Hypothetical question: If you had a '32 4 dr. and wanted to build a coupe but didn't want to shell out the $3-4k for repop 1/4's... which brand x 1/4's would you use? '30-'31 model A? '32 Chevy? I always thought the '33 plymouth 1/4's looked sorta similar...what do you guys think?
You know how guys are always whining about how bad patch panels and so-on fit? And they are supposed to be for the same car. A lot of things are similar, but different. And that difference can all of a sudden be huge when you attempt to fit something. But who knows? Some people are good at fabbing things. And some people are happy to end up with a camel when they set out to make a horse.
...I was pondering it and something in the back of my memory seemed like I'd seen another make of car with really similar shaped 1/4s to a '32 Ford but can't remember what it was so it's been bugging me since...I can see where this body line might fit but I actually think it was different car just cant think of what
For the record, I am totally on-board with custom, pieced together bodies, I have seen some really great stuff get built this way. There's a 32 3W that was pieced together using 33/34 doors and some 4 door sedan pieces (I think) that turned out really good. That said, I don't think a 32 is going to fit on the 34 frame, the 34 has a longer wheelbase and a different shape, it would take a lot of careful modifications to make that look right. And then to use off-brand coupe quarters, unless your friend is a particularly skilled sheetmetal man, I think it's going to be kind of a butcher job. As for 33/34 Mopar quarters, if you can find a set that isn't junk, they might work, but look how far down in the rear the quarters extend, they're much longer than the Ford quarters, they would extend well into the area that a 34 would have the gas tank apron (or in the case of a '32, the exposed top of the tank itself). I suppose you could rework that, but I think you wouldn't end up using much of the quarters. Any pictures of the '32 body? I have done one '33 4 door sedan into a 5W coupe (not totally finished, but it was getting there) and if your friend can buy a tail pan and salvage the bottoms of the '32 quarters (narrowing the wheel wells in the process to better match the coupe) he might be able to just fab the rest. I only had some small pieces to go off of and the rest got fabbed. It still had a long way to go when I sold this one (got a '34 and decided to focus on that one) but it was taking shape.
You're the perfect guy to answer this post...I'm assuming that no one cut a perfectly good '34 coupe trunk and raingutters up so you probably found a x brand piece that fit the general profile of the '34? that's the gist of the question: what else has that same curvature as the '32? ...I know alot of people are smirking but not everyone is savvy on cool old cars exact details...true story: I did a double take the other day on Craigslist when passing an ad for a Go-Kart WTF? the front half of a '28-9 touring without gas tank is being used as a body for it! not a dent or speck of rust on what was there you looked through a curved windsheild that mounted where the gas tank was....asked the owner he had no idea what it was just old...no shit ....That's a really cool project and I absolutely think it was a worthwhile exercise... There are way more bits and pieces of old cars than there are complete bodies lying around...
Are you sure he wasn't pulling your leg? We had a '34 Cabriolet that sat upside down in a farm dump for 50+ years and not a hell of a lot of it was useable, you needed a second one that sat on the other side and splice the two bodies together down the middle. As for what to use, no matter what you want to choose just finding it will be difficult, especially if someone doesn't want to spend much money on it.
Those black pieces in my build pics were a 52 ford roof skin, with some brake and shrinker stretcher work. Had just enough crown. I think your guy could make what he needs if he can't find quarters. Sent from my LG-M153 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
....I have a soft spot for this because my first and only Hot Rod was a '27 Essex that had been turned into a war ration truck later while hiking through a feild I found a pair of brand X coupe/roadster 1/4's and made it into a coupe Thanks! Wow very creative nice work...hope someone finishes where you left off Cool I will pass that along ...I had a pair once too but gave them to a buddy ages ago...can you pm me a pic? -thanks
.... I was thinking along the lines of how in those days the cars were coach built sometimes one manufacturer did parts or panels for another. Here's an example...1934 Hupmobile model W used Ford body stampings don't let the fenders windows etc. fool you look at the 1/4 panels and bodylines. I know this example is a pretty rare car but in our drier rural areas like Alb.,Sask., Man. there are stacks of picked over carcasses and chopped up bits that no one really wants even coupes... "In 1934 a company called Murray Body Corp. was building car bodies for both Hupmobile and Ford. After the Great Depression Murray was having major financial trouble. In an attempt to keep the company afloat Ford allowed Murrays designer Amos Northup to combine and modify their 3 window coupe and cabriolet tooling for the Hupmobile production run. They ended up using the Ford Cabriolets frameless doors, and 3 window coupe top with modifications, along with the 3 window front and rear glass and upper hood sections. With the modified Ford base Hupmobile added their own unique and stylish features that were each superior to its Ford counterpart."
^^^^^this car, or one just like it, was for sale on eBay a year or two (or three) ago and it was the first time I had ever seen this model. Very Handsome car and a very interesting story behind it's creation. As much as I liked it, I resisted bidding on it. I don't recall accurately what it sold for, but the buyer got a quite unique vehicle. Thanks for sharing more of the story here. Ray
@Hnstray Ray I first learned of these cars some years back while hiking through an "abandoned" wooded lot in a small Vancouver island town. I was initially drawn to what looked like a huge wooden gate in the style of a fort and as I walked down the road it turned into dense brush. When I found an opening and crawled through into a bizarre piece of land I could make no sense of. It had been cleared at one point but since had become overrun with Alder saplings and small trees. There were abandoned houses shacks and walkways built between them all and cars everywhere lots of trucks and '70's cars the trees and salt air had literally eaten gaping holes into! There was an MG bent in half lodged 15 ft in the air in a tree! There were trucks/machinery everywhere between blackberries and saplings you could barely walk! the catwalks and houses were rotting and caving in and on some the trucks were stacks of plywood that had obviously been brand new driven into the yard 20 yrs ago and left to rot! It was eerie I came across the edges of a giant concrete foundation huge and 20 ft deep at least in the middle of it sat an abandoned '50's DC10 Cat and on the far edge the backside of the enormous walled gate I had seen. As I proceeded down towards the road there out of the corner of my eye bathed in rays of sunlight sat this beautiful 1930's sedan! Gorgeous! it looked like it was flying even though it was completely locked in by small trees. It was a 1934 Hupp 4 dr sedan no engine or glass but otherwise complete. I fell in love but sadly it and the property were owned by a crazy loon whose father had passed away during the process of building a "rust farm" Theme park!! yes it was intentionally put there to rot away! and told me point blank she would never sell a single thing!! over the years I approached her with several ideas like trading it for draining all the oil out of all the cars so they wouldn't destroy the land or replacing it with other cars but she would have none of it so I gave up. That was 15 yrs ago it's either full of holes or she finally lost her battle with the city in which case it was probably scrapped such a shame for such an amazing car....
Nailhead A-V8 .........That is an incredible scene to describe but you did so well I could half imagine it! The old adage...."Truth is stranger than fiction" is proven time and time again......Thanks for sharing that experience. Ray
I have hard copy photos of it somewhere but it was before cell phones so they're not on my computer...could be considered a factory "hot rod" since they literally took a new Ford and turned it into a luxury car...but i'm still thinking there was another car that the rear 1/4 profile was almost the same as a '32 Ford just cant remember what car
FYI- The Model Of Hupmobile 3-W Coupe is W-317. Back in 1992, a Friend Bubba Culotta had a W-317 Coupe for Sale, at the 1992 Pate Swap meet in Cresson, Tx. The W-317 Coupe was Painted a Beautiful Black Lacquer Paint, the Wheels Were Kelsey-Hayes Bent Spoke 16” & Painted a Ford Red! He had it with a Stock Ford 33/34 Ford Frame, 33 Ford Grill, 33 Hood, Front Stock 33-Front & Rear Fenders, Running Boards, the Doors Cabriolet, But the S/S Window Frames are Hupmobile, & Different From the Stock 33/34 Cabriolet Window Frame. The Die Stamp Upper Top Door Jam, Vertical Back Door Jam is also Different, I’m almost sure the Wood in the W/317 Coupe would Be some What Similar, But would be Different. The Die Stamped Top Metal Turret is Particual to the W-317 Hupmobile 3-W Coupe. The Top Of the Hupmobile is Different than the Ford Top. The W-317 Coupe, doesn’t have the Belt Line Body Bead going down the Top & into the Quater Panel. The Dash on the W-317, Completely different from Ford’s Dash.But the Ford’s Dash Bolts right into the body of the W-317 Coupe. The 2-Door $ 4-Door Sedan is different than Ford’s . The difference is that the Hup Sedan’s has a Die Stamped back Body Sheet metal Panel For Rear a Spare Wheel. Just like the 1933-1937 Willy’s Coupe’s & Sedan’s. An you could use Ford’s Sedan Fender’s, Sheet Metal Front Door’s & Rear 4-Door’s. I wished I could have Purchased his W-317 Coupe, but I quit my Job @ Texas Instruments, To Help my aging Father to retire on our Dairy & Stocker Beef Farm. The W-317 Coupe didn’t have a Engine or Tranny, but had Stock Ford Front End & Ford Banjo Rear End. All the Fenders, 33 Grill, 33 Hood, Running Boards, Tank Cover, Tank, Doors S/S Windows, Regulators, 33 Ford Dash, Chrome Windshield were Mint. Anything Bubba Culotta owned was Mint! I think I ask Bubba about the Window Regulator’s, Door Latch’s are Stock Ford Parts. If memory serves me Correct. He wanted $12,500. It was A Bargain! I can say that Bubba is a Good Ole Boy! We done some Horse Tradin, that we’re very Happy with each other. That we’d trade for & We both got what we need to build our 33/34 Cars. Without any money Changing Hands! He & I didn’t lose any! Oh, I’m a Ford Hustory Buff, as my Father, work for FoMoCo @ The Dallas, Texas Assembly Plant on Grand Ave, near The Great State Fair Of Texas, From 1948-1970. Why did Ford Help out the Hupp Automobile Company to use Ford’s Body Design’s? Answer? This was tge Start if the Depression, Since tge Stock Market Crashed in 1929. An by 1933 Every Car manufacture was Hyrting! Even FoMoCo & Government Motors Were all Hurting. The Ford Family & Hupp Family were Freinds, so if it kept both Company’s & their Worker’s & Family’s Employment. It was good for tge Country! Hupp need to provide more larger Car Market line. In Hope of Suriving the Depression. The Depression Started in 1929, But didn’t end mid-1942, 6-Months into WWII. Do you know what the Battle Of Los Angeles (Feb, 21, 1942) was all About? Hope, Ya’ll liked my Story? Best Regards Respectfully BigDTexasKid Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Where did all the rod bod pieces end up? There was a place in Sweden I think that was doing 32 roadster stuff ... call brookville see if they might have some mis stamps or united pacific on seconds... I think I would save my pennies and go with the right 32 shape
Your right , those may get you pretty darn close , I have a feeling it’s going to be harder to find those than cheap 32 ford quarters though
Yeah totally...it was more question of something niggling away at the back of my mind I'd seen one in the past and made a mental note of how similar they were but forgot the year and make ....actually looking at it again even the cowl is close... I bet if you had bits of a Deuce sedan roof and a firewall with a lot of skill you could pull off a reasonable facsimile...I think I've vindicated myself sort of lol
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