Projects 1930 Sportster, shortened cockpit, tilted post cowl, door caps.

change her name from Coupester to Sportster, part sport coupe/ part roadster...
Started with this free-bee...

seen worse toe-board / subfloor extentions... one 1/2 hinge to be removed... View attachment 3747843
had some roadster cowlsides.
View attachment 3747838

View attachment 3747841
View attachment 3747841
View attachment 3747842

 

Here is a thread worth looking at for inspiration.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/model-a-coupster-on-32-rails-updated.335443/

 

Ambitious

 

What are your plans for the build??

 

wow... now that is a coupester ! … great ideas, skill = great MODEL A body.
.
Coupester parts pile ;
'30 cowl, tilted and narrowed posts..
Vicky filler panel between w/s and tanktop..
cheap asz, polished aluminum, closed car w/s frame [speedway]..
truncated '30 coupe doors with home made caps or armrests..
sport coupe quarters, 3" of door cap to match the door cap line..
panel above / below deck, trunk lid..
front half stock subfloor.. kicked rear...
'38 car dash..
bobbed rear fenders...
maybe a '38 truck grill, hood sides, and the front 1/2 of the hood top, [Banister '32 roadster].
View attachment 3757046
. View attachment 3748141

 

Smitty, looks like you have healed up and are back it. Nice winter project. Gee, is that "snow" lying on the floor by that machine??????? Washed the Rv yesterday.....it was 49 here in KY

 

last year i fabbed this '30 closed car cowl with tilted back 10* and narrowed [F-R] w/s posts...
narrowed [L-R] lower A pillars...
chopped w /s posts... temp. header...
'32 cowlvent in an A tanktop...
gonna take the coupester the closed car cowl route...
.

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View attachment 3748148

 

played around this am, wizzer and some duct tape;
.the white showing from underneath is the roadster cowl section...
.
View attachment 3748297
.stantion looks to need a little trimming for the door top to fit ...
. View attachment 3748293

going to build the steel inner structure with threaded bungs for the w/s stantions before I weld up the skin so I can get at it...
going to try and cut the tank top off with a nibbler Monday...
someone has the same idea...

 

If you have not cut the top off a '30 A tank...
IMO...cut it about 1.25" from the top... all the baffles are soldered to the bottom and sides not the top... I cut all the way around and the bottom half fell off...
if you start at the bottom you will have to cut it into 20 pcs. to get at the baffles.

I drill [10] 1/4" holes into the remaining flange to hang a wire harness from... .
.this tanktop will help me line up the panels and firewall...

 

You doing all this today???

 

yesterday,
today i removed the broken tank screws in the firewall, tapped them out to 1/4"-20... plowed 2" of new snow...
took pix saftanoon... bum knee, down for the day.

 

plowing with a bumb knee! Not what the DR. ordered I bet..................can't keep a good Mainer' down for long

 

That must have been a problem when the A's were new, at some point Ford spot welded a plate behind that bracket. Bob

 

Go Smitty, Go! I am watching (and learning)

 

.
have had them both ways...

 

Wicked! Right up my alley. Start with cast of junk and build something cool.

 

morning work out... the nasty cut out...
View attachment 3752054
.the patch from a donar cowl... View attachment 3752056
.gravity
.not a "flop", but I can work with it...

 

Got the right side closed car cowl to the roadster stantion skin welded in today, had to invent a little skin as the patch was short to start with...
looks like I will need to add about 1.5" to the width of a closed car w/s frame for it to seal flat against the stantion's face...
.
Getting a little done before Santa cruises by in his "slay"...
taped a '28 roadster stantion to the cowl for ideas... not today !

 

Just found your post and looking forward to following as I am just into the same on converting my '31 sport coupe to roadster style windshield. After considering modifying the existing posts, doing '29 stantions or 30-31's decided on the '31's. Have to order the pricy littles devils first though (none close by here in western Canada).
Look forward as to what you plan to do for the support in the door post for the stantion to bolt to ( ie, for the factory cast ram horn idea). Been looking at that- not a lot of room to put something in there and get a good weld. Needs to be good to combat the wind and wind vibration on the windshield. Thanks.


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

Sorry to anyone wanting to follow the closed - roadster cowl... I am going to use the narrowed [F to B] and tilted back 10* posts '30 cowl...
I have a $300 polished aluminum w/s frame and the closed car cowl lets me use it...also has all 4 cowl hinges... no need to buy roadster hinges...
I also had already narrowed the A pillars L to R for a more roadsteresque [thinner] look and lets me narrow the doors to match... note the lower hinges only have 2 screws...
still may reverse the '30 firewall ?...
View attachment 3756541

 

And let there be doors !, well one anyway.
armrest section removed... View attachment 3763183
.welded, now the grinding ...
.buddy "spanky" hammerforms these door tops on a wooden buck... $50 -pr. ...
. save that section that overhangs, it can be the rear quarter cap so it matches the door...
going to narrow the doors to the white line, should give the doors the more roadsteresque look...

 

Nice looking work, I always try to follow your projects.

 

right door...
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note the 2 layers of duct tape... more forgiving when grinding near the beltline creases...

 

I got this relic, and some '40 dash cluster, speaker grill scraps... hmmm. View attachment 3770280

 

Looking good! I'm going down to the basement and do something other than cut up firewood. Bob

 

Doors came out nice!

 

Looks like a good match Smitty!
Have you seen this post on rebuilding 40 instruments?
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-week-40-gauge-cluster-build.676488/

 

just checked it out, nice job, revamps a standard dash, I posted a deluxe conversion on that site...

 

Clamped the skeleton '40 dash to the cowl... used the front 18" of some compound curved hood as upper dash to cowl patches... needs work on the upper corners.... but I think an hour with a grinder and a little bondo can make it work... View attachment 3770739
I may weld a 12" strip of trimmed stock "upper cowl / dash bar" to the inside of the dash, as it is a perfect match to the one in my '30 ... should align the dash to cowl nicely... maybe an alignment pin and a bolt into the A pillar on each side... I run a separate steering column support brace behind the dash...

 

toughest part is done... jams, patch panels and inner panel to come...