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Hot Rods Curbspeed Coupe. "Holy Hell" 10/4/2020

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by curbspeed, Dec 19, 2010.

  1. Well, This thread is a long time in the making. I have had this coupe project for about 5 or 6 years now. Been gathering parts for what I want to build. It is going to be a late 50's -early 60's Bonneville inspired build. I have been taking so many pictures of the stuff I have been gathering and working on that I figured if I don't start posting pictures soon I will never catch up. This project has taken a long time. Life. It seems to get in the way of our fun most of the time. I moved from Washington state to Tucson, Arizona after a divorce. I took awhile to get my shop setup for work. I lived at that house for about 3 years. During that time I met my current wife and and ended up moving to her house. That meant getting a new shop set up again. Time consuming to say the least. Now I have things set up the way I want for the most part and have been working on the frame.

    My vision for this car has been a little different than most. I can never just do something the easy way. I always gotta do things the hard way. This coupe will be a hiboy and chopped about 5 inches. I sold off the fenders,running boards, and bumpers that were savable but pretty rough. I have never liked the looks of stock 34 frames. They have ugly front frame horns (in my opinion) and the side rails are pretty boring. Along with the fact that this car is not going to run the stock gas tank, the rear frame horns have to be modified to look right without it. I plan to put that in the trunk behind the passenger compartment. I decided that major modifications were in order to get this frame to look like something that good old Henry would have come up with if his cars had the option of no fenders and the frames showed like most hotrods.
    Now I want to start off by saying. I am not the perfect welder. I get the job done. I aspire to be good like Bass,Jimmy White, and some of the other quality builders here on the HAMB. I have a long way to go before that though. I use a mig for everthing that I do. I want a tig unit but so far the funds have not been there for it. Maybe next year.
    I built a frame jig out of some pallet racking that I got free from work. This frame was completly straight and had never been hit. Only a few small issues to contend with . It had a lot of pitting on the side rails were the body contacted the frame and were the running boards were attached. That issue will be addressed later on in the thread. Now I have no idea how to post pictures and add text under each picture explaining every detail like some of the other build post. Maybe I'll figure that out later. I will start by posting pictures of the car as I got it and after I lost the fenders.
    The perameters of this build are as such:
    Hiboy Bonneville coupe with 5 inches or so of a chop. Think of cars like my fellow Peckerheads out of Reno and you will get the idea where this is going
    1957 Oldsmobile 371 with original tripower unit
    4 speed(still looking for the right unit. May go with a 5 speed out of a mid 80's Camaro if I can find a good one with the mechanical tach)
    Quickchange by Rodsville with late model Ford plug in axles
    Fully louvered decklid with seven rows
    Louvered top insert from Walden's in Pomona, Ca
    Louvered top hood by my buddies in Reno
    Stock side hoods and innersplash aprons
    Aircraft bomber seats and matching belts.
    38 Ford Deluxe dash
    F-1 steering box
    39 Ford pedals
    1937 tube axle with spring on top
    PSI hairpins and batwings
    New 39 Lincoln style brakes and C4 Racing backing plates
    Rear 72 Ford Bronco 11 inch brakes
    Full set of winged SW gauges out of the original Black Widow roadster
    41 Willys coupe taillights
    Arrow headlights
    Ok, enough of the details as I am sure I have left out some parts out for now. I have this thing already built in my head. Now it is time to do it and this thread should help me get ever more juiced.
    Hope you enjoy my journey. Care to tag along?
     

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    Last edited: Jan 4, 2018
    Runnin shine, ls1yj, Rcraft and 6 others like this.
  2. VAPHEAD
    Joined: May 13, 2002
    Posts: 3,257

    VAPHEAD
    BANNED

    Insert stupid commet here.



    Hi Dale !
     
  3. I posted a thread last year on a tech week on putting a 28-29 Model rear crossmember into the 34 frame retaining the ends of of the 34 rear crossmember. I will repost the majority of those pics to keep things in line. If you have questions feel free to fire away. Most pics are self explanatory in nature. Here is the rear modification so I can use the Rodsville quickie
     

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    Last edited: Dec 19, 2010
    ls1yj, mgtstumpy, Stogy and 1 other person like this.
  4. Eric, You really need to call me. I tried to call you awhile back and thought you fell off the grid. Eric has known me since my Washington days. I consider him a friend. Ok, Back to more rear crossmember mods. The bottom side of the crossmember will get finish welded and boxed for strength when I turn the frame over later.
     

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    Last edited: Jan 4, 2018
    ls1yj, mgtstumpy, heavydumper and 2 others like this.

  5. Looks like a great start Dale
     
  6. tikidiablo
    Joined: Nov 10, 2004
    Posts: 853

    tikidiablo
    Member
    from so cal

    Nice Dale, gonna keep my eye on your build.
    D
     
  7. Now I wanted to address those long rear frame horns since I would not be using the stock gas tank( I have the stock one for sale if anyone needs a pretty decent tank. Pm me. It will be cheap) I bought a new rear floor section from Steve's Auto in Portland Or. The rear portion of my coupe has been poorly fixed in an amatuer restoration job in it's former life. I will have to fix that later. The new rear floor pan would give me the the dims for making the changes to the rear frame horns. I deciced to pie cut the ends and bend them up to the desired height and I cut off the rear portions and switched them from side to side and flipped them over. This gives the horns a kinda high tail effect that I like but never have seen anyone do. Here are some pics.
     

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  8. GaryB
    Joined: Dec 19, 2008
    Posts: 3,529

    GaryB
    Member
    from Reno,nv

    gotta watch this one suscribed!
     
  9. 3wLarry
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 12,804

    3wLarry
    Member Emeritus
    from Owasso, Ok

    I...suddenly have the urge to build a coupe again...hopefully, it will pa$$ :D
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.
  10. Something weird just happend as I was posting new pics. I got some type of system error. Something about a security token missing. What gives? Anybody know?
     
  11. I am going to try again and see if it will let me post more rear frame mods. I added a rear spreader bar made from the stock one but modified and a bar to mount my push T bar of.
     

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    Stogy, mgtstumpy and hipster like this.
  12. I know this car will come out great! I really like your vision and it will be fun following along....unless you build cars as slow as me, then it will be really annoying. Go Dale go!
     
  13. The next order of business was too get after those bulky front frame horns, I have always like the slimness of Model A frame horns. I made this modification on my 32 frame under my 29 rpu and like the way it turned out. These may not be quite in order here. I had to modify the front cross member after this because of the slimmer frame horns Lots of work here. I left the majority of the stock crossmember in place so I could utilize all my stock sheetmetal mounting points as well as the radiator mounting point
     

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  14. Very cool. I will have a model 40 one of these days!
     
    heavydumper likes this.
  15. Kevin, You know I have told you about this project for many years. This is the year to get after it. Hey Kev!, Squeak Bell said he would help me chop this sucker when he gets back from NZ. You wanna come over and help since your so good at it?Ha !! Would love your help my friend. More front crossmember pics to follow
     

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    ls1yj, mgtstumpy, Stogy and 1 other person like this.
  16. You don't need my help if Squeak is helping you. You will probably save a little money on Bondo too.
     


  17. haha :D
     
  18. Looking great Dale, are you going to raise the front spring pad mount area as well?

    Cheers,

    Drewfus:)
     
  19. One of the things I have never seen done is graft 32 reveals into a 34 Ford frame. I have seen a couple of old pics of 32 rails under 34 but never the mod I am doing here. There was a mopar coupe in the LA area that used 34 front sheetmetal on it and used the 32 frame. When I saw that car I knew for sure that I was going to go to the trouble of adding the 32 reveal. I talked to my good friend Squeak Bell about this and he thought I could pull it off. He just happened to have a junky portion of some 32 rails that I could use. Duane at Kiwi Konnection had a couple of short pieces to throw into the mix for me. I decided that the reveals need to be a little longer than stock so I added about for inches on to them so it would visual look right. I sent a few pics over to Brian Bass for a healthly second opinion and had my buddy Shawn from here in town come over and take a look as well. I want the reveal to swoop up into the body lines on the inner splash aprons like it belongs there. I think I have suceeded in the look I am after. Time will tell when I get the body back on the frame.
     

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  20. No, This car will sit high in the front. The ass end will set low. The rear tire will be right in the wheel well. I like stuff like the Pierson Bros coupe. Kinda the vibe I am going for here. We will see how it looks after I get the frontend under it for the mockup.
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2012
    Stogy likes this.
  21. More mods on the 34 frame rail. I have just finished the drivers side this weekend. I still need to finish up the bottom welding on the frame. Can't get to it in the frame jig very good.
     

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    mgtstumpy, Stogy and brEad like this.
  22. ss34coupe
    Joined: May 13, 2007
    Posts: 4,239

    ss34coupe
    Member

  23. Stovebolt
    Joined: May 2, 2001
    Posts: 3,531

    Stovebolt
    Member

    Nice work on the frame.

    Can't wait to see the chop, especially if it's like Kiwi Kev's 5 window.
     
  24. Here is the look I am after. I am kinda a hack but I will get there. I think it looks good so far. This week I gotta get after the passenger side.
     

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    ls1yj, mgtstumpy and brEad like this.
  25. GaryB
    Joined: Dec 19, 2008
    Posts: 3,529

    GaryB
    Member
    from Reno,nv

    lookin good
     
  26. Here are a couple of random shots that I missed earlier.
     

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    ls1yj and mgtstumpy like this.
  27. I must mention this as I am sure someone will be wondering about the strength of the frame mod. I will be plating the entire section behind the reveal with flat stock to regain the structural integrity of the frame. I also will be adding the boxing plates from Ionia Hotrod shop with belled holes. Great product. I highly recommend the boxing plates. This frame will be solid.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2010
  28. I'll buy the bondo. I just would like your comraderie my friend! Do you have an extra set of inner splash aprons? I want some that I can chrome.
     
  29. Sorry, no extras. The ones I have for my car will probably need some bondo:eek:
     
    Stogy likes this.
  30. As I am done the pics of my frame mods so far I think I'll give you a little taste of some of the stuff I have gathered for this project. Parts are always cool to look at. Here are the aircraft seats I am going to modify to work in the car. I scored them here in Tucson for 175 buck for the pair. I have no idea what they came out of. Any guess? They are more comfortable than some of the other one that I have sat in.
     

    Attached Files:

    mgtstumpy, Mtn Goat and Stogy like this.

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