Projects 29 Model A Couprielet, A Phantom Sleeper

It’s a real challenge to shape the contour of the sides, it’s being done by hand using the leaf spring mount on an old BB Ford Truck frame I have down the back. I push the length through and push down by degrees. It’s still a lot faster than cutting and notching and a lot neater too.

 

I have also been working on a diagram.

 

I mentioned in a previous post a metal shaping website that showed the rebuilding of a 31 Cabriolet. The images fill in a lot of gaps in relation to how the quarter panels attach to the tulip panel. I am expecting to reall make good headway over the weekend. I will have more detailed photos of the build on Sunday.

 

I like the look of this car as well, I'm 99.9% sure he used 1931 Slant Window Fordor or Victoria doors. Bob

 

the late '31 cabriolets were slant windows, doors too short for Vicky or a400.
…..
as for the top to quarter trim, never done it...
but l placed a '30-'31 cowlband onto the rear quarter cockpit combing of a '29 sportie…
the radius is very close, and it bends easy...
to be long enough across the back you will need [2] bands…
USA's '30-'31 onetons have steel bands, [easy to weld a few studs to]…
the rest of them are stainless...
your skill at doing it yourself should make that job a breeze...
please post pix !

 

I am veering towards using the original Cabriolet doors on my build and having a go at fabbing up the remainder of the door frames to suit. The reason being, there is a protruding tab at the front of the belt line on the quarter panel above the door jamb area that would need to be notched back or removed altogether to allow the 30 coupe doors to fit. Rather than do that, I thought I could make the rear part of the door frame follow the flow of the quarter panel.

 

Hey Guys.
I started putting the body together the other day and is is as far I got.

 

The deck lid is beyond repair, so I will be fabricating a new one using the RHS frame I have been making up.

 

In order to tie all the panels together, I started fabricating a drip rail. The other thing holding all the panels together is an RHS frame that I purchased from a guy back in April, it was made up for a 30 Roadster, but by cutting the front section off, I made it suit the shorter Cabriolet panels.

 

I have more steel ordered that I will be collecting next week, as well as the drip rail, I will be fabricating the panel that holds the tulip panel and the upper quarter panel together. It will be done in two pieces an upper and lower section that follow the contours. It will flow all the way up to where the B Pillars start.

 

Once the drip rail and upper sections are finished I am hoping the body will be rigid enough to be able to be taken off the frame if need be. Once that is done I will look at cross bracing it to get it ready for the deck Iid construction.

 

Another thing I purchased at the Ballarat Swap meet at the beginning of the year was a Parcel shelf from a 30 Coupe. I also have one from a 29 Coupe shown here. I am veering towards using the 30 Coupe one as it’s shorter, meaning more leg room. The parcel shelf will also make the body more rigid. More updates next weekend.

 

Hey Guys.
Another week, another set of challenges this project is giving me. I have taken down the left hand quarter panel so I can assess the damage to the upper section. I pointed this out last week, but the photos did not show how severe it actually is.

 

I don’t want to replace the whole upper section but there will need to be major reconstruction in a number of areas.

 

In order to repair this section, I need to fabricate an upper section that incorperates the beltline, as the split runs along this one, so I made up a flexible paper pattern that follows the contour of the beltline.

 

The patterns will also work with the buck i am constructing,as it will act as a guide for the contour stations that run along the top.

 

There is a lot to do to finish off the buck, but without it I can’t shape the upper section, so that will be my focus over the next couple of weeks.

 

rock on... love the do it yourself attitude... keep it up.

 

Hey Guys.

Sorry for the lack of posts, it’s not due to lack of enthusiasm more due to the fact that that I have been living away from home renovating a property. I was trying to balence my time between driving down to the property and back a few days a week and working on the Cabriolet on my days off.

 

Even though the two properties are only 17 miles apart, the high cost of petrol meant that I was forced to move to the property full time, to save money and get more done. With summer just around the corner, I will be moving back home at the beginning of December. Once I do I can recommence working on it.

 

Even though I have been renovating full time, I have also been thinking about the direction of the build. There will be a few amendments, one of which is the doors.

Originally I was going to use 30 coupe doors, but I have decided to use the Cabriolet ones due to the fact that they match the quarter panels with the notches at the top. I still want full frames so I will make up full frames for these doors, with slimmer b pillars.

 

The drawing shows the notched Cabriolet doors with the proposed frame. The b pillar on the new frame will be slimmer than the A pillar to maximise visibility. Because the top above the Cabriolet doors folds inwards and downward, to fold down the top, the doors would be opened.

 

I think this solves all the problems so far. In effect this will be a Cabriolet with Coupe strength doors. To make it even stronger I will be including will be a roll bar at the B Pillars that will extend to the A Pillars. The roll bar will include seat belt mounts.

The roll bar will be shrouded in folded sheet metal to make it look as factory as possible. A few other changes I have been pondering have related to the grill. I have been thinking of using a 30 AA Commercial Grill rather than the 32 BB Grill to keep it all Model A. I have also decided to go with 30/31 wheels as well due to the lower profile.

 

The '31 cabbie has a lower reveal all the way around the wheel well...
except for that, being 1.75 shorter, and the tab over the B jam, '28-'29 sport coupes are the same... IMO...that '31 tab supports the upholstery against the window frame... so you can't look down into the jam...
you could use '28-'29 sporties as patches...
you could splice on the front 4" from a cabbie, if you are willing to lose the reveal...
ford also used the early sportie panel above the deck on the '31 cabbie...
In the USA there were '31 grills on the pick ups that looked like the stainless '31 but are steel... PIC... sold this one last year, regret that. … HIH.

 

Hey Guys.

I finally have some time off so I can focus on getting some more done. The hardest thing is trying to work out how repair the quarter panels.

 

This is what I have to repair.

 

It’s even worse on the inside.

 

Whoever repaired this, did more damage than good. I will have to grind back these welds and remove the patch panels to see what’s original and what’s been added.