no love for T coupes

I like early T coupes - '23 to 25 - but its a very rare occasion to see one used as rodding material. What gives? Too much wood in the body?

I'd guess with all the wood in it mods are difficult (like a simple chop). Even if left tall and full of lumber, I wonder how that could hold up against the forces of modern highway speeds. Lotta wind gettin' pushed at 75 MPH by that big flat windshield!

Share your thoughts before I regret getting one of these for a project.

 

Try to take a look at a body first. They are a wooden structure with the sheetmetal tacked on. The Gunter Bros chopped altered is one of the best examples of 23-25. There is a HAMBer who has a nice chopped street car also.

There are pics of both I posted in the HAMB T Coupe Club

 

There is a thread devoted to T coupes. I searched but can't find it. Maybe someone can post a link. There are some very nice ones on the road now...probably more than any other time in the past.

 

cuz they're ugly.

 

My friend is building a '26 coupe. The 26-27 has lots of steel to work with and while not the most popular I see plenty of the 26-27 Ts here on the HAMB and elsewhere.

My concern is that the wood in the earlier coupes ('23-25) is so extensive (door jams are framed only in wood) that chopping might be a nightmare and/or that without replacing every bit of wood with steel the wood framed body will be over stressed with modern driving conditions.

Anyone have first hand experience with these early ('23-25) coupes?

 

Here is a fellow Hoodlum's T..and it is a driver it has been to 100mph many times without having the windsheld on his lap.

 

Thanks CHOP but again looking for info on earlier coupes, that appears to be 26-27 which structurally is a rather different car.

 

This is the baddest one I ever saw.

http://www.draglist.com/artman/uploads/daily_pictures/gunter_irwindale_1968.jpg

 

chaddilac here on the HAMB has a killer one he's buildin,check it out.He's got some good build pics posted.

 

The '26-'27 is a better looking body IMHO. I'd be willing to bet also that more of the '26-'27 cars survived than did the earlier wood-frame cars.

Add these together & you probably have your answer.

 

You'll find that there is hardly no room for your size 13s in the 23-25s unless you build it so the trans doesn't come into the passenger compartment. That means building a highboy or a pan dragger.

 

Seen lots of rodded T's at various shows. Never cared for the "flat-top" look, even chopped.

 

Responding to the OP: This great EARLY T coupe shows up at T events in SoCal. It appears to have been crossed with a '38 Ford 50 years ago; probably was. Very tidy V8-60 installation, but no hot rod stuff whatsoever; wide 5 wheels; may have juice brakes, but I don't recall:

 

And this: Alan Kahan's early T coupe, which he's owned (as a hot rod) for something like 40 years. Originally had an Olds in it, now a SBF; it is thought to possibly be the earliest surviving car with original Von Dutch pinstriping:

 

Hamber E.C.'s Hippy Killer floats my boat ! ! Just plain wicked

 

^^^^^slow^^^^^^

 

I personally dig the 23-25 coupes. I'd build one if I could find one that wasn't just a pile of sheet tin -- so yes, it's all the wood in them that scares me away. I have heard, but don't know for sure, that the 25's had a little more steel in them than the 23-24's.

 

I have had a '27 for a few years and then came across a '19 coupe on e bay. Bought it thinking it would be like the '27 and boy was I wrong. Needless to say I am now making it a roadster (easier than replacing the wood with steel). I hope that helps answer your original request. I will be replacing the wood that would be left with steel but it will all be structural.

 

It share nothing with the roadsters. When it is done it will have a built in trunk and be a lot roomier than a regular roadster.

 

Thanks J Man its the "too much wood" thing that has me concerned. Not that it can't be done but it would be a daunting task that, frankly, turns me off.

May sound stupid but how feasable is chopping with very straight cuts through the posts and epoxying or liquid nails the wood together, weld the steel not laying down much heat. This is assuming that the lumber is still good enough to use (rare, I know).

Just a theory I came up with. Still have concern for the basic integrity of these bodies travelling at modern highway speeds.

 

didn't any of you guys have woodshop in high school? nobody watches Norm build fancy furniture on saturday afternoon? wood is a very forgiving medium to work with. and wood for a T has to be pretty simple... it's not like you are building a fat fendered woodie.

 

model A's Have very little wood . What little wood they have i replaced with re-production from gaslight model A supply. The top and body wood kit REALLY shored up the body rather well. Going down the road everything is as tight as a drum. no rattles, squeaks just awsome.

if that helps at all in your decision.......look at old lyman boats that were 100% wood. they took severe beating from ocean and lake conditions etc.

I think you are under-estimating the strength and durability

 

There was a 23-25 coupe at the 2008 Pileup. I don't have any pictures, but maybe someone else does. It was parked on the south side of the grounds by the corn field. I think it was dark green. Anyone remember that coupe?

 

I think it would be easier to just use a pattern to make a new piece rather than citting and glueing.

I was taking photography

 

Very, very few of the 1925 and earlier Model T coupes have survived even close to intact. Mostly what you find is a few pieces of coupe sheetmetal laying in a pile --- like i did a couple of weeks ago. I passed on that 23 coupe (could of had it for $20), like i have all the other early T coupes in my lifetime. There just isn't enough left of them to make it feasible to build 'em. 'Sides, who has the energy to research how they fit together?

 

fugly

 

People didn't like them because it was hard to do easy mods and keep them looking good. Heres an example, You take a '32 Ford and pull off the fenders and you have a completely different car that takes on a different attitude and looks awesome. You take a tall T and pull off the fenders and you have a strange looking car that has about as much attitude as a kitten and sure as hell ain't as cute as one. Don't get me wrong, I like T coupes but only if they're done right. Trust me you'll know it if they're done right.

 

Here's one that a friend built with A Harley Davidson drive train. I'd like to have a T coupe body to use as a yard ornament.

 

Would you put flames on it??? haha

 

I'd like to have a 1917-22 T coupe some day. This is what the wood looks like in the early ones and the 23-25's.