34 5 window build. an update of sorts

well, life has finally calmed down just a little bit, so i have begun to bring home all the parts i have stored in other places. time to concentrate on building the 5 window i got when my dad passed.

i got an '88 f150 to haul the stuff home. cheap transport. so i loaded it up and brought one load home:



unpacked it:





bringing the body home is next. but i ran into a snag when the clutch slave went in the f150, so i've been working on that. dropping the trans, replacing the slave etc. it's just about done. i kinda planned to bring the body home this weekend when i get a call from my mom that the barn it's in might not be terribly accessible at the moment because a tree near it was struck by lightning. yikes! i went over last night to take a peak and this is what i saw:



couldn't get closer if you tried. in fact, the tree is pushing the lower front corner off its block foundation and squeezing the door so it won't open. my poor car is trapped! my aunt owns the barn, and has hired a tree company to come in and remove it. so i am at the mercy of their timing to get it done. my one request: be SUPER CAREFUL of the contents!

to calm my nerves a bit, i started going through my dad's old magazines, and found a picture of the car from many years ago. i think this is from 3 owners ago. the story is that it has been a hot rod for some time, and was going through a redo and got to this point. then i believe it sat outside for quite a while. because it is now no where as nice as this. but still quite savable. anyway, it's a pretty cool pic:



so that's the update. waiting on the arborist to come clean up nature's mess so i can free my car. in the meantime, i am cleaning up the front and rear ends, and the frame which is an original 34. i have new tires mounted on some wheels ready to go. we should have a roller pretty soon after the body is out of captivity.

 

i am afraid i have used all my luck up and have this incredible urgency to get that thing home. i didn't sleep well last night. all i can envision is that building just deciding to give up the ghost and come crashing down. my wife tells me i worry too much.

 

i am torn about that, troy. i had all along been thinking about coach maroon. but now i don't know. i don't really plan on channeling it like it was. so maybe a fresh start is good. i know that my plan would serve the car right, even in light of an obvious, if as yet unknown, history. so i dunno.

 

pete, i have been thinking exactly the same thing. my mom is on the case too. she's very protective of the future of that project. but yeah. i want to swoop in and scoop it up as soon as the door will open.

 

it's on my aunt's property, and she's really concerned about liability and safety, etc. her home owner's insurance is covering it and she would rather wait for the tree co. to do the work. i'll respect her wishes. she's let me keep my stuff there for nothing for quite a while.

 

jeff, build plan...let's see...

-original henry ford '34 frame.

-body unchopped, and sitting on top of the frame

-no filled roof

-original '34 front end with zephyr brakes and a reversed eye spring, unsplit bones.

-'47 rear with a shaved spring to fit the pocket in the rear member, '47 rear brakes.

-292 y-block with offy adapter mated to '39 box.
-offy tri power
-3 97s
-rams horns manifolds
-truck oil pan with front sump to clear unsplit bones

-original seat

-original dash

-f100 box and column

-guide headlights on model a headlight bar cut to mount on rails

-15" 5x5.5 wheels with 8.20 and 6.70 tires (the one part of the build that kevin lee DOES NOT approve of...lol)

-undecided on original grille and lower panels, or '39 truck grille (east coast, represent!)

i think that covers most of it.

and as for the camera, i have a plan for that too. but i never remember it, and am always forced to take pics with my phone. not a good excuse for an artist, i know. but it's all i've got.

 

So... who told you that was the only part?

Actually I do think it's going to be cool – even with the wrong size wheels.

 

kev- i was giving myself the benefit of the doubt. sometimes that can be a huge mistake when other people find out...but when you are insular it makes you feel better about yourself...

 

jeff, it's such a combination of ideas i don't know where they all came from. most of them came from conversations he and i had based on something like this-

'okay, we have this project now, some of it will come from you, some of it from me. what do we have (key part of this, use what we have) and how can we make that into something great?'

some of it has come from my own mind. if you will, the conversations he and i have had since he died. a little from the smoke. a little from the ether. if i was being true to all that, i should use the '39 grille. but i saw what i only know as 'the 415c car' a 34 5w chopped and sitting high, and it looks awesome with the stock grille and inner fender panels. he bought the car to build with me as a father-son project when he retired. he didnt get to, so i will.

i hang onto the 15" wheels unapologetically though, because in '62, in new england, you wouldn't have used anything else. i know intellectually that 16s would look 'better.' i don't care. there are lots of things that look better than 39 truck grilles too. i don't care. they are new england hot rod.

so yeah. sheesh, now it's getting heavy. and i didn't want that to happen.

it doesn't matter. it's just a car...

 

nads. that's exactly it. just a car, but not really.

 

Yeah, you know I'm just hassling you. This car is going to rule.

 

haha. yeah, i know. no worries. i hope it rules. or at least, moves under its own power.

 

yeah, the smileys need a bovine growth hormone or something.

after this, i dont think i worry too much. it just takes a while for my worries to be confirmed...

 

Jared, my heart was in my throat...

Mark, my wife said something very similar. i hope she's right.

 

the body is still trapped in that barn, as the door won't open because it's squeezed shut. the contractor my aunt hired to fix it should be starting soon. in the meantime, i've been working on getting some more stuff home.

the frame finally finds its way:





a hokey little mock up:



and a brandy-new welder:



and, a semi OT new find, a '67 jacobsen with snowblower:



even if the body is freed from the clutches of that evil barn, i probably won't make much progress in the next month or so. most of my mechanical efforts will be concentrated on getting the '54 ready for one epic road trip to niagra falls, bonneville, the hamb drags, and memphis, nashville, and skyline drive. we leave for that in about 2 weeks, and we'll be on the road for almost 3. when september rolls around we'll get going again.