Projects The Doublemint twins building some vertical grill customs

Notice the difference in stance, they wer'ent any dropped axles in pre war cars so lowering was achieved with 41 shackels and shortening and redoing the arch on the main leaves. Remember they wer'ent any 15 inch wheels back then so you can't go too low.

 

I love '36 Ford 5-Windows done as customs, especially with a early 1940's look... And this one is looking really good. Love the stance. Well done Magoozi.

 

Ouch! That's gotta hurt! But nice metal work.

 

I really like your attention to the stance. So many customs now are on the ground, and that's always the tip-off that it's a modern build. I'm guessing with these two, no one will know. One (two?) Of those cars that have history buffs wondering. Is it, or isn't it. Nice work as always Miguel.

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By aggressive I mean that a good custom has to look like it's going 50 miles an hour when it is standing still. I really like the 42 packard grill, it makes Brent's car look like a piss off sherman tank rolling down the road.

 

Thanks Rik, there is a picture of Geogre Barris's 36 when he worked for Westerguard, any pictures would be apreciated

 

While taste is always subjective, good work isn't. You do great work. I like em chopped, nose down, tail down or stock, but to my eye, it is hard to improve on the grille. Good thread, magoozi.

 

Here is a LINK to George Barris's his '36 3-window.

And here is a LINK to his '36 Convertible.

 

Thanks Rik, I also remember seeing some pictures of him chopping a 3 window in one of the Barris Books, I wonder if that was his own 3 window.

 

That was Sam Barris chopping the 3-window Coupe, and that was way later, at the Atlantic Blvd shop after 1950.

 

OK Here is Mine

 

That is just perfect

 

The drivetrain, on brent's car, we rebuilt the 3.78 rear end, we installed 40 brakes, 39 pedals, and changed out the tranny to a 39 unit. Steering has been updated to a 40 steering box and you need to change out the steering box mounting plate. Headers were modified so they would clear the steering box. The 36 LB motor was ditched and replaced with an 8 BA flatty. This is not correct for a prewar car so Brent plans to change the motor to a 59 AB. On prewar cars their are few engine picks, flatheads were king at this time and the 41 merc or a early 59 AB were the most desired or a flathead caddy V8

 

Thanks Magoozi

 

May have to unsubscribe from this thread, your almost converting me! I still believe nothing is better looking on a '36 than a stock '36 Ford grill BUT because of this thread I have learned something about myself and my thoughts/opinions. I find the vertical grills almost appealing ONLY if other modification, custom work is done to compliment the hole build. Just slapping on a vertical (as you call it) grill does nothing for me unless the hole build is pleasing to look at and flows well. After reading your post I see that I was stuck in the '50s & '60s, you are obviously going back further with your research. I get it now!

 

You are absolutly right, It's like chopping a 50's style shoebox and not changing the grill.
And I guess we are doing ok, the whole idea of the thread is to expose more prewar customs and hopefully more of them well get built. We might turn you into a custom guy after all, you can only do so much to a traditional hot rod and customs offer more of a chalenge , no matter what time period style you chose to build. There is nothing wrong with a good restorod with a stock grill, especially on the sedans and deliverys.

 

Ok so back to the chop, first thing to do is install some horizontal bracing, otherwise your A and B pilars will bow out. Next install some veritcal bracing , use some tubing and make it ajustable so you can lower and raise it as you do the initial cuts. My Friend Pedro Kanguro flew out from Auzi and did the inicial cuts. Use 2 inch and half inch tape to mark your cuts. Measure and remeasure , you don't want a crooked chop. Always cut less then what you need cut and save all the pieces, you will be needing them later. Most important, grab a stool and set it about ten feet back and visualize the chop. Look at the whole car and not just the area you are working on, the roof line has to flow.
I'll post some more later.

 

Please do.

 

Another important thing to remember is to check your door gaps before you pull the doors off.
A lot of these cars have rusty floors and sagging doors. Measure and check your stock door openings,
if your subrails are rusted out or broken, they will throw your measurements off.
Fix all these issues before you even think of chopping the car. Also put some horizontal braccing between the A and B pillars, otherwise the front and rear section of the body will sag away from each other.I'll try to get some more pictures posted.

 

Notice the rear window has been cut out, you want your rear window and quater windows to be in preportion to the rest of the car. You don't want the quater windows too small or looking like a slice of pizza. I also like to have some extra doner doors for my guys, they have a lot of pieces you can use for the windows and the tops of the doors when you lengthen them.

 

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Here is pictures of brent's 36 when it first arrived, notice Henry's gennie paint still on the car.
Now that what you call a rouge car or real patina, I guess the early V8 guys would kills us for carving her up.

 

36 frames are a tuff call, this one had one of the better ones I have seen. It hadd'ent been in a wreck but had the tipical rust in the rear kick up. 37 to 40 frames are pretty much the same as a 35 and 36, the difference is the radiator support mounts, the steering mt. box and the rear bumper bracket spacers. The problem is that due to the design of the body, water collects in the rear kick up section.
We up graded to a 40 steering box, they have a better steering gear ratio and bearings but you have to use a 37 to 40 steering mt. box.

 

Notice the panel between the quater window and the rear window.Originaly, this was delt with some pie cuts but we later decided to cut it out and make a new panel. Notice Pete cut out the lower section of the quarter window before laying the rear section of the roof down. This is done so you don't end up with the pizza slice quater window or one that is too small.

 

They were several ways to do the vertical grills, if you wanted to raise the grill or if you are usesing a Lasalle grill, you neet to make a custom one piece hood top. Most guys that went this route, went ahead and customized their hood side. Others made a custom front surround for the hood and ended up with a shorter hood. It all depends on your taste and style, I my self like the stock hood so I live with the notch.

 

just throwing this into the mix.

 

Man, where did you get them teeth, really cool grill

 

when it comes to custom grills transplanting grills from other makes might be the norm but sometimes they just dont work and will look like an add on, but if you get it right the overall look can be stunning. but dont forget that grills are not hard to make from scratch with a little thought and imagination, I have made a alloy one for my chopped 36 sedan that seems to suit the overall look of the car without being a copy of anything else, have a go and you never know it might be a great addition to your ride.