Three 34s and a blown deuce coupe!

Dunno about you guys, but I find inspiration can come from anywhere, and once it strikes I have to act. From there it’s a bit of a journey and I can never be sure where things will end.

I chopped this car a few weeks ago with plans to adapt a ’37 truck grill to the front ala Jake’s famous ’34 albeit with five windows instead of three. However after filing A LOT of plastic off the truck grill I soon realised that it was not going to fit without widening the bonnet so I kind of shelved the project.

And then I saw one of Carps’ old photos this week of this really cool chopped ‘34 five window coupe that motivated me again.



I really like the cool cycle guards and bobbed rear fenders cut from the originals ala the Graffiti coupe. Not sure if I will actually go this way, but it got me motivated enough to pull this one out again.

So far I have cleaned up the chop, Z’d the rear of the frame and cut down the rear fender wells to fit the reshaped frame.











I honestly have no idea where it will go from here, but I was just thinking recently that I really need to build a car with a set of wire wheels so maybe that will be the direction…







All feedback and suggestions welcome!

Nailhead buick from the 40 Ford kits and big and little Halibrands (spindle mount fronts) - my 2 cents worth

How about a resin copy of the chopped body when you're done with the clean up?

Chris

I like the old style rods, and this one is a good example of those early days. I think this would be a real challenge to do.

Herb Deeks has an eBay site at http://shop.ebay.com.au/deeks2/m.html
He still has etched wire wheel sets for sale in 1:24 scale if you want to go down that path. They can be inserted into plastic rims too.

cdansie wrote:Nailhead buick from the 40 Ford kits and big and little Halibrands (spindle mount fronts) - my 2 cents worth

How about a resin copy of the chopped body when you're done with the clean up?

Chris

Thanks for the feedback Chris - sounds like a cool combination. Is that a new project for you in your avatar?

Probably not worth the time and money for me to cast the body. Last time I did that Revell released a kit...

You can get a resin chopped '34 coupe here if you're feeling lazy: http://www.dragcitycasting.com/

Thats a good Link Bryce thanks for posting it
M

Wires would suit it.
How about a big block ford for motivation? Super Cobra Jet in preference to a shotgun maybe?

I like the fact that I'm not the only person on here that when he starts a build you have a basic idea but no idea in which direction the model will take the build.

It looks great tops so far

I'm liking the Buick version, wires would be wrong for this car as that's what it had from the factory.

FWIW, the car pictured was yellow and powered by a tunnell rammed Cleveland. It's still around, now fully fendered and a little more street than hot rod.

As for not having a plan, that's exactly how hot rods were built in the day. You started with a car and an idea, then the idea got scuttled by available funds and your ability to find the parts for the job. Like very few would have stuck with a flathead if they could afford an OHV engine.

Thanks for the reminder on the drag City body - Have you ever dealt with them?

The new avatar is my current project and what is keeping me from the model bench.
It is all painted now , glass fitted, wiring 80% - just waiting on the computer harness.
5.0L injected Ford with AOD, American Racing TTOs (Dark Grey spokes), Same red colour as my Tudor was

Chris

cdansie wrote:Thanks for the reminder on the drag City body - Have you ever dealt with them?
Chris

Not personally (I'm too much of a tight arse to buy resin) but the general reputation seems to be of pretty high quality stuff.

cdansie wrote:
The new avatar is my current project and what is keeping me from the model bench.
It is all painted now , glass fitted, wiring 80% - just waiting on the computer harness.
5.0L injected Ford with AOD, American Racing TTOs (Dark Grey spokes), Same red colour as my Tudor was
Chris

Sounds ace - how about some pics? Have you sold the tudor?

Cool project, she'll look great.

After much deliberation and consternation I have finally arrived at a look I am happy with. The project has now morphed into two after I switched the Z’d frame to an unchopped coupe and turned this one back into a hiboy with a very mild channel and a full hood and hood sides. Man was it a bitch to get the hood side filler panels to work with the chassis. I have had to do a lot of reshaping and pinch the chassis rails in a fair bit to get to this point.

I have also added a gas tank out back to fill the gap and a set of steelies from a 50 Ford F1 truck (thanks Paul) on big and little tyres. They will be painted black with 40 Ford caps. I’m thinking a dove grey for body colour. Still having trouble deciding on a powerplant though…I had planned a supercharged SBC but am thinking that could be overkill now that I have changed the look and might be better to go with a flatty. Or maybe I should just glue the hood shut and forget about an engine…time will tell!

Cool mock up! Throw a flattie block in then glue that hood shut,

Thanks Paul - you should know by now that I hardly ever take the easy road...

So here it is with the small block installed. I kind of like the look of this and reckon I could make it work with some smallish holes drilled into the hood…









In the background is the other ’34 coupe I have been working on simultaneously – it’s unchopped, heavily channelled with bobbed rear fenders a Deuce grill shell and cycle guards up front – a study in styles so to speak. Here’s some pics:

I think some small holes in the hood would look great.
Cool to see the chopped and unchopped together. The chop sure does change the look.

Recently bought the 34 chopped resin body plus other stuff from Drag City Castings and would say without a doubt it's the best resin casting I've ever seen. If it wasn't for the colour of the resin you'd swear it was a plastic injected body, absolutly NO pinholes anywhere, His stuff can't be faulted. just prefect.
Ed's also great to deal with everything I've ordered from him has always been in stock and is airmailed immediately. Only takes about 5 days to get here.

Found a solution to my bonnet clearance issue. I had a 409 out of a ’62 Bel Air slated for another project but tried it in the ’34 and it fits!







I also lightened the front axle and tidied up my heavily modified side filler pieces.



So what happened to that blown SBC I hear you ask...well, now I have a third project in this WIP. I chopped a ’32 3W body last year but never really arrived at a concept that I was happy with until I saw a blown fendered car at a recent event that caught my eye. So far I have bobbed the rear fenders and cut away the stone shields at the front. I also made up some deep dish rear steelies. The fronts are ’40 Ford and they will run trim rings but no caps. The caps will go on the ’34.

Those bobbed 'guards look great.
As does the 409.

What can I say?

Bryce, you have WAAAAAAY too much spare time!

They both look pretty sharp.
What kit are the rear rims on the 32 from?

It's like reading a good novel - I can't wait to get to the end. I agree with Carps though - way too much time. Superb stuff as always.

Well if you can't pick one style, just build one of each!
Excellent work so far

Thanks for the nice words guys. Now I just need to decide which one to paint.

KevJoh - I made the rear wheels by gluing the inner wheel back to the front of a shallow centre.