Projects 31 model A coupe find. 10 years later.(thee Unofficial Build Thread)

I figured i'd share the lil model A coupe body I just scored. not so much because what it is , but rather the cool lil story that goes along with it.

10 years ago I picked up the local Clip-It classified ad paper and there was an ad for a 32 ford five window coupe for $3200.00 I about crapped myself and picked up the phone and called ,no one answered so I left a message and all that night kept trying ...nobody ever answered , the next morning the fella called me back, he said he must of had 50 people call, but he still had it, no one had came to look at it yet.. turns out it was less than two miles from my house were I lived at the time. I immedietly hopped in the car and drove over, he said he wasn't gonna be there , but the coupe was sitting were I could see it...

well ,i'm sure by the thread title you guessed what happened, turned out it was a late 31 coupe.. it was in decent shape, and while it wasn't a killer deal ,it was a decent price ..the only thing was , I was knee deep in trying to finish up my 56 at the time,, I mean, if it had been a 32 I woulda beg borrowed or done anything I coulda to have got it,, I still wanted it and heavily thought about the cool coupe for a few days, I figured I coulda borrowed the money and then pay it off and fix it up later,, so I called the guy back and he had just sold it that day.,,,damn..guess it wasn't meant to be,,,
about a week later I ran into a friend and he said "guess what?! I bought a 32!" I was happy for him , but as he started telling me about it, I asked him where he found it and then broke the news to him that it was actually a model A, he was confused at first but regardless he was still excited to have it. I was happy that someone would fix it up right....

He colleted parts here and there for it , patch panels, 32 grill shell, and a lot of lil pieces,,,but never really did anything to it with the 3 kids and starting a new business along the way...I ran into him about 6 months ago and we got to talking an I asked him if he ever did anything to the coupe, he said "no, do you wanna buy it?" at the time I was still working on the 34 sedan and I declined just for the fact that the 34 was taking every last nickel I had,,,
Two weeks ago I ran into him again... after chatting I asked if he still had the coupe and that I wanted to come check it out... so we agreed on a price and then my buddie & fellow Hamb member ADAMBOMB hooked up his tow rig and we headed back over to pick it up less than two miles from where I have lived here now for the past 7 years..,,,

well, if you haven't gotten bored of reading yet, here's some pics to look at...

plans are to drop it on a 32 frame /32 grill shell and a lil haircut, not sure about the rest yet...mainly just parts collecting for a lil bit, then when I get ready to work on it, ill start abuild thread,,,thanks for looking!




garage find!



loaded up & truckin! we don't need no stikin big truck!



ADAMBOMB posing with the lil coupe





the fire wall and subrails are both modified, (rear subrails kicked up in the rear wheelwell area


these stars are so cool! I think i'm gonna leave them since they've probably been there since the 50's bro...

 

I would never put stars on my hot rod, but I would also NEVER remove those stars, they are too cool. Some dude 50 years ago stuck them on for some reason or another, it would be a sin to get rid of em.

Nice little car, -Abone.

 

sweet

 

good score

 

Its destined to make lonestarroundup 2014

 

Looks pretty solid from here. Good for you man!

 

True!!

you know, ive been telling myself for years I need to get to that show!

its pretty solid but does have some rust through along the bottom, not to bad.. with the wheelwells being the worst part


thanks fellas, cant wait to get to workin on it,

 

Nice coupe. I'd give it 2 stars

 

If it turns out half a cool as the last couple of cars you've built, it will be killer.

It was meant to be yours.... Great score and cool story.

 

Good find! Good luck with the project!

 

Nice looking model A , Love the stars.. Nice Project..

 

What he said. Your '34 sedan is killer. This will be no exception. And LSRU is a-calling your name.. Just for inspiration, a few '30-'31 Model A coupes on deuce rails from this year's show.





... Do I smell a Model A family reunion in the making?

 

star cars,car of the stars ? good story and nice car ---thank you...

 

thanks for the pics TexasSpeed!

thanks man!

 

something about those stars....don't take em' off.

 

Congrats! I voted this thread some stars.

 

my wife said that they are it's tattoos!

in this case five is better than two! thanks!

 

Very nice start. That body looks great.kinda Funny how things can turn out in the end

 

LOL! That's funny right there!

Great find! Can't wait to see what you do with the build.

 

well, this isn't a build thread, but I figured i'd share, me and the wife drove up to Terra Haute Indiana today to meet up with Hamber Ilinrods41 to pick up a 32 frame,its already been pinched and bobbed and set up for a Rolling Bones style front suspension, it will make a great platform for my chassis..... super cool dude ,thanks again man!

I couldn't help throwing the body on it once I got home,, no really, I couldn't help but not do it, I have 3 cars in a 2 car garage so my space is limited, it's just sitting there and will need some subrail work to get it to sit right, I mentioned before that the rear subrails were kicked up from years ago,, but unfortunately they weren't kicked for a 32 frame,( I suspected but was crossing my fingers....anyways here's some pics...


loaded up


cool bridges


at home on the floor

body meets soul?

 

hell yeah! it's on it's way now!

 

WOW loving the coupe. Glad to see the chassis go to a great home. I look forward to seeing this build come together.


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well, this is the Unofficial Build Thread I guess,,,,

since the past couple weeks. ive done a lil bit of work to it and I don't know why I didnt realize it at first, but apparently this was an east coast style hot rod ..I mentioned before the moddified subrails, but apparently the cutouts in the lower firewall were for the Z-d frame once under it...

oh well., I guess I'll make my own history with it now...

the first thing I wanted to do was get the body squared up on the frame,, I didn't want to do a "mini channel" I wanted the body to sit on the frame rails, since my subrails had been modified somewhat I decided to make my own subrails,,,then I trimed the original subrails to fit the new ones,,,the body is squared up now, but still needs some finishing and I need to build some rear subrails,,



ever since I got the body ive been trying to figure excatly how much chop I wanted to do...I finally decied on 6" ,,I know that's too much for a lot of people,.,,but it's gonna be a hotrod,.,,and that's what I want,,, since I am going for a completion coupe Bonneville look.... so I cut it today...I still need to finish up the inside welding, but figured i'd share some pics on this Unofficial Build thread,,,,

 

So bad ass! 6" looks just right for what you want!

 

thanks!

 

Love it.

 

Gonna be Sweet! Just a little inspiration-I'm thrashing on the '34, to make my first run to the Roundup in '14, Chicosuave'32 and 4-5 others are planning to run together! Should would be sweet if you could run with us!!

 

hELL yEAH,,,that would be rad...ive never been to the Roundup..,, I have always wanted to, ... ,that sounds like a baddass roadtrip!

 

Better keep the progress coming...............we want to see this one come together.

Frank

 

6".. Just right! Heavy chops on A coupes look great when they have the right stance.. You nailed the chop. You've already got a great eye for stances. Can't wait to see this one come together.