Projects 1931 Ford 3W Build "Marilyn"

Shiney doesn't win the race but sure looks purty...

 

That would be the only issue is the rad at that point. I’ve already lowered the “high boy” radiator as much as it can go to get the hood aligned. Only thing left would be to get a chopped radiator for it. I love the idea of the mini channel but I feel it would require more work than it’s good for. Since I have to put patches on it anyhow I’ll likely use the sheetmetal to file the gap and still secure the cowl properly of course.

Really appreciate all the help figuring this stuff out everyone!


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Ahahaha agreed! I thought the saying went “Chrome got you Dome” though


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Don't forget a wooden shim would taper to near zero as you go back and that's fine you can paint it as well so it matches the frame...Jordan just went natural wood...

I think your saying the rad tank is already sitting on the crossmember...

 

I hear you on the "trying too hard". Restraint is so important and rarely understood. Here's my car with a 32-style header panel. I wanted to run an insert on my coupe, which is why the panel was part of the plan. A piece like this could work with your earlier-style build.

I'm sure you'll get it figured and sorted well.

 

...here's a Hambers ride from AU and it's just done the way most were probably done back then...nothing but wooden blocks and rubber with no pinch or channel I believe. I've always liked this Hotrod...

As it is many times said...fast n' dirty...

It actually is not really that noticeable...

 

@-Brent- that is a work of art indeed...subtle but really effective while still looking 'A' ok...

 

Absolutely going to do this, that looks killer and simple to make! Preciate the heads up in that one


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I’ll agree that it doesn’t stand out hardly at all. Good lookin coupe too


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Great Project! The Top looks perfect .

 

Thanks buddy, I’ll definitely be doing the top Brent suggested! Really sharp looking way to do it


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Playing around with Photoshop again, messing with the roof profile. First picture is what it is currently in this picture you can see I’ve filled the 1/4 window and added my swage line to the sail panel. the last two pictures are what I would like to do. I think it’s the most visually appealing profile. I’ve leaned the roof forward just enough to give it a “streamlined “ appearance and in the second picture I chopped it what I consider to be a gentleman’s chop. Really liking this but am wondering if I’m deucin’ it up too much. What do y’all think?


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This is a bugaboo @Tim would love to see fixed. I never really noticed it about that part of an A (and I love A coupes) until he pointed it out.

 

settled on this chop and roofline for the coupe I’ll do the chop after the car is strong enough to do so. Hopefully I can get it right!


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Dylan I suspect you are going to have a drip rail transition into that upright bead just behind the door...I know Photo-modding is more than meets the eye...

Do you have a full side profile to get a better feel of this lid lowering and more?

Here's some inspiration of another brand...not the stance but the drip and bead detailing...

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ok so Im finally getting somewhere with this roof. I committed to the leaned roof look, in the process of leaning I found that I would have to take some height out as well to get it to fit the door again. I’m lucky to have an original 33 3 window hanging around so I went a stared at it and felt the contour of the roof profile walked back to my A and realized I had more than enough height to sacrifice some. I ended up removing most of the gutter area which I was going to do anyways. After I cut everything loose I used a heavy ratchet strap and used the cowl to lean the roof to the desired angle. Tacked in place and started fitting the swage line and filled the quarter window with a piece of 16g I put in the English wheel to give some contour. Still need to tackle the pass side tomorrow after the swap meet early in the am.


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Well you win some and lose some, today I definitely messed up on the passenger side of the body. Missed one step and ended up cutting the roof back 2” too far. Oh well I’ll fix it I welded the section back on but it needs some more finesse and the B pillar is now back too far and it’s not as tight of a fit. All issues I will fix. no fancy tools here, doing it how I can figure out with the tools I have. this is where I should have stopped I’ll post another update next weekend thanks for reading


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Looking good Hotrodder...

 

Thanks man


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Nice project!

 

Thanks man


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So I’ve taken the past two weekends off to come home for a week and drive my 55 back to NH from VA around a 12 hour trip so next weekend I’ll be back on the coupe. I did manage to get the B pillar squared away and found out that I hadn’t messed up as I originally thought on the roof. I simply had the quarter too far back in comparison to the driver side. I did pick up a few parts for the next roadster and more parts for the coupe like a 4 door B pillar which is designed for flush mounted doors ( not sure about that yet) as well as a bunch more parts. I got the radiator and hood mocked up and secured I seem to have a slight gap at the bottom of the hood to the cowl and tight on the shell so that’s telling me the radiator needs to go down more which will also require me cutting the A shell to fit lower on the frame. I mocked it up with a stock radiator just so I can get everything lined up correctly then I’ll swap out my Flathead setup.


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not an absolute lot of work done since my last post but I scrapped my original plan for the B pillar after my father got this 4 door pillar I split it in half and used it as the Pillars skin. I’m still in the process of finishing them but need 1x2 tubing to create the B pillar itself before I can move onto the back of the car. This weekend will be swamped but next should hopefully be the end to the B pillar mock up phase. Both doors have latches and regulators in them I scooped up off Epay. Some aerokroil and time and they work great! Both doors are latched closed but still need adjustment and after the strength has been added. Latching doors is a huge milestone for me. I will have to take detailed pictures of the subframe I had to hack up to get the doors to close properly. It’s not the prettiest but I’ll dress it up where it looks original. Took both quarter window panels out and gave them some more curve since they were a bit flat. Possibly a little too much but I can work them flat where needed. Really starting to look like the prototype and have my Hotrod flare to it. part of me wants to chop it and the other part says leave it alone for now and enjoy it. (You have plenty left to do) lol I’d only go another 1.5-2.5” at most

 

A big thumbs @DylanHill1931 up for running the A Shell...it's Traditional too after all...I'm so glad to see you back at this and we certainly have much more to see as you move along with your Hotrod adventures...so much going on with what one might think would be a straightforward alteration...

 

Is that a stock Vicky door at this point? If so, how tall is the window opening?

 

Yeah I stepped back from the 32 shell looking at almost Every model a I’ve seen is running one. It’s strange to think the stock shell is “different “ haha absolutely! The shorter cowl but longer doors with different latching mechanisms means I now have to re engineer the entire setup in a way that would appear factory.

 

At this time the front edge of the door was relieved to allow it to close tighter as the Coupe needed. Being a Vicky meant the doors in closed position were wider than needed for a coupe. Other than that front edge these doors are completely stock. In the picture of the 4door B pillar latched to the Vicky you can really see how much shorter the Vicky was than every other Ford car produced from 28-31. I’d say the Vicky doors are 1.5-2” shorter than the average Ford for 30-31

 

How tall is the window opening? Another way to ask the same question, how much glass is exposed top to bottom on an UNCHOPPED Vicky door? Bob

 

I’ll have to measure it for you on Sunday when I go over to work on it next!