Rikster's discovery of an unknown sectioned '41 Ford has me thinking about this special class of customs. Of course I'm influenced by the fact that I have one under construction. I first saw the Ralph Jilek '40 by Valley Custom in Hop Up magazine circa 1952. It knocked me out then, and I still consider it a customizing masterpiece: On the Fords of this era, sectioning and channeling have much the same result: reducing the overall height of the body, specifically by shortening the distance between the beltline and the bottom of the body. In fact, I suspect that some of the cars that have been described in print as sectioned may actually have been channeled, with the excess body height coming off the bottom of the quarters and the doors. Either way, the hood is typically sectioned, and there are a variety of treatments of fenders and running boards. Perhaps before WW2, but certainly soon after, it became fairly common to channel '39 Convertibles. The running boards were usually removed, the hood sectioned, and the fenders moved up relative to the body. This style has reappeared in the last few years, and several such converts have been done recently by Brizio and others. Here are few '39 convertibles, both early and recent: A few '40 Ford and Mercury convertibles, and at least one coupe, were done in similar fashion: On the Ayala-built Geraghty '40, the front fenders were moved up, but not the rears. The car above, done by Valley Custom for nephew Glenn Hooker, didn't bother with sectioning the hood or raising the fenders -- they just channeled it, cut the bottoms of the body and fenders off, and raised the wheel cutouts. Worked great! A few of these, including Jilek's '40, left the running boards on -- sometimes reshaped or made into smoothie boards, but the running board remained the lowest portion of the body: While these customizing methods have been used on a number of '39 and '40 Fords and Mercs, the '41-'48 cars have rarely been treated to these modifications. One exception is the beautiful '46 convert that Pete Brock completed back in the '50s, shown here in its first form of completion: ...and the newly-discovered '41 that Rik posted a few days ago, done (again) by Valley Custom at some time in the '50s: All of these cars share a significant re-proportioning of the body to the top and fenders, generally resulting in a slimmer, lighter, and more graceful looking car. Surprisingly to me, after looking at cars of this type for many years, I think the most successful one of the bunch is the Valley/Hooker '39 Merc -- the one near the middle with the least extensive body modifications. I think the teardrop forms that evolved on cars in the mid-'30s have grown greatly in popularity in the last 20 years or so. Not that they have ever really gone out of favor, but to me they are are a little more elegant than the mechanical-looking era that preceded them, and more decorative than the more slab-sided forms that followed. I'm not just talking about Fords now, but GM styles and many European cars as well. After 60 years of looking at cars, I like this style at least as well as any other, and the specific modifications I've shown seem to refine the Ford body shapes a bit further. Having said all of that, here's where Mr. Dillard is as of this week:
Fantastic topic. Sectioning is hit and miss for me, but I have always liked this particular application. Here's some of the Rice coupe.
I always liked the look. Yours will be trump. I believe Bill De Carr's got a bottom trim at some point in its life.
I know it's only a model I built 30-some years ago but if I ever hit the lotto I'll build it for real: Love the lines of these channeled/sectioned '41-'48s; makes them look a bit like the early Continentals.
imo not alot of models respond well to sectioning '39 - '48 fords are a big exception they look great, keep posting pics i'm enjoying it.
Sectioning really does it for '39 thru '41's....I'm not so sure about the later ones...with exception to '50's...so prove me wrong...
I forgot about this car, and it certainly belongs among the cars I showed. It's such a rare bird -- after Gil Ayala and Carl Cerny, I can't think of any other examples of radical customs that were raced.
50 Fraud, having a soft spot in my heart for the El MAtador, I have watched your build with interest. I think you have nailed it with your stance and look forward to seeing it finished. The Hooker Merc is also one of my long time favorites and that DeCarr coupe is killer. ALways liked the Doug Rice coupe, but thought the square rear wheelwell was wrong. Keep up the good work.
Interestiing that the top lines on these two cars are nearly identical. DeCarr might have cut 1/2" more.
I wonder if the flattened wheel well had to do with getting the skirts to completely cover it. I ran into that problem when I put skirts on my '36.
Good thread.. thanks for posting... Doug Rice coupe is by far my favorite,but they all look damn good
...this one belongs to a friend;... it'll be a feature car at the Jefferson ,Wis. show & swapmeet next week.
I've always thought the same thing. That car just works. I think the deeply radiused fenders and smooth wheelcovers are critical to why it works so well. If it had skirts, it would be an absolute abortion.
There is a nice article on Kustomrama (including video) about a '39 Ford that was featured in CarCraft (1963) under the by-line "Down with old Fords". Check it out HERE: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Willy_Ouimette's_1939_Ford
http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Willy_Ouimette's_1939_Ford I LOVE this coupe!!! when I was a kid, I always wanted to try finding it. I had a little mag with the article on it...Gave me chills
heres one my buddy bought for $150 in 1988 ish, he sold it, didnt know what happened to it, but a few days ago Moriarity went and looked at it, a buddy of ours talked about a sectioned 40 coupe that sat in a backyard, Mark finally talked him into going to look at it, the owner says he doesnt think its for sale but doesnt know. jeff
Here's a pic I ripped off here a while back... and here's my shameless self promotion. I think there's a fine line between too much and just right. tp
Any more pics of this one? I don't think I've ever seen it any wheres other than in H'wood Knights...
seems some confusion on channeling verse sectioning. Section canbe through the middle or just off the bottom.. Channel is dropping the body down over the frame... Carry on........ Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
whoops, i just never looked at the pics that close, i thought the one i posted was sectioned and channeled but it looks as it was just channeled and the fenders moved up!
Here's the car from Kustomrama: I think I've seen this car before (the goofy Pontiac bumper guards are familar), but I guess I've never looked at it closely. In this earlier form, I think it's a nicely proportioned car. I was addressing this point when I wrote this in the original post: "On the Fords of this era, sectioning and channeling have much the same result: reducing the overall height of the body, specifically by shortening the distance between the beltline and the bottom of the body [or running boards]. In fact, I suspect that some of the cars that have been described in print as sectioned may actually have been channeled, with the excess body height coming off the bottom of the quarters and the doors. Either way, the hood is typically sectioned, and there are a variety of treatments of fenders and running boards." If the car is channeled, the running boards left off, and the fenders moved up (like the car above), the hood must be sectioned to complete the shape of the body. Similarly, the car may be channeled, the bottom of the body cut off, the running boards left on and the fenders raised (this describes my car). Again, the hood must be sectioned. IMO either of these techniques can correctly be described as channeled or sectioned. I frankly doubt that very many of these fat fendered cars have been sectioned through the middle like a shoebox; there's just no good reason to do it that way.
I agree with sectioning being hit or miss. I would have to say for every one I like there are ten I don't. The Rice coupe is awesome. I especially like it due to the fact that it was a custom that was at home with a number on the door. Great thread... Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Yes, there is a fine line between just right and going too far. But in my opinion, this dude went "too far" and created something different. Simply nailed it. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1747202&d=1348359899 Bill
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