[gunnulf]

Hello,
Hopefully this is in the right place,
I've decided to start a project, a 34 ford coupe. I have great pleasure in working metal and the real point of this project for myself is making the body and frame myself from metal. i've been passing my night looking on the net of pictures of 34 coupes and find the shapes particularly simple(could be mistaken ALOT here..)

the reason of this post is to know if anyone has blueprints or know where i can get some for either the body or the frame.

A question to people who know much about body work.
If i did the body panels in a few pieces and weld them together, do i weaken the panel allot or is it pretty much have the same Resistance. (the welds would be located at joints.)

Also a second question. I was told that metal for body is set between 20-22 gage steel, is it correct?

thanks.
-david.

[Max Keith]

Im attatching a set of blueprints I robbed from a catalogue of a well known company that sells glass duece roadsters.

welding small panels together to make a big one will achieve a lot of warping. Most car bodies are made from 16-18 gauge steel.

From the blueprint I sent you can extrapolate the other dimensions by measuring the known ones and make your own scale for the rest.

[Centerline]

Originally posted by Max Keith
Im attatching a set of blueprints I robbed from a catalogue of a well known company that sells glass duece roadsters.

welding small panels together to make a big one will achieve a lot of warping. Most car bodies are made from 16-18 gauge steel.

From the blueprint I sent you can extrapolate the other dimensions by measuring the known ones and make your own scale for the rest.

The deuce frame info will be helpful for people building deuces or Model A's on deuce frames but the 33/34 used a different frame.

Centerline

[Max Keith]

Ive not dealt with those frames in several years, and never got that involved in their design. If just figured this might give him some ideas for his home fabricated rig.

[OneMoreTime]

well in order to do something like this one would need to make a wooden buck the same size and shape as the completed body..that is to have something to use as guide to make the panels..

Then using the beater bag and hammers and tucking tools work the metal until one gets the shape..one will also become completely familiar with the English wheel as well..

Ferrari's were built this way at one time..As well as the custom cars of the 20's and 30's..

I would hope one embarking on a project of this nature would stay on the keep it simple side of things in order to have a prospect of a completed car..

Try www.metalmeet.com for more info on what you would like to do..

I think it very worthwhile for a young guy to become skilled in this area as panel making is a skill in demand by those who are doing restorations..

OMT

[gunnulf]

Hello again,
Thank you for all your feedbacks. I was wondering if i bought a scaled model of a 34 coupe from REVELL modeling company, are they scaled correctly or would i be doing a hellish mistake?
the length and width are as noted (scaled to what they should be)
length: 397.5cm ~4meters
width: 175cm ~ 13/4meters
of course on being a hotrod it doesn't have to be exactly the same though i want it to look darned close to it.

I've played and used an english wheel and eager to use those bag thingies hehe although i am guessing that its quite close on how i do Armour though 50times larger metal sheets

if anyone with 34 coupes could send me measurements or know where some are located, it would be GREAT help.

thanks. just being on this board makes me want to start even more hehehe

thanks to y'all.
david.

[302 Z28]

From my earlier days of scale model building I would not rely too much on the accuracy of a Revelle model. I recently completed an 80" wing span radio controlled P47. I bought a Revelle 1/48" scale model of a P47 to lay out panel and rivet lines on the larger model. Found out real quick that the panel lines did not match from side to side, also the wing profile was way off. I ditched the Revelle model and bought a Hasegawa that was much more accurate, but still had problems. Point is, you will only obtain accurate measurements from a full scale subject. When you try and scale a scaled down version to scale up your measurements are not exact and the inaccuracies are amplified by the scale up factor you are using.

Vince

[cboy]

I think scale models can be quite helpful in designing and building rods from scratch and I highly recommend them. With the one caveat being you are not going to get an exact replica of the original body. But most scratch builders are not after an exact copy of a deuce or a T or whatever rod they are building. What they are after is the basic dimensions and proportions. Scale models can also be used to determine if certain frames will be usable under certain bodies.

So 302 is correct about the limitations of using scale models for precise detail, but for scratch building a basic body - I think they are the next best thing to having an actual body sitting in your garage.

[Rob (chuck) Berry]

Hey! you are about to do the same as me!!! I have made a 34 roadster from a collection of bits and it looks very close to the real thing. I am waiting to get photos on disc and I will put them up on a project site. To get scale I went to a show and politely asked an owner if I could use his (unfinished) 34 as a template and he was happy to oblige, I made cardboard templates of what I viewed as critical lines and took about 500 measurements using dressmakers tape. Next I went home and made a seating buck which essentially was the floor pan only made from 20mm plywood and bent tubing to make a skeleton frame, by the way I used an overhead projector and a picture of jamie musselmans 34 to get a side profile and cut two more piecesof ply which ended up as the side reference points for the boot lid and daisy panel as well as the lower boot panel. Not having an english wheel I started to search for a car with the same double crown curve as a 34. I found it in a junkyard and paid $150 for a Toyota Hi Ace 12 Passenger Bus ROOF!!!!! Believe it or not this panel has the same contours as a 34 roadster back you just have to know how to cut it into fitting. If you make a buck like I did you will soon see how the roof fits the curve of the skeleton frame. Bonus number one from the old roof was the support frames could be used to enhance the strength of the body, I used mine to lock the back of the body to my homemade wheel wells. So er gunnulf go for it. Speaking of welds I used a mig and 0.6mm wire and used only the steel from the roof panel as it is aluminium killed from the factory going real slow I minimised the warpage, To make the mould shapes around the bottom of the body I used my home made bead roller across the midddle of the back and made hardwood forms to make the corners. The bead over the wheelwell is made from 16x1 round tubing bent to shape then run over to make it oval this was then welded all the way across the wheelwell (took days) both to the roadster back and then to the wheel well in tiny increments.
As far as the chassis plan goes Wescotts the glass body guys in the US has copies of most Ford chassis dimensions with all the hole positions marked. I made my own but that is another story for my journal. Cheers

[low budget rodder]

building a vehicle like this from scratch is a tough job. I wish you all the luck and hope you can see it through!

~Joe

[Nightfire]

I can give you the email of a guy who has a mold of a '34 Chevy coupe, looks very identical to a Ford.


Mike

[low budget rodder]

I would love to see it!

Thanks

~Joe

[CTKid34Ford3W]

For 34 Ford frame dimensions try American stamping. I bought one for $20 at a show last year. It is pretty good.

American Stamping Corporation
75 Downing Street, Suite A | Olive Branch, MS 38654
Phone (662) 895-5300 | Fax (662) 895-5320
Email ascrails@yahoo.com

http://ascrails.com/

Hope it helps.

[302 Z28]

4 Year old post, please look at the post dates before you reply.

Vince

[CTKid34Ford3W]

I realize you are a moderator but you are over the top with this power thing. Why do you care how old a post is when someone reply's? It is information that others can use.