Going to try the build an A thread. May be a bit slow. I bought this factory made chassis from a fellow HAMBer who did the same. He kept the coupe body though. The frame had a big bend in the left rail. I have been straightening the rails with hydraulics, with a little heat and banging, with some cutting out one the inside of the boxed rail, sliding in a piece of quarter inch thick metal that just fit, welding it in for strength, then reboxing. Check for straightness and fine tune. Weld in a new front cross member and now working on getting the front suspension set up since I replaced the bent 5" drop Super Bell with a 4" drop Joe Casto axle. I visited Joe's shop and he said not to straighten the Super Bell, he could do it mind you but did not recommend it. I will take a man's word that has as much hot rod knowledge and experience as he has. Anyway, don't ding me too bad since I am learning as I go but if you see a problem, let me know.
Buy yourself at least 3 matching four foot levels. place them on top of each other making shure all have corresponding bubbles then place them on bare frame front -middle & back, what do you have?
while you knock the bends out of the frame, you could also knock some of that "street rod" off of it also! Looks good so far.
The coil over is supposed to be stock Pete and Jakes but I don't like it. Sits too high so I plan to put on mounts that will lower the rear about 1 to 2 inches. Got to order a new set of rod ends for the hair pins and a new set of steering arms due to changing from a 5" to a 4" drop.
Got new hairpin rod ends, new front spring mount, new steering arms from Speedway which is where I understand the chassis is from. Now sitting on 4 tires and steering good. Aligned it best I could by measuring the front and back of the discs, centered the steering rack. Still have loose ends to tighten up but will get to it.
Changing the coil over top mounts. Lowers the rear about 1 and 1/2 inch which gives the chassis a slight rake that looks just right. I added an outer support. With the metal I have added to the front shock mounts, the rear mount of the hairpins and the mount on the rear 4 bar, all this should give plenty of strength to this Brookeville chassis. If that makes it a streetrod, so be it. I like them all, even the rats.
Disc brakes and R&P steering in front, and coil-overs in back. It still looks like a street rod to me. Good call on the Okie Joe front axle, though.
Chassis is basically done. Got a few nuts to tighten and then brake lines to run. New back shock mounts lowered it quite a bit. Getting ready to put the tranny on the engine and install. Finally found a good tank with no leaks (1 out of 3 I have) and going to put it on a junk cowl to get ready to fire the engine when it gets installed. Always dreamed of building this car. Put the sedan to the left pretty much together and redid the top wood and canvas, and headliner but just not that much into stock.
Warm day in Oklahoma this Christmas Eve. Pulled the Mustang out of the garage and drove it around, parked it and the A chassis outside so I could clean the shop. A chassis has a junk cowl with a good gas tank bolted down so I can drop in the engine and get it running. Anyone reading this got a good suggestion on where and which radiator to buy? Need one for a 350 Chevy and automatic tranny.
A good friend of mine had been very happy with the couple of Champion radiators he has installed. I'm thinking I will try the same. Price seems very low, but he said the quality was good. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It's looking good .... the Coupe body looks like it's in nice condition too. What kind of stance are you aiming for?
I don't know, this is new territory for me. The original car on the chassis was full fendered but I am thinking no fenders and more of a kickup in the back. I'll see what it looks like when I get the body on the frame. I'm also afraid the 6" chop is too much for me. I will have to mount seats on the floor to have any head room.
Make a piece of cardboard 6 inches wide and tape to top of windshield. You will find out if you want that heavy of a chop.
There ain't no wondering if I want a 6 inch chop. I GOT IT! I love how it looks, just don't know if I will love driving it. I like the look of a 6 inch chop. I like the mail slot back window also. If you are going to chop it that much, show it. I just enjoy looking at it.
Made my first cut on one of the doors. I think it will work out fine. About to finish welding on the subframe. Put in a new cross piece, patched in a piece. Had to cut the welds on the driver A pillar and straighten it. Lots of work but I am having so much fun! I am thinking of getting a piece of solid metal bar and sliding into the door posts where the window frames connect to strengthen them and weld to them. Anyone do that and have a suggestion of what to use?
Just a few pictures of the chop top coupe just before I sold it back to the guy I bought it from. A six inch chop was just too much for me to be comfortable in. I reworked the sub frame, replacing a section at the A pillar. Welded the door tops on, finished welding and grinding of the chop on the top. Had to expand the posts where they did not align due to the narrowing of the posts as they go up. Learned a lot. Got another body to use. Last picture.
Last post was in July. Since then I bought a Shay chassis and a beat up Shay with a bad chassis and put them together. Got pretty far on the build and then traded my sedan for the like new Shay you see on the left. That meant the Coupe build was put on hold. Working on selling the builder Shay so I can start on the coupe again. Now I have back problems and can't do much of anything. Surgery next week. Hopefully by spring I can get back on the Coupe build and have something worth putting on here. Meanwhile been watching other builds on the HAMB for inspiration.
Finally getting started again on my Coupe build. Had put the chassis in the storage shed so working on it in there. Floor is uneven, was going to repour it level but used the money I had to buy another car. What do you do? Got the chassis leveled up and on stands. Put the subframe on it and getting it set up to assemble the body. Did something people might find odd. I did not like how the rumble floor set at an angle and since I am going trunk I decided to cut the top section, reverse it and made the floor a level flat piece. Still gives me room to clear the coil overs. I was going to have to cut a small section out to clear the shocks. Recently retired so should be able to devote some time to this project. I included a picture of the other car I bought.
local rodding pioneer SAM, pasted on but told me to save the dead 8' flouresent light bulbs and lay one across the front, center and rear. step back and sight bulb to bulb … works
I knew my cowl was in pieces, just not so many pieces. Got some pictures to show it going together. Just need to weld in the angle braces and the firewall to the lower mount uprights. Bolted everything as solidly and square as possible before I strike an arc.
Got sidetracked again. Found a 67 Ford Bronco for a decent price so working on it instead of the Coupe. I plan to sell it to have more money for the coupe.
Sold the Bronco but working on other cars. Rainy day today so started bolting the 30 Coupe body together. Cowl with bitchin firewall installed, firewall mounted to subframe, doors installed, windshield frame put in. Body sides are just clamped in for now. Doors shut and latch good. My stock Cabriolet is shown also. Selling it.
Well, Cabriolet is gone so I can work on the coupe. Got the new trunk gutters on and set the new trunk lid on. The only things original Henry Ford on this body are the body sides, the doors, the back window section, and the cowl not including the firewall. Subframe, floor, trunk lid, trunk gutters, piece below trunk lid, firewall, and visor are all repop. They fit fine but have to drill all the mounting holes. My problem at the moment is the Chevy 350 dist. cap hits the metal on the recessed bitching firewall. I hate to cut the firewall, but..... The frame is an aftermarket with mounts already installed.
Between me and a friend of mine, we have used at least 30 Champion radiators. Wehave never had a problem.
Just an update to the few that follow this. Again the coupe hot rod is on hold. I bought another 30 coupe that had been being restored about 15 years ago and then stored in a dry shop. All metal is perfect and never had rust or dents. Paint is like new. This car was being put together right so instead of stripping the body off to put on my hot rod instead of the other, I am completing the restoration. I have 99% of the parts to complete it. Chassis has been completely rebuilt and even have 4 new Houdaille shocks for it. Hope to finish the stock coupe by Jan. 1 and get back on the hot rod. Will sell the stock coupe when done. I just could not tear it apart.
I do have a couple of updated photos of the hot rod. I finally got the lid converted to trunk and put a couple of patches on. Nice body, not perfect like the one on my stock coupe but will make a good hot rod.
suggest you get an early non HEI distributor that has a small distributor cap, summit has a Petronics small cap as cast distributor
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