Projects 1934 3 window HighBoy Build Begins

About 6 months ago, I decided that I wanted to build a 34 3 window highboy that isn't a cruiser with modern conveniences like my 48 coupe. On the other hand, I don't want something quite as bare bones as a Bonneville Salt Flats car. I have a vision of a bare bones PLUS ride. IE: newer alloy rims /wider tires, a comfortably upholstered seat , coil overs out back to help me with ride height adjustability and spring rate. Everyone has their own preferences and I would like to have my highboy covered in louvers with fuel injection ram tubes protruding through the hood. A nice attitude with a medium chop and an aggressive stance. Well, all of this sounds great.....BUT , I do not have a body and they are getting harder to find and more expensive. ( as in OUTRAGEOUS) I have talked to a few folks and have been chasing the dream find. Complete cars are actually not a bad deal, but you are buying someone elses choices and not as much fun as the chasing of parts for your own build. I decided to call Rex Rogers and ask him for help. He suggested I talk with Dave Crouse so I made an appointment to go to Loveland on a Saturday to meet at Custom Auto. Pete, Nick, Dave and I went to breakfast together and then all piled in for a ride up to Loveland for a shop tour and project discussion. Before the tour was over, Dave asked me if I was seriously interested in buying a 34 3 Window? Long story short below.

This 34' has been in storage with Dave for the past 8 years. It was purchased in California and stored in Colorado for a gentleman that has been collecting projects. He decided to let some of them go as he has more projects than can be built in a lifetime. We got to look at her, get me excited enough to make an offer and within an hour later, ...have an agreement. While the Mrs. isnt excited, we have come to terms with me agreeing to let Custom Auto build the car. The Mrs. has been excited that I have finished the last project and that she is now enjoying NOT being a shop widow. If you must dear....smile. She has been really good about it.

It's real hard to build something without having tires and wheels to determine your starting point. I ordered a set and am waiting for them. In an effort to get the project moving, PetesJunk went with me to Custom Auto in Loveland yesterday to use Petes wheels/tires for getting a rear axle width for the Winters V8 quickchange I have chosen. SO....4.25 inch back spacing on the " Real Rodders Wheels" rims plus 31x12.50R-15LT rubber from Hoosier yields a 59 inch flange to flange axle requirement. This is the last data Winters needed to get moving.

So, this car is on its' way with a chop that was done by an unknown someone years ago. A 392 Hemi that has been on a stand collecting dust in my garage and new energy from Custom Auto's Rex and Dustin.

The attached picture is of Pete's tires and wheels bolted on fixtures and positioned 1.5 inches from the inner fender on each side.

I will ask Rex to post progress of their work.
Regards,
George

 

It's got "the look" so far

 

That's a great starting point, good luck with the project!

 

Really cool George,You've got some of the very best working on it.

 

awesome project, good luck.

 

Congrats on the model 40. Is it still going to be full of louvers ?

 

Ya gotta love 33/34 Bonneville inspired 3 wondow coupes.
I'm interested in seeing how this evolves.
Please keep posting lots of pics.
Good luck.

 

I'll be watching!



.

 

You have it in one of the best shops around. dave and crew do outstanding work.

Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

The attached picture shows the 3w on the frame jig with the previous poor patches cut out as well as the rear floor pan that was both rusty as well as pretty beat up. Note the "arc" of the frame rails from the firewall forward. These will be cut in a way to make them straight. The net result will be a 1.5 inch attitude adjustment to provide more rake. The radiator/ grill will either be lowered the 1.5 inches or the radiator chopped and the grill kicked out at the bottom. (to be determined after mock up) The plan is to KEEP THE BELT LINE STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW while leaning her forward. We do not want a "broken back" line from the cowl forward and have to be careful to gain rake without screwing up the great looks FoMoCo designed from the start.
regards,
George

 

That's awesome man, good luck on the build !

 

Good Morning "H.A.M.B.",
I received the following update from Rex . " the frame is mocked up in the jig at the ride height and Justin and I decided the best way to end up where we want to be is just cut out the area on the front part of the frame were the curve is. Once the window was removed a small section of the top rail was cut out to let the frame move up. It still needs to come up another 1/4" to bring us to the full 1 1/2". I should be able to get the frame cuts finished up today and we will set a hood top and grill on the car to keep everything in check. The wood kit is ordered and on its way, and i will get the radiator headed here as soon as i know if we need a chopped one. Rex Rogers
www.realhotrods.com

Regards,
George

 

I can't remember ever seeing a kicked out 34 grille that I liked. Most look like they have a severe underbite. Be very careful here. But I bet you could shorten it the 1.5 inches and not ruin the proportion.

 

.
I'm with Jeff on this one..a kicked-out grille can get very "show-car-ish" in a hurry but it sounds like you've got a reputable shop with experience working on it. I submit the old Prufer "cop shop coupe" as evidence of a chopped grille which looks ok IMHO..not kicked out at the bottom or at least not much.

 

Here's a 34' cdan with the grill laid back about 6 degrees. It added about 3" of clearance.

 

Oh crap, now I know why I don't "try" to post pics let alone off of one of these fancy phones.

 

Thanks Jeff, Rocky and Kirk. Kirk, I love your car!

We only need 1.5" and will be careful to not screw it up. By Kirk's data we would only need 3 degrees tilt for 1.5 inches drop. I am still very confident that we can just lower the mounts and not have any issues. Rex will be able to mock it up soon and report back as to what will fly without having a case of show car over bite? smile.

Here are the frame rails STRAIGHTEND OUT....before replacing the removed windows and welding her surgery up. smile. Note: Rex will utilize a Fish Plate on the inside of both outer rails to insure we have structural integrity. Minimal effort to make sure we kill the cat.

Regards,
George

 

We might end up doing a little of both kicking the grill out slightly, and a small chop on the shell.some mock up and getting the car setting on it wheels and tires and blushed out side son we can take a good look at her before any changes are made. Complete the frame work first and go from there.

 

Rex,
I have added one of your last pics from today.
Regards,
George

 

While Rex and Justin are on the chassis, I have been working on the Drive drain at my home shop. You may have seen my post last May where I acquired a 1957 392 short block for this project. It has been on the engine stand with a garbage bag over it for 7 months. I have taken an inventory of what I will need to round up to get started. The first thing is a set of heads. I found a set from a 1955 331 and they are now at R&R Speed Shop in Huntsville , Al being worked over with the full meow. IE: springs, stainless valves, hardened seats, etc etc. I found a set of already rebuilt adjustable OEM 1.5 ratio rockers right here in Denver. Decided on finned valve covers from Dennis OBrian, a valley cover from the P.A.W guy on ebay and a whole bunch of "stuff" from Bob Walker at Hot Heads in North Carolina. I have been spending quality time slowly putting her together. I spent several hours fighting the timing chain lower sprocket that was undersized by a few thousandths and I hand worked the ID with 400 grit emory cloth until the fit was perfect. I could not get the intermediate shaft to drop in through the bushing and destroyed the bushing fighting it. Out of desperation, I searched for a solution and found " Ed Middleton" whom had a removal and installation kit that was heaven sent. OMG what an easy task. I removed the old bushing, cleaned up the bronze shavings and reinstalled a new bushing inside of 5 min. I was so happy that called Ed just to let him know his kit was worth every dime. WOW for his product that can be found at " Myth Racing" Thanks ED! I had a little trouble installing the modified MOPAR oil pump as the rear main cap bolt washer interfered with the ability to drop in. I had to remove, grind a flat and re torqe(75lbs) before it went right in. I assembled the pick up with Teflon thread sealant and have decided to remove and use loctite instead. I have a set of stainless mechanical freeze PLUGS that will never come out as a freeze plug is designed for. On the other hand, it will always have antifreeze and the knowledge of not blowing a plug out is somewhat comforting. Have any of you had any experience with these? should I use sealant on the o rings? I am still missing BBC water pump adapters, water block offs and the Hilborn stack injection EFI unit that Andy Starr has spec'd out for my sub 350 HP HEMI. I can't wait to share my Ram Tube filter solution. It is a story deserving of a separate post. But,enough from now. Rex has promised pictures tomorrow.
regards,
George

 

The following is from Rex this afternoon.
"George
The front frame area is ready to go, and a 1/2" tapered cut was made centered off the kink in the stock frame, this smooths up the lower edge and the sheet metal will follow along this same path given the 34 frame what it needs to match the kick up we did in the front a nice flowing frame along with the body. The front suspension will be installed tomorrow. and hair pins mounted.
Rex"

Thank you Rex!

regards,
george

 

looking forward to the progress,badd asss

 

x2 !!!

 

I forgot that I had these photos of the first day out of storage. It's only been 3 weeks so thought I would share them for a base line of the project. As you can see from comparing with the pictures above, the entire chassis was stripped and rear leaf springs and ford 8 inch were removed for the incoming coil overs and Winters quick change. The four link in the front has been removed for hair pin adds. According to Rex, they should be completed today with any luck. I am thrilled with the old school, filled and then chromed front axle. It is definitely staying!
Regards,
George

 

Update from Rex:
Front end completed except for shock mounts and rear cross member added. Today's goals are to "c" notch the chassis for the rear end axle clearance needed to keep her low to the ground. smile. Add oval slots in the cross members to allow for running the exhaust later and some front cross member clean up. Still need to consider front shock mounting as well as rear spreader bar configuration.

Additionally, my wheels from "Pat" at Real Rodders Wheels have shipped and are due to Loveland by tomorrow afternoon. Rex is going to check in with "Beaver" at Winters to see how the rear end progress is coming along. I placed an order for a seat with Wise Guys yesterday for delivery in the March time frame. I wanted to take advantage of their Holiday sale and will have to pick out leather from samples to be sent.
regards,
George

 

Awesome build, I can't wait to see this one come along...
Rex, where exactly did you make that tapered cut at the kink mentioned above? Having a hard time visualizing it...
Thanks...
Sam

 

That is looking nice !!!!!

 

Hey George!

I'm looking forward to watching this one come together!

-mike

 

yes, lots and lots of louvers!

 

Sam,
The frame rail kicks upwards from about the midpoint of the welded on "up right brace" (at about the midpoint of the cowl) on the frame jig. If you can imagine a mountain peak that has been turned upside down at this point..... Rex has eliminated this peak by measuring upwards 1/2 inch , marking a perpendicular line each direction right and left and then cutting off the bottom of the frame. Each end of this cut was a taper. The result along the bottom of the frame rail was a more smooth of radius curve without the sharp peak at the apex. The intent is to have the lower body reveal to frame bottom be the same approximate measurement from rear wheel opening to the engine bay. To complete this task, Rex will lower the cowl sheet metal to continue this visual line.
regards,
George