to shine folks. I'm asking what would you do?
Not looking for bashing or branding. Just decent opinions..

 

As extensive as the list of updates/changes you are considering if it were me I would probably put the car up for sale and build another car. HRP

 

X2^^^

 

ditto

 

Sounds like you are aiming to make it look more traditional, and make it more comfortable to drive. Both are good plans.

A low rise dual quad intake might be the way to go, they were used on the first high perf big block mopar engine in the late 50s. The valve covers might want to be toned back a little, too. I can see raising the body up a couple inches, to make the car more drivable. Exhaust would help a lot, and seats that are "nicer". The gauges might could use a backdate, as well.

Doing the bodywork and paint can derail a project for a long time....but also completely transform it.

 

Sell is an option.
I'd personally take almost all of that channel out of it, which would let you make a LOT more floor room and less huge trans tunnel. This makes it more comfort for you and lifts it like youd talked about.
Then change the exhaust to something with some baffles. Then you can drive it another couple years before tearing it down to paint.

I have been debating lots with my unibody. Being in a small shop and its my only rod living with me, I take small bites at it each winter. Just doing what I can each fall so that I can still play in the summers. Smaller bites take a smaller hit in the wallet as well

 

Wow - can see why you have a long, not quick & easy or cheap, list of work to do. if this is your baby and you are really attached to it go for transforming it into something that you truly can enjoy driving. but, if not a trade or a sale sounds like a better way to go to be able to enjoy driving this year.

 

I am not agreed with the rest on the sale of the car but I would trim the list and make it doable. Then I would divide it up into bites that you can actually swallow. IE deadlines and goals that are achievable. Like my signature says no man crosses a chasm in two jumps, so in your case make the chasm narrower.

If the engine is strong then your change from a tunnel ram to a six pack is doable, right? I personally would lean toward a 4x4 but that is my style. Maybe an offy medium rise or even a low rise.

The headers and exhaust is probably a good idea. I only lived through the late '50s and '60s and always north of Monterrey but I can assure you that no one was running zoomies, manifolds on hot rods was common and headers on rods that were performance oriented. Lakes headers were not really common in the northern part of calif you saw them once in a while on an old rod but with the mill you are currently running your car would have been a '60s build and they were pretty much gone by then, they just don't perform.

Unchanneling is going to be hard but your hard channel just doesn't cut it. it is so 22nd century. I like to see the tires below the reveal it takes a lot of the cartooney look out of the car. That is a doable chunk.

if I were planning on doing body work I would move the wheel well to the tops of the tires as well. You have to extend the inner wheel well but putting the reveal that the fender bolts to above the wheel just looks way more finished and it is not that hard to do.

Wheels and tires are a nothing goal, that is just money. If I was throwing a lot of HP at it I may not lean toward the deuce wires but that is a personal choice I suppose.

I could go on but you catch my drift correct?

 

Well, since you axed.....I'd sell the chassis and start with a pair of ASC 32 rails...build a traditional chassis and sit the body on top of the rails...replace the floors..I'd shorten the chassis about 2 inches and take 4 inches outta the body behind the doors to make it shorter....brings the body back into porportion after the chop...otherwise the quarter windows end up looking way too long IMHO....Only taking 2 inches outta the frame leaves 2 more inches for the 440 motor. I've seen this done and it's striking! Do your body work and paint, go with 35 ford wheels [rears widened a few inches] and use blackwall tires.
I had a 28 sedan I sketched out this way [after seeing one finished in Street Rodder magazine many years ago] and loved the look.........and I'm not a model A sedan fan but these changes to a chopped sedan body look good IMHO. It has to sit low but not "rat-rod" low.

 

I'm not going to do it all at once. But will be chipping it off a little at a time.

 

Based off the car you have, you've built a rod to fit a certain look, it's a done car, see if there's buyers for the car as is at a price you feel covers it.

Question you have to ask, are you really attached to that particular body, combo to justify keeping and modding it.

If you are attached to that car and want to build it, my suggestions are take out some channel, raise the body up, pull the front suspension rearward and get rid of the stretched chassis, keep the 440 and drivetrain. Panel beat that thing into submission, pave it in filler and sand 90% of it off for shiny paint prep. Do some basic interior, flat panels with fabric of your choice, do some inserts in the fabric if you choose. Put windows with regulators in the fronts. Figure out window trim garish moldings. The chop looks good, there's a couple threads in here for very nice top inserts.

I'm not knocking the build so please don't take it that way, its a good looking car for the build style. Is this the car you wanna put the finish time and money in? Sounds like you're tastes have changed, is this the base for the next build or do you wanna recoup your cash on this build and do the next one to suit your tastes.

 

what would I do?
I'd sell it and start over too.
believe it or not there is a market for cars like that,
then I'd use the money to buy something closer to what I like.

 

Going to run it on the auction site... see what happens.... If I get what I want for it, I will go into a new build with tons of experience and a new drive..

 

Advertise it as a rat rod and you'll probably get a zillion hits.

 

Play nice.....

 

Had a lot of people trying, just no one with $ in that crowd right now.

So going to Just make small modifications to get where I want to be. Looked at some other cars and was amazed how much more those other cars are channeled. My drivers seat is 4 1/4" from bottom of the frame. These guys are sitting 6 to 7" all day long above the bottom of the frame. So I can be happy that my tall and fitting helped some in design.

First off is trying to locate the rear beltline area of the car. That needs to be addressed first.

 

Focus on the body work over all else I'd say. For beltline, I'd try to find the back of a 4 door sedan. They're not in much demand and the ones I see are usually intact and cheap. I just bought a nice one for $5, but I usually see them around $150. Try to get that done and some primer on there.

Lake headers would be high on my list and a good thing to fab when you need a break or are waiting on a piece for the bodywork. If you can DIY them you'll save some big money too.

Your interior could use some sprucing for sure. I'd be looking to ditch the ammo box (or match the floors to it somehow) and find some more period appropriate looking gauges. I might want to replace the carpet with rubber mat too. The carpet looks out of synch. Adding door cards would probably be an easy and inexpensive upgrade. You can do that with a stapler, some old pegboard, and a $25 trip to the fabric store.

Do you want to un-channel or just bring the body up? Bringing the body up looks like it'll expose those box rails, so I don't see any gain unless you un-channel to gain headroom or put a 32 frame under it. Alternately you could bring it up and run your dump tubes along the outside to fill the space or try splash aprons.

If you un-channel, I'd go all the way, not just a couple inches. It would be a lot easier on the fab work. If you only need an inch or two, I'd just lift the body up and do it with steel / poly spacers and wood blocks. Another thought on that is you'd be able to run a taller radiator if you need more cooling.

I'd put the HEMI / 3-deuce (I'd go for a 6 carb setup on a HEMI personally) together on the Someday List.

 

It's gonna take a lot more than 2 weeks to sell such a car. It's also going to take showing up with like-minded folk who dig that look. I like old, proven, easy, reasonable priced parts to get the look. I'm living in 2 worlds right now that are 180 degrees apart. Building a high dollar billet, M II, IRS, 18" Budnik, new body roadster for a client. In the next room is my flathead, stanced, wheeled 39 standard I just picked up(build thread started). Moved from this to that:


Total departure from the rod I'm building in the next room, in fact in both cases. What I wanted from the truck wasn't going to happen any time soon and frankly it was nearly too good to go "all the way", even as a HAMB-friendly build. I guess I can be in the start over camp too because I already have. I wouldn't kick at your car for any reason. Kinda bad-ass yet at the same time I can feel your need. Tough call, and good luck whatever shoice you make. Then again you can always make space for another car, right? Maybe not, just sayin...

 

Are the rails straight behind the firewall, or is it Z'd? If the rails are straight (other than a rear kickup), I'd unchannel it and rework the rest of the details on the car to your liking. The car has potential to take it to the next level with some effort and details.

If the frame is Z'd and it just isn't showing right now, then I'd lean more toward selling it, it'll be hard to ever give it a traditional stance without building a new frame, and that'd be tough.

 

Funny how this forum has changed, this car screams rat rod all over it, absolutely no disrespect meant, for a rat rod it's pretty well done. But in no way is this car traditional, kudos to the op for wanting to change it. No criticism meant here, a complete rebuild is in order to fit the guidelines for this forum, a monumental job. I'd sell it, use the knowledge gained and start a new project, it's how we all learn to build cars, experience and trial and error. You asked........

 

I would just bring the body up and the front axle back in place then do the body work. and of course, wheels and tires.

 

This kind of reminds me of my old pro street 67 Camaro. 427 narrow 12 bolt 18.5x31s little front runners back half rear frame . Everything I wanted when I built it and it handel and drove excellent as long as you where going a quarter mile at a time or just going maybe 20 miles to a local cruse in or show . but try to go more than 50 miles at a time and it would start to eat you up. Un-tubbing a car is a major restoration project and the sad part was I started with a cherry car! So I sold the rolling chassis to someone else who said it was just what he wanted. He put another big block in and sold it 6 months later for the same reasons.
This car could be brought to a better level a lot easier than my Camaro . If you did the 1st chassis , it should not be much of a job to build one with out the Zed rails otherwise buy an after market A or 32 and go from there. I would keep the drive train because it has been road proven.
Go with a lower dual quad manifold or tri power. un channel the floor. paint the body and frame the same color and since I personally am sick to death of 40's traditional cars with wires all over the place and because you already have the 440 in it I would move it up a couple decades and put some mid sixties big and little polished aluminum slots . A sort of Orange Crate kind of vibe with a nice two tone [ black and white???] interior. That would be my vision . Still looks like it goes 150 standing still but able to go 75 for hundreds of miles at a time. and it all can be done a little at a time. First the chassis and floor pans. Then engine fuel system and exhaust. Drive it for awhile ,tweeking as you go and then finally body, paint and interior . Best of luck on what ever you decide! Larry

 

You asked what I would do.

I would sell it, or unchannel, and even then I would be in doubts to if I would keep it.
But I most confess to me, that car is a freak of nature.

It's to good a build to be an RR, it's to rusty to be a street rod. It's to whacked out of proportions to be my dream car, and it's nice, but not traditional.

I don't know what it is, but I hope you get a chance to sell it and build what you want!
It's a very well build cat by the looks of things.
It look like you got a good skill set. I think you could build a killer traditional hot rod if you stay era perfect!

I wish you the best of luck, with you plan to sell or fix. If you end up fixing it to a more traditional look, please post a build thread. You got the skills

 

Stubbs,
15 years ago half of the HAMB had a car very similar to what yours is now, and no one was trying to talk anyone else into changing it to another, more socially acceptable style.
It is what it is.
If YOU want it to look '50's style, then you know what has to be done, and that's a major overhaul in design, stance, engine, etc.
Just don't confuse your car, it will just make matters worse.

 

One bad 51 Merc makes a good point about the wheels, early Ford wires are way out of line with a wild 440 like that, you don't want to mix pre-war elements with 60's stuff, then you may as well leave what you've got. I like the idea of an Orange Crate inspired look with mags.

 

As some stated making all those changes to rebuild yor car is basically building another car , the raw materials to build another rolling model A sedan is not much more of a investment

, the car you have now running and driving is worth 5 times what you would spend on parts to build a new better version unless there is an emotional attachment to that particular car , I would sell

 

I haven't touched the car in 2 wks, really have been searching the soul.... it still makes me happy and there is something to say for that at least.

Your completely correct on confusing the car. I hit this car in the middle of some styles and it doesn't quite fit in with the main styles out there. The Odd One. Maybe Im just dragging behind in the current styles.

I think my vehicle A.D.D. is kicking in... Loving too many styles and not keeping my focus...

I may have to add another sedan or coupe to the fleet to fill my want for a 50s style one.. Stockpile parts Until the day comes of a larger garage or I get a shop.

I just have a love for Chopped and Channeled cars, and I am a big guy... GO FIGURE... So time to sing some Rolling Stones and remember I cant always get what I want in one package.

 

I'm with the sell it guys as option #1

Build a New chassis and sell that one option #2.

Looks like a Front Z @4" or more and a 4" channel? Just loosing 4" worth of the z front and rear would be much easier and look better than unchanneling. Then you just remake the Trans tunnel smaller and add a 4" taller radiator. While your at it you could get the wheel base back or leave the front end out there.


Cherry picking profile shots is understandable, but what's that car look like from the other angles - like rear staight on, or from the front straight on?

 

Alright since everyone seems to be given options I'll give mine.

1. The quality of the build doesn't look bad so I assume there's a lot of good pieces in that pile.

2. I'd say it's more confused than rat. Change the intake, wheels, wheel base and some minor stuff and it looks like quite a few builds that bob bleed and max wedge put together years ago. Look in the way back machine and see those for reference

3. With that look the rat rod demographic is who would be buying but that demographic isn't going to pay what your going to want out of it. That's why they are building fender less s-10's

Your not far off from something good, member flatout51 turned his ratty sedan into a cool traditional ride the last year or two, it's doable.

So after that ramble what would I do?

Given the massive pile of Nickle and dime stuff and what a pain in the ass titling a car can be I would re build that car.

I however would make it fit the late fifties into the mid 60's style as that will let you recycle the most parts.

Un channel it and raise the suspension some. At least in the rear, no one likes seeing a full diaper car.

Run some solid wheels. 40-48 fords or maybe some sort of unpolished five spoke in front with steelies in the back.

Push your wheel base back closer to stock, run a dual quad intake and some full length headers that dump over the frame rails with a fat collector. Then sneak the exhaust under the car from there.

 

And yes those air cleaners, valve covers and gauges belong on a pro street cuda' but you can change the air cleaners easy and the rest you can change as you drive it. No one notices you gauges and valve covers if they are seeing you go by at 55

That sort of rebuild lets you keep nearly everything you already have. Even your brake lines for the most part should be reusable.

By shifting your "period" for the car you keep a lot of the same parts, you save a ton of money and you spend a but load of time.

Your basically focusing the car and refining it instead of trying to make it a 40's build with the wrong motor and wheels