Hey guys I am looking for some advice on whether I should turn my 1933 South African 3 window coupe into a Rod, or sell it and start the search again for a completed Hotrod that I can modify to make my own. Please excuse the poor spelling punctuation and grammar as story writing is not my thing. Here go's I hunted down and purchased this coupe about 4 years back with intentions to Hotrod it. It was imported into Australia years back and has changed hands a few times since. I have been collecting parts for the build consisting of a 59ab with Merc crank,39 box with zephyr gears ,40 brakes,16" Kelsey Hayes bent wires etc. I wasn't looking to paint her as I love the worn paint with crows feet on trunk and rear of the roof. Body wise I would only need to have the fender wheel wells removed and filled as she is a 6 wheeler with wells in both front fenders,hopefully having the paint matched so they do not look too new and out of place. I was planing on pulling her down In the new year and starting the transformation. After quite a few guys telling me I'm crazy and should leave her the way she is, a classic car! I'm having second thoughts??? I do realize that it's not a good move financially as I will probably put another 30k into her, I did pay top dollar for the original purchase . Therefore I would never recoup my investment, I understand that is not what it's all about but it does come in to the equation. What do you guys think? Here's some pics of the old girl the way she sits now running driving. 21 stud and mechanical brakes intact. Shit just got real.
Throw a dual carb intake and some hi-compression heads on it, adjust the altitude a notch, add a little rubber rake, and drive the wheels off of it.
It all depends on what you want! It looks like a nice car but what will you build if not this? Would you sell the 33 and use the money for something else? How far are you going if you do the 33? You could always put glass front fenders on and keep the welled ones. Or run no fenders! Just hot rod the 33 up some and be happy IMO.
Pat Campea and Harry Oka campaigned this '34 in the late 1930's...perhaps this will provide some inspiration.
That is a very nice looking car! No 33-34 looks good with side mount fenders IMO, so I understand why the wheels & tires are off the car now. I'd keep what you have and do the bolt on upgrades. Bob
The car doesn't care what you do to her...rod or restore... as long as you have respect for her...do her proud.
i would stick to your original plan. only thing i would change is to replace the front fenders instead of modifying the side mount ones you have. remember its your car so do what you want. Al.
I must first admit my answer will be tainted by a love affair with model 40's. Lower it a little, put the bent spokes on, maybe juice brakes. Drive it, keep it clean and enjoy the @#$$% out of it. I f not, just trade me for my already modified drop top. Tim
Thanks guys for the input. Do any of you have pics of similar style coupes that have gone through this style of hot rodding? What are your thoughts in the black fenders? As I haven't seen any rods running different coloured fenders. Shit just got real.
(Mate the other thing you might want to consider seeing as you are in Western Australia is that under our hot rod licensing / registration system if you build a hot rod from scratch then it has to undergo a licensing inspection every year. I can tell you that gets pretty old real fast. But as I understand it if you already have the car licensed on full A class rego and then apply to transport do the minor mods that you are talking about you can keep it on full A class registration, with no need for annual inspections and fully legal. If you are thinking of keeping a rod for a long time then that might be a better option for you. Also rather than filling the roof you might want to just consider making a metal insert - cover the insert with the top material and just bolt the insert in. A lot less work, retains the originality of the body and for the mods you are talking about you don't need to steel it out (assuming the wood is good) PS not a lot of rods in OZ with fenders not colour matched to body but there are a few - sorry I don't have pics of any but am building a 32 pickup that will have black fenders and green body so if you go ahead there will be more than 1 in Perth. Ray Charlton in Victoria has a 32 coupe yellow body black fenders featured in Australian hot rodding number 1 - if you goggle you might get lucky and find a pic. Cheers
I agree with the quote above from gwhite. I also agree with what acme30 said. If you change it too much and lose full rego, you will need to get your car inspected every year, which would suck. You might also want to consider keeping the mechanical brakes and go with Flathead Teds brake energiser kit. I upgraded my brakes this weekend with this kit, and can now lock up all 4 wheels. If kept well adjusted (which is easy), I do not really see what adding hydraulic brakes would offer in way of an improvement. Anyway, best of luck, and will be good to see another old school 'rod on the roads of Perth. Keep us posted on which way you decide to go with the car. (if you decide to sell the 33, let me know )
Source some other front fenders if you don't want to eliminate the fender wells, put the body on another chassis or retain the OEM chassis and drive train and hop it up with bolt on parts. This stock looking 3 window coupe has a 900HP BBC.
I'd have to see the $ numbers of what you'd be buying and what you get for yours. There's more than one story about buying a completed project and having to redo the damn thing, you certainly want to avoid that situation at all costs. But it's not as easy as it sounds. If your car is 100% original, then have arrangements to keep and store all the original parts and do your modifications to your hearts content. Stay with bolt on or bolt in stuff like your original plan. You are light years closer to a traditional hotrod now than starting over.
Advertise that you would like to trade for a hot rod. That way you will spend no more money, save the car in it's original state, and have no down time. I would think you would have your choice of hot rods for that car.
If you plan on putting another $30K into it, you might want to first consider selling it and buying the hot rod you desire.
Be damn'd if I'd sell it, it's near on perfect as is mate and would not take too much to make a real neat traditional hotrod out of it. You certainly won't find another like that in a hurry and i doubt you"ll spend anywhere near you're suggested 30 grand to do it !
She'll be a hard car to replace. If you are going to put another 30K into her. I'd keep her and put another bay on the garage and use the 30K for the new rod. She's money in the bank. You can always sell. I had a really nice 39 Ford Deluxe woodie in high school (I'm going to date myself now) in the late 60's paid a $150 for it. Had to have a 57 chevy. Sold the 39 for $850. Bought the 57 for $75. I thought I was rich and got what I really wanted. Should have kept the 39 still miss her today. Hindsight is 20/20.
If it were mine I think I would have to keep it,it begs to be a traditional hot rod and a nicely built hot rods will give you years of enjoyment and if and when you decide it's time to send it down the road it will most likely bring your investment back,,this type build doesn't go out of style. HRP
In light of the rego problems you'd encounter with a "hotrod" in Oz I'd definitely keep your present car and modify it as you want. I'd keep modifications to only mods that could be undone if you decide to bring it back to original later. WHAT???????????????????? Did I really say that? Screw that, modify your car any way you please! Cut the top, stretch the wheelbase, "C" the frame, replace the fenders with cycle guards...make yourself happy, man! If you were able to afford that gorgeous car, you'll be able to buy another stocker later if it trips your trigger.
I'm old so I would not get into a total rebuild but a few bolt and go mods mentioned in previous posts would be neat I think..
You would be crazy to tear that car apart. Put some heads and a manifold on as Gwhite suggested, and dual exhausts with straight thru mufflers, and let it go at that. If you want to build a rod from scratch, there are plenty of rusty incomplete old cars in Australia. I am sure you can find a suitable body and chassis if you look.
A car like this is worth 10 project cars - Enjoy it with the updates that keep it on the road. Your rego issues will dominate what is viable and if there is one thing you can do now is get out and drive it - That's a big bonus. Please don't pull it apart and then end being a "GUNNA". She's a lovely piece of motoring history
Since you're asking for advice I assume that you don't know what you want to do now. You've had it for 4 years and didn't change it so it seems like you don't really want to. I'd leave it mostly alone just do what is needed to drive it. Find something else to build and keep this to drive. With the rules there, you might be better off with some type of kit car to make certain it meets those rules.
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