Poboyross's Model A Build: "Faux'dster"

i used it on my chassis and some other parts

 

Cool. I'm planning on doing the same, actually. I'm going to pretty much do the entire chassis with it. Got any pics of yours?

 

Looking great! I like it so far, nice job.

 

Nice build, keep it up

 

Nice clean setup so far. Need some more pics,

 

With the Ford 8 inch rear end and the So Cal center crossmember already in the rod, it might make sense to just keep the SBC and the powerglide. Flatheads are real traditional, but you will have to change a lot of what you have already done to make the rest of the chassis as traditional as the Flatty, don't you think? It will also probably be a bit more drivable with the SBC and powerglide, I would think. Can you post a better picture of how you mounted the rear spring hanger to the 8 inch Ford?

 

I'll snap off some soon. What are your concerns with the rear? Not that concerned with making the rest of the chassis as traditional all at once. I've got an extra frame and those SBC components would likely go to another build at some point in the future. Not worried about folks dissing on me for having a flatty and a SoCal crossmember or PG mated to the flatty. I just like the look and sound of the flatheads. That is, unless, someone were to offer me a better SBC than what I've got, in running turn-key condition

 

He's some pics of it tacked together from the build. I think they were originally speedway of p&j. Hat to be cut down after being cute of the rear and shortened way up. They were about 8" long and put the spring way behind the rear. And i made a longer gusset because the old one was really short considering how long the hanger was.

 

Yeah, that should work out OK. Thanks for the additional pics. Some guys weld a Model A rear spring perch right onto the top of the rear axle. I don't know that one way is better than the other, but the way you are doing it should lower the rod's rear end more.

 

I would say that lowering is definitely the goal here Looks perfect to me!

I donno if I've said this yet...but the more I look at that rear spring perch, the more I like it...probably going to copy it! hahah

I won't take credit though.

 

So I got my Eastwood inner frame primer/rust encapsulator the other day and applied it this morning. It's interesting stuff to say the least. They have it designed so that it streams out of four pin holes in a brass fitting at the end of the 2ft hose that comes out of the main can nozzle. It atomizes pretty well about 3" out from the brass fitting, but let me tell you, it took ALL of two cans to just adequately coat the insides of my frame, and it's only 2/3-3/4 boxed! You'll have a LOT pooling up on the bottom floor of both your frame AND your garage! I think it was worth it to me to do this, as I want to protect the frame as much as possible.

QUESTION: Do you guys think I should do my body-to-frame fitting now while its in primer, or wait until after I hit it with the epoxy and apply the frame welting and body blocks? Pros/cons?

 

Small update...got the "new" cowl finally mounted to the body. Going to be carrying it over to Lucky's here in Burbank in a week or two to get it all nice and straightened, purdy-fied and such while I work on the chassis.

 

you will be better off not painting anything until you build/ fabricate the whole project then take it all apart and paint it. i have gone as far as wiring a project and running it, before i painted anything. there always seams to be something that needs to be cut or welded or ground to fit and it sucks to have to touch up paint.

 

Yeah, figured that'd be the case. I kinda had to prime it since I got it sand blasted...don't want that nasty rust returning.

 

primer is good, it's a "working " surface, nicks ,chips, welds can be sanded before paint. when it comes time to rip it all apart to paint it is a blast, [think model car kit].

 

I just found your thread. Your car is looking good. I agree on waiting to paint anything until you assemble you car once. I painted my frame when I was at about the stage you are at now and wish I wouldn't have. It's suprising how many things end up changing before you are done. Keep up the good work!

 

So I met up with Lucky of Lucky's Garage over here in Burbank today to chew the fat on converting the body to something that looks a little more proportional. We looked over "Project Mattitude" along with a couple other threads like the Kany Coupe. Instead of moving the back of where the top used to be mounted and taking it forward, we are considering cutting the subframe of the door opening, taking out 5-7 inches, and welding it back on, then cutting the doors down to fit. the new opening. This would give it better proportions (closer to a roadster), leave me with doors that are still longer than roadster doors (which I need because I'm 6'3" and 225), allow some more cab room (did I mention I was a big fellah?), and keep us from having to recess the firewall. The visual effect on the frame would look as if we elongated it, which I actually like, as they DID elongate the frame on the Lieb roadster, which I'm nuts about. I'll be posting some quick and dirty Photoslop images soon to show you what we were thinking. We couldn't foresee any reason that doing it this way would be a problem, other than getting the contours right on cutting the door so the transition from rear of the car, to the door, to the cowl didn't look too abrupt, and also having to move the cowl mounts back, drill a few extra holes in the frame.

BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER

 

Bump for the day crowd. Doesn't pay to update at 1am California time!

 

Ok ya kinda lost me here were are you welding back on the the 5-7 inches of subframe?

 

No, removing it from the door opening *and* removing it from the length of the door. That moves the cowl back and helps fix the proportion problems inherent in a coupester. That 5-7 inches of subframe goes bye bye.

 

But arnt coupe bodies & roadster bodies the same length?

 

I'm not quite sure on that. I've heard both ways, but from looking it appears the roadster body is a bit shorter. Whatever the case, after looking at the options for improving the body proportions, we decided this is likely the best option. It also keeps us from having to recess the firewall, which I do like the look of an unmolested firewall. Our goal isn't to turn a coupe body into a roadster, just improve the proportions of the coupester conversion visually.

 

Gotcha. Just pondering what you have going on.

 

I do not believe a original roadster is shorter than a coupe or similar. They just have shorter doors and longer quarters.

 

A COupe and Roadster are exactly the same dimension. The room in a coupe is gained behind the seat where "package tray" is. The difference is between the front of the wheelwell and the door. On a roadster it's longer because the doors are shorter. On a coupe it's shorter because the doors are longer.

So basically from cowl to tail pan should be the exact same length and even a sedan I would imagine.

 

Only thing that improves the body proportions is a chop. Everything else takes away haha!!! I under stand trying to make it a little more comfy though. Before you start cutting, splicing and dicing talk to Andy (thunderbirdesq). He's like 6'6" and he fit into a model a roadster like a glove. He made his adjustments in the seat and a few other places while still being able to keep the stock body, chopped windshield and a 17" non tilt column.

 

JJ is right on!!! The roadster body has a longer panel between the trunk lid and the passenger compartment... There's a thread here on the HAMB somewhere that shows that modification being performed to a coupster to get the proportions right...

 

Yeah, you're probably referring to the thread I referenced a few posts earlier, Project Mattitude. One thing I wasn't sure when looking at it was if the package tray area was cut and moved forward that distance *exactly* laterally or if TexasSpeed followed the implied curvature of the deck lid area. If the deck lid "incline" was held, then that puts the back lip of the cab area higher than it was in the coupe position. The drawback I could see when following that incline is that area begins to look like the more drastic sweep upward on the back of a T. If not inclined, then it looks like you might end up with a plateau of sorts where the curve of the deck area flattens out for that 7" then picks up where the original steel was re-welded in closer to the door post. Make sense?

 

A body chop is a huge undertaking. Like I said, I'm not trying to turn this into a roadster dead nuts. I want to make the proportions more pleasing. I guess if I had said I was going to turn this into a modified, I wouldn't be getting the grief of expectations that it be turned into a dead nuts roadster. I was actually hoping for input on the idea for the new look, as opposed to if it looks exactly like a roadster body.

 

Ahhhhhh, ok now I'm on the same page. I'm just gonna watch the magic as it unfolds. I probably should have read the entire thread instead of hopping around and adding my post.