Projects Soldiers Joy, A pre 40`s Custom.

Just played the song again. It`s been a month since I posted last. Not much progress. I did put the car up on jackstands and remove the tires and wheels. Still sitting on the trailer. Now I can remove the body. It`s been below freezing the mojoirty of this winter with snow off and on. The motor and tranny and also the rear end(None of that will be used) will be saved and the rest will get scrapped. I did some interior work on a 33 fenderless Dodge pickup this winter. Also have a seat from another 33 Dodge pickup to do as well. Then there`s the 33 Plymouth convertible my buddy`s been working on as well. Mocked up some seats for him so he can position his shifter. I will use his as a reference when converting mine to a convertible. So this is a sneak peak at what I`m after. Similar but with a bunch of tweaks. By the way, it`s a Duesenberg. Squint your eyes a little, Do you see what I`m after. But with a top. I love the long hood.

 

Where did you find this picture?

 

It might of been the anniversary issue of Hot Rod. I`ll check this weekend. It is in a couple more magazines as well. One was from the mid 50`s.

 

We had a light dusting of snow last night, in April--? 3 years ago, a man by the Name of Ernie Smith from Red Oak received the honor of being the oldest active piolet in the United States at the age of 97. A great honor. But he still flew weekly and then was honored with being the Worlds Oldest pilot at the age of 98(solo). With this honor, I asked if he would fly above our annual car show. He did at the age of 98, two months before his 99 birthday. We gave him a plaque honoring him. He had a light stroke, so he didn`t do a fly for our next show. But he is now 100 years old and still flying. He has to have someone with him now, but he is still active as of late last year. Just a little fact about our town I live in. My parents delivered Meals On Wheels to him until he moved into an assisted living. His son and daughter-in-law are standing by him.

 

Amazing guy. Great story.

 

Somebody commented on Facebook(my wifes account) that they went to see Ernie last week. He took his guitar along and they had a little jam session. I knew Ernie played guitar, but didn`t exactly know how it effected him after his stroke. Not much if he can still play the tunes.

 

Here`s the pic I saw when I was about 10 that has inspired me to build this car that I mentioned in post number 1. Had to make a run to U Pull It today with my daughter to get a tire and a wheel for one of her friends. She wasn`t able to afford to buy a tire until July. She`s been driving on a donut for a month now. Also today, stopped and saw a guy, he has about 7 33`s and 34` in various states of completion. He never seems to finish anything. Gonna go shopping for a body with a guy who wants to build a fenderless car. I know where a few are. Hopefully I can aquire the parts he won`t be using. I`ll post a little more history on WW II on Memorial day. You might have to remind me. It`s been a little busy around here.

 

It`s Memorial day. Was at the cemetery at 6 am today. Helped the Court of Honor raise 1509 flags today. At 10:45 I attended the ceremony, 27 more flags were dedicated today. A person who served in the military who is deceased can have a flag dedicated and be flown every Memorial Day. At 4o, I helped take them down. After many years, this has become a tradition. Here are a couple pic`s I took.

 

During World War II, our local National Guard unit was stationed in Northern Africa. The 34th infantry division(Red Bull) was in combat on Febuary the 1st 1943. The entire unit was killed in action that day and a few days to follow. Montgomery County had the 3rd most deaths per capita in the U. S. during the war. Red Oak had the most deaths per capita during the war. On December the 5th 1944, the Navy commissioned a Naval Ship by the name of SS Red Oak Victory. It is now reciveing a full restoration that was started in 98 At the Richmond Museum in California where it was built. In one of the major magazines back in the day, They had a 2 page spread of a photo of Red Oak. And each house was marked where a serviceman had lived that was killed during World War II. 57 out of a the population of 6000. My info might be off a bit but I`m tryin. Here are the bumpers that I will be using that I bought from Merle Berg at a show called Torque Fest about 5 years ago. 37 Desoto. These are the first pieces I bought for my project. I currently have one soaking in a tank mixed with Sodium Hydroxide and water. .

 

Thank you for your dedication to dong this for our Veterans that made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

It got a little warm today. So I`ll post of couple of pic`s of it I took this winter. Might take the bumper out of the dip tank tonight and hose it off at the car wash along with other parts to see what it looks like. Will put it in my Citrus Acid tank next.

 

Here`s a set of interior handles I bought 3 years ago. Does anybody know what they are off of. I think they will look good on the car. It takes along time to gather parts that will complete the look. It drives me nuts to see people ordering parts from 1-800 or buying parts on line from venders and calling it a traditional build.

 

https://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Ernie_Szelesi's_1933_Ford
Here's some history on the Gold Brick posted on here in January, it was built by Ernie Szelesi, not commissioned by Bob Larivee. I worked with Ernie's daughter for a number of years.

 

If you ever want to see the car--- it`s in Speedy Bill`s Museum of Speed in Lincoln Nebraska. Thanks for the correction.

 

Door handles are 39 or 40 Plymouth. I ran them in my 34 years ago.

 

Thanks, what are the odds, I found them before I had the car. .They were only 3 dollars a piece.

 

I spend way too much time searching the dollar bins at swap meets for inside door/window handles. I've found some gems, including those Chryslers with the flip handles. I've probably got more handles than I can ever build cars for, but I keep on looking. My collection of '49 Mercs is probably approaching a hundred pieces.

 

I bought this from a guy who lives outside of Rock Rapids Iowa. I`d like to know who took a body that was in pretty decent shape and butcher the heck out of it. See how well it fits on the frame. It came with fenders off a 35 Chevy truck along with a grille shell. I didn`t buy those. It wasn`t part of the deal. Then they must of wanted a roadster, so they cut the roof off. And the door tops! But why cut the windshield posts so short. Then you take a rust free floor and cut a section out so it will clear the rear axel! But look at the firewall. I don`t think there has ever been another hole drilled since it came from the factory. I`m glad whoever started building this thing quit. They had to shorten the frame. So if you can`t weld, just get a couple pieces of scrap and bolt them to the frame for strength. At least, they could of used the same sizes and lengths of bolts. Here`s the picture of the door tops. At least they left enough meat around the back section.

 

A little design I like about the Plymouths. If you notice on the Coach built Duesenberg, The lines coming down the front of the doors don`t line up with the hood. Here is the Plymouths. You can see it much better on the 32 DeSoto. Much better looking. It flows a lot better and it gives the effect that the car is in motion.

 

A little more on the design of the car. Here`s a 32 Lincoln Lebaron Roadster. The cockpit looks(to me) like it is to far forward with the side mounted tire. Now`s here`s a 31 Chrysler Imperial Lebaron Roadster. The cockpit is moved more rearward, but the V`d windshield doesn't do it for me. Plus the top is Chopped a little to much compared to the size of the car. Plus not liking the raised portion of the rear part of the convertible top. Nows here is a 29 Duesenberg Model J Liking how the cockpit is more rearward and also like the flat windshield. The convertible top also looks much nicer. But the rear of the car is way to high.

 

The Chrysler and the Duesy sure have a rearward downward slant to the body. Even through the doors. Are you going to wedge section your body?

 

With having a long hood and having the rear lowered, seeing out threw the windshield would be more difficult. The top will be cut down at least an inch from the pic posted. This grille bars and headlights(along with the bumpers) look terrible on this car. Even though they are Duesenberg. Not sure on what to use for a grille yet. Also no cowl scoops and the windshield posts won`t be slanted outward.

 

Went to a swapmeet the first part of this month and saw a grille for a 35 Hudson. It looks like it would be to busy for the front end. Also saw a hood on Craigslist for a 36 Nash. Was thinkin it might work until I saw a pic on a car. It just doesn't look right to me. The insert might look better on a longer hood.(Photoshop). The price is reasonable too. I did happen to run across a cherry picker that breaks down so it can fit in the back of my pickup with a topper. It also came with an engine leveler. $100 at a garage sale. A good friend of mine says building cars to original spec`s is harder than building a Hot Rod. He said you can use anything you want(for a hot rod and it would be Okay. I think he is full of it. The parts have to flow with the rest of the build to look right. Currently looking for an engine. I already have a Fenton 2 carb intake that I bought a couple years ago at a Historical Truck show.

 

A few years ago we stopped to see a guy named Larry. Everybody from Iowa seems to know him for being into 33 and 34 Mopars. A friend of mine needed a pair of doors so Larry gave me a pair because they were junk. I stripped them down to see why they were so heavy. They weighed a ton. Full of bondo and metal repairs over the top of existing metal. They will make good donn ers for my door tops.

 

Good ol Crazee Larry.

 

I found another pic of a Duesenberg in a magazine from the 50`s. They only made about 37 of that model. So here`s a comparison with a Plymouth. I did some copying and cutting with a razor blade and taping it back together a few years ago. My way of doing photoshop. All I did was lower the rear. Add skirts and chop the top an inch or so. Oh and change the black walls to wide whites. It gives you a better understanding of the work involved(or the lack of body mods) in doing this. Things might change as I go along like using a different hood, different fenders,and may be a different grille. All from a 34 Plymouth. The shape of the top isn't quite right yet.

 

Love the train of thought and the fact that you have been thinking of doing this for years and are now moving forward. Along for the ride.

 

About 4 years ago a guy I know who is off a little in the head came by as he does every now and then. He says he knows where there is an old car in a ditch. I need to go get it. I think it can`t be much as there are many out there in ditches rusted and beat to death. So a couple months go by and he learns I`m am going to be working on a car at a guys shop about 2 miles from where this car is. So I have to go look at it with him. So off we go, threw a field and there it is. With the cowl in face first standing on end. So the floor is excellent. The body not to bad and it has all 4 doors. And all the garnish mouldings except the drivers door. Would you believe it is a 34 Plymouth. So for a little money it is mine. Which means I had to rent another storage unit(10 x 20). The other two were full. You know I was gonna have to get one any way if I found a coupe body. Will post more pic`s when I find them. Not much of a build thread, but we will get to that later. I think the guy has gained about 100 pounds since this was taken. And it`s not Larry either.

 

Larry might be a little off in the head (I'm sure the big I beam crashing down on it a few years ago didn't help ), but I do know he wouldn't tell somebody else where a car was sitting in a ditch. He would be the first one to dig it out.

Looks like a great donor to the project. All you are missing now is a mile of welding wire and some time.

 

Here is the before and after pictures of a 37 Desoto bumper I have. I think it cleaned up nice. You can read about the process in my thread called Dip Tank.