Projects Old 1930 Channeled model A hot rod roadster gets a new lease on life.

alright, So I did some work on it last night and this morning. I started by scraping the bondo off the trunk lid. I just took a torch to it a little bit and it scrapes right off with a putty knife just like @A 2 B suggested.

before


During



After

I know it looks like shit now, but I can now cut off the welds holding the trunk lid on. I also managed to figure out that it is channeled around 9 inches. That's where I stopped last night and came out this morning and started working on the drivers door. As you can see the drivers side is VERY rough. The passenger side is actually pretty clean, but having sat on its side, mice made a nest on the drivers side and it's done some damage.


I decided to start by removing the drivers door. Both doors had been welded shut when it was channeled long ago. But the hinges are there, with no pins in them and I think I can cut the welds back off pretty easy. Especially the drivers side. It took about 5 minutes to get it back open. I cut the welds at the front of the door and the rears were already gone. Hosed the hinges down with PB blaster and got the door off.


Found this cool old service station inspection sticker in the door.

Here is a shot of the trunk mounted tank and the filler neck



Here is the upper side of the filler. I wouldn't mind keeping this detail in the future.

and the old swing pedals

anyways. that's it for now. will probably do some more tonight. I'm pretty pumped on this one.

 

It might look a little rough to some but your way ahead of where a lot of Guys start. Didn't you say you have a Driver side door already? That's huge. A 9" Channel is an large drop and loss of interior space. What I found in my Roadster was the foot room to work pedals and steering wheel to lap room when getting in and out. If I remember right mine is 6" and I have to Screw myself into place. Found it easier to get in from Pass side. Left knee to door and steering wheel (40 Ford) is tight. I think I'd be doing some test fitting before I just stayed where things are right now. I like seeing these projects come to life and follow through.
The Wizzard

 

Congrats. Very cool, man. Watching this one.

 

Those funky bones were run spring in front, which is a cool setup. If you can pull it off it is a sweet setup on an A or even a B roadster. Very traditional '50s stuff.

I am with the mini channel on a deuce chassis. I never understood why someone would hide the reveal on a deuce there is no other reason to run one.

The flathead would be cool or I hate to say this but something other then an SBC. No this is not SBC bashing, I am just being honest. For me another option would be the Lincoln Y block but they are pretty hard to come by, ya just can't beat a hot rod Lincoln.

I have actually seen more reasonable hot rod stuff in the Pacific North West than any other place in the last couple of years and have seen a few original deuce chassis that were not bank busters for sale up that way.

@Hitchhiker if you find something around here that you are interested in let me know, I will gladly take a look at it before you throw money at it.

 

So you were the guys with all of the A parts in Puyallup, we looked at what you had, but you guys were busy talking to customers. Cool score on the roadster. Although channeled cars look cool, they are small on space. My brothers roadster was channels back in the 50's by someone cutting the lower firewall and rear sub rails. Then they slid the 32 frame in from the back up over the side sub-rails. Then bolted thru the sub-rails into the bottom of the frame. Yours looks like they cut most of the sub-rails out.

 

Lack of space = 6'3" in a T roadster. No excuses, channel that thing!

 

The problem with a roadster is if you channel it too much you are sitting on it instead of in it.

Of course with a deuce chassis you could attach the floors to the bottom of the chassis and gain a ton of space.

 

Olds, full wheel caps and lots of chrome. Oh, and headlights mounted on aluminum stands that set them up too high. Man, I love the goofy 50's look

 

You know where the tall headlight stands came from right?

Those old aluminum stands are getting pretty hard to come by. I wish I had some.

 

Chris...You are describing the '30 roadster that was featured in an old "Highway Patrol" segment.

Mr. Mathews had a terrible time getting radio calls from CHP officers in '56 Oldses: "The hot rod took off like I was standing still! Couldn't even get a plate number!"

 

Channeled '30 Coupe, 1958:
I bought some of those aluminum headlight stands...'Tornado', from the old 'Honest Charley's Speed shop in Chattanooga.
Cop stopped me for 'headlights too low', I had butchered mounts from a headlamp bar...looked so sweet!
Replaced 'em with the aluminum stands...Law was: "Headlamps must be at specified height: no lower than 24", nor higher than 54"."
Judge accepted the officer's 'sign-off'. Also asked if I got that 'exhaust leak' fixed...

 

This. All of this. Except, I still think a Studebaker mill would be awesome, but I'm a masochist I guess.

I do have my stash of 'odd' wheel covers. @Chris already got some, Matt, you need to poke through too.

 

Stude mill will be super hard to find decent speed equipment, Olds stuff is pretty much everywhere and won't break the bank. I've had a few 303's, and 331 Cadillacs. Olds are 100 times cheaper then Cads

 

Bah, don't need any of that fangled speed equipment. Factory 4-barrel, and all that long stroke, small bore torque you could ever want. Besides, its the most modern mill you could get when Matt finalized his wardrobe...

 

HAHA! A bone stock oddball V8 in a channeled hotrod? I'll pass

 

I vote Studebaker too! Oldsmobiles are the new SBC!

 

Thanks, I think its a pretty good start. I dont have a another drivers side door. I just have a ton of old ford parts for sale and a guy stopped to see if I had one and I told him I would build a roadster around a door if I had one, We got to chatting and I ended up buying it! I was sitting in it today at approximately where you would in relation to the body and I definitely dont like it.

 

Thanks Beaner! Will definitely keep that in mind!

I do think you are right about the pacific NW lots of good stuff our here.

It was a crazy whirlwind day. I talked to so many people! You should have stopped. We'll be selling at most of the meets this year if you go to any more. It's definitely short on space. Especially with the filled trunk. I'm more and more thinking about un channeling it.

You know with the amount I drive my truck that lack of space in a 9 inch channeled roadster would be a major draw back. My truck is kinda the around town rig. This is gonna be my long distance car.

That's the exact feeling I had today when I was sitting on my milk crate making motor noises.

It definitely not getting a stude. If it gets a OHV its 100% gonna be a 303 olds.... I'll consider wheel covers...

 

I got a little more done this afternoon after working on a passat most of the day. I was able to get the passenger side door cut open and off the car. Its actually in really good shape. I also tried out a 36 dash and got more bondo off the trunk lid

 

Lookin' good Matt.

It doesn't look like that deep of a channel from the looks of the angle iron on the driver's side cowl. Do you have an A frame to set it on?

I, for one, really want to do an early lakes-style channeled roadster one day, but only channeled so the bottom of the body is at the bottom edge of the frame. Then again I've never been accused of being too tall...

 

Hitchhiker: I've un channeled two '34's. A coupe and a roadster. The work you're doing now may be the most rewarding of the whole project so enjoy it! Tim

 

I think you're right and its more like a 5 inch channel. I do have one A frame tonight and I think I am gonna try it out.

I sure had fun today! It's been awhile since I got to cut and grind on my own project as my truck has been mostly a bolt together. Thanks!

 

I wanted stock Ford gauges and a Glove box all along. I also wanted the stock on/off switch with Key Lock. I went with the 37 Dash and the way I mounted it the column drop on a stock 40 tube bolted right up. With your 36 Dash You might want to keep thinking Flathead.
The Wizzard

 

Agreed, I don't see the reasoning in using a 32 frame if you're going to channel the body over it.

 

Kool project , think it found the right home .

 

Great project! Look forward to seeing it come along.

 

I'll second that... after owning my channeled A roadster for a bunch of years I would have to agree. It looks cool, but nothing seems to fit right in a channeled car. I'm darn near sitting on the floor in mine and my line of sight hits the top bar of the windshield frame, always have to look over or under it...

 

Amazing that you found it via a guy looking for a door-apparently, he had plans to open up the doors/replace the crusty door and build it?

Once you find a driver's door and hopefully an front/upper quarter chunk the body will be miles ahead. The below deck lid panel is cheap. Model A deck lids are pretty reasonable too if that one's too much work to rework or reskin.

Can you make out a date or address on the door jamb sticker? If you posted detail pics of the gas tank and swing pedals, I bet someone would I.D. them and help determine a possible "earliest" build date?

No shame in building a Hiboy.

Maybe you can sell/trade enough parts to come up with a set of 32 rails and a running (Flatty) drivetrain...

 

It would be pricey unless you just got lucky but a blown 21 stud would be cool to the bone. Sorry I just got a soft spot for then 21 stud, who knows why I think its a bean thing.

@Hitchhiker all that bondo was a '70s thing (maybe late '60s) for some reason the deal was to make them seamless, I guess it is like perfect body gaps are today. LOL What happened to a lot of those old hoopties was that they got built whenever, '30-'60s, then they changed hands and got updated, sometimes they changed hands and got updated several times. It wasn't until this newer movement to preserve history that keeping a car the way it was originally built became an issue. In the '60s and '70s it was not yet history it was just another dated hot rod.

I like the direction you are taking this by the way.

 

I don't know about that...I have a stock '49 cad 331, right down to the single 2 barrel carb, in my channeled '32 five window, and it all works pretty well. Pretty fast too!

Great project Hitchhiker, stay with it. I love flatheads by the way, (drove mine to Colorado last summer) but nothing wrong with a stock EARLY overhead. They don't need a lot of "cool shit" on them to be cool.
Johnny