Projects "Jersey Girl" Full Custom '47 Ford Coupe!

I've been working on this '47 Ford for a couple of months now, but it's time to start a thread on it, because the fun is almost over.

Let's start at the beginning. This is the second '47 Ford club coupe that I have chopped, the first being one that I took via trailer to Pennsylvania this spring for a chop class that I was instructing, hosted by Iron Trap Garage. A bunch of the Hooligans C.C. guys showed up and we thrashed on that '47 Ford and after the weekend was over, I GAVE IT AWAY. This is my way of spreading the gospel of traditional customs, ya see... forcing a pretty bitchin' project car on a guy so he's gotta go home and 'splain things to his wife.

Anyway, after that long weekend of fun and excitement, I get a call from a HAMB member. " Hey Joel, can you find another solid Colorado coupe and chop it for me?"
The guy is from New Jersey. I understand his dilemma. I assure him that there's more old Fords to be found and I'll keep him updated.

A month or two later, my grandmother passed away in Minnesota, and on my drive up there, I decide to take a bunch of back roads... The one time that if I'm late, Grandma won't notice. Up in the Northeastern corner of Colorado I come across a whole row of old Fords... and, as I'm making the trip to Minnesota a dual purpose one, (I had an empty trailer with me so I could haul back a load of Flatheads) I pull up to the guy's place and he steps outside and says, "Are you here to buy an old Ford?" I knew I was in the right place. I looked around at the cars in the yard, and asked about this '47. The car was super solid, with a Columbia rear end and great running flathead with a set of Evans heads on it. It was perfect! I thought about keeping this jewel for myself, but I've got enough on my plate, so I called Jersey John and a week later a deal was made.

 

Jersey John knew that I like traditional customs, but he really liked the way I did the top on the car in Pennsylvania. I kept the quarter windows long, and the roof was super melty (it flowed just right). He was excited to finally have the custom he always wanted!

When I got the car back to my shop I gave it a good once over and it really was as solid as I had thought it was. There were only a few small spots of rust on the car, less than 6 hours worth of patching to do!

I used this car for a chop class in Colorado, and used the same Davis Haus of Style flow formula as I did on the PA car. A little more chop in the back than in the front.... Just trim the fat...
I tend to use more eyeball in my chops than straight measurements. I'll measure the car from side to side obviously to make sure things are square and even on both sides, but I don't have a set amount that I plan on cutting. I cut the A pillars and then set the rear window down and get the flow right, then just level everything up and start making panels. Over the weekend we got the car cut down and one side basically done.

 

Great story and plans...that is a vintage tin story rustbelters could only dream about.

Careful Grandma may still be watching...

Great stuff @Pinstriper40...all's Kool in Koolsville

 

Now that I had the bulk of the chop done, I moved on to molding in the rear fenders and stripping the rest of the car. I also removed the taillights at this time. In order to save the customer some dough, I took the rear fenders and rear pan to the sandblaster to get cleaned up before I welded them to the body. I used weld-thru primer on the body and the rear fenders before welding them to the body, and will properly seam seal the lip of the fender on the bottom side as well as rubberize undercoat the whole underside of the fender and the fender braces after all the welding is finished. On a side note, I really like my little Miller MIG welder. It's been an awesome unit.

Before I could weld on the rear fenders, I had to re-route the fuel filler tube to the trunk. I did this by going out to the junkyard and finding another '46-48 Ford fuel filler neck and ordering up a '40 Ford car rubber fuel filler grommet. I cut the filler necks right at the curve and welded the two together, and everything went according to plan.
I then bolted the rear fenders and rear pan together and proceeded to weld them together. Of course I used weld-thru primer on all of these panels to prevent rust in the future. I also welded a strip over the weld seam on the fenders so it won't be filled with mud.

 

I hope no one has to ever remove that tank...but similar to Automotive design that isn't always on the forefront of the design situation. I am sure you have seen enough of these that your following tradition....

That all said perhaps the pipe pushes into the tank underneath through a special grommet.

Enjoying the metal magic...

 

Nice work. It is hard to make those look right.

 

If you follow procedure, the tank can be easily removed. First the hose between the tank and filler tube needs to be removed, then the filler tube removed, then the tank. It's doable, and it was at the forefront of my mind! The filler pipe does push through... from the bottom up and out of the trunk.
I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's been fun so far!

Thank you, Roothawg! I think getting rid of the "Baluga effect" in the rear window or backlight area is easiest when the driprails are shaved. In this case, that's what both the customer and I wanted, as we were looking at the Marcia Campbell car for inspiration.

 

Here's a shot of Marcia Campbell's Barris-built '42, for those who may not be familiar.
(One of my favorites.)

 

You do amazing work.

 

Nice work so far.

 

Thank you very much! I do the best i can with what i have. Fortunately I've been able to pick up a few key tools this year. Thanks again!

Thank you very much! I still have a ways to go but I'm looking forward to starting on bodywork.

 

You sure have an eye for kool. Love your style...

 

Loooooo-king gooooood! Nice chop on a solid car - gonna be a terrific looking custom! As the guy on TV says "Me Likey"..

Dave

 

Dave, I posted Marcia Campell's coupe as one of my favorites.
Yours would be the other.

I came up short on the search engine, but here's an early pic. (Much improved since.)
Help?

 

Thanks much, Mick! I hope I can build some more neat stuff in the future. I've enjoyed early customs for 20 years now (yeah, I started young) and I finally feel like I'm getting set up well enough to be able to build some of my dreams, even though some are for customers.

Dave, I don't have the cable, but I'll believe ya! I appreciate the kind words! It's all about being smoooooth!

 

very Cool

 

High praise indeed! Thanks Mo! ..A little more off the top than Pinstriper 40 is going for, but here's a shot DrDave took at Indy '17:


Pinstriper 40, mine was a Jersey custom at one time too! Looking forward to more progress pics of "Jersey Girl".

Dave

 

She's becoming a well rounded individual.

 

This just keeps getting cooler by the day. Snowman

 

Thanks guys! Sounds like a couple more tricks will be coming in the near future. I'll be starting on bodywork on the back end tomorrow and then getting back to a little metal magic early next week. It's been a pleasure working on this car because it's so solid... I can't stress it enough... Spend the money to get a good car to start with and you'll be better off in the long run!

 

Great metal work. Should be killer ride.

 

Thank you! Yes, it will be! I appreciate the kind words.

 

And to think we could have done that in MY garage!! Thanks for the opportunity Joel, Looks Bitch'n!

 

Man that Colorado tin is making you soft, we'll need to ship up here to work on some MN garbage, get you back to your roots.

 

Damn that's nice!

~ Carl

 

Don't worry Matt, my Merc will keep me grounded.

Thank you Carl! She's only going to get better!
Here's another shot of that beautiful booty...

 

Gotta love that big booty!

 

Rear window is nice and low. Fenders welded up like they oughta be. Perfectly radiused deck lid.
How ya gonna lose?
My money's down.

 

Sure seems to be popular these days! Hahaha

High praise! Thank you very much. I take a lot of pride in making sure everything works together.

It sounds like the Jersey Girl will get a new grille, frenched headlights, and a couple other tricks in the next week or so! I'm going to start on bodywork on the back half of the car while the front fenders and grille are getting sandblasted. Stay tuned!

 

You seem to really get it done quickly. I can't wait to see what you do next.

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