Projects turning a sedan into a coupe 1930

Here is a pic of my 30 coupe. Not sure if that will help at all. You have created a whole different animal.

 

I don't mind the "long nose" look. I think it will set it apart from the rest of the herd and even blend in better once its the same color. What is noticeably odd, is the discontinuation of the body line to the hood. Here is a pic of my avatar car showing the hood and body line match-up. It appears that you will need to section the front fenders?

 

Do not use the measurements from the top posting, i have that book...
grab your tape measure and check it out...
coupe doors are 27.5" at the beltline...the book says 26 7/8" at the top... the doors taper from the top down, no way the book is right !
book is dated 1963 so no chinese tape measures involved...

 

Those are not model A running boards, don’t know what they’re from. You need the aprons that go below the body and the running boards will go much lower. The front fenders look to be 31, you need to use the aprons and running boards that go with the front fenders.


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Good catch sloppy. I just measured a stock untouched original drivers door. I got 27 11/16" at the top, the same at the beltline and 27 1/4" at the bottom. I don't have the book but just had that drawing saved in my files.

 

The running boards are from 1932 and longer than Model A .

 

And therein lies the can of worms!!
Fenders are all wrong running boards also and rear fenders have been cut down by previous owner!.. (which he didn't mention).. I've spotted a temporary belt line on the mockup hood.. Lowered the grill an inch and cut the rear of the front fenders by about 4 inches.. Now its starting to look less hideous. The wire wheels weren't working either.. See what you all think now...

 

Youre on it! Id take another inch out of that fender, so that the fender and door are on the same line, then proceed as needed. Youre doing an amazing job of making junk look cool!

On the rear fenders, what if you rotated it up a bit, so the end of the fender is in about the 3 or 4 oclock position instead of the 5 its at now? Might help eliminate some of the shortness they have going on now.

 

I am not a '32 guy,
but ask some here on the hamb...
your running board attaches to the splash totally different...[looks to bolt under the frame ?]
looks to me like '32ish boards, no trim plate along the outside like As...
the fender has the splash apron curve under the cowl... so it isn't a longer '32 fender...
the trailing edge of the fender/forward running board should align with the A pillar door jam...
the arch on '28-'29 fenders is a tighter radius than '30s...could be pulled back a little and look right...
without splash aprons you could trim the trailing edge curve to match your frame...
your work shows that you can pull it off...
keep 'em coming !

 

if you can find '33-'34 truck front fenders,
they could really help morph from A fender to '32 style frame / boards..
curled up, rusted off fenders are not hard to find over here so sorry if it seems a tease...

 

Too late to restore the Fordor, but this is how the 28-29 front fenders look.

 

If nothing else this process has shown me that there is no such thing as "just a model a".. So many varieties and subtle differences. Quite amazing really.. As I've said before parts over here are scarce and mostly scrap.. Plus the client can't afford to import from the states all the time.. (it doubles the dollar price). So basically my job is too make the most of a bad deal.. But its fun.. The a pillar info is fundamental.. I'll hop a nottch out of the rear of the running boards to marry them better with the rear fenders and it should do the trick. Oddly the long front fenders mean i can still run the headlamp bar.. Just.. Which is a bonus.

 

It would not be too much of a challenge with your abilities to do as Gearhead Graphics has suggested. It looks like you could rotate the rears almost 2" in order to gain room for a 3" splash shield. The rears are sectioned already and that would be a good look (all even across the back).
I agree another inch or so removed from the running boards will allow the front fenders to move rearward.

The 30 coupe in my avatar when completed will have the front fenders narrowed 3", have a 3" splash apron, shaped like a rocker panel following the body curvature, narrowed running boards and the rear fenders will be moved in 3", as the wheel wells are tubbed with a narrowed rear axle.
Like the guy or not... "Bad Chad" has a video showing how he built rockers from a length of pipe that was cut lengthwise in half, bending it to fit the body contour. Then it is a simple matter of building some brackets and forming new narrower running boards or adapting the ones you have, tying it all together.
That's just my idea of what could work very well and allow you to use what you have on hand.
When completed, I'm sure you would have some folks scratching their heads wondering what it is.
Not to rub it in but I've got fenders, splash aprons and running boards that I'm tripping over. Study it for a bit and visualize your options. Good luck!

 

My Briggs 30 is also all wood structure even the door sills

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Is Briggs

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Sorry to side track things, A 2 B is there a build thread on this car?

 

No build thread. Project will be on hold for 5 more months at the very least until I get back in the garage. I was injured last August, had my shoulder and bicep operated on 2 weeks ago and start therapy in another 2 weeks. That is an old picture from over a year ago. It was almost ready for paint, interior upholstery and re-assembly before the accident.
I took an interest in this thread because of the unique nature of the build of another fendered coupe. I think sigfurniture is going to pull this build together and just felt compelled to share my thoughts. He is doing great considering the difficulty and cost of sourcing parts.

 

Thanks a2b for the bad Chad idea and for your kind words.. Get better soon.. I'm still a bit achy from my surgery a couple of months ago too.. Took a load of colon out. The positive comments on here really fire me up to do a good job.. Thanks chaps xx

 

Sorted.. 4 cm taken out of rear of running boards which makes everything line up.. And rear fender turned anticlockwise a few degrees to give me 3 inch drop from running boards to body

 

After seeing other pics and looking at my Briggs, it does look like a Murray. I sit corrected.

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That's great progress! If you did follow the Bad Chad example there are a few things I would do differently. If the length of pipe is cut in half before bending you will have enough material for both sides. Also, a little more finesse could be used to get the correct contour.
Another thought was concerning the front fender width. I learned from experience that after cutting a 3" strip out of the fenders it was very easy to fit them back together for welding but be aware that after tacking them together starting from the front to the rear, the length of both pieces will not match up evenly at the running board. Not a big deal.

I have also done something differently that I think is a little unique. I can remove the front fender, running board and rear fender all in one piece (with the help of a friend) and run the car fenderless. I did this by mounting the rear fenders with the bolts facing vertically into the top of the wheel wells. The holes in the wheel wells are elongated for in-out adjustment. Tailights are mounted on the rear panel instead of the fenders and the headlights are mounted on stands. There are a few other mounting considerations but was just a few things done to have the ability to achieve a completely different look.
At some point I hope to do a thread on these modifications. Just spitballing and sharing a few ideas. Carry on, you've got it figured out.

 

That's a great idea about the vertical holes.. My client is a bit special.. I doubt that he'll have the fenders off.. (apart from the fact that it's totally illegal over here). But I'm a fan of quick on /off conversions.. The same for my Morris 14
Regarding the fender width I'm pretty sure he'll go for wide meat rather than skinny.. Again he's that type of guy.. Get your thread going mate I'm sure loads of guys would be interested

 

@sigfurniture your project looks good man. You have made something there, keep whacking on it and you'll get it where you want it.
@sloppy jalopies may I take you up on the offer on your yard art cowl?

 

Hot Rod building in the works, good job.

 

The lower you can make the running boards, the more you can rotate the front fenders. I think that's why they look awkward, they're laying too flat. Not only that, but it makes the bottom of the car lower, which is an added bonus. You can always rotate the rear fenders down more to meet the running boards, it just gives them a bobbed look. It's definitely taking shape.

 

Here's an extremely quick and dirty Photoshop of what I'm talking about. Stock model A Fords had a much deeper apron between the body and rocker panel, more like this. Dropping the running boards down and rotating the fenders to meet it seems to make a big difference.

 

Love this thread! I can't get enough of these cut and paste hot rod threads... you've built something really cool and unique! Hopefully I will following in the footsteps of guys like you @JimSibley @Squablow @sloppy jalopies etc. soon...

I was just wondering what this projection at the back is? it adds a lot of length to the rear panel... a rolled pan might look a bit cleaner unless its serving a function like gas tank cover or valence for a bumper?

 

Did you mean, “Take another inch out of the Running Board ?”



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