31 sedan

Here’s another one I have had on the go for some time. I had originally planned on using the leftover Revell ’32 roadster running gear from my Graffiti coupe build to turn it into a street rod, but it kind of stalled due to lack of inspiration.

Recently I found this and thought I had found my direction:



But I have had concerns about the fiddly fit of this kit and the amount of work involved in making it anywhere near this clean. I am also bothered by the lack of any interior panels and those big windows make it real easy to see inside.

Anyway, the other week I came across this pic and now I’m thinking it could be a good way to go:



I have been wanting to try a weathered type of build for ages and this could be the perfect canvas.

Either way, so far I have grafted in a leftover '32 fuel tank out back and fitted a small block from the AMT ’34 coupe up front. Chassis is kit based modified to run the Revell ’32 tube axle up front and nine inch out back. Wheels will be chrome steelies on wide whites.

IMO It's begging for a chop top.

Clutch wrote:IMO It's begging for a chop top.

Well, you know what they say about opinions...

Nah, seriously...not sure if you are familiar with this kit, but it comes in about a million bits and they are all very flimsy, so there is no way I am gonna start chopping it up as it will definitely end up back in the box in a matter of hours. Besides, I quite like the stock roof height on these old sedans and I want to go for the 'found a decent body in a barn and put it on a hot rod chassis' kind of look for this one.

Weather it! weather it! weather it! weather it!!!.......oh and no choppy chop sounds good to me!!

......and let me know if ya wanna borrow some rust??

Awesome project Bryce, looks like it's coming along well, love the reference pic, looking forward to seeing this thing turn out.
Adam

Thanks guys.

Cobbled together an engine last night using some parts from the old AMT five window kit. Most of the chrome will go once I get to paint stage.





I reckon it looks pretty damn cool in this old sedan!



Also got my rear end set up using a scratchbuilt crossmember and the Revell ’32 kit parts.







Still need to make a tailshaft, sort out the front end and build a trans tunnel.

I'm sure with your skills however you build it, it will look sweet.

Lookin' good Bryce, I'd be inclined to leave the chrome and highly detail the engine & chassis, it's a good look with the barn find body.

Ya it needs to be weathered,

Thanks guys.

Another quick update.

Shortened the tail shaft from the ’34 Ford coupe to complete the drivetrain:





Spent most of today trying to fix the hole in the floor. I find this kind of work quite challenging – for some reason my brain just doesn’t do complicated angles and things. Anyhow, I managed to get there with a lot of superglue and scrap plastic:





It was also more difficult because the doors open on this model, so I wanted a nice, neat, overlapping join between the floor and the firewall, which is attached to the cowl. It’s not perfect, but I am pretty happy with how it has turned out:





Now I just need to sort out some wheels and we should be ready for some paint and assembly!

Nice work

Chassis detail is .

looking good.

Nice project Bryce - I like the way you're approaching this one and keeping the body height intact. Looking great!

Thanks for the nice words guys.

Another quick update on this one.

Got some wheels sorted. Rear tyres are from Revell ’40 Ford with chrome reverse from an AMT ’32 – they are a perfect fit! To get them to fit on the Revell ’32 diff, I cut the centre from the Revell rims, shortened it and glued it to the back of the wheel. Then I just filed down the remaining inner lip to fit:



The front tyres are hollow AMT Firestones with AMT chromies from the ’51 Chevy. I filed down the outer lip to look a bit more realistic and fit better inside the tyre. Also did the same trick with the inner lip and attachment point to get them to fit on the Revell axle:



Added some old school taillight mounts from an AMT ’32 to the rear fenders:



Also got my rear seat fitted over the larger rear wheel wells – would be an interesting ride in the back of one of these with your arse right above the rear suspension!



Had to modify the front seats to fit over the new transmission hump. There’s a surprisingly large amount of leg room in the back there, despite my step up in the floor pan:

Looking good Bryce, nice work.

looking great as always Bryce the trans tunnel looks good.

Looking good there Bryce.
You're right about these being fiddley. If you want to chop them it's probably best to forget about having opening doors.

zenrat wrote:Looking good there Bryce.
You're right about these being fiddley. If you want to chop them it's probably best to forget about having opening doors.

Yeah I hear ya. I'm thinking about glueing the doors shut without chopping the top. Why is it that it's always the models with the least amount of interior detail that have opening doors?

I got the doors test fitted this week and they look ridiculous - massive gaps all around and nowhere near aligned at top and bottom. It has pretty much stopped me in my tracks on this one as enthusiasm has waned. So I think I will just cut the pins off the hinges and glue them shut at the end.

It will be a challenge in general to get the whole body assembly together - there's no real 'safe' area to glue anything. Any tips on final assembly?

I built mine with opening doors. Which don't fit too well (hence it is always displayed with them open) and fall off at every opportunity.
IIRC I glued the body to the floor with a thin run of 5 minute epoxy along the bottom edge on the inside.
At the back it's hidden by the rear seat and if you glue the door shut then any interior oozing should not be very visible.
If you glue the body on before you fit the seats and glue the doors on then you can get inside to clean up excess glue before it sets. However, if you do that then you can't adjust the body fit to get good door gaps.
I have some vague memories of wandering around holding the whole thing together while the glue dried...

Some nice work coming along there Bryce, mate I had the same problem with my Henry J, the doors and the hinge set up was very poor and the doors just sagged, terrible gaps. Quite frustrating. Im sure you will come up with a solution.
Adam

Bryce wrote:I got the doors test fitted massive gaps all around and nowhere near aligned at top and bottom.

Hey Bryce, don't be dissolusioned, that's the way Henry made the originals.

Gotta admit this is one of the more challenging kits to build and I've glued the doors shut on more than a couple of those puppys.

It's lookin' good so far so keep at it and you'll figure it out as you always seem to do and deliver a damn fine result.

Thanks for the input guys.

After much deliberation, I ended up making some panels that run along the inside of the body from the cowl to the back and I have reworked the doors for a better fit and glued them shut. I don't really care for working parts and am more concerned with the overall appearance, so it works for me.

Other than that, I wanted a bit of a break from the body so I started working on the engine. Trying to hone my weathering skills for the body by practicing lots of washes and dry brushing and simultaneously rediscovering the joy of simple brush painting. Here’s what I got done today:

wow nice one, great engine setup you got goin' I got a couple of these, theyre extremely fiddly to get all the body bits straight aye