Projects The Wee Terry Coupe Build Thread

Hi everyone.

Here is my latest project. I will need help along the way (like i did with my Chevy) and the path is unlikely to be smooth, but I am very excited to get going on this car. I bought it pretty much as a pile of parts that the vendor kindly agreed to assemble into a rolling car for me.

From the point of me agreeing to buy the car, this very helpful and generous bloke (I will let him raise his hand if he wishes) helped with advice in abundance, agreed to chop it for me, do a load more welding and also kept adding to the pile of parts to go with the deal.

I had a great trip with the family 'north of the border' to collect it last week and so now it is over to me. This is how it sits (as well as a couple of shots from when it was being put together).....

















Spec is as follows:
'29A Special Coupe Body with fabricated rear roof panel and window and full wood kit
Chopped 4"
'32 style dash
Boxed and extended model A frame with stock front and rear crossmembers
Centre crossmember moved back and secondary F1 crossmember fitted with F1 pedal assembly
'40 rear axle with spring mounted behind
4" Dropped model A front axle on unsplit wishbone
'40 Ford drums and backing plates
6.00 x 16 and 7.50 x 16 tyres
F100 steering box
Cut-out 8Ba flathead
'37 3 speed box
I have a full set of fenders, running boards, side skirts, bonnet, grille shell etc
Also included was a pile of other bits and bobs to help with piecing the car together (gas tank, shock mounts, rad and more) .

The plan initially is to get it all bolted/screwed/welded together and make the engine run, have some fun in it, then make some decisions on what to do next and maybe add some further refinements and tweeks. I want this to be a proper traditional AV8 and am looking for the real '50s 'high-school' hotrod experience. I was going to run it full-fendered, but now i'm not so sure! This will not be a high-dollar build and I am learning as I go, so any advice is more than welcome.

So, a great start as far as I can make out. There is a lot to do, but I am keen to get going. First thing I will do is swap out the front spring for a better one (which I have) and tidy up the front axle, then sort the front shocks out.

Thanks!
LT

 

Excellent starting point. NOW...find a photo of a car that is exactly what you want yours to be when it's done. Be as detailed as possible. THEN start gathering parts to build the car in the photo. This will give you a solid direction and a concrete goal, both of which will be necessary to bring this project to completion. Too many builds start by going off in many different directions at once...and end up either awkward or abandoned. Good luck!

 

Nice start.

 

Mr. Oxide does GOOD work!!!
Charlie.

 

Thanks Charlie - you recognise the car, then!

I hope I can keep the standards going.

Mark

 

I know Ian very well. The truck in my avatar came from him as all body panels and chassis many moons ago.
Still building slowly (House move and a health scare, and building a new garage ) I'll finish it one day.
Charlie.
BTW. FINE coupe!!

 

Well, it’s a very small step, but it feels great to be making a start on my first early Ford hotrod!

I fitted a new flat belt to the old Colchester lathe this evening and turned up some bungs to weld to the axle to take my lower front shock mounts.

 

One step at a time... Looks like a great project.

 

Its got the makings of a great little coupe Mark , keep it simple and it will build itself Its never going to be perfect, but thats not the objective . Its going to survive and live again as a neat little Hot Rod. Im pretty sure you will do a great job with the parts that are there and a bit of hard graft

Here it is being "rescued" from a hedgerow in Minnesota.

 

So, body is off and front axle is out, ready for a bit of dressing up. While it’s on the bench I can weld on the shock bungs and give it some paint.

 

Well, I’m happy with the first side. Just got to get the other side to match now....

Before:



After building up with weld, grinding and filing to finish...

 

Great improvement Im not sure how Jerry drops his axles but that is absolutely standard . I had 3 done at the same time and they were all exactly the same. They do need a little help to dress them up but they do come out good with the effort . I have considered setting up to do them , however nobody wants to share the secret of there flowing gracefull drops or the equipment they perfom the operation on .

 

I didn’t want it to look too perfect, so I quit when I got it this far.

I did think about building it up and using the mill to take off the excess, but I’m not too handy at forming curves with it. Plus, I need the exercise!

 

I will call that bit done.

 

Liking this a lot, your plan to get it running and have some fun without getting too bogged down in the details, is the only way to go imho..

 

I’ve been having a general play about with things this evening.

Incidentally, I found that SuperFlex 0814P-80 bushes fit the Pete & Jakes shocks pretty well and have a 5/8” centre. I fitted a set to the front shocks that came with the car.

Then I had a look at the motor. Looks ok on first inspection, with only one minor crack that I can see so far and a lot of crud inside the oil gallery and the water jacket.

 

The muck in the valley is standard Mark, thats a result of non detergent oils and probably a wee bit of poor breathing .

If the crack is the one from the stud hole to the water jacket, thats not one to worry about . the bad ones are the ones from the valve seat to the cylinder , dont be to overly concerned with that crack.. Thats licensd by Ford..lol...

Looks like a good sound engine Im realy chuffed for you so far .. fingers Xd both banks are equally as good ..

Did you do a compression test on it before you pulled the heads ? Cylinders look really good as do piston tops and valves . DANG,,,,, lol...

Ref the gearbox I hadnt ever checked the number on the box and was sold it as a 38 , but looking at the number it looks more like 36 to 37 .. There isnt a great dea of difference there might be some but for a wee hot rod its absolutely fine especially as its really good inside

 

just revisiting the pics , water jackets look really clean through the pump holes .. looking good fingers crossed the positive stuff continues Noticed you have the steering box in position with the other cast header .. the way that I mounted that was maybee a wee bit unorthodox but it was the best way without compromising the integrity of the chassis . It maintained the majority of the depth on the rail and allowed full boxing in that area . Looking good and great progress . Im confident there wont be anything really significant.. Sure some parts will need some attention but they are getting on a bit Great job on the axle . I know that some of those jobs might seem a bit daunting, especially when your being sold stuff , but If I wasnt confident with the combination and integrity of the parts I would have told you straight no point pulling the wool over your eyes , It would just make me look bad . Trust me , I know what its like to have my pants pulled down when buying this old stuff and i wouldnt intentionally pass on stuff that was past its usefull life.. Boat anchors are all to common and expensive . The hot rod community is too small in the UK especially the traditional style cars and followers .. Keep up the good work .

 

Yes, it looks like a good 'un so far, eh! I did a compression test, but it wasn't very exciting - about 50psi on the front and rear cylinders and 70ish on the middle two. I think I am going to end up pulling the pistons and replacing bearings and rings. Maybe I can persuade Mart to pop in for a brew to see what he thinks at some point! For now i just want to get the mounts/headers/steering box etc set up while it is in the frame.

 

Its been sat a long time , quite possible you will get away with rings and a valve job. The reasuring thing is that there were no zeros .. The Mercury engine Im using in Franks coupe is a cracking engine, I did a comp test on it last week most cylinders were around 120, but one was down to 70. Im hoping that after its been run for a bit the compression on that cylinder will come up , Its most likely valve seats that are the culprit . It too has sat unused for several years .

Cylinders in your engine look nice and clean . I would be tempted to run with it .. but at the same time if its a good block it might be a great candidate for a rebuild .. The trade off is the amount of use you think you might put it to to recoupe the rebuild costs .. Form over function

 

Lookin' good mateyboy
Charlie.

 

Front shock mounts are sorted. On to the front hubs and brakes...

 

I know you had some reservations but its fair to say that the axle turned out nice .. looking good , good desision to go through everything and familiarise yourself with this old Ford stuff .. Wont be long before your back up and rolling

 

yep, looking good.

 

These old cars and hot rods were along way from perfect when they were new. Enjoy the adventure and have fun with it.

 

So, having pretty much sorted the front brakes, (apart from waiting for some black VHT paint to arrive) I have turned my attention to the rear end. I have been scratching my head over what to do about the rear lower shock mounts. I don't want anything to bulky hanging down under the axle tubes and didnt really want to weld to the axle.

Anyway, after a few false starts I thought about using some old Chevy truck steering arms I had in my leftovers from when i did my '41. I am thinking that I can bolt them to the axle flanges with some spacers. Kind of along the same lines as the F1 mounts up front, but turned upside-down.

I cut one of them in half and knocked out the steering ball. Once I have pressed some bushes in I can screw in some shock studs. With a bit of heat and tweaking I think they should look ok.

Here is what i have so far:




I will turn up some spacers this weekend to see if I can get it to offer-up something like sensibly. Final position will be determined once I have the torque tube hooked up and the axle set at the correct angle.

A very kind gent is helping me to get some truck water pumps sorted, so until they arrive, final motor and gearbox angle is undecided. There is also the option of z-ing the frame to get the back end down, which has been mentioned, but i'm not sure on that at the moment.........

 

I made up some spacers and welded one of the assemblies together today. I had to make a thin bush to thread the shock stud into. Also the bolt spacing was out by about 1/4” so I cut between the two mounting holes and re-welded at the correct distance.

They need some heat to get the studs into the right position and some finishing off, but look like they will work ok.

 

That's pretty neat...

 

Cool start, good luck !