Projects 1931 Ford 3W Build "Marilyn"

Ahaha I know! I couldn’t believe it when I moved up here, there aren’t any period HotRodders in va beach. I can sure attest these guys are the real deal and when they go on cruises they’re gone for 12-14 hours at a time all in period hotrods. Blew my mind when they invited me out for a cruise after I had only had my roadster on the road for 2 weeks 14 hours later I pulled back in my driveway

 

More work on the 3w today been staring at these rear corners talking myself into cutting the body and fitting them in, been resisting doing it cause I was nervous of fucking it up but decided to just grow a pair and cut it and tacked in place. MIG welds look like shit the wind was ripping today. I’ll go back and TIG weld everything once everything is fit
started ironing out the sheetmetal on the ps getting the rear gutter and new folded edge in place and mocked up so I can weld it in
ps 32 wheel well tacked in place
again decided to say Fuck it and went at the B pillar on the ps had to cut the hell out of the subframe to get both doors to sit flush to the body. Quarter panels may be a bit shorter because of this but they fit the doors and that’s all the real matters to me

Going to have to redo the lower quarter patch on this side it’s slightly off...oh well that’s hotrodding I guess. I’ll get it next weekend
picked up 2 F1 boxes a while back and this one (which is 100% bitchin with the old white paint) was seized was able to spend a few minutes and got it spinning freely! Have to fix the one ear but this thing is rad! my shitty Shelter logic is getting a littler cooler with some vintage station items Eli had kicking around his house. He made up the Garage front for a World of Wheels event that never happened due to Covid. Going to make barn doors for it! The tent garage has given me a fit and has blown away 3 times (partially my fault for not securing it well enough) but finally was able to drive the stakes into the ground. Made a pallet/3/4” plywood floor and welded the frame together and it’s sturdy as hell now! Had to mock up the front end and nose it out for a picture ahaha
definitely needs smaller front tires. These are borrowed anyways but are 600s and 700s thinking I’ll run 500s and 750s

Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Also picked up this original 32 dash from my dad and scored an original Stewart Warner Hollywood dash off of Epay. I don’t know if I’ll use them in the coupe or not, when they get here I’ll put them in the car and let Marilyn tell me what she thinks!

Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Marilyn's looking good Dylan. Good job.
Please update your profile, so we know where you're at!

 

Thanks buddy! I tried to a few days ago but couldn’t figure it out I’ll try again though


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

my OG Stewart Warner Hollywood panel came in today! Absolutely love it! one of the best parts about being single is the ability to have your “prized possessions” in your living room lol but the real question is which gauge panel for the coupe?


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

HA! We all would like to have that problem. Nice assortment!

 

Thanks buddy!


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

thinking I may just make a dash from scratch, really dig how this panel looks and discovered in the sunlight that under the black is an original machined turned surface! Love it even more now. I’ll make a new dash and do my best to design something that would look like this panel was factory or at least an accessory dash that you could have purchased from the dealer. Get to get creative with it and also allows me to put a glove box in. I do still have the Aristocrat dash panel as well if I change my mind and stick with the stock tank


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

ok so more on the coupe, after some soul searching and talking with my ol man and Eli, I’ve come to the conclusion to chop the car. Still need to finish all the sheetmetal structure beforehand so I started working my way front to back. Decided to weld the header into the car and weld the roof it it. I figured 32s were welded why can’t this one with the style I’m going for. It is going to get a visor still I just haven’t decided how to mount it.

I cleaned, primed and painted behind the header and painted the wood header before install since the wood is pretty questionable on this car. It was solid enough to use but borderline.

As you can see I cut the top lip off the slant header, I did this with 2 reasons first and foremost was to help get the “forehead” shorter and second was to help bring the visor down to where I felt it should sit. I then cut the wood header shorter flush with the metal and found that it was pretty solid inside.

Clamped the doors shut after making sure they were lined up and welded the roof to the cowl.

I then finished off the upper portion of the B pillar on the pass side. (Still need to repair the lower portion on both sides, but they are solid enough to build the car off of)

Started playing around with chop ideas and getting the back window belt line in place. Really made some decent progress on the ol girl this weekend. Found myself psyching myself out of working on it then I just told myself I’m on the clock at Eli’s and I wouldn’t bitch out if it was a customer car and all a sudden I picked up the grinder and just got it done. New mindset really worked great!

Tried to take more detailed pictures of this process especially, Incase anyone else may try this.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

really feeling the 3.5” chop. This would entail chopping the car 2” from its current state


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

I like both the 'Stock 1.5"' and the 3.5" chop, but I think the 3.5" looks best to my eye.

Glen.

 

Just remember to take that visor into account when figuring how much to chop it. That visor is nice but will make it more difficult to see street lights the more it is chopped. I'm liking the 3.5 inch chop.

Loving this build and your courage to go for it!

 

Glad to see the ol' build thread being updated! The coupe is looking great!

 

Thanks buddy, I agree!


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Definitely taking it into account, I’m lucking out with the slant window that it keeps the visor further back outta my line of sight although there’s something “badass” in leaning forward to see lights in a chopped 30s Hotrod

Really appreciate it buddy, the struggle is real lol definitely having to get my mindset in the game to just go for it! Glad you like the build man!


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Ahaha hey thanks buddy! Just keeping going and looking forward to cruising down the road with ya!


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

this gap is really irritating me, but I gotta keep the cowl in this position due to hood alignment. Any ideas or tricks to fix this? kinda a shitty picture since the door is smashed and the lower quarter patch isn’t aligned (that’s why I tack only until everything is fit ) but you can see the gap closes towards the wheel well.

32 Ford’s actually sweep up on the body I suppose I could buy cowl patches for a 32 and new Vicky door patches and create the same “sweep”


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Back in the old days they filled that gap with a strip of wood and painted it...seriously...

Pinching the frame and/or channeling the cowl over is a newer option...and I have seen the 32 lower cowl panel added as well..

If you go for a pinch and channel you would have to also mod the rad & shell to match the channel...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...29-body-on-deuce-rails.1069919/#post-12144551

...in this Thread the Hamber @Roadsterholic fabbed wood shims/packers







...Hamber 5wbomber did a nice job on his Roadster and they actually look nice au natural...

 

@DylanHill1931 I'd consider a little channel – that's what I did on my car. I personally don't care for the wood gap filler even though that may have been done in the olden days. Sorry Jordan. It also looks like you'll need to pinch the frame or spread the cowl feet at the front/bottom.

Oh and go big (or small depending on how you look at it) with the 5.5 inch chop!

 

You can do a 3/4” mini channel in the front I have photos of how I did mine in my coupe built thread. I also have the same Stewart Warner Hollywood gauge panel, but haven’t built the dash yet.

Darn auto spell changed it to cannot

Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-fitting-a-31-cowl-to-a-32-frame.157356/

... @D-Russ's mini channel Thread...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/31apickup-31-a-coupe-build.1113888/

... @31Apickup's channel info is actually one of the first things he tackled...

Nothing like options eh!!...decisions, decisions...

Thanks fella's I was snooping for Threads like these yesterday and came up dry...

 

I’ve never seen or head of the wood filler till now, it looks great on that roadster! Not sure that’s the route I’ll go only because there won’t be much visible wood anywhere else on the car. I think I’ll likely order 32 cowl patches and hang the sheetmetal lower.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Since I’m running a full hood I can’t change the cowl from where it’s at since everything fits perfect for what I was wanting which you can see here with the cowl/hood perfectly even with the frame rails. I think what I’ll do is buy 32 cowl patches that have that exact sweep to them and buy the Vicky door patches that have been teasing me on ebay. To fix the issue. I may have to sweep the hood down to match like a 32 as well but we’ll address that when we get there I guess


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

I’ll definitely look into that!


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Just checked out your thread on the mini channel. Love how it came out, I’m curious how I could make up the 3/4” in the hood though...?


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

This is a really neat build.

As far as mounting the visor, have you considered making a 32-style header panel, something like the panel Flop used to make? That allows you to mount the visor in a solid way.

Keep up the great work. As for the chop, I'd usually say, "Chops start at 4"" but like mentioned above it does have that factory one-off vibe. I think a modest amount would be enough to make it a bit more aggressive but still retain that look that has people guessing. Once it's chopped harder, it would remove all doubt, to me.

 

Section/trim the hood and mod rad mounting and drop shell to match...as the whole body will pivot down...

 

only recent picture I have of the cowl feet. Sorry for the lousy angle I was mainly seeing how I liked the chrome backing plates. I plan on putting my X member right under the forward cowl feet and running a rubber “spacer” (probably at most 1/2” thick) to make up whatever difference there may be.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

I don’t believe I know the header you’re talking about, if you have a picture I’d be very interested in seeing it. I don’t want to give the illusion I’m trying to copy a 32 so doing an actual 32 header I feel would make it appear I’m “trying too hard” if that makes sense.

Really appreciate it bud, my first experience with any sort of custom work and like you said I want the car to make you puzzled with the body more than the attitude of the chop. Who doesn’t love a sinister chop on a 30s car but I feel I owe this one justice to go for more of a “gentlemen’s Hotrod”


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.