Hot Rods Can this project be a part of the HAMB?

So - can this car and it's evolution back to a road-worthy vehicle be a part of the HAMB family?

It's in a funky state....but can it live here? Can we flesh it out together? Because I don't think I can do it without all of your advice.....

1934 Plymouth sedan, chopped and channeled and on and on and on....none of which matters if it doesn't belong here.

What do you think of this thing? Can we be a part of the HAMB? Or do the likes of this Plymouth not belong here?

Help me understand. I need some guidance on this build -

 

I think so, but it needs some "un-doing".

 

Not in my job description to say but.......uh, NO, not in its current state.

 

It can be a cool car with some changes....what is your plan for it?

 

I vote YES. Not every ones cup of tea when it comes to build style... but it IS a hot rod...and I'm not seeing a whole lot of non-traditional parts. Or are we still afraid of anything that has a vague resemblance to a rat?

 

Mustang II and airbags are a no no. the whole style is modern. you have a big block and tunnel ram with wire wheels and wide whites, which is all mixed up.

 

.... that does not mean you can't hang out here and ask about other stuff.

 

Couple simple changes.... I'd drive the Hell out of it

 

I like the idea that you’re going to get it road worthy again. It’s commendable.


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To me it has a surreal mid 50s to early 60s Dry Lake even Drag Stance...Maybe even some small town in 1964...or even cosmic 60s all flaked out...

What are the plans...it has Hotrod bones to me...I remember posting an early 60s pic of a Full Hooded 34 Ford Coupe with some later but period correct coil sprung/frame swap, somewhat low, bagged...doubt it but probably Z'd...and it was in full plated Street/Race beautiful...no...Hotrod...yes...Hokey Ass Message Board Stuff as All The Hotrodders did what they did...Imagine all the Hotrods that never saw film...

Lots of potential there...good luck with it 34 Plymouths are cool and the shells challenge Henry's...

 

Well said @Stogy. Not every old hot rod is an AV8 or a Deuce 3 window.

 

You asked, So here's my 2 cents. I like it, but what I'd do if it were mine. I don't like independent suspensions on a fenderless Hot Rod. { an easy fix } Build it safe, and I think it's a cool Hot Rod! Then drive it alot, and have FUN......

 

I appreciate the specifics of this message; that's the "nuts and bolts" of what makes this car a fringe player. Those are the things that help me identify where it's on the edge of what "belongs".

And I LOVE this message.

Who am I kidding? My plans are simple at this point: get it running and make it road-worthy. Yes, it's got the Mustang II front end. Yes - it's bagged. Yes, the style is all mixed up. However - I can't afford a '32 Ford coupe with a dropped I-beam front end and a flathead V8. This is the project that fell in my lap, so I scooped it up.

I'm a school teacher, so I'm on a real budget (and who isn't!) - so I'm not going to hack off the front end and yank the bags. At least not yet. I'm going to do well just to bring her to life and make her mobile - at least for now. Make her breathe and make her move - under her own power. That's my goal for now.

But here's the real issue: I can't even do THAT without input from the pros such as yourselves. Seriously. I need so much input. I work with 9-year-olds all day long; if you want to work with elementary geometry and parts of speech, I'm your guy. But when it comes to figuring out which carb setup to use on a big block tunnel ram - I need input. I'm decent with my hands, and I'm GREAT at asking questions...but it takes input from others to help keep me moving forward, especially with a project of this magnitude. This is BY FAR the biggest undertaking I've ever stepped into, and so I'm incredibly nervous - and I'd love to have you guys coming alongside me to nudge me onward. I can't do it without you guys, and I don't know where else to turn. This is my "go to" place for questions like these....and even though this car isn't the poster-child for period-correct hot rods, I can still make some incredible progress with your guidance.

Does all of that make sense? What do you think?

 

I love geometry! My 10th grader is in some pretty cool stuff right now. It took me a few minutes to get it down again but I help her when I can!

 

Brand name in itself is not a deal braker. Profile is not a deal braker. Fit and finish is what sets things apart from H.A.M.B. friendly and R.R. The one big deal is what Moriarity pointed out. I will tell you that there are a ton of Cars on here with out of bounds items on them. The big trick is to not show it or flaunt it. Near every one of my personal projects as well as Customer projects has something wrong according to the rules. I still try to contribute as much as possible and post photos when I can. I just make sure not to post photos of that Other Stuff or talk about it. That said I often take conversations to the P.M. side and some times to different sights. So to me the real Question is with the Few Rules we have and the direction you want to go can you Make your 34 Plymouth fit into our family?

 

When you have specific questions take close up pictures of the item in question, being careful to not get any of the "offensive" parts in the shot (IFS, bags, etc).
If it was mine, i would probably start by removing the tunnel ram, the grill insert and those headers. Then I would turn over a 5 gallon bucket 10-15 feet away from the car, sit down and take a real hard, long look at it. Formulate a plan of where you want to end up and work back from there to where you are sitting on the bucket. Once you do that 90% of your decisions will have been made and it's just a matter of making the changes required to get you to your goal.
Example... get a regular 4bbl intake and carb and a cool air cleaner (vintage caddy or something, and some headers that point in the correct direction... you may be able to swap sides with the ones you have...hard to tell from the pictures. Maybe put some form of muffler on them to make it tolerable to drive longer than around the block, get it started and running (without it overheating) go through the brakes and make sure that system is perfect... then drive it and figure out what you hate most about it and fix that next... on mine, the first thing after running and stopping was the rattling. YMMV.
Hope this helps
Chappy

 

As stated above, a set of cheap lake's header's w/baffles, an at least a hood top would seriously change it.. my $.02

 

I think its pretty badass looking! I'd stick to the plan that you mentioned first. Get her running, driving and then go from there.

 

if you want to work with elementary geometry and parts of speech

Lol I think you just described working with most of us

 

The one thing you can do to get away from the rat rod stance is raise the back of the body so that the wheels fit into the wheel well.

 

For someone with limited cash to turn something into a HAMB worthy car by spending thousands of dollars is ridiculous. If your happy with the car, drive the wheels off of it the way it is. You don't have to please anyone but yourself. You can always get a HAMB worthy car at a later date.

 

Everything this car needs to come together as a cohesive work of rolling art, you can do. If the total job seems or gets overwhelming, take a step back. Break everything down to bite sized morsels. You can eat an elephant one bite at a time. Just be patient and ask a lot of questions. Any question you ask can be answered here on this board, just be patient. See the theme here?
Piece by piece, you can change the front suspension to a more traditional dropped I-beam. Research first. Look at the cars that are being built on this board. Check out Tim’s A sedan build. Lots of good direction there.
Get a feel for what looks right and then break it down to see what and how you things need to be changed on your car.
If you got it right price wise, you have room to make it right without breaking the bank.
You have a good start, but it does need to ‘come together ‘ with a cohesive plan and look.
Be patient and ask questions...
r


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*Actually @DDDenny is not being entirely truthful here. Since about 2002 he and me have been in charge of the traditional police and if we say no then no it is.

The car in my opine needs a little work to be HAMB friendly, if that is the plan then watching it become a real acceptable hot rod again may be fun. But who am I to say.

*for those of you a little slow on the draw the use of the rolleyes emoji denotes sarcasm.

 

Let me offer a suggestion, don't talk about the off topic parts of the car, ie. mustang II and other things that are OT, is it hamb friendly in it;s current state, No but you could gradually work toward making it that way.

When taking photo's don't emphasis the suspension. HRP

 

Eliminate mid-section of body to make extended cab pick-up body, unchannel it, add 4 ft bed. Front "Z" in chassis is an eyesore. Maybe bobbed front fenders (rounded off back ends w/o running boards) would hide "Z" and M2. Maybe better to find a '34 to '48 Ford chassis to mount the body on.

 

The Pinto suspension actually would be pretty easy to loose, no harder than stuffing an axle under a '55 Chebby.

granted I am making a big assumption here but I would assume that removing the independent and hanging a an axle on the front would be part of the transformation and once everyone sees how easy it is in reality maybe more botched street rods would become fodder for a trad build.

 

What do you want from it?
What is your vision?
Whatever it is do it. Don't worry about some fools on the computer..
life's too fricking short for that
I'll never get that, never

 

I think if it were me, I would compartmentalize. Start with the obvious things. The things that make you scratch your head. If you plan on demodding the front suspension, You need to have a gameplan. How you are going to achieve that. Honestly, I think I would build my own frame (not sure of your skill sets) It's not that hard.

I am sure that there are guys on the hamb that would do a thrash to help. We used to do that back in the early days of the hamb. It's been a long time since that has happened. Maybe it's time again?

A guy with minimal skills would ask for help, everyone would show up on a certain weekend and thrash. The recipient of the skills was required to feed everyone and supply the needed materials. A few of us drove 10 hours to Radshit's place in New Mexico and we built a gasser wagon for a guy. As long as you are earnest in your quest, there is no tribal knowledge here. Everyone is willing to share their info.

 

Word, Roothawg!
r


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