'40 Ford coupe

So here I am in my motel room 3500kms from home and I've got the '40 coupe here with me and guess what happened?..................the roof fell off It's an old AMT kit I got cheap at a swap meet minus the "custom" parts.

I wasn't going to chop this one thinking it would be too hard, but I have this thing with hotrods, motel rooms and Dremel saws.......(see my '32 Vicky build). So I'm in waaaaay too deep now, rear of roof is off, 'B' pillars cut 2-1/2" - 3" and the 'A' pillars sloped back to give the windscreen a nice rake.

This is going to be a satin black, with rear wheel covers (spats), taildragger. Just need to source some sombrero hubcaps and that's about it. Might go for pleated white interior on this...something simple. Thinking a stock flathead with just a little dressing up too. Besides the chop, nothing too fancy on this one.
Drip rails removed ready for the chop......

Oops the roof fell off..

Going back together...

As it sits tonight...

Sorry about the crappy motel room pics..
TJ

Off to a good start.

Yea I'll be keeping an eye on this, liking the inspiration pic too

Well, in-between being a tourist, I got some work done on this one over the past two days.
Got the roof back on properly and the back half puttied and sanded.
Still have to finish puttying the horizontal cuts under the windows and cutting the new door lines.
Cheers TJ

Woah looking good mate, loving it

Nice work so far mate, roof chops are very scarey, but well worth it once they are done. I agree, the inspiration pic looks great, hope you pull it off too. Nothing like spending heaps of money on going on holidays, then spending your time modeling, just in a different location, thats dedication!!

Thanks Dale, I wasn't going to chop this at first, but I found a web page of some guy named Rik Hoving and he has a great WIP on how to do it, so with that knowledge I dived into it. The inspiration pic is a randon I found on the net.

Holidays????.............wish it was holidays......here for work mate.....home this Friday, two weeks earlier than planned. The missus would crack the shits if I did any modeling while on holiday!!!

That look's good chop tops alwasys look cool.

Well I started to look at how this thing would look assembled, and I eventually want to blend the fenders into the body (as per the inspiration pic), and found out that the body was about 1mm too narrow for the front and back fenders and the bonnet. So the easy fix on the front was to slice the firewall and cowl through and add a 1mm strip. For the back it was to slice 1mm out of the bracing between the rear fenders to bring them closer to the body. Also got the new door lines cut too, now just fixing some slip-ups from cutting the new lines as you can see from the second round of putty work.




That's it from up here in Darwin, heading home tomorrow, now the challenge is to either keep working on this one or finish the Cuda????
Cheers TJ

That's some jaw droping work on the coupe

WOW, that looks like a long way for a short cut TJ, but will be worth it when done, i reckon, while your on a roll with it, keep going, at least untill you hit the wall of ideas, ( or the model hits the wall) then go back to the cuda mate. Looking good!!

Yeah I think this one is going to be on the bench for a while yet, while the ideas are flowing anyway..........just gotta find room in the suitcase to get it home
Thanks for the comments guys
Tropical TJ....out.

Coming along sweetly mate, really liking how this is shaping up

Well it's been a long time between drinks but here I am again up north in a motel working on this one.
Anyway not too much to report, been working on the interior with a tuck & roll style...or is it pleated...dunno...someone educate me?
And made some spats for the rear fenders too....


Thats it for now....cheers TJ

Sweet interior mate, that must be the most inspirational hotel around.

Yeah......it's mainly about bacheloring it and quality time alone on a model........or should I be out getting hammered chasing skirt LOL.
Not tonight Irene...big thunderstorm and peeing down here, nice night to have the doors open and watch the light show...and work on models! Working on the door trims now.

Fantastic work so far, nice chop
Adam

Always love the 40 Fords! Looking good.

any up date photos of it,please

That's the current stuff Al, only taken yesterday.

Oh me missed it form what I know tuck & roll is the same as pleated but tuck & roll is thicker if that makes senes

Coming along well, you have to hate it when the roof just happens to fall off...

Looking nice man, Diggin' the skirts.

Update time..........been slow going on this one but here's where it's at.

Bit more done on the interior, made a parcel shelf, trimmed it and the door panels;

Pretty happy with the ride heights front and rear now, had to Z the rear chassis and I'm using a "wild drop" front axle from TPB.


Next is getting the body joined to the fenders and then the fun bit.........building the flathead.
Cheers TJ

Top work as usual, good job on the front end, just needs some paint on it now!