Hot Rods What have I started!!!! 31 Coupe...

So I did a bit of horse trading and I got this 31 coupe. Ever since I smashed my tudor Ive been wanting one again. Got this car and it seemed like a neat little hot rod. 350/350, Dana rear end, 40 Ford brakes, split wishbones, titled as a 31. I drove this car home from about 90 miles from my house and it drove suprisingly well. Straight and stiff. Stering feels great, brakes solid, tons of power, buuuuuuuuutttt......Well lets say it rattled so bad I could hardly bear it. The car is channeled and the way it was built, the bottom of the doors hit against the frame so they dont close all the way. Tiny gate latches held the doors "closed". Open about and inch, but latched. Now I know old cars make noise. Im not going for a lexus quiet ride, but hell the door should at least latch. The floor is also unfinished around the trans.

Whoever originally built the car seemed to have the right idea. The frame and all looks pretty good. Im not sure if it was the same person who put the body on however. Apparantly when the guy I got it from(Who was not the builder btw) got the car the rear of the body had no supports which accounts for the bent and twisted metal at the top of the trunk. The radiator and grill shell sit about 3 inches above the line of the cowl which needs to be fixed. The chop is fair but they didnt grind many of the welds down and while there is a light coating of bondo on the car, some areas that needed some have none. Oh well.

So my plan was to drive my 53 to the Roundup again. Now I dont have the 53 but I have this and here is my project to get done before I have to leave for the Roundup. I got up today and thought what the hell. Might as well get started on it. Well one thing led to another and just over and hour after I started pulling it apart, the body was sitting on the side of my house and the chasis was rolled into the garage. Started cleaning up little things here and there. Drilled out a bunch of the rusted hardware on the doors. Already have the handles and door latch items ordered. The hinge pins were just bolts with the thread cut off. When I pulled the headlight stands off I found that the passenger side still had the wrench inside the frame from when it was tightened and got bound up in there
My dog that loves cars was running around the whole time untl the body was off then he was very sad.

List of things to do:
Move radiator/grill forward and down to lineup with the top of the cowl.
My good friend Ian Berky is going to finish up the floors when the body is back on Thanks Ian!!!
Weld in new rear wheel wells and cutout channels for rear end travel.
Redo Z in the rear. Not very straight.
Modify the door bottoms to be able to close all the way.
Adjust doors and fit latches and handles,regulators,windows, etc.
Install new steering column and wheel. Old one was about an inch from the dash.
Clean and paint dash and cluster.
Install hinges for front window.
Carpet, interior items to make the car more comfortable.
Service and setup for the long drive to Austin.
Clean up body issues decently. Going to have to replace some small sections here and there.
Paint.
Not looking for it to be a perfect car, just a respectable hot rod.

Any advice is VERY welcomed and can anyone confirm what the dash is out of?? I think I was told it was an Olds of some year but I have no idea.

Anybody have a hookup for decent bodywork at a reasonable price????

Enjoy.
Dont laugh at me.

 

Can't wait to see this one come back together

 

Damn Creep that was a nice score! Like you said it's almost there!!!

The front tires look like they're maybe a little big so the wheels and tires is where I'd start first. I'd probably have those wheels sent to Wheel kid to be narrowed and rechromed if it's in the budget or just buy them from him at $130 each if you can. Then mount 5.60 Firestone WW's up front and 8.20 Firestones WW's out back. That's probably be where I'd spend most of the budget because the rest is all there and just needs to be cleaned up!

Please please please don't touch the headlights and the stands. Those are one of my favorite things ever!!!!


If you have extra money maybe a repopped Model T tank (oversized for your trip to Austin). Oh and it looks like the body can be moved forward and inch or two in relation to the wheel and wheel well is that true? Also looks like it's got some space between cowl and firewall which could be tightened up by moving it forward.

Lastly, maybe swap that carburetor for a WCFB Cadillac carb. They're small but TALL and always look really cool on old hot rods like the Lightening Bug. It's one of those things that's a cool detail and would set it apart. Not sure how well those things work but they look great!


Awesome start and it's gonna be a rad little car!!! I'll be keeping up and hopefully seeing it in April!

 

man this thing is going to look sick when its finished.

 

I also wasnt sure about the wheel/tire setup but it drives really great with it. Good advice, but if Im going to change it I'll probably do it after the car is back together. Thanks for the info on the wheel guy.
Headlights are staying just like they are.
The way the body is I could move it a little, but honestly its more work to do that than I care enough to change it. The cowl is flush with the firewall except on the top trim lip.
Carb looks cool, but I also have a complete intake cand carb setup that Im planning putting on after Austin.
Thanks for the input. My goal is to be in Austin! Back to the garage....

 

Nice to start with!! Hmm whats the story with the 36? Rad.

 

very nice start , look forward to more pictures


Jen

 

Yeah those wheels need some attention and so does that Z in front its a little "Much" might want to look at that before cutting up the grille.. if you Z it the size of the frame it will bring that grille right down and look a bit better.. it has potential for sure tho..

 

Actually the front rims are rad you should run them in the rear and Wheel Ventique has the early ford in Chrome regular size for 120.00 ish.. that what I did on LW

 

Great start,
My advice was going to be "get on it"
but scrolling through the pics it is obvious you are !
I like the direction you are going with it.
I'll keep watching it go back together.

 

That dash looks early 50s Cadillac to me. Not Oldsmobile.

 

I'll post pics as I go along. Have some great friends that are going to give me some of their educated info so I'm excited to keep it going forward.

 

very nice start , look forward to more pictures

 

The front kick up is odd. Now I know its not mine but if it were I'd build a diffrent frame. Either a swept & z'ed A frame or a 2x3 tube frame that fits and is nt twisted & cobbled together

 

Yeah.

It looks like there's alot of spring clearance in the front.
It may be possible to flatten the front crossmember an inch or so,
than lower that industrial looking Z they did on the front.
TP
Oh yeah,
love the P71!

 

Hell, I like it. Good find. Car definitely has some issues but your plan of action addresses those. Lots of work to complete before the Roundup. Good Luck...Subscribed

BOutlaw

 

Ever notice how much "progress" is made on a project when it is being taken apart to correct a few things. Then the "few" turn into "many" things you don't like and time drags on, the post slow up and then stop. Take a hard look at the body pics and all the work that needs to done, and I wonder why posters are commenting on the wheel and tires or the headlights.

 

Good idea!

 

good score , a sharp ride for sure , after you tweak the things that arent cool it will be great

 

Lot of great potencel there,sounds like ya got all the right ideas to fix,maybe only things I'd like to see is liter thinner tires on front with less offset and less wide so they ride and steer better,I'm a big fan of driprails and would replace them if it were mine too with some sexy shiny paint,no flats.
Super rod,nice.

 

Dash is 51-52 plymouth

 

Looks like you need a Panhard bar out back. That spring certainly isn't under tension as Ford designed it to be. The Panhard rod would be easy to do and settle any side sway issues the car has out back. I couldn't see one in any of the pics you posted.

 

Thanks guys for all the info. Glad to know what the dash is out of.
I know certain aspects of the car are a little odd. I also know that the tire sizes are not hot rod standard but I gotta say that the car drives and steers great. I was suprised at how well it drove actually.
The frame is setup kinda weird. Whoever built it had some type of idea in mind but it could have been styled much better with a little thought. If I was going to keep the car long term I would build another frame. As long as certain aspects of the existing frame are safe I'm probably going to rework it a little to make sure it will stay that way. It wasnt my plan to get even this far into the car when I got it, but I figured I wanted to at least get it to a decent level even though it may not be the way I would have done it if I built it from the ground up.

I have some very respected friends with tons of knowledge coming over friday to laugh at me and give me their advice/ideas so everything chasis related is on hold for the moment. Been working on the doors and latches and I also dissassembled the instrument cluster to clean it up. Planning on mounting the gauges behind the cluster so that the faces can be seen through the factory windows. I looked to see if someone made some square/rectangular gauges but no luck so far. Time to start checking with every gauge I can find to see what works best. Once I find some Ill post pics of that going back together.
Until then its just clean and prep and look for an old body that I can get some specific panel patches from. If that dosent pan out soon its on to fabrication time!

 

I'm surprised that you could hear the doors rattle over the exhaust.

 

I have 2 complete spare sets of gauges/pods for
That dash if you want em you can have em, pm me

 

That tells you how loud the goddamn doors are! Lol

 

I was gunna say the same thing.

 

Sounds like you have a good plan. Fix the little things that bug you and drive the heck out of it. Subscribed

 

Ok...Quick little update. Couple of my good friends came over and took a look at the chasis. Going to make a couple of gussets for the frame just for safetys sake. I have ordered a buncha little odds and ends I need for going back together. I took apart the gauge cluster and worked in some modern gauges that can be viewed through the stock openings. Been cleaning up the frame and wiring. Litte stuff. The body is going to my friends shop for some badly needed massaging later this week and I ordered new tires and front rims. Not much to show pics wise but it as it starts really going I'll post some.

 

An odd looking little hot rod. But it has a lot of potential. It is good to see it is in proper hands.