Projects My first rod, '29 Special Coupe

So it's been a dream of mine for many years to own a Model A coupe. I got hooked on them as a young kid building model cars and have wanted one ever since (i'm 23 now). I recently sold my last project car, a 2002 Subaru WRX that was set up as a track car with widebody, cage and such (i know, big change from a jap car to a hot rod) and decided it was finally time to start on my dream car. I found a body while searching craigslist one night and headed out after work. when I got out there I realized it was a Special Coupe instead of a standard coupe I'd been hoping for. Although I figure it will be somewhat more of a challenge to build than a standard coupe due to the top needing more fabrication, the body was in decent shape and the price was right so i loaded it on the trailer and brought her home. I've currently had the car for about a week and have been working on it some after work each night. I don't intend this build to be fast, but i'm really hoping to have it drivable by the end of next year.



there was quite a bit of filler laid on various portions of the car, before i took it home i made sure to inspect the back sides of the panels for any serious problem areas, the panels seemed relatively flat so i figured id just sand everything off and hammer/dolly out the imperfections. over the last few days i've still been sanding, trying to get as much done to the body as possible while reading and researching how and what to do to achieve the look i'm after.

still sanding, got the primer off the cowl and tank, filler off the right rear quarter and some problem areas flattened out



this weekend i went to visit my parents so not much got accomplished with the car, however i did order a new Lincoln power Mig 210MP, built a new work bench, built a rolling dolly setup to put the body on so i can roll it around my garage while working on it, and also rearranged my garage to make room for a future welding table



and this is pretty much how she sits after owning it for a week. I'll do my best to update as I go, and i'll definitely be browsing the boards for answers to my questions.

Thanks for reading

 

Welcome and Congrats ! Looks like you are on your way, got alot done in a short time, keep posting your progress, Great to see a young man coming into the Hobby.

 

Welcome from another Wi guy, Gary

 

Thank you, i'll keep the thread up to date when I make progress. I'm currently trying to acquire more sheet metal fab tools and such to outfit my garage with in order to build the car with. unfortunately until my new welder gets here i'm limited with work i can do on the body.

 

Welcome and great to see another one of this body style being built.

Best wishes and feel free to reach out.

Pete

 

Welcome to the HAMB. What are your plans for the engine trans ect? Glad to see another special coupe being worked on. There is a link to My special coupe build in my signature.

 

Almost bought one of those awhile ago.

The padded roof..........can it be made into just a standard roof?

 

I believe it could be done but you would need a donor car and a bunch of work likely above my pay grade. I redid the padded roof and think it's kinda special being little different.

Pete

 

Thanks guys, plan for the drivetrain so far is just a a SBC and probably a TH350 or 700R4. Playing with the idea of an LS series as I work for Cadillac and they're readily accessible, however I'm not sure I want to complicate things with wires, pcm and such.

As far as the body, I plan to turn it into a standard coupe style top. I have the donor rear window from a standard coupe. I'm sure it will be quite a bit more fab work, but it's something I'm willing to attempt

 

Welcome to the Hamb. I'll follow along, I really enjoy build threads. BTW...I just met a guy from Katy, Brian Stone. What's the odds you know Him? Tim

 

I know a few people with that last name (I'm sure it's common) but Brian doesn't ring a bell

 

Congrats - good project

 

Thanks Joker,

Got a little more work in tonight chiseling and sanding off this terrible attempt at "body filler" someone decided this car needed sometime in the past. Looks as if they never attempted to hammer/dolly any of the dents, didn't prep the surface properly and applied filler over rust, etc. it was so thick in spots the layer closest to metal still appeared porous.

Luckily I was able to get the majority of the imperfections on top of my left rear quarter relatively flat with a few dollies and some elbow grease

Just one example of how thick the person before me laid the mud. completely unacceptable even for a rat rod.



i haven't quite finished digging all the filler out of that spot yet, but the tops of the quarters were similar. i ended up getting it relatively flat tonight




also, found out my decklid is pretty much trash. looks like i'll be cutting off the inner support structure and welding it to a new skin



here you can see how they even built the edge of the panel out of filler instead of repairing the metal



Thanks for all the encouragement, it's a nice change of pace from some of the past forums i've been on during other builds.

Also, i'll be needing to order some OE replacement components for the body, primarily door pieces and trim. any suggestions?

 

That car is gorgeous Pete. were you able to find the top trim aftermarket or were you lucky enough to have those as originals?

as of now my plan is to build a steel trim cap to run the length of the top below the rear window out of flat stock, it will also serve as a structural joint for the top when I weld it together.

 

The special coupe is loaded with a ton of wood. New kits are expensive and hard to chop. Converting over to s standard might be an easier way to go. I wanted a different car than most so decided to put all the wood back in. I also want to put in a full interior done close to stock. All the wood makes that easier to do.

 

Thank you for your kind words! Luckily I found someone who did vinyl tops back in the day and she bent up the aluminum trim for it. It's the same kind of trim like they used for those tops. She also stitched up the top and glued/shaped the padding underneath

 

Can anyone tell me what these panels are from? Obviously not meant for a Special coupe

 

Hey CadTech welcome to the HAMB.

You've come to the right place. My first car was a 32 Model A. Should'a kept it.............
Ya might pick up the classic Bishop/Tardel book. Wealth of info on what you are starting.......
How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod (Motorbooks Workshop) Paperback – October 1, 2000
by Mike Bishop 4.5 out of 5 stars

You have access to an older style pre injected Cad engine?

Keep us posted.

 

Thanks for the info, unfortunately I don't have a hook up on the older engines. There are a few guys I work with that are in to 50's-60's Cadillac stuff. I'll have to check to see if they know of a good source

 

That top panel looks to be from a 30-31. The special coupe piece will have holes along the edge like around the quarter windows. I think the standard would have those holes too as the top material comes down to the drip rail on all 28-29 cars.

 

thanks!, so if I was to find standard coupe panels they should line up? having a really hard time finding these panels for any 29 coupe unfortunately. seen reproductions for sedans, pick ups, and the '30 stuff but nothing really for the first gen A's. if all else fails i'm sure i could fab these to work but i'd much rather save the time and find correct pieces

 

From what I understand, most of the '29 coupes were Special Coupes. This may explain some of the scarcity. As an aside, much of the surface of the panels on mine was pretty pitted as the fabric once it began leaking must have held on to the water much like what happened to the '70s vinyl roof cars.

 

unfortunately that's what I assumed. looks like it may be another item on my list of fabrication projects.

 

Great to see another Special Coupe! I went back with all of the wood since info and pics of these were so hard to find a few years ago. I figured it would at least get me on the right track. Mine is chopped 3" with the rear window chopped only 2" and dropped 1 1/2". Most of my chop was done "on the bench" with precise measuring. The quarter window wood pieces were the only ones that had to be seamed. They are doweled and glued along with a plate on the interior side with about 20 wood screws. Here are a couple pics. Feel free to contact me for any more pics or questions. u


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^^^ is there a build thread for your coupe? Looks awesome.

 

My avatar is a 28 Special Coupe I built in the mid 90's and I also have a stock 29 Special Coupe, always liked the style. Ford made the Special Coupe from mid 28 until mid 29 and they were lumped in with the Standard Coupe in the production numbers, not real rare. The top on a standard coupe will fit on the body if you can find the parts, but upper quarters are hard to find.

 

thanks for posting up guys, I'm really digging that wooden chop.

No real progress on the car this week, things have been crazy at my shop. I did manage to get almost all the filler off the right door.

Also this finally showed up



Still gotta go get a cart and figure out a bottle situation

 

Here's a tip for getting the old Bondo off with no dust. Use a propane torch like a plumber would sweat pipe with. Heat the surface of the Bondo up and it should begin to bubble and curl. It will be soft enough for you to take a chisel and scrape off easily. Don't use too much heat that you make the metal hot. Just move around heating and scraping the Bondo.

 

If you heat from the back side it just pops off,no scraping.


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awesome tip! i'll definitely have to try that out, i've been grinding, chiselling, and sanding away at it for quite a while so i'd love to save some time.