After wrapping up the build for my 39 Tudor (for the time being anyway) I was able to get started on the next build. Now originally it was to be a 31 Tudor on a 32 frame. I Brought the 31 body when i was 21 years old and have been dragging it around with me since, about 23 years....... I had built a couple different frame for it over the years but it was never really what i wanted, just what I could get or afford at the time. the body never made it on to any of those frames and they were all sold off over the years. In fact i had taken the body completely apart to store it in my parents basement for many years. About 10 or 11 years ago i went to Carlisle and got a great deal from JW rod garage on a set of their 32 frame rails and some crossmembers. Then parts and pieces were collected up over the next five years to build the 32 chassis. Life gets in the way and other projects come and go, and I still hadn't gotten around to finishing the chassis and putting the body back together. Fast forward to 2021. Myself and my Iron Lords club brothers were on our way back from our cross country drive to Bonneville, I in my 39, and all I could think about was getting the 31 back out and finished up. So I made a plan, that after TROG that year, its time to get the A back out and get it on the road for next year. Between kids work and holidays it was slow going but i got the body out of the shop to see what all I needed to get it together. Then I got a call from my club brother Dustin that he had decided to sell his 29 Phaeton body that he had in storage for the last 10 years. Well it was a no brainer for me....... So the 31 Tudor body was sold to fund the purchase of Dustin's Phaeton. Tough decision since I had had that model A for over 20 years and it was the first old ford I ever bought. But glad I did. Around Christmas my dad, who had been dealing with a debilitating disease for many years, his health began to deteriorate rather rapidly. I would spend hours with sitting with him just talking about hot rods plans for his F100 and the new tub build. He was no longer able to make it out to the shop, so shop time became Dad time. Between he and I, we talked it all out and came up with the complete build plan, colors, tires, everything. Early 60's build style, Black with white interior, you know all the cool stuff. Unfortunately we lost dad on Feb 7 this year. I'm very grateful for being able to spend that time with him at the end. As stated earlier, I had already started on the chassis, but had yet to finish it. The front suspension was pretty much done, the rear was just positioned in it. and the Motor and trans are mocked up in it. so it was really just a body change instead of a whole new design. I was able to finally get down to NC to get the Phaeton from Dustin and bring it home. Anyway now you now the story, the Body will need a complete rebuild sub rails, all that and I will document it extensively, since I haven't been able to find much on rebuilding a tub body. The Tub was originally from Argentina, so its right had drive, but i wont be keeping that. I cant see banging gears and shifting with my left hand......
Running down the road in the 39 with my Iron Lords club Brothers @hotdamn and @hotrodderhaag to Bonneville thinking about the A back home I need to build.
here is the 31 body i bought when i was 21, kept it for over 20 years, sold it to have a phaeton, which is honestly what I wanted when I bought Tudor.
I get some better pics of the chassis tonight and this weekend, Jw rod garage Rails, model A front crossmember, 259 Stude with Edmunds 2x2 intake and a lark or Avanti T10 four speed. Still need to finish up the chassis, narrow the rear and put the ladder bars fro R Jays speed shop in.
And here is the Phaeton! This this will come all the way apart for a through rebuild of the body. but all the hard to find pieces are there, and i have a welder and some hammers so we should be fine.
Tough to hear about Your Dad, but You Both had some Quality time together before he left. Is this your dream car or just One of them? Happy Building, Carp!
Drive train is a fresh built (10 years ago, sealed and pickled) 259 Studebaker with an R1cam, 10.2 : 1 compression and an Edmunds 2x2 intake with factory 259 Studebaker 2 barrels. backed up with a Lark belhousing and Stude only either Lark or Avanti T10 4 speed. Ill be swapping out the 9 inch that is under the chassis now with a narrowed 61 T Bird rear that i will narrow up with early bronco axle shafts to get the 5.5 pattern back on the rear. Chrome early ford steel wheels and spider caps will round it out with pie crust slicks on the back or 8.20 15 white walls depending on where we are going and my mood. Its good to keep all your cars bolt patterns the same, you can flip flop wheels all say long that way.
Got a little progress done on Friday night. Pushed and pulled some things around, got the frozen door latches all out and the rear lower front seat back brace that bolts from b pillar to b pillar put back in. The door gaps and body lines got way better but not perfect. Looks like the b pillars are actually 3 inches closer together at the top than they should be and the rear quarters are about 2 inches closer together at the top than original. Still working out how to fix this. Right now I’m leaning towards blowing the whole thing apart and just putting the body all back together around all new sub rails before it ever gets mocked on the frame. It looks like if I cut out what needs to be cut out on the rear sub rails the whole back of the body will fall off. Nothing left to hold it together. I’m working on a plan but not completely sure yet…..
Also got the windshield posts off and now I see why the were welded on. I’ll have to make the pieces to replace these that were ripped off at some point.
The Studebaker drivetrain sounds really neat. Any pictures of that to share? A few years back someone built a '32 Rockne with a Studebaker drivetrain, thought I would mention it if you need ideas or inspiration.
So after some work this weekend, my original plan to cut out the rear sub rails to get the body to fit over the 32 frame kick up has just about been abandoned. it looks like it will just fall apart if I do that. Plus the body is close, but just enough out of wack right now, that I'm fairly certain if i remove any more support to get it on the frame it could cause more issues than it solves. So, I have pretty much decided to blow the entire body apart now, Fick all the rusted exterior panels individually, and then reassemble the entire body back on new sub rails, and sub rail extensions, while possible incorporating a rear sub rail set up from Steadfast for putting your A on a 32 frame. If anyone has any experience with these Phaeton bodies, please chime in. I've played with coupes, Tudors and roadsters but this is kinda a whole different animal.
I haven't done one of those bodies, but I've worked on plenty of other roached bodies. If I was doing that one, I'd do as you plan and blow it all apart to clean the rust, then reassemble it on top of a known-good A frame. With the proper wood blocks. There's got to be someone around you that can loan you the stuff. Simard says you have to restore these old bodies before you can hot rod them. I agree. Then, after yours is square and solid again, you can modify the rear of the subrails to fit the 32 frame, and make any spacers you need for the belly under the doors. Maybe even section a bit of the lower cowl. Whatever you need to make it fit.
yeah that’s pretty much what I’m thinking. Not really what I wanted to do, but I looked for a long time for one of these and want to do this one right. Wish I still had the mint A frame I sold last year!!
Good old @ClutchDumpinDan hooked me up with a chunk of firewall to get the steering back where it belongs. I’ll go grab it this weekend to add to the pile of work…
Sweet! Didn’t see this thread until just now. Can’t wait to follow along! Sorry to hear about your Dad. Definitely gotta ramp up the hang out time as they get older. Glad to see some use for that hunk of firewall. Hopefully find some more stuff you can use while here haha
Sorry for your loss Jason, glad you spent that time with him. Love the Stude power plant. Refreshing to see something different. And I think they were the hot setup back in the day.
Been busy with work and fam but finally got some progress done. Actually toying with the idea of selling this and my 32 Tudor to fund another car I found. But until that happens work will continue. got the body mocked up on the frame today. Still needs more of the subrails cut out to fit over the rear kick up but I’m not to that point yet. The body will come down almost 4 inches in the rear. So that will look better and I’m not digging the axle in front of the crossmember, so it’s gonna need a dropped axle and go spring over to shorten the wheelbase. But other than that I’m digging this pretty hard.
Sorry to say, that i have sold the Phaeton. I didn't really want to, but i really fell like i should finish the projects my dad left behind for him. so i sold the phaeton and 32 frame it was on, but kept the stude motor to put into my dads 32 Tudor. The money from the phaeton will go towards getting Dads 54 F100 back on the road and a new chassis for his 32 tudor. As of this point, the phaeton is some where up around Boston. Its in good hands as the Guy that bought it, has a good eye and builds some good stuff. Once I get a few more things acquired for Dads 32 i will start a thread for that, I would on the F100 but I think that one is a little too much off topic for here.
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