Projects Lytles Garage 34 5w Fuel Coupe Build Thread

Something to watch in-between. My 32 sedan still runs

 

Nice fabrication Sam! Good to see you are still working on the coupe.

 

What a wild ride!

 

I had fully planned to make a cowl top patch panel this weekend. I made a nice template and some notes on the proper crown. I just forgot one small detail... check to make sure you have a long enough piece of sheet metal. What a moron.




I made a stand that bolts to the rear hood hinge bracket holes and is adjustable height. That way I can nail the proper flow from the cowl, hood, and grille before the cowl patch is welded in.



I decided to tune up the hood tops. Someone used a grinder with 24 or 36 grit to strip them and left some real good deep scratches and gouges. There was some mud in them that was a cave and pave job, took a razor blade and scraped the crap out and spent a few minutes on them with a hammer and dolly. They came out pretty good. Still needs some more work but lots of louvers will hide some of the problems.

 

First time using an english wheel! Boy, there is a learning curve (literally). My first mistake was cutting out the piece slightly oversized and then trying to shape it, but I got it wheeled out ( I get to use these hip new metalshaping terms now). I should of wheeled a large panel and then cut the piece out. I got it looking pretty good. I'll have to strengthen up the grille and I'm still waiting on some hood parts before I can fit and weld it in the car.

 

Just checking on the awesome progress. Keep the updates coming.

 

Finishing up some more of the ugly bits still left. Saved a few ounces of weight and made 'er real strong. Trunk jams are done.

 

Very cool race car.

 

Even trunk jambs need speed holes.

Nice work, -Abone.

 

Are those to let all the tire smoke out of the trunk

 

Thanks man. Really enjoying your coupes build thread.

 

That will be the louvers job.

 

Any updates on this wicked build plus had to look at the video of the 32 sedan

 

The metal fabrication on this build is just amazing and a good learning tool!

 

One step forward... ten backwards.

I've read many times from people that fitting the front sheet metal on a 33-34 is a real pain in the ass.

This car proved that theory right. The body is technically a 33, but somewhere down the line it got a 34 drivers cowl side scabbed onto it. It goes halfway up the a pillar and about a 1/3 way across the cowl top and all the way down the side. The cowl top section consisted of 3 overlapped pieces welded and leaded that didn't match the back of the hood at all. On top of all that the drivers side was a 1/4" higher than the passenger side.

So I cut the whole drivers cowl off the car.

I spent a while trying to cut apart and fix the original piece. It ended up in the trash can. So I just made a new piece that follows the backside of the hood and cowl.

 

Once that mess was sorted out, we can get back to the regularly scheduled program. We got the cowl top its final cut and fit and tacked.




I spent pretty much the whole day hammer welding the panel in. Most of it went pretty straight forward except in some really thin areas the car fought back. You can see how pitted the body is.

 

Wow oh wow, your lucky to be working this with your dad. Mine is long gone and was not into cars.
The craftsmanship here is beyond description. I may have posted someplace along this threads journey through time, I can't get enough of the 33/34 Fuel Coupes myself, this is a fantastic build and and will be an even more fantastic FC. Quadruple .

 

Excellent workmanship. Do you think it will be ready by this summer?

 

Thank you. I would lean on the side of no, but you never know.

 

Love the build. Lots of work....

 

The grille has been a big floppy bastard, since it has nothing other than the splash aprons to hold it up. That also means the hood shifts every which way but in line. Remedy for that is a grille cage/battering ram.

Made from some 1/2" od tubing, it snaps into place and out of sight on the car. Jury is still out if more bracing will be required.

If this thing gets stuffed into a wall, hopefully this will keep the grille somewhat repairable.

 

If it looks and sounds as good as the 32 it will be a winner for sure. That one is a beast.

 

Nice grille support and you have a hood to help support it as well on the Hyder koulan comp coupe it didn’t have a hood but the grille sure looks good out there by itself but sure makes me wonder how it stayed up there like that I dig your car hopefully in the next year or so I can start on mine yours is a big inspiration keep up the good work


Chrome don’t get ya home

 

Now you can yell RAMMING SPEED like in those old Roman movies

 

Cowl is finished up as far as I'm going to take it.

 

Started to work on the hood sides. Like the hood top these got mudded up. Spent literally 5 minutes with a hammer and dolly and had them flattened back out.

I like stripping paint and body filler with a razor blade. I saw it on that Mobsteel tv show from a few years ago. It works pretty dang good, and keeps all that stuff from going airborne and making a huge mess everywhere.





Once the sides were stripped and sanded, it was time to throw them on the car. That resulted in the grille being 5/8" too tall and the front of the hood sides from even coming close to fitting. So after pulling the front end and splash aprons back off the car and adding material here and cutting shit off there, the hood "fits".

Its starting to look like a proper 34 now. On to the next shit show.

 

Your car is really starting to come together and it looks badass. I love it.

 

Excellent metal work, in awe of your finishing. I can tig weld, but trying to stop the metal moving, and then getting it straight after, i'm lost! I did a really small rust repair on my 40, above the rear fender, quarter went all over the place! I had to cut out the first attempt, straightened as best i could, and redo. Its now flat enough to fill, but not as clean a your cowl, a real skill getting this stuff right.

 

Beautiful!

 

That is the money shot. It looks like a whole car now and gives you the ability to stand back and make sure everything looks like you want it to.

Nice work, -Abone.