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

[The Crunch]

This post is about my son (Jeffrey) and his Model A coupe build. He is a young
hot rodder at age 12. It started last year looking for a 5 window AD Chevy to build as Father son Project. We traveled the country side looking for a good truck to start with. no luck!

That all changed when we attended the Hot Rod Revolution in Austin December 2011. His exposure to the old school rods there had a huge impact on him and he soon asked the question of building a true traditional hot rod. That was a easy one to answer. Yes

From day one it has been in his head to build a Model A Coupe. The journey then started to find a project for us to work on. Weeks of looking the HAMB and CL with no luck. Then we found our car listed on the HAMB only 20 miles down the road. Boney-fingers cut the kid a deal and we came back to loaded it and all the extra body panels.



It is need to patch panels and sub floor repair.





With our first Round Up under our belt he has a pretty good plan on how the build should go.
Build Plan:
*4" chop top
* 32 rails
* Split bones
* 259 Subebacker w/2x2

Started this weekend with sub-floor repair.


Stay tuned as we take the Model A back to the road.

On another note about this young rodder, he is training to do custom pinstriping. This start when he received a Steve Kafka Pin striping Brushes and several cans of One Shot paint for Christmas. So now every show we attend he is stalking the pro's picking up what tricks they will share. He spends on average 8-10 hrs a week practicing the art. HE has steady progress and is getting better.



Enough for now.

[Atwater Mike]

Good for you, Crunch...My Dad was killed when I was 12, by that time I had every issue of Hot Rod Magazine from #1, and had memorized them all.
Older rodders in town (Santa Clara, CA.) 'adopted' me, encouraged me, and I chopped my '36 Ford 3 window at age 13.

I commend you on your involvement with your son...This warms my heart.
My son and I are involved in about 9 Coupe & Roadster projects now. (I'm 69, he's 49. We've been at it all along)

[stewscoupe1929]

Thats awesome!! bring back memories of me building my first hotrod from scratch i when i was 14 in my back yard with no shop and a old 50's model Century stick welder my Grampa gave me! Im 26 now.. but those were the days!! Keep the Tradition alive!!!

[FlynBrian]

Awesome project! The kid has skills already at 12 y/o. My best memories of my father was working on hot rods when I was your sons age. Great job your doing as a father. Subscribed, look forward to your progress.

[TexasSpeed]

Very cool! I dig the plan of attack for the coupe. Your son's only 12 years old.. That gives him 4 years to finish so he can have the coolest car at school.

Maybe I'll run into you guys at the Revolution in a few months. I'll be the one stalking him and asking him for tips on my 'striping.. I need to get back into that and he's far way better than I am at this point. Haha.

[I SMELL SMOKE]

very cool!!!! i think this will be some great memories down the road and time well spent

[Brads MONSTER]

Way to go what a great car to build

[345winder]

very cool!

[The Crunch]

Thanks guys for all the kind words. Your encouragement is a great motivation for the kid. He is stoked people are checking out the build. He is currently writing out a project goal sheet and working on timeline. The project counts towards his Eagle Scout Merit Badge. Next weekend we will go pick up his engine, Studebaker V8 and trans.

[510madmav]

This is too cool, I'm an Eagle Scout, tell him It's worth the work. As for his pinstriping, It's better than mine when I first started 5 years ago! Subscribed & can't wait to see it come together. He's got the bug guys...

[Don's Hot Rods]

That is about the age my two Son's started playing with cars too, and it has been one of the joys of my life, sharing this hobby with them. Good for you, this will be something the two of you will never forget.

That Stude engine is going to make it super cool. Keep us posted on how it is going.

Don

PS, good to see him wearing goggles and gloves too.......I learned that lesson the hard way.

[fleet-master]

absolutely awesome. memories that'll last a lifetime...very cool for you both.I like the way this project is headed. subscribed

[29bowtie]

This is what we all like to see, a young guy keeping this hobby going into another generation. I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on this project.

[Barrelnose pickup]

Always good to see a guy spending quality time with their son,not enough of it goes on.
Gloves and glasses are good but look after his young ears also with plugs or muffs.
I wish someone got up me about looking after my hearing yrs ago.
Good luck with the coupe.

[lothiandon1940]

Great story and looks like a great kid. Will be following this build-up with much interest. Best of luck.

[Rehpotsirhcj]

Way to go Jeffrey!
My son is turning the big 05 this year, and loves to be in the shop with me whenever he can. We'll be watching.

[Dale Fairfax]

What does "Stroh" mean? (at least in the context of the trhead). Around my house, it's something that comes in a blue can and you drink it.

[josh highley]

Awesome! Can't start early enough!

[The Crunch]

Originally Posted by Dale Fairfax

What does "Stroh" mean? (at least in the context of the trhead). Around my house, it's something that comes in a blue can and you drink it.

Dale,

Stroh is our last name.

The Crunch

[skatermann]

way cool!!!!!

[general gow]

awesome father/son project. looking forward to progress.

[fuel10922]

Cool project to build memories that will last forever!

[outlaw256]

way to go young gun!! your buildin a great car there. keep praticing your pinstripping.i never could get the hang of it. mine always looked like someone threw up spaggetti.lol

[The Crunch]

A few more of the 12 yr old Stripe KING. Went to a Hot Rod show last weekend he spotted a Studebaker getting some new lines added to the tailgate. We parked it there for a hour or so and he picked up a few pointers from a pro.



He has started to sand on the coupe and marked off chop lines. I think we will need to pull one tape line off.


Checking out the view.

[Rehpotsirhcj]

Yup, Waaay too much headroom, maybe seven inches too much?

[TexasSpeed]

You think that's too much? You better not let your boy see this otherwise he's going to start bugging you to let him chop it this much..

[chopt top kid]

Hard to beat a chopt A coupe on deuce rails!!! Keep up the good work...

[KustomCars]

Cool!

[snowman]

It's always admirable to see a father and son relationship like this. Good on you for supporting your boy and exposing him to traditional cars. Good on him for dreaming big and staying focused!

[Flowmeister]

I like the direction this build and kid are headed!

[The Crunch]

Summer Update:
After searching for months we found a Studebaker engine. Found the deal on Craigs, guy was parting out a 1951 Commander. We picked up rolling chassis, sun-visor, and Jeffrey's prized steering wheel. He loves that bullet wheel. Other stuff not used will be sold off.



The BULLET WHEEL



The Engine



Below is Jr, first time in a chopped coupe. He was a grins! He had three offers that day to set in coupes. It was a good day for him. Car shows have been a good learning opportunity to learn pin stripping as he will set for hours a watch and ask questions to the pro's working the shows.



Have only made one swap meet this year and hope to catch a few more. The Fredericksburg, TX swap meet was great fun and he picked up some old metal tool boxes to clean up and pin stripe for resale to fund his project. He has done well with haggling on item prices, also scored some door regs for the coupe that day

[RoccoATX]

So AWESOME!! keep us posted and I want one of those striped toolboxes man!!

[rockabillybassman]

The future of hot-rodding is in good hands.

[The Crunch]

. The latest box the kid is working on. Not bad for 13 yrs old.


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

[D.W.]

Very cool!

[billysguitars]

Great read. My old man's been gone for maybe 25 or more years now but I always treasure the time we spent working on my first old car together. He didn't know what he was doing but we did it together

[The Crunch]

Kid is jazzed on his new 51Ford dash. Going to chop it down and weld it up. Will have a full set of SW gauges replacing some of the switches. Goes good with the Studebaker steering wheel. Stay tuned.


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

[brokenspoke]

If you are interested I have 32 Ford frame rails I'll donate to this build....PM me if interested...Bill

[draider]

What a great project, I'll be tuned in.

[53olds]

Awesome!

[Dreddybear]

I can't believe I hadn't seen this. This is awesome. Can't wait to see more!!


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

[KustomCars]

Looking good!

[GaryB]

keepon-keepin on,cool project

[MR. FORD]

Great to meet you guys yesterday! Project is looking good. Stoked for both of you.... Keep up the good work!

[The Crunch]

Originally Posted by MR. FORD

Great to meet you guys yesterday! Project is looking good. Stoked for both of you.... Keep up the good work!

Thanks Mark. It was nice to meet you also. Jeffrey talked for a hour straight about yours and Skots cars on our drive home. It made his year getting to go for a ride in them. He looks forward to rolling up to a show someday and parking his ride next to yours.

[The Crunch]

Update: Just back from picking up Hot Rod parts for Jeffrey's Coupe. A new friend from the H.A.M.B gifted him a 1932 Henry frame, 32 frt axel, F100 steering box, and other parts.


Just goes to show what a great community can be found here on the H.A.M.B.


Thanks Brokenspoke. Super cool gesture on your part to give him these parts to keep momentum going on his Hot Rod project. I am still blown away by your generosity and we thank you.


Jeffrey in return pin striped a cool old tool box and gave it to Bill.

[brokenspoke]

It was a pleasure meeting your family....I am really impressed with Jeffrey...I'm looking forward to the build.....

[wlspdshop]

What a great thread....subscribed!

[VA HAMB]

Very cool!

[curbspeed]

Very nice gesture brokenspoke. Good on ya for doing that. Looks like it's going to be a neat project.

[510madmav]

So cool!!!!

[moonman29]

This is awesome!! Subscribed! this brings back memories of when i was a kid and would be in the backyard with my dad working on the old cars. He is really going to treasure these moments for ever. You are both so lucky to have each other as father and son. Congrats.

[The Crunch]

Jeffrey spent the day working on his motor trying to get it fired up. Needed to rewire the 6v neg ground to positive grd 12volt. We had issues with the solenoid, so no luck today. Good learning session as he learned the basics of wiring and using a multimeter. The Studebaker motor is still mounted in its old chassis and we will be plucking it out soon.

Here is a few pics from today.


It was a great day in the garage. The kid is so sharp on his Hot Rod design and history for only being 13.

[Rehpotsirhcj]

Cool that you're going with the Studebaker. I'm not old enough to know first hand, but I gather it would have been a pretty hot setup prior to 55.

[The Crunch]

Kid has been busy doing stripping of ornaments for Hot Rod money.

He also did his work on this travel case.

Merry Christmas to our H.A.M.B friends and a Happy New Year!

[oldschoolantiqueauto]

You are a lucky man. It sounds like you will know were your son is at nights, playing in the garage, learning good cool stuff. Not on the putter playing video games. Or at the boob tube learning nothing at all, LOL.
Hay, your first photo of your boy sitting in the coupe on the trailer. Check out the trailer's tandem wheels next to the coupes body, that would be different, a coupe with tandems in the rear. Different anyways... LOL

[Jackbolt]

Subscribed! Thanks for sharing!

[pearl31]

Great build. I'll be looking forward to the next installment. Maybe at the next round-up your son will have some pinstripe to sell...

[skoh73]

Just found this- great! Looks like a fine young man who is not afraid to put in the work to get results. I can't wait to see more progress.

[The Crunch]

Originally Posted by pearl31

Great build. I'll be looking forward to the next installment. Maybe at the next round-up your son will have some pinstripe to sell...

Thanks for compliment . The Round-Up is still a few yrs out for the kid. 2013 plan is to start pin striping in public at small shows and swap meets to get him comfortable in public. So keep an eye out for him and stop by and say hello.

The Crunch

[Mr48chev]

Subscribed. That ornament he's holding shows that his striping is steadily improving.

Keep us posted on his progress on the car and with his pinstriping.

[Malcolm]

Very cool father/son build... And very generous of Mr. Brokenspoke Bill to donate those parts. He's a good dude!


Malcolm

[CTFuzz]

Just found this today..........great way to start the year!
Good luck kid.

[The Crunch]

The question often asked why a Studebaker ?? It was influenced by April '53 Hot Rod magazine Jr had read that had an article of Dean Moon installing a Stude in his coupe.


Wanting a different traditional power plant we struck out on the path of Stude power. It will run a Edmunds 2X2 intake and lake headers. Old school and a cool looking motor.






Jr has been cleaning up the org '32 frame last few days. He is removing all the prior brackets that had been torched off and shoddy welded 4 bar brackets. Attachment 1825714

before



After







This 13 yr old has a deep passion for traditional hot rods.


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

[Skotz]

Jeffrey.....and Dad.....keep this stuff coming....

Wanted to come visit over the holidays, but just ran out of that "time" stuff

[BigWigRaceCars]

Looking good guys! I'm subscribed and looking forward to watching this build.

Jeffrey, I'd like to have you do some striping on my '50 chevy 5-window truck before the Round Up, or AT the Round Up if you want to drag your striping gear to the show.

[Lukydevl]

Great job guys.. Keep building those memories that will last a lifetime.. Saddly , I lost my Dad and my Son 8 days apart last month.. Reading this thread brought back fond memories of car and motorcycle building with both of them.. along with wetness on my keyboard..
peAce

[Dreddybear]

This kid is super into this stuff. It's pretty awesome!

[jalopykid]

Cool build! Brings back some good memories when I was learning and dreaming!

[ambsn]

rad... I did the same thing with my dad. Only took me 15 years to finish but its the coolest thing that my dad and I have done together. Good luck, I look forward to seeing your progress!

[firepilot]

Very Nice. Let us know if he post some of his tool box's on the classifieds, I would buy one to help a kid out.

[TurboX2]

This is super! Your son is has a gift and he will go far if he stays tuned into it! It is great to see HAMB members join in to help and you two enjoy your time together! Looking foward to the build!

[brokenspoke]

Originally Posted by firepilot

Very Nice. Let us know if he post some of his tool box's on the classifieds, I would buy one to help a kid out.

I got one and it will never be for sale....

[The Crunch]

A few Pics of the kid at Hot Rod Revolution 2012. Found these and figured I would post of Pics of Jr in DW's coupe. He was nice enough to let him fire that bad boy up.

For a kid that is only 13 he has it pretty bad in life

[Brewton]

Sweet Thread! Looks like you and your son are having a blast building the coupe. There is nothing like spending time with you son in the garage! My son is 12 and we are looking for a project for him. We'll be at the Roundup, so just look for the rootbeer colored model A coupe from Louisiana.

[The Crunch]

Originally Posted by Malcolm

Very cool father/son build... And very generous of Mr. Brokenspoke Bill to donate those parts. He's a good dude!


Malcolm

Originally Posted by Skotz

Jeffrey.....and Dad.....keep this stuff coming....

Wanted to come visit over the holidays, but just ran out of that "time" stuff

Originally Posted by Brewton

Sweet Thread! Looks like you and your son are having a blast building the coupe. There is nothing like spending time with you son in the garage! My son is 12 and we are looking for a project for him. We'll be at the Roundup, so just look for the rootbeer colored model A coupe from Louisiana.

Malcolm: watching the roadster prep for Round Up, looks cool. I see you have your Dad helping.

Skot we need to get together. Hope to see you this Sat at Top Notch

Brewton: We are having a blast in the garage working on the project and working on his pinstriping. We will keep an eye out for your coupe at the Round Up. We can't wait for the show to get here. The Crunch

[flatheadz-forever]

Nice I am 15 and building my own model a hot rod its a pickup though very cool DW's coupe is bitchin

[n847]

Awesome build! Some of the best car memories I will ever have will be with my dad, son and daughter! Good on you for making it happen on such a big level! I wish I had something to contribute to the build! I'll be following along keep it up. It looks like he's getting some killer inspiration and advice from the masters!

[chevy54man]

This is a great story and build, I love it!

[KustomCars]

Awesome! Cant wait to see more.

[Edna566]

This is what we all like to see, a young guy keeping this hobby going into another generation. I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on this project

[treb11]

This is a great thread. My (slow) build is headquartered at Buchanan Dam. If there is ever anything I can do to help or bring you from the Houston area, let me know. Hopefully I will need some pinstriping one day!

[kingpins]

awesome thread cant wait to see it finished

[So-Cal Speed Sacramento]

very cool thread. keep it up guys!

[Wide Whites]

Subscribed! I have lots of good memories of working in the shop with my dad. We built the 235 and Saginaw trans that's in my truck now back in '97-98.

He just bought a '30 coupe that we plan to build as a father son project. 32 rails and a Riley 2-port banger power. Keep up the good work and hopefully will get to meet you and Jr at Roundup in a couple weeks.

[The Crunch]

Originally Posted by Wide Whites

Subscribed! I have lots of good memories of working in the shop with my dad. We built the 235 and Saginaw trans that's in my truck now back in '97-98.

He just bought a '30 coupe that we plan to build as a father son project. 32 rails and a Riley 2-port banger power. Keep up the good work and hopefully will get to meet you and Jr at Roundup in a couple weeks.

WW,
If you see us around stop and say hello. We should be Garage Crawl Fri morning.

[The Crunch]

The kid has been hard at it grinding on the frame taking out the former boxing plates, 4 bar tabs, X member slag. This had all been removed with a torch. Next is boxing plates. We will then start working towards making it a roller. A few items below we are on the the hunt for. We seem to be late on the Epay deals or under funded. Below is what he is looking for to keep the project going.



Shopping List
Parts the Kid is looking for his coupe.
Front end 32 axle parts needed
· perch pins, spring 31”, brakes, spring clamps
· F1 pitman arm
· Draglink
Rear end 32 parts needed
· spring clamps
· 36 bones
Early Ford wheel and tires
32 grill shell and insert
Frt extensions for 30-31 subrails
Headlights
Coupe seat
Visor
Frt spreader bar
tail lights Pontiac rounds

Thank you for all the postive comments in the tread and IM. Another thanks for the generosity to those that have donated to the kids cause. Those that have sent Hot Rod Shop T-Shirts, the kid is the coolest dressed kid at his school.

Thanks again The Strohs

[MATACONCEPTS]

You're my Fucken Hero, Kid!

Sorry for the language but you're a grown man in my book.

[Rat.Racer]

Awesome thread, talented young man! Look forward to more progress. Do you have any more subrail pictures? I need to redo them on mine too and was wondering what to do and how to do it! Thanks.

[29ToyA]

What a cool project!

[hal698]

Amen Brother.

[Latenightaircooled]

What size shirt do you guy need? I will send some out ASAP from Latenightaircooled.

[The Crunch]

Originally Posted by Latenightaircooled

What size shirt do you guy need? I will send some out ASAP from Latenightaircooled.

Thanks man. The Kid wears a large T Shirt.