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Technical Calling All Coupesters! Let's See 'Em!

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by missysdad1, Sep 28, 2014.

  1. missysdad1
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 3,305

    missysdad1
    Member

    CAM00043.jpg Yeah, yeah. I know. They're not REAL roadsters. I've heard it all before...

    BUT...for those of us who want an open car but for some reason don't have a roadster body to start with a coupester conversion is a viable alternative. This is nothing new. Hot rodders have been cutting the tops off coupes to make coupesters for a very long time.

    So...skipping the OPINIONS of whether making a coupester from a coupe is a good idea or a bad idea, let's see some examples of how it's been done - past and present!

    Here's the latest photo of mine. I recently bought it pretty much as-is and have a complete rework scheduled for the winter. I'm toying with the idea of making it a highboy with steelies and tall narrow tires. But in the meantime I plan on putting as many Late Summer and Fall miles on it as I can.

    Okay, guys. Let's see yours!
     
    dana barlow, TagMan and seatex like this.
  2. dutchrod
    Joined: Feb 5, 2009
    Posts: 449

    dutchrod
    Member

    Not mine but found this somewhere on the web, i think it was made from a sport coupe.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Joe E
    Joined: Sep 10, 2014
    Posts: 7

    Joe E

    From Wikipedia.
    A roadster is an open two-seat car with emphasis on sporting appearance or character. Initially an American term for a two-seat car with no weather protection, usage has spread internationally and has evolved to include two-seat convertibles.

    Traditional or not, it is a roadster to me (and Wikipedia).

    Hell yeah. I personally think the Coupster has great body lines and looks more like a normal car with normal size doors etc than the pre 1933 roadster versions. The only thing I think requires some ingenuity is the conversion of the windshield.

    There is a great deal on one in a Chicago right now with a 1937 flathead v8 for around $3500. If I still lived in town, I would consider it for sure.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2014
  4. Fly'n Kolors
    Joined: Sep 21, 2008
    Posts: 407

    Fly'n Kolors
    Member

    Do not go to Chicago Elvis. No matter what!
     
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  5. thirtytwo
    Joined: Dec 19, 2003
    Posts: 2,639

    thirtytwo
    Member

    80% of this car was built from my scrap pile... I liked it.. Fun car image.jpg
     
  6. Koz
    Joined: May 5, 2008
    Posts: 2,699

    Koz
    Member

    I love this little car!!!!! It just "sets" right and has the attitude on and I'm sure it didn't cost the same amount as your house.
     
    thirtytwo likes this.
  7. Your car is right in every way....love it no matter how it was born. Tim
     
  8. Harell Los Angeles
    Joined: Dec 26, 2001
    Posts: 151

    Harell Los Angeles
    Member

    Here is the one I built with my dad a few years ago. I don't know where it is now but it sure was fun!
     

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  9. alaska
    Joined: Jun 26, 2006
    Posts: 1

    alaska
    Member
    from alaska

    Nice car do
    Nice !! Any more pictures ?
     
  10. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    I'm kinda partial to this one...
    IMAG0718.jpg

    And its spiritual grandpappy...
    Picture20100.jpg
     
  11. thirtytwo
    Joined: Dec 19, 2003
    Posts: 2,639

    thirtytwo
    Member

    Thanks guys I meant to do a build up of everything the "experts" say you can't do , I lost track of the cost but hard cash I had between 5-7k in it ... It was supposed to be upholstered too but I got a little burnt on that trade..

    Painted with tractor paint, lots of freebies/castoff from friends , labor trades...LOTs of hours fixing stuff that should have been thrown away

    This version doesn't exist anymore, sad to say its pretty gooked east coast style now image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg

    image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg
     
  12. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    !BVtubRgBmk~$(KGrHgoOKjIEjlLmW!tGBKT7U84Skw~~_1.jpg !BVtudNg!Wk~$(KGrHgoOKjQEjlLmQu1cBKT7VDKiRQ~~_1.jpg !BVtuhj!BWk~$(KGrHgoOKkMEjlLmT(phBKT7VQ62jw~~_1.jpg !BVtujVQB2k~$(KGrHgoOKisEjlLl7pG)BKT7V(e0eQ~~_1.jpg !BVtufv!BWk~$(KGrHgoOKjEEjlLmY6sPBKT7VKnyBg~~_1.jpg

    I really like the one just posted by thirtytwo, I suppose because it's a lowboy...it looks old timey.............but here is one that was on ebay a long time ago. Tell me that this one doesn't look like a load of smiles to drive, and to listen to all the gears and flatty. I really like it alot, even the unfinished steering wheel. Maybe paint and fit the hoodtop better..then drive
     
  13. willowbilly3
    Joined: Jun 18, 2004
    Posts: 4,356

    willowbilly3
    Member Emeritus
    from Sturgis

    There was one Shiney drove the wheels off of a few years back. Is he still around?
     
  14. bgbdlinc
    Joined: Jan 11, 2002
    Posts: 522

    bgbdlinc
    Member

    ....it's gone off down the road to another owner, but it was nothing but miles of smiles when I had it...

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. ANDEREGG TRIBUTE
    Joined: Jan 1, 2008
    Posts: 1,385

    ANDEREGG TRIBUTE
    Member
    from Bordertown

    Thanks for the shout FC...I can always count on you.
    Heres another shot.
    [​IMG]

    .....WOW!!!!!!!!!!....
     
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  16. missysdad1
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 3,305

    missysdad1
    Member

    This is as nice a coupester as I've ever seen. Excellent taste and proportions. Too bad the new owner couldn't leave it alone!
     
  17. Maveth
    Joined: Feb 18, 2013
    Posts: 12

    Maveth
    Member

    [​IMG]
    Still a work in progress, started as just frame and body, both rusted and damaged, with nothing to left to make a top anyways, so why not a coupster. :)
     
    Spoggie likes this.
  18. TexasSpeed
    Joined: Nov 2, 2009
    Posts: 4,631

    TexasSpeed
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Texas

    My project started out as a coupster with a lot of sheet metal mods. Narrowed A-posts, doors, "shortened" cockpit opening (top edge of the quarters and rear upper panel cut out and moved forward 7" for roadster cockpit proportions), sectioned in between the body lines on top of the door, and a bunch of other work in progress. This is an old picture back when I still lived in Amarillo. My recent shots are all too big for the HAMB to upload on here. Nonetheless..

    IMG_2709.JPG

    Then I lucked out and scored a roadster body. :)

    [​IMG]

    I still have the coupster body, but it's going to get built into something else later that I've also been brainstorming about forever. But until then, I have a roadster to tinker with..

    P.S. Thanks for the headers again! I absolutely love them.
     
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  19. missysdad1
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 3,305

    missysdad1
    Member

    I just got my coupester back on the road last night after a winter-long transformation from fendered to fenderless. It looked a little frumpy before, but it's pure bad boy now!

    DSC_0056.JPG

    DSC_0052.JPG

    Here's before, just for reference
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2015
  20. joeycarpunk
    Joined: Jun 21, 2004
    Posts: 4,446

    joeycarpunk
    Member
    from MN,USA

    I think the fenderless version looks great. Being fenderless I would go with a taller, more bias ply looking tire if you don't have to rob a bank to do so.
     
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  21. missysdad1
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 3,305

    missysdad1
    Member

    Thanks! The wheels and tires are mismatched in color, width and tire sizes because they are only temporary left-overs from other projects. I've had big (31" tall) and little (can't remember height) Coker Blackwall Bias-look Radials on order for over 6 months. When the front ones arrive I'll mount them on the black powdercoated '40 Ford-style Wheel Vintiques steelies I've got ready for them and mount 'em on the car. Until then I have not much choice but to run what I've got...just like they did back then. Thanks for the suggestion!
     
  22. no55mad
    Joined: Dec 15, 2006
    Posts: 1,956

    no55mad
    Member

    28 Sport cpe w/31 roadster cowl, delux windshield, 32 frame, 401 Nailhead BW 4sp, 9". Never thought I'd like a roadster but this thing sure is fun and gets alot of attention. Can't take credit for the build; fellow HAMBr oldschooler is responsible. Grandson (8 yrs old) loves it and sees all the attention - maybe he will become a car guy verses an E game addict.
     

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  23. clem
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,188

    clem
    Member

    Personally, I prefer the fully fendered version, but get the tyres 'right' and it will look good as a hi-boy.
     
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  24. clem
    Joined: Dec 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,188

    clem
    Member

    Anyway, back to the coupster thread, so apart from windscreen posts, how do you tell if they are a cut down version? Unless you really know each and every model extremly well, its hard to tell. All the roadsters I've been admiring may actually be cut down coupes!
     
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  25. missysdad1
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 3,305

    missysdad1
    Member

    Thanks. I really like the fendered version too, but the car had problems left over from previous owners which required the removal of all four fenders to fix...and the fenders were all fiberglass, the rear ones were extra wide for wide tires. I've obtained a set of fixable steel fenders so you never know, it might get re-fendered at some point in the future.

    Models other than the roadster have wider doors and shorter quarter panels. Reproduction parts have made changing the windshield area to a more roadster-ish configuration much easier but the doors are always a give away...unless they've been changed, too. There are a few really nice conversions that most people (other than the anal-retentive roadster police) absolutely cannot tell from a roadster except for the longer cockpit and longer doors.

    Here's a really great example built by HAMB member thirtytwo which was featured in an earlier version earlier in this very thread. The finished version is stunning!:

    who\'d a thunk this is a coupester.jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2015
    clem, WC145, Boxcar's 1928 and 4 others like this.
  26. bartmcneill
    Joined: Dec 23, 2009
    Posts: 395

    bartmcneill
    Member
    from Ada, OK

    Here is my coupester. It will not stay a coupester since I bought a complete top for it. I also have the door tops the guy I bought the body from still had. Mustang II front, Maverick rear, have 4 nice fenders, hood and radiator with headlights. Need some time............
     

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  27. Pooch
    Joined: Apr 11, 2006
    Posts: 867

    Pooch
    Member
    from Oklahoma

    My coupster is coming together.
     

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  28. fonti
    Joined: Nov 28, 2006
    Posts: 494

    fonti
    Member

  29. lorodz
    Joined: Jul 26, 2009
    Posts: 3,727

    lorodz
    Member

    Here's mine 29 sportcoupester
     

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