Hot Rods What's wrong with a channeled hot rod?

Model A roadster I had when I was 19, many years ago.

Mick

 

My Roadster is channeled enough to cover the model A frame and windshield chopped 4". I am very comfortable in it!

 

That t roadster is just cool. My 27 is also channeled over the a rails. I drive it everywhere.

 

I'm 6'3 and a bit, and it's surprising what a bit of creative floor work can achieve.

 

Robracer, I really like your floor. Good job!

 

So Cal didn't have as many channeled cars but there were some, there was one at my high school like the one SS34coupe is showing a couple of picts back. I'd subscribe to the Valley Custom Shop idea "Stand back and look at it, see if it looks good"! 34's tall "T" look good, some A's and 32's , Lynn Yekles red 32 coupe looked great. Stand Back and Look at it!

 

Hot rodding is as regional as language and sometimes it is different from one neighborhood to the next in any given town or metroplex.

I think that a lot of people don't get that at all. They try and base their entire hot rodding experience on what they have seen in an old magazine. Even magazines were regional back in the later '40s and '50s. The world was not like it is today with the internet, there was just not that much connection and the magazine publishers were not going to send someone on a cross country trip to take pics of a car, they published what was gong on close to home for the most part.

Hell even into the '70s if you wanted your car or bike in print you had to get it to the publisher most of the time.

 

Anyone that has ever channelled a car or truck will appreciate the nice job you are doing.
I chopped and channelled 2 '34 Ford trucks when I was 17 and didn't know I couldn't do it. I did a good enough job on my own truck, that a guy actually paid me to do his. That was back in 1959 while I was still in school, and it paid for all my oxy/acetylene and torch rental, and all the material I needed to finish channelling my truck.

 

As promised

 

As little as I like shoved-forward radiators, I love the shrink-wrapped thing this one has going on. Zagato couldn't have done it better.

 

LOL that radiator is not shoved forward the rest of the car is shoved back.

 

I agree with HRP. I'm 6'1" and "broad shouldered"

Channeled cars look cool, I've even had a few. I just have to accept that I look like Herman Munster when sitting in one.

No hate, just less of a desire to own one.

 

I like channeled cars when they look right (by that i mean a moderate channel, not an "omg the frame rails are coming out from the middle of the firewall" channel)

as for Comfort like was said before it all depends on what car you are channeling and your size, i'm 1.86 m (about 6' 1"), and i fell uncomfortable in a stock Model A, a channeled one would be horrible, but i feel just right in my truck (not finished if anyone is wondering)

in my case i channeled the cab of the truck for a couple of reasons, one being that the cab (Ford FK) is way wider on the back in relation to the front, and it would simply look weird if the cab was on top of the frame.



Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Was there a fancy term for channeling when it was done back in the day on new cars?

 

What's wrong with a channeled hot rod?
The problem is you don't fit in them comfortably. Form over function is hard on long trips............

 

More examples of "wedge" channel jobs please! I'm starting to really like that look!

 

Here's mine

 

Not really any real fancy terms, although some manufacturers had used the term "step down" for some models that were channeled from the factory and the floor had seat and foot wells built in. example: Hudson Step Down Coupe for the Hornet coupe. Maybe it was an after the fact term coined by car enthusiasts.

 

That Red t roadster is just about perfect!

 

Thanks guys, This pic was taken a couple of years ago during rebuild number ? Owned the car for nearly 20 years with the flat floor and as I get older I don't bend in the middle like I used to. Yes it was a lot of work - moving brakes, new pedals etc, but well worth the effort. I am way too big for the car, I still feel like I sit "on" it, not "in" it, but it's ours and we love it.

 

Channelled cars in some cases may look ok. You need to be 5'6" or shorter to be able to enjoy driving them especially if you intend to travel long distances not burger joint to burger joint.

 

The amount of channel V comfort is totally dependent on the body in question. The @raven 's roadster is a little uncomfortable with the mild-ish channel, but a 27 T is not very big to start with. My A sedan with is mild channel (frame width) will be comfy enough if I go with good seats. There is lots of room in an A sedan.

Perhaps a better example would be a '33 roadster for comparison to the Raven's T. The '33 is a big ol slab sided pig in comparison and it would take a 3-4" channel and be fine. The '27 at the same channel your hips would be almost level with the tulip panel.

@xderelict I don't know if I ever mentioned it but I am in lust with your coupe. Next time you are down this way you should get in touch so I can get up close and personal with it.

 

I like channedled,but if not carefully fitted can be small. My own rod,built in 1959 is 28 A roadster body,bob tailed,dropped over frame about 6in. at the firewall but only 3in. at the bobtail. I cut off nearly 3in. of rusted out bottom edge an truned under 3/4in. before even mounting body to make a lip as finished body bottom. Floor is at top of frame ,seat is 2in off floor at front only and an zero at back with 3.5in. of foam. I do put in new foam each time I redo upholstery. I'm 6' an,was in highschool too an its always been good fit. As I'm now a ugly old coot,here's a photo with better stuff seated in my rod .
Most complants I hear or read are about fit of driver,I understand it,but also know it's a matter of builders engineering skills,too make the fit right.
Too often I have see things done wrong an then a statemint that"There is no way for a channedled an or chopped car to be EZ to drive"= is BS,its about planning an fit,plus not over doing ether.

 

@xderelict I don't know if I ever mentioned it but I am in lust with your coupe. Next time you are down this way you should get in touch so I can get up close and personal with it.[/QUOTE]
Thanks Porknbeaner. I've had it up for a year and it's a lot of fun. Don't know for sure when we'll be in Kansas City. I bought it out by the Kansas Speedway. It had been a turkey blind up till then.

 

This just showed up today. Love this car. True 70s build, and a heavy channel.

 

Here ya go, from the Jalopy Jam Up in 2016, one beauty of a survivor as well. Don't know the front to back channel proportions but it sure looks like the body has a rake in relation to the frame..

 

I love the people who hate on channeled cars. Most are the ones that cant build a car. I also agree there is
a ass for every seat. But my seat will always be channeled. i caught alot of shit about chopping n channeling my car.