Projects Haulin' ass in fiberglass

After spending several cramped years in a "T"-bucket, I decided to build a touring instead. It'll still only be a two-seater, but with legroom and a reasonable steering column angle. When I saw a decent looking glass "Tub" body for $600, I grabbed it. I can proceed with the build. I've got my eyes open for a steel body. If I find one fine, if not, that's OK too. The important thing is to get on the road!

 

I have a Tee shirt from Stoudt's Auto Sales in Reading, Pa. They sell mostly Corvettes. Their spin on the phrase - "Wrap your ass in fiberglass" - works too!

 

Here is the thing with glass that no one ever thinks about. The underside of the hood can be finished out to resemble the outer part of the body. The inside can be upholstered to hid the inside of the doors and the top if its a coupe. The really only thing that you cannot hide is the tinny sound of the old Ford when you close the door. Perhaps if you tinned in inside instead of upholstered it that may mimic the tinny sound of the old Ford.

I know if a '33 Cabriolet that has a good glass body, as in it matches a real Ford body. It is running a Ford Mod motor with a 4 port hilborn for the throttle body. It had a surfer scoop on it and is letter "The Imposter", it is running aluminum Halibrand repops., and is fully upholstered. At a glance most people don't notice that it really is an imposter. Some figure out the engine right away and very few ever figure out that it is a glass '33.

It is doable if you are of a mind too. If not just don't call it a traditional Ford avoid all the silly billet thingamobs and enjoy the hell out of it. One thing is sure, it will never have a rust issue. LOL

 

Go for it I have a 34 steel body I was able to get ,nothing wrong with glass build your dream.

 

LOL I got a rustier then the devil '29 A sedan because I don't know where to buy a race weight model A sedan glass body.

I think that the scope of the this site leans toward steel bodies and older drivetrains. That is pretty traditional when it comes to being a purest most of the time. Obviously race cars are different than street cars in that aspect or some cars that fall into our time frame came in glass as opposed to steel.

Not every car that gets built by people that frequent this site is totally traditional. Some parts for example are designed or disguised to look more traditional than they actually are. A glass body could be one of those parts, but a lot of the cars on this site are using repop motor parts or wheels too for that matter.

That hopefully will never change the scope of the site and no one should feel bad because they have built a car that is not totally trad. That never means that they will not build a totally trad car at some point and it certainly will not keep everyone from learning about the tradition of what we like to call customs and hot rods.

 

I've been thinking about what I envision for an interior. With the primary goal being to go fast, I may just go bead-rolled panels and a pair of race buckets. The good news is I have a LOT of time to figure it out since I'm just getting in to drivetrain details now.

 

I hear what your saying and understand the HAMB traditional scope. I guess I'm just on the fringe as I use some traditional elements, but my cars are far from cookie cutter traditional.
Living on the HAMB bubble......

 

That is kind of the deal on the HAMB, we may not like a billeted out LS powered hooptie but your big inch motor is still built (architecture) along traditional lines. I think that there are some cars on the site that have been met with great fanfare that simply are not totally trad. A man that is probably infinitely more important than I will ever be once said that the letter of the law kills. Granted that is sort of religious but it can apply here I believe, a lot of what we do while not being totally traditional is traditional in spirit. It is a balancing act but it gets done. I believe that you will do just fine, you have been around long enough to get it right.

 

I say build and enjoy it. I was once a purist with restoration work on muscle cars. I had a 1970 Ford Torino Cobra 429 SCJ drag pack car. Once my dad and I finished it and took it to show I realized I wasn't enjoying it. Worried someone would scratch it. Worried if this or that was correct. Skip ahead 15 years. I am okay with older cars getting modern things. I am now okay with cutting up and original car and making a hot rod. I just want to enjoy and drive whatever it is I build.

I want to build a T Bucket or a Model A. Steel or glass I would build it.

I would love a traditional car or one that looks traditional. But I won't do anything that will not allow me to enjoy driving the car.

Sent from my Z971 using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

ss

In my coupe I used two pieces of angle iron, mounted on a pair of studs in each door and trunk lid. One bar is solid to door frame the other floats on plastic bushings with small springs, and phenolic bump pads to hold it off. When you shut the door or trunk you get a feeling of weight and a muffled metallic clunk. You can make pads from different materials to get the sound you want. That's hot rodding!

 

Would the adverse of the OP's original proposition be entitled "Makin 'em squeal in US steel?"

 

Here's the first piece. It needs the boat specific hardware removed (cooling, exhaust) and at some point find some more appropriate v/covers. Not going to sweat that yet as it's going to take some looking to find a pair that'll clear the roller rockers and stud girdles.
The rotating assembly isn't in it yet, so when I find the trans I can just knock it down to the bare block for mock up.
The thing I look forward to the most in the build? Setting back the engine and being able to build the recess from fiberglass not sheetmetal.
Please excuse the billet-y parts for the time being.....

 

Come to find out, there's an upside to the changes/mistakes I made while building the '31. I found the box of leftover parts and there's a ton I can use on the '32. First decision to make is which shock mounts to use.
I wanted to run these on the '31, but couldn't do it because of the narrow frame rails (stainless F1 style) or running fenders (stainless brackets).
Kind of leaning toward the F1 style, but will require a little carving on the '32 rails to mount them.

 

Any idea where that short C6 was used? Vans? Divorced case 4WD pick-ups?

 

This what I've been trying to find out but documentation sucks. What I've found so far is "high boy" 76-77 Ford 4x4's, some F250 long beds and MAYBE some 78-9 Broncos with divorced transfer cases.

 

Never seen a bronco with a divorced case.
A 78-79 3/4 ton two wheel drive with an "M" block engine should have a C6 with big block pattern and to transfer case. Should be fairly cheap too.

 

You are a poet and you don't know it and you have Longfellow for legs.

 

I really like your car. Who cares if it is fiberglass. I have drooled over it frequently. (sorry for the mess). Was Bonnie or Clyde home when you took that photo?

John

 

Problem is, I'm in SoCal..... there aren't any good junk yards here anymore. A lot of the older mechanical parts I use we wind up getting by taking road trips. Keeps the wife in the loop and enthused (so she doesn't ask how much I spend on these things). Craigslist helps a lot and leads from the HAMB do as well. Builds should be easier when I get the hell out of California, but that's a couple years away.....

 

Ya should still be able to locate a rusty 79 3/4 ton around somewhere.

 

If you move to Oregon you won't have to worry about the body rusting at least.

 

Yep, I think Clyde would have
approved...

 

Fiberglass? The HORROR!!!

 

Here's my coupe I just had ( HAD ) for sale. I built it for $9500.00 and drive the crap out of it . I put it up for $20,000 and had NO takers. The hell with them , I'll drive it this winter and never worry about it rusting. My wife drives her Vette.

 

Found your trans for sale today locally. $275. C6 out of a 3/4 ton two wheel drive. They are out there.

 

In BC, not so much in SoCal.

 

I had an idea to save time looking for rocker covers. Get some thick alloy plate, mill fins in the top side, and correct angles bottom side, the attach to existing rocker covers. Can you see it?

 

In less than a week I'll be 80 years old and seriously doubt I'll ever build another hot rod from scratch, but I'm posting here so I can watch you do what I had planned to do several years ago. Had bought a nice '33 frame and plan was to use a fiberglass body, but before I got any further I found a really nice rolling mockup Brookville '31 "A" roadster with a ton of extra stuff for a deal and went that way.
Just want to watch you build this.

 

Funny how things change isn't it? A month or so ago I was finishing up the '31 and had feelers out for my next project..... build a big tire drag car and go racing into retirement (literally). Before I found what I was looking for, I fell into this. Rather than flip this or make a clone of the '31, I decided to go balls out (for me) and use my stroker in a lightweight car. This won't have a full interior, just a pair of race buckets and the bare necessities to make it street legal.
Been selling off all my spare parts and am looking for the trans and diff I need so I can get this mocked up.
All that said, I tend to take things to extremes so things can (and probably will) change going forward.
Stay tuned...........

 

Making some progress but you can't see it yet. Got the new coilover bushings and mounted them properly. Don't know why the PO removed them, but there are other things making me shake my head.
Ordered the block huggers from Sanderson last week. Since the heads are CJ's, the exh ports are larger and standard BBF headers won't work. Who's the only one that makes a CJ block hugger? Yup, Sanderson.... oh well, the price only hurts for a little while.
The rear needs to be completed as it's just the housing, brakes and axles... no center section. I've been looking for original 9" pumpkins and apparently people think they're gold, so I'm going another direction. Aluminum center sections are REAL affordable now and I can build my own far less than a weaker stocker that'll weigh less as well. Through bolted and with conversion bearings, I can run the 31 spline axles I have now and step up to 35 spline later if there's too much hp. Going to run a Eaton True Trac that can handle up to 800 horse.
Got all the fittings, tube and residual valves so I can start running brake lines. Nothing real fancy here, going to basically run the same layout I built for the '31.
It'll be interesting walking the line between building a race car and something that's still streetable.
And yes, still looking for a trans.....