Thread: Everybody that is currently building a car...

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Heres a pic of the car before I began tearing it down. I have a few rolls of film that I need to get developed of the build up to date.




I spend most of today, working on removing the wood from the interior. Plans are to remake the pieces out of metal and weld the body together for better strength. I'll try to post more pics when I get them back.

Looks like a good solid project to start on. Keep us updated....

2dr or 4dr? Very cool looking car, I would like to see more pics, I have never seen one.

I'm late in reading all the various build ups & such, but regarding Don's firewall re-enforcemment,
I recall a recent issue of ( Street Rodder ?) doing a build, using a RADIO FLYER Wagon for the outside of the firewall.
Seems they cut it in half to strech, welding in a new center section , it had all the appeal of rounded & rolled corners too.
Enjoying the pictures & words of wisdon on this lengthy thread.
my two cents.,
jim

Yes it is and there is alot of great info within the pages of this thread too! Welcome aboard forty1, nice truck.
Do you have a pic of the frame itself yet chicken leg? I am curious how it compares to the chev and ford of the same year.

Hups where a working mans car, but offered more car for the money compared to ford and chevy. The Hup is a bit larger than fords of that era, and has a 6cyl motor which for the 28 model year was newly redesigned, and became known as the 'century six', the six cylinder of the century. Below are pics of the car from old family photos as well as some of the tear down pics.

Hupmobile, yes----and what about Star, Durant, Frontenac, Essex, Reo-those are all "off brands" that wouldn't have rated even a look 25 years ago, and now are valued as highly as the "fabulous Fords" by the hot rod set.

The Hup looks like a way kewl car to start with, and especially with a bit of history on the car!!! One of my favorite off brands is the Essex. Friend of mine has an Essex Sedan. Been trying to talk him out of it for the past 5 years with no luck. Sure would like to get my hands on it someday..... Good luck with your build and keep us updated...

It looks very well built and should make a great hotrod. I love all those old cars, I am trying to think of what an Essex looked like.

Originally Posted by brickman

It looks very well built and should make a great hotrod. I love all those old cars, I am trying to think of what an Essex looked like.

Tony,
Essex was a division of Hudson Motor Co., built from 1919 til 1931. 1932 was a transition year when the name Essex Terraplane was used, and the following year the name Terraplane was used until the name expired in 1939. You can think of it as the "down sized" Hudson. Here's an index of some pictures; http://www.carnut.com/photo/list/flist.html Just choose the name Essex and it will give you a year by year selection page.

More pics of the teardown:







A funny story today of just how small the world is: While talking to a co-worker about building cars, (his car in particular) the question was referred to me, "What are you building?" Well, normally after I answer that question I get the question of, "A, what?". A Hutmobile? Then I reply, no, a Hupmobile, Hup, spelled h-u-p. His reply, Ive only seen one of those in my lifetime. It was located over in Fairmont, and had been in the same family for years and years. Fairmont, I replied. "Just where is Fairmont?" "Just over the hill here". I was shocked for a moment. My grandmother still lives in Fairmont, though its not referred to that anymore, and the car, yep, you quessed it, its the same one. He said the car was 'cherry' back in the day and he can recall of taking a short ride in it as a kid. He said my great-grandmother had all kinds of interesting things around, such as a real working minature steam loco, that the kids would ride on. He also said the he had bought one of his first cars from my great-grandmother. That was definitely a rare moment.

I have a build question pertaining to ride height. I have to redo my sill plates on the body because they are made of wood, and Im wanting to remake them with metal to stiffen up the body. Im wanting a low ride height with the wheels, 17" im thinking, riding up in the fenders. Im thinking of when I remake the sill plates to channel them so that the body of the car sits lower on the frame rails. What would be involved, and would this be a good idea? Im thinking I would have to drop the front fenders down to match the body lines, and would possibly have to shorten the engine skirts, and radiator to match with the dropped body. Thanks in advance.

If ya like pictures of old cars---Here's a picture of me and one of my first model A's taken in about 1962. My dad and I built a wooden rowboat and traded it for this car. Now I,m 60 and have came full circle---the 31 roadster pickup in my avatar is my current model A.---Brian

this is a on going project. this is a 1936 Chevy master sedan. as some of you may know in the early 30's they use wood. all of the wood has been replaced. its setting on the original frame. it has a mustang 2 ifs, 400 sbc th350 trans. the seats are original just reupholstered. are plan it to get the floor in from direct sheet metal.
photos of car to follow at a later time

I am sorry the picture is so dark of the latest firewall on my '29; maybe DennyW knows how to lighten it up? I tried to use PAINT to lighten it but I could not figure it out. The point is that now the stainless steel plate has been painted the body color including a coat of clear. With the firewall being indented so much it is like in a cave. If you look up close you can see the edge of the plate and the smoothed capscrews but it will certainly not detract from the view of the engine. For Bob Parmenter, this is the best I can do in my situation and I also bought a tilt column without a key-lock from Brookville and had it painted at the same time as this plate. The paint shop painted the previous column as part of the original paint job but with a second column and the plate I had to pay for 2 1/2 hours plus materials so I am not going to mess with it anymore. I still have to finish up the inside floor board and try to make it watertight.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I gave it a try Denny. I couldn't do any better. Looking good Don.

BTW: I ordered a couple glass doors for the "Z" today. Got a tube bent for the tranny crossmember today also, so I should be able to get that installed tomorrow.