HUBBA HUBBA my 32-4 Tudor tribute to Gramps

Thanks so much guys. You just gave me an idea. If I fail at getting the thing titled as a 32 having pieced the car together and am forced to not use a my year of manufacture plate. Although I’m not a huge fan of vanity plates I often think of names to use. How about 2Hubbas, you think anyone would get it?


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Done any sheet metal work on the roof etc?

 

Well Matt the very long winded answer is a resounding NO.
I want to say soon but it’s complicated. Now the several months delay was partially brought on by wanting to take a step back and decide what to do proportionately speaking. It was extended do to “life getting, blah, blah, blah” and other crap. First I have to totally get reinvested in the chop procedure to execute it to the desired outcome. Second I still can not with a 100% certainty come to conclusion on if the desired outcome is obtainable. Thirdly the winter garage space and temps are adding a touch of interference. But back to the second main issue as a light refresher.
I never wheeled it out side to fantasize. If you recall the early still in OG paint driveway mock-up/chop pics before the molasses work. It looked long almost limo like and pancakey real bad. And the rear tires looked tiny(they will stay small for a authentic 40s feel maybe 650s)

I chopped it another inch after this pic even though it looked terrible even if you have a good forward thinking eye.
I committed to this with the theory I believe at that point of shortening the body to reduce “pancake”. I don’t have a pic with it chopped again. This is the last one before I took out the extra inch then cut the body apart. Different angle

Then when I started to mock it up I took another 1/2 I think, I’d have to count scraps.
As it sits now and again I’m repeating myself I will say it looks pretty good and definitely hot rod. I believe it is about 5 3/4” at the B pillar. Here at the house in person even with the misaligned, bulging, and sagging top of the roof it doesn’t appear to have the “pancake” look thanks to the 2 inches removed from the rear quarters and slight angle haircut. With it in the garage I’ve never captured a image that represents the way I see it here in real life. I don’t exactly know why but it it looks much better here than in this shot. Maybe it’s angles.

The real problem is I am not satisfied even if I was to clean it up and pull it all together. I think it looks slow and bulbous. Most definitely not racey so here’s the long part of my answer which I probably cried about already a few times on this drawn out build thread(100,000 posts till finished).
I want to lay the A posts back more and try to just stay with the windshield’s current size. I’d have to refresh my memory but I think it’s about 6” of glass in the center. I from a driving standpoint and the looming wrath of the wife as passenger am concerned with visibility. So I hesitate to shrink it down more. Speaking from a point of esthetics I feel in my gut that from a head on view it needs to come down as much as a inch to look badass. Probably a 1/2” would suffice but I am hoping the laying it back will give that elusion.
As for the side view I am very tempted to take out another 1/2” with maybe a smidge more up front. I am trying to save some head clearance in the back seat area. The door window opening almost looks to perfectly sized. This is one of the few spots that are telling me it needs more to become aggressive. That and when I play with the roofs top contour it fattens up the the whole car. Then there’s, as I stated a long ways back, that the quarter glass looks like a panel truck to me. It is just passible right now in it own rectangular proportions. I can see that if I chop the roof more this window will become ugly immediately. So that leaves us at shortening the quarters another inch I believe to bring it all back maybe 1.5? Trouble with that is I’m pretty darn sure I have to shorten the frame. This I dread. I know it’s welded together of a million pieces already. I feel good about it’s strength currently and it was one of the few finished parts to the car. I worry about getting it straight again. What a pain with the X frame and boxing plates. I’ve mulled other spots in the kickup to cheat but I don’t think it would be the best. I’m afraid I’ve already answered my own dilemma when I here myself state that I’ll do whatever it takes to get it right and make it something special not just another walk past homogenized blunder. But seeing something and making it happen is a whole nother long winded blah, blah, blah.
Short answer? Soon


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This pic has been up several times. So last time until I show progress of the top. This is close to the way I want to see it but it’s maybe a little exaggerated like a artist rendering. I have considered sliding the back curve of the side glass opening forward like when some chops are adjusted. I’m sure I won’t go this far but from where I am now I want the allusion of this

Alright? Now back to the building, no more “bout’n”


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I think you have the chop right now. It looks like the area above the windshield is messing with you. If you thin the forehead and leave the windshield alone I think you will have it nailed

 

You mean the last photoshop pic above or the real car?
I wish I had one with the hood sides on.
I am also leaning really hard towards doing a welded in louvered roof insert now, could go either way. I really wanted to do the removable copper one with cool green oxidation like the grill bars will be. But I’ve had no luck finding affordable sheets. I really want something hand me down think big moonshine still. I do t want to disrespect my trucks name and sacrifice a good spirits yielding machine though. Every time I see those old black and white photos of revenuers in action I want to cry.
Man if I only had a month to lock myself alone in the garage and shut the whole world out well except for the HAMB. Can’t really build it alone.


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I hear you on the time thing.

What about building roof bows and an insert now? It would help get the shape of the roof right

 

Yeah your right I’ve almost committed to the bows a few times cause of that. I have the ash rough sliced from a larger long chunk that was meant for some of my guitar bodies that warped. The back of the car is going to be 2” narrower I think and I’ve put off finalizing that decision. But the insert cost has held me up to if I stay with the copper idea. I want to get a English wheel next month so I could start on the crown. But the louvers will be another set back. A plus to using the copper insert would be the benefit of cool colors with out all the sanding, painting, and sanding. I’ll throw some thought at it.
Man I love this car or at least the idea of it anyway.


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I finally got a matching WW2 gas mask pouch on the left to go with the one on the right that was my fathers. I want these to hook and snap on to the back of the front seats. My dad’s has the straps still. I can then use it for various things on the go in my travels. The purchased one has had the lettering touched up with marker, damn it. The other had been in my dad’s possession as long as I can remember. I’ve seen it in old pictures from my first year on earth. I don’t know it’s history.
This should be my final addition to the military theme that I only wanted scratch the surface of( @dumprat ). I intended to just focus on the front “cockpit”. Mostly some dash bits not the the whole gauge deal like some less period builds do and front seats including the belts. Then there the door safety latches. I’m not trying to directly make the rest of the interior seem warbird more race with a tiny bit of custom or ten years later stock influence. I think the the use of the holes, drab green and flat black for a planned race theme will fit military if you see it that way. I don’t want it to be forced on ones’ impressions. The shiny steering wheel, column, dash, parking brake, partial carpet, and mohair rear seat will lean towards the show and late 40s update. I’m not running panels, headliner, or garnish moldings. The latter mostly from cost. I am doing some drilled pieces for the windshield side pillars. I am entertaining something for the tops of the doors for resting your arm out the window and holding felt strips for the glass maybe.
I plan to paint the insides of the exterior body panels black then the inner doors and the rear side glass regulator things I shortened and drilled 2” holes in dark green. I think the black behind will add contrast and help with a mechanical look. I can pretty much see it all in my head but I have to use restraint so it feels authentic not gaudy.
Any tuner kid can go to autozone and spray anodize their dash.


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Then I ruined it.



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I like the front half of the chop (doors forward) Wyatt, but i agree you definitely need to find a way to make the rear part behind the back windows look less bulky and more sleek.

 

Ok guys you’ve howlered and I will try to yodel back.
I believe with all the positive reinforcement from all of you coupled with @Stogy referencing my sacrilegious shrapnel in the homogenized thread I’ve come to a decision at least in direction. Onward and forward with the cutting!
I have mulled over this for far too long. I know what I want. Something memorable, something hopefully timeless, something semi-unique, something stunning, and something cool as sh!t.
This requires going hard on the dirty road of evil I’ve been peering down. So here’s what I’ve sold my soul for at that cross roads. Willy Brown cue the slide guitar.
I’m going ahead with another 1/2-1” chop with a soft angle. I can get my windshield laid back to a racier angle now. I will go ahead and cut the windshield down some more if that is what it requires but I will hold back as much as I can here and it will govern some of the chop. Then there’s the 2” or so I’ve begun to take out of the back panel overall width. I am trying to shrink the car down mostly from a visualization standpoint to keep it from looking sedan’y’. Now for everyone who is having a heart attack please hear me out I have an ace in waiting.
We have discussed at length the whole “pancake” theory of giving a Tudor a Army issue flat top. If you followed you know that I had some good results in limiting this phenomenon with the 2” shortening of my quarter panels. This still has left the quarter window seeming slightly long. Chopping it more alone would exaggerate this. A few good men have suggested a shrinking of the “bulk” behind the window. I can’t figure out how to do this with my tools and skills. The idea of simply shortening the side window through traditional steps taken in a normal chop would only add to this look as well. I have considered at great length the way it looks in Marks sketch where it retains a stock wheelbase chassis.

It appears shorter than I’m after in this rendering but it is art after all. Another variable that keeps haunting me is that I am unhappy with the long wheelbase when trying to sell it as a 32. So shortening the entire car is more on the path of how I see the car. Man I dread cutting the frame again and doing body work to the repair area and this has been a major procrastination point for me. But like my favorite Cannonball Run quote “if you’re gonna be a bear, be a Grizzly!” So frame needs to be cut 2-3”.

This is one of my lower patch panels it is obviously two inches long now. The character line is a slight limitation but I could handle it. Honestly I don’t really care for the 33-34 style. Since I want the car to look like a Tudor version of a 32 3w and more 32 than 34, I ordered 32 Coupe patches today instead. They are this style.

Now yes I am concerned about the leg room I may be giving up in the back seat area. But since I’m wanting to share the car with my kids I figure I have another ten years tops and they won’t be riding in this thing anymore or not in the back anyway. Without having these new panels here yet I do not know the size difference. I will lengthen these new panels a touch if that’s what’s needed but I hope to use them as is. I don’t believe I will go any shorter than 5” from the stock 33/34. I figure some fools actually rode in the rumble seat of the 32’s and I might still end up a tad longer than those. One more thing to put those who might be quivering in their surplus boots. I have no intentions of out chopping anyone and I’m not in some ultimate quest for lowness. I hope to still be short of the 7” mark I find in the coolest of cool Coupe chops. Maybe it will be 6.5 at the be pillar. I’m not really concerned with the true measurement. It is more of a guide to communicate with you Band of Brothers. Either way I have a plan and I’m driven again now I just got to play them blues.
It is very important that I have a car for all this effort that looks like it could bite and leave you needing a series of painful shots. Much like Bad Brad @flatnasty

And this bad mutha

I’ll get there I or you can take me to hell Legba (Scratch).


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I think you are on the right track and it will look cool, but I don't know if I would chop it anymore. Maybe just angle the posts back and fix all the lumps and bumps in the roof first. Even if they are just tacked in with braces to get the roof crown correct. When I chopped and lengthened my shoebox roof I used a piece of 3/8"X11-1/2" lath as a guide to get a nice smooth shape. It might help you eliminate the drop in the middle area of the roof which messes with your eyes a lot.
If there is one other thing I could suggest is when you cut the back of the car to move the rear wheel forward don't shorten the quarter window. Part of what seems to be messing with the look of the roof it the large area behind the quarter window opening.

 

Matt I keep dwelling on that quarter window as the biggest part of my problem. Truth be told it’s a case of trying to look as 3w as possible with it being a Tudor cause I need a Tudor. Then there’s the fact that everyone has or wants a 3w.
So I think it looks huge and just knocking on elongated. I can’t stress how fat the car looks here in person. The droopy roof I’m able to look past cause I’ve studied it at length. When it is lifted into position it does ark and get thick looking which adds to this “fatness” I am bothered by. I feel pretty dead set on 1/2” more out of the top. I hope this is all it takes to get the door window into the phantom zone. It looks mildly hot rod to me at best not intimidating.
A possibility that you’ve made me just think of is to shorten the quarters again like I want. But slide the rear of the window frame back some to thin it out that fabled rear portion. Well actually balance it all out to get the window proportion I am happy with.
It’s a push and pull ya know?



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So I scrolled past the chop conversation because I read it all the last couple times, but wanted to comment on being “pro” heat.

I saw a model A with the small heater mounted up behind the passenger side of the dash and I don’t think you’d ever see it. And the units themselves are so simple I’m sure one could be created pretty compact.

Maybe section an old case to put over it if you worried about someone seeing it or just wanting to use some cool case you already have - probably stealing that bolt on louver peice by the way haha

I’m thinking on our model A build I can sneak some carefully routed black hoses to the passenger frame rail and then they’ll disappear.

Though I have seen some hardlined lately that looked pretty good. I just want it to be simple and vanish if you don’t know it’s there.

I’d been planing on heat in the 46 but my wife sold me on the A having heat after reminding me about scraping ice off the car on some of those early spring/ late fall mornings.

I’m fine with wearing layers for the most part but I’m thinking if I want to haul my little girl around in a hot rod I’d like to think she’s not cold.

If I see any good tricks I’ll be sure to forward them and I’ll keep an eye on this to see what you do.

Flash forward and you’ve just put a 12 volt socket to plug in heated blankets haha

 

possibly do, or have done, some photoshop work done with paint tricks. it might look slimmer with black window reveals. maybe connect all the window openings with black paint? a scallop done at the right angle or taper may help also...... just throwing it out there.

 

Exactly what I am saying Wayatt. The area behind the quarter window is messing with you. Nothing wrong with long windows, they make the car look lower and sleeker.

 

Yep, I definitely don’t want hash over the chop anymore. I’m just gonna get it done and right.
Maybe I’ll show you when it’s ready



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Quit teasing and "Git era done"!

 

Go with your original idea and my sketch! JMO

 

How about a Victoria style conversion on the rear body if you don´t like the length of the windows? After what you´ve done already, it shouldn´t be too difficult for you.

 

Vicky has a lumpy butt!

Just say no! ( run away )

The Vicky is by far the ugliest body style ever.

 

Yeah Vicky is alright but she doesn’t make you say “Hubba Hubba”
I got the 3w patch panels today. I’m crazy stoked about how I think they’ll workout. It would take roughly 3” more trim down of the quarters and frame to fit them as is. Don’t know the balance point yet but thinking that sliding back of the window rear curve to thin her out after shortening the quarters again is the ticket.
This thing may really screw with the aficionados.
Welding on front seats lately, it’s going well too, about to add a few selective 2” dimple died holes.


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Another opinion here--- I think before you do any thing else you should prime the whole body in a color that is similar to the final color you want to paint the car. Then take it out in the sunlight and mock up the stance with the wheels in place and hood on, even if you have to put on a piece of cardboard or posterboard. Look at the car from all angles, take a few pictures, then walk away. Wait several hours or a day, then look at the pictures. Think about how it looks and then make a decision as to what you want to do.
I think the car will look good as it is with perhaps one change, slim the front portion of the roof over the windshield as you look at the sedan from the side. Lay out some tape lines to help in making your decision. I think the chop, the length of the windows and the rear quarters will be fine.
I think that with all of the work you have put into this you will be disappointed with yourself if you don't carry out your vision.
I know I like your ideas and I would very much like to see them become reality.



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Go Wyatt!! GO!! Use your welder to keep you warm, that's what I used to do when i lived in Denver,

 

Had this big ol’can of lapping compound forever. This seems like the only way I’ll use much of it.

Testing a little more before I start on the big sheet of stainless I polished and marked out.

Before

After

I plan to skip over most of the gauge hole areas to save time.
I have the drill press jigged up so I can make straight lines horizontally across the dash panel but will free hand the side steps. I am actually hoping it looks homemade just like our hero’s




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That will be wicked!
Where did you get an 11lb can of clover? That is enough that to lap the lap the valves on the queen mary!

 

1#


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Oops my bad