Hot Rods Fixing a mangled 33 Chevy coupe body UPDATE 31/10/21

I picked up a rough 33 chevy last month and figured I would make a thread to update as I progress on it. I will be doing all the metalwork on the body, replacing the wood with steel, chopping it, channeling it, and doing a few other minor modifications. When I went to pick it up it was below freezing and rain/snowing out. I ended up spending 2 hours laying in the muddy field cutting the fenders and running boards off so it would fit in the back of my half ton. Luckily the seller helped lift it into my truck with a tractor, however when I got home I had to get a little creative unloading it by myself.

 

i started by squaring up the frame, then pushing pulling and beating on the body to get it back to where the doors lined up to the bodylines. I screwed the doors shut temporarily and then added some temporary bracing inside the body. Once that was done I channeled the body over the frame. It took a couple trys to get it to sit exactly how i wanted it.
Next I turned my attention towards the back of the car. At some point in the past a farmer had completely mutilated the back of the car to install a home made truck box.

 

Watching.
I like to follow projekt like this.
Peter

 

I built a subrail assembly from 2x1 tubing that matches the contour of the frame. Then I beat the remains of the 1/4 panels back into shape so that I could make a pattern. After that I built new rain gutters for the trunk opening. Next I welded the rain gutter assembly into the upper trunk opening, and added some more temporary bracing.

 

I built new upper 1/4 panel sections for both sides yesterday. I build everything with caveman hand tools and a cheap english wheel.

 

wow! go git'em!

 

Wow, great way to kick a new thread off, straight into the guts of it. You'll probably have it done by the time I finish typing this post.
Nice work, great seeing a good car saved from field life.

 

Nice project, very impressed you did all that in a month. Bob

 

Today I spliced the upper 1/4 panel sections into the 1/4 panels and tig welded them in.
Then I started roughing in the tail pan. I dont like the way the bottom edge of the chevy tail pans and 1/4 panels look cut off when they are fenderless. To solve the problem I will be doing a raised bodyline similar to the back of a 33-34 ford coupe.
Thanks for looking, I will try to update as progress happens.

 

Very nice. Considering the wood framing, that car seems to still be pretty solid.

 

Nice car I regret a little selling my 3 window 1933 chev master coupe it was a beautiful looking car all original. Having also built a 1934 Standard Chev Roadster hotrod I know how muck work is involved in replacing the wood your doing a great job.
What frontend are you using ? I like the look of the original 2 leafspring I beam

 

Definitely impressive I'm subscribed! Can't wait to follow this build! Hobo Jim

 

Wow, great work, I'm following


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My first Hot Rod was a 33 Chevy 3 window coupe body that I put on a shortened 49 Chevy frame with a 55 Olds drivetrain. The original motor and frame was used to power a saw mill.
It was fun until my mom came home from work and caught me doing burnouts in the highway and told me to get rid of it. So I traded for a 50 Ford business coupe and put the olds stuff in it. She was happy because it had fenders and mufflers. I was 16 at the time.

 

That photo with it stuffed in the back of your truck! Excellent!

 

Good work. Keep going.

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Looks good !

 

nice work. the world needs more chevy coupes!

 

Nice work bud. Keep it going

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Excellent metal working skills, very impressed. Keep going will be following.

 

Nice work,the early termite Chevys make beautiful cars but they make you work hard to see the final beauty,We built one and that's enough for me.

 

Watching

 

You'll be wanting to check this guy's thread about redoing his Chevrolet coupe....started out much like yours.... http://forums.aaca.org/topic/164305-reconstruction-of-a-34-chevy-master-coupe/#comment-793694

 

I thought I was the only one Krazzy enough to start with a wadded up Tin Can nailed to a Wood crate. Clearly this isn't your First go at this stuff. Right on, I like your work. I'll tell ya the Biggest lesson I learned while building the steel inner structure on my 34 2d sedan. Over the years these old Chevy's started to List and Sag as the wood aged. A door in the Hole don't mean your good to go. I ended up with a good bit of redo on mine after I learned just how much out of shape it really was. I ended up with adding 3 string lines through the body on center line so I knew where the center of the floor was in relation to center of the Body at the belt line as well as center at the roof line. That made everything come back together. Heck, they may have been built out of Wack.
This photo was taken the first time it looked like a real car. Still a long ways away from actually being one.
The Wizzard

 

Certainly not a project for the average builder! Hope all continues to go well. I'll be watching.

 

I am subscribed, great start on the build.

 

My avatar shows me at 15 next to my 33 Chevy tu-door, mine was 27k original one owner to start with. You are very skilled and very very brave. Rock on brother, will be watching this cool project.

 

Wow! Nice work!

 

Subscribed!
Love watching the resurrection of old tin!