Projects 1934 3 window HighBoy Build Begins

Drewfus,
Josh started by installing the radiator First and secondly with a fan on the water pump to let the engine placement be dictated by the fit from the front. Josh pulled the firewall out as part of the process and will put back what makes sense. Hang in there and see what we end up with! A louvered hood without hood sides will be run. The guys at Custom Auto have a very good aesthetic sense and the firewall setback / sail panel replacement will return with an excellent execution.
Regards,
George



QUOTE=Drewfus;8603576]I love the look of that curved rear bar, really looks neat, but was curious as to why the firewall 'sail' panels were removed? I could appreciate it if you were running a blower and had the engine set back the more common 3-4", but since I thought you were fitting a bonnet not sure why had them removed, was it just an aesthetic prefference?

For comparison, this is where I've got my 354 sitting, and will be moving it back another 1" shortly, such that the rear plug will basically be in line with the leading edge of the original sail, with a relatively small trim/dimple required for the inner fender/hood side



Enjoying seeing your build, appreciate the updates.

Cheers,

Drewfus[/QUOTE]

 

Lookin good George!

 

Whfew! I was worried you were going to leave them off. Not many times a 34 looks "right" when those firewall side panels are cut off. I could see them shortened a bit, but do hope they are put back in some recognizable form.

 

MORE pictures from Josh's hard work today.

Winters quick change with 3.62 ratio gears to go with my 700r4

The pictures tell the whole story... obviously the front ladder bar mounts will be converted to a hoop for the drive shaft. the 2x4 is a mock up to get the rear hung properly.

LOOKING GREAT JOSH!

regards,
George

 

thanks for the feedback, I certainly mean no disrespect at all, just was curious, and glad to hear that the sails are going back on, although I would have respected the build regardless.

Again, appreciate the updates, certainly looking good thus far.

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

No offense taken! The sails Might be zipped off totally as I hadn't thought much about it until your post. I am not sure , but know it will all work out. Maybe some smaller sails......
When you leave the hood sides off, the sails Are a bit too much for me. Anyway, not an issue for tonight. Grin


We shall just wait a few weeks as there is so much to do.

Thank you for your comments. They are welcomed.



QUOTE=Drewfus;8607083]thanks for the feedback, I certainly mean no disrespect at all, just was curious, and glad to hear that the sails are going back on, although I would have respected the build regardless.

Again, appreciate the updates, certainly looking good thus far.

Cheers,

Drewfus[/QUOTE]

 

A lot of effort to get the front ladder bar mounts incorporated into a driveshaft hoop...Here is Josh's vision and implementation today. The lower half of the hoop is tomorrow. I am very happy with the quality of Josh's effort. Rex advises that they will add support between the two hoops to insure there is no twist with the forces on/from the ladder bars.

Regards,
George

 

That chassis looks like a solid setup, will be good for handling the power of the hemi. Really enjoy your updates - great work!

 

Not sure what all Josh did today other than c notch for axle clearance...
nice job!
regards,
George

 

I thank you sharing the photo's of your build. nice sweet hot rod !

 

Thank you...Rex and Josh are doing the work....I just get to report in as I get pictures from them. smile. The below picture is of the added panhard bar and entire rear frame lowered to eliminate the "up the skirt" view that needs to be avoided. I would really like the quick change to be visible to show it off a little , WITHOUT looking at the entire undercarriage. IE: A nice compromise. A small hoop for clearance will be added to give the rearend room to move up to the bump stops without hitting the coil over cross bar mount.
Regards,
George

 

Very nice work! I am looking forward to seeing more.

 

Here is more progress from Josh today and direction for the rear end clearance needed. The chassis is getting close to being wrapped up!
regards,
George

 

I met some friends for breakfast this morning before I headed up to Loveland for a visit with Josh and Rex.We discussed the progress on the coupe and a few ideas for routing the headers and 3 inch exhaust on the outside of the frame before ducking back through the frame for mufflers and turned down tail pipes.We surfed the net for " pretzel/ snake" style headers for an early Hemi and came up short. It looks like Josh will have to spend the effort to custom fabricate and I would really rather find some pre built headers to not get bogged down in the effort it will take to make them from scratch. I am not so sure that it can be avoided....sigh. While Josh enjoys that effort...I am thinking time and project management. He has welded the last hoop in the coil over mount cross member and needs to clean up the welds and do a final finish weld to have it looking as nice as the rest of his work. He may have finished as I drove back to the TRI State swap meet in Denver. I made a quick walk through looking for HEMI parts and saw one nice 6x2 intake that I don't need. I looked for a cool set of valve cover breathers and could only find singles and not a matching set. I have a new set of 42 degree units from HOT Heads and will add them to my valve covers tomorrow.
regards,
George

 

Spent a half day in the shop with rags and lacquer thinner removing paint from the valley cover ribs that I had polished and then painted last weekend. I then set about polishing the second valve cover before adding mounting holes with windows for the two 42 degree breathers that came in from Hot Heads Friday evening. This involved using the gasket for a template. I used a Sharpie to mark the insides, then center punched a row of holes around the perimeter to drill out like a wood pecker and used a good Vixon file to smooth the jagged edges up to a nice finished rectangle. I set them all on the Hemi for a picture and came inside for a posting break and a diet coke.

I haven't decided if I want to go back out as the ends of my fingers are sore from rubbing. grin.

regards,
George

 

A few more shots of the frame the body is back on and Josh is working on rocker replacement and lower sheet metal repair.

 

Here's a shot from after the body went back on today. This is much better as the view is "mo better" .
regards,
George

Thank you Josh an Rex!

 

Love this build thread. Subscribed!

 

Both rocker panels needed replacement..... Josh has finished the drivers side and continues to work towards getting her put back together.
Thank you Josh!

 

Josh made the effort to roll her outside this afternoon to see what her stance is and give a good visual check on lines. She will sit a little lower in the rear when you get more weight and a tank of gas in the "boot". grin.
Trust you will all apreciate the feel of the car as much as I do.
Regards,
George

PS: All the tires are running the right direction. snicker. Josh said he couldn't take it anymore! LOL

 

Looking good George!!


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That coupe will be one sweet ride! Coming along well!

 

Great work George. I like the stance and look already!

 

Niiiiiice! I like the the hood no sides look

 

The car is looking good once the front cowl patch is made and in the lower body reveal will flow with the frame. the headers running on the outside of the rails will give the car a great looking stance, we are still a little open on the best route for the headers, but George has good taste and we need to get the body finished up before we need those finalized.

 

You fellows are doing some fine work up there in Colorado. I like everything about this build. I was going to put a 354 in my 5W but did not want to lose the beautiful side panels or move the motor as far back as it would have been needed to run them. I am enjoying your build thread. That hemi looks good in there.Thank you.

 

Josh spent today getting the passenger side cowl patch panel fabricated plus installed as well as getting the right side rocker installed. He was gracious enough to take pictures along the way.
Please see the below from pattern to install. Thank you Josh.

Rex is ordering an aftermarket hood as it will yield an easier effort than the time needed to repair either of the two I have. If you need any Henry hoods or hood sides...please let me know off line.

Bill at OTB Gear "Only The Best" has shipped my filter assemblies and I expect them next week. We are also waiting for rear door jambs and our motorcycle gas tank filler that will be incorporated into the drivers side quarter panel top.

Things are moving along nicely and Rex is going to be able to pitch in and help Josh after he gets another customers car into the paint finish area with Justin.

There is an enormous amount of work yet to be done and I am enjoying everyday of the process. I will get back into the shop this weekend and work on the HEMI as it is my responsibility to get it and the tranny up to Custom Auto when they are ready for it.

Regards,
George

 

Josh finished up the cowl patch and entire passenger lower side today. Next up is the bottom of the drivers side and moving on to the cowl and floor. Rex sent me a note tonight with the attached pictures and a strategy for going from the completed lower side including floor before they start moving up to the top for the roof fill. The rear of the car will have a short louvered panel under the spreader bar. A mini roll pan of sorts. Note that the cowl panel is not as curved as original. This has been done deliberately to match our intended future custom built headers with 3 inch collector and side pipe. The door is tack welded on for the set up. Both doors have MAJOR surgery planned to get rid of the hidden hinges and put original type PLUS inner "X" bracing in. Can you say ?,.....remove the door skins, install the braces, replace door skins?? OUCH!!!! but this will be worth it over the long haul when the doors stay put and do not sag.

While your on the first picture , note the Real Rodders Wheel bolt on "spindle mount' look alike, IE:the empty grease cap hole. Pat O'brien was nice enough to let me send him a drawing of the type of center cap I wanted. The recessed lipped will allow me a place to have engraved and fill with one shot paint. I haven't decided on what to engrave yet?..an early V8 logo, Ford Oval or ???? If you have any thoughts on this...chime in! smile

Don't forget that this hood is for set up only. The replacement hood will have holes for my EFI ram tube filters and different louvers to match the roof fill panel and the deck lid.
Regards,
George

 

Saturday afternoon update.
I worked on adding the ram tube pinch clamps and bases for one bank today. I couldn't do both as Rex and Josh have the other bank for mock up. It took longer than anticipated as all of the counter sunk holes and 8/32 threads were full of polishing compound. I had to run a tap through a lot of holes to clean the threads out in order to get the socket cap screws installed. Easy work...just tedious. The tubes are 14 inches tall which is as tall as the good folks at Hilborn could make them in their forming fixtures. They are obviously "giraffe necked" and will be even worse when the 3 inch filters are added. Not to worry, we need the length to allow us to cut them down to hood height when all is said and done. The "anticipated" protrusion through the hood will be louver height or maybe a little taller. But just a little subtle effort is called for here. Not OBNOXIOUS!
Regards,
George

 

Nice metal work! Your coupe is looking good!