Poboyross's Model A Build: "Faux'dster"

I hope you'll reconsider using the Deuce side rails. The car looks "right" just the way it is. Adding the hood and phony frame won't make it any better...imho. Save the money for a '28 - 29 grille shell which would.

 

Update: got the 32 Chevy hood acid dipped and primed. I was able to take off the other hood side. I then re-contoured the hood top some to better match the cowl. Looks like I need to drop the belt line of the hood down by about 1" in the back and 2-3" in the front, maybe 4" if I want the hood aides to be the same height front and back. However, if it's 4" drop in the front, I think it might make the hood top look weird. Thoughts?

 

obviously need a lot of drop in the front, hard to say how much in photos.
Run a tape line from cowl to grill shell to get grill shell placement.
Where in Burbank?

 

I live over close to Costco, close to the bike path. You? Yeah I ran a tape line the other day. For the hood sides to be the same height front and back, the front drop is like dead nuts 4". I'll toss tape in there again and take a pic tomorrow. I was going to cut about 1/2" above the hood belt line and splice in some sheet metal. Then cut down the existing hood sides. I might have to fab new ones and graft in the vents if it rotates them too far off kilter using the existing sides.

 

I don't live in Burbank yet, still looking, but work there at Hollywood Hot Rods.
I think it's ok for hood sides to taper if needed. A pet peeve of mine is grill height in relation to cowl height. Normally on hoodless cars. It's obviously important for a car with a hood. I would make hood line from cowl to grill shell work, then make hood sides fit.

 

Oh HH? Cool! I've only been by there, but never through the shop. I've been over to Dell's new shop next door. You know him, too? I agree on the grill height. If this shell was higher than the cowl, I wouldn't do the hood, or would get the radiator chopped and use my 28/29 shell, but I like 30/31s better and don't have the cash for a new radiator or chopping this one at the moment.

 

Yea, I know Del.
Lets figure out what can be done to make it look right, with or without a hood.
PM me.

 

i like the idea of the hood! cardboard is your friend to mock up the sides start with pieces the same size and shape of hood sides......or has california outlawed cardboard do to inhumane treatment of wood pulp?

 

Good idea on the cardboard, but you're correct...we're only allowed to use card stock made of used toilet paper or tofu. It's going to be a messy endeavor either way.

 

So I went off and started hacking and cutting. I didn't really want to take this 32 Chevy hood that I got (and is the perfect length!) and add in new metal, as I like the little pitting in it. As the hood tapered up as it went towards the grill, I wanted to even it out as much as possible. SO, I made a line going from 1" above the bottom on the cowl side, going up to 2.5" on the grill side and cut. I then swapped sides with each cut piece, thus reversing the angle of the taper and making it pretty straight across now. Still lots of metal work to do to it, and I have to modify the hood sides with the 4 vents to fit, but I think it's looking good!

 

looks like it is running uphill.....

 

? That good or bad?

 

Your grille is a couple inches too high. Looks "broken". Chop the grille and radiator.

 

I hate to be the one to say it but you can't cut a '30-31 grille shell enough to look right on a 28-29. It's not only too tall, it's the wrong shape. The later grille shell is boxy nd sharp-edged whereas the early cars are graceful and curved. The grille shell and hood has to flow gracefully back to meet with the cowl AND blend with the overall shape of the body in order to enhance the overall look of the car. There are limits to doing things your own way if you want the finished product to look as good as it can.

 

I'm not really a fan of the 28/29 grill shells, honestly. They look too short and squat to my eyes. I do like the 32 grill shells, but so many cars have them...they are a viable alternative for me, though. I found some shorter radiators for about $150 on EvilB*y. I'd likely keep the 31 shell and trim the side walls where it fits over the front crossmember, thus dropping it. I like the look of a hood that goes straight out, not tapering down much if any to the grill shell. That's probably why I don't like 28/29 shells.

 

Can´t you just lower the shell?

 

The late Model A shell is a bit tough to accommodate with the curve of the '28-'29 cowl, probably one of the reasons that the Deuce shell was such a popular choice, then and now. An early A shell might be a easier to incorporate.

No matter, you will have to shorten the radiator as well as drop or shorten the shell. When Vern and I built my roadster we established the height of the shell right at the beginning, using masking tape to approximate the full hood top, before ordering the radiator; a hood was planned for from the beginning, although it wasn't fabbed (by Kent Fuller) until about six months after the car hit the road.
-

Mike

 

You really don't get any more perfect than Blue! I might eventually swap out to a 32 shell in the future, duckets willing. You can't beat the look, that's for sure. Here's what I ended up with for this phase, the 32 Chevy hood was so thin in places that when I attempted to weld it, it went up like flash paper on my lowest workable setting. At some point I will cut out the vents and graft them on a whole new hood.




Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hi Ross did you ever get your grille shell cut and in place

DND

 

So apparently I'm not allowed to say that I'm not keeping this car any longer, or at least going to make an attempt to not keep it any longer, nor that event such as those that usually involve a transaction of stored up value usually represented by paper sheets or precious metals are patently verbotten, even though I've seen it around here quite often, and pulled up instances of such just recently. If such an event were to take place, I reckon it would be listed as such somewhere on the internet, or in the world, but who's to say...not me. Dang, this forum has changed.....

 

Nah, I'll probably crush the car and sell it for scrap.

 

Hey, when you scrap the heap, could I have the taillight bulbs??
If you're going to be around Jersey any time soon, bring some dimensions. I have a couple shortened and customized '32 shells in the debris field that might be useful.

 

HA...I was just kidding...and frustrated. There seems to be a lack of consistency of moderation that confuses me pretty often. Cars post-65 getting featured in some instances, in others its deleted, etc etc etc. Whatever.

I might actually be in the area later this year. My wife has some weird rare medical thing (she's FINE) that a high-fallutin' Dr. there wants to see...apparently she's one in a billion type deal. Anyway, if we come out to NYC for that, I'll reach out!

 

You do realize the "featured" threads aren't hand picked or anything, they are threads that are getting a lot of views. Could be a lot of views because it's a train wreck.

 

If it was an ad that got deleted it probably should have been posted to the classified section

 

Yeah, I was giving an update about me deciding to pass the car along, if possible, and pasting the ad link here on the HAMB. I liked building the car, and its fun to drive on average roads. However, those roads only exist in numbers that can be counted on less than one hand here in Burbank/LA. I really do like the car, but the road issues coupled with my church's need to finish our new building seems to indicate that the car has a greater calling

 

Just back to the hood slope for a bit. In av8's post, notice the slope from the w/s to the radiator. That's the consistency to look for. My .02 cents of course.

 

So if you do come hereabouts...pack a template or good drawing for a shell that's level with your cowl or down a bit from that.

 

I'm honestly done with the car I believe. My heart isn't in it any longer. The roads in my area are literally 3rd world, so I can't drive it much. I've been trying to trade/sell it with no luck so far, so not really sure what I'm going to do with it...parting it out seems like a PitA.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

You have PM