Super glad to have found this group. A little history on me. My dad bought a ’49 Ford coupe new and immediately modified it. It was black with all of the bright trim removed, holes were filled, taillights and headlights frenched (not positive on this), and dual exhaust with very minimal mufflers. At that time, you could go to the auto parts store and listen to vinyl records of how the muffler system sounded on a particular engine. He was 18 years old. It was loud and lots of fun to cruise in his hometown of Detroit. He eventually sold it and moved onto ’51 and ’53 Ford convertibles ... Yep, Ford man. And, he made sure I knew how to work on cars at a young age. I’ve been reading lots of posts, new and old, and am learning a lot. I like hot rods and customs, but am drawn more toward the early Ford hot rods (at least at this time). The Cochran-Tardel coupe is incredible. Keith Tardel has one hell of an eye for detail. I’m leaning towards building a ’30-’31 Ford 5W coupe AV8, but am still in the research phase of confirming that my 6’ 4”, 214 lb body will fit comfortably inside. I like roadsters, but it sounds like the early one’s are an impossibility and the ’32 - '34 years are iffy, at best. From reading older posts I’ve determined the following: · Flat floor (no transmission hump) · Stock firewall · Don’t channel · Minimal chopping (sorry, but Henry made that top too high) · Remove package tray and move bench seat backwards and lower it. Possibly, tilting the front of the seat cushion upwards. · Mock it up constantly · Frame choice – Stock frame is easier to register with the local DMV, but makes it a tight fit for the flathead V8. ’32 frame gives an additional 4 inches(?) in the engine bay length, but necessitates a custom hood. Please feel free to correct me or give feedback. You all know a lot more than me.
The Jalopy Journal
