New Member with questions

Hi, I'm form Dallas, TX and just got a project 1934 3 window coupe, what would be the best books to get for info, it at the point that I need to start attaching fenders. The car has a lot done but the finders hood and back lower panel will need installed. The car is a glass kit with steel running boards and steel hood.

The car has a 350 motor, 700R4 trans, quick change rear-end, 4 wheel disc brakes, A/C, pw window, pw doors, all gauges, 1200w Sony CD player, 1200 wats, gas tank, wheels & tires, all lights, title steering wheel, other stuff I'm not thinking of, what kind of price would you expect to see for a project with all of this done.

Regards,

Steve

Anyone out there, as Pink would ask, is there a better forum for answers?

what would be the best books to get for info,

what kind of info are you looking for exactly? im new here also and the people on this forum are very knowledgable in just about anything you can fire at em.

Hi there from the Big D myself,I appologize but even though you asked all those questions I still don't know what you are asking:whacked:

Start by going to library and getting anything by Tex Smith "how to build Ford hotrods" or "how to build traditional hotrods" Tex has written some truly informative and well researched boks on the subject.

Dallas,

This is as good as a place I can think of to get started. This link is to the Street Rodder Magazine book where they built a glass 33/34 with steel hood/fenders.

Good luck...and have fun...thats what this is all about!

http://www.streetrodderweb.com/roadt...is_suspension/

Hey, thanks for the response, I'm needing to learn everything I can as this is not a 1 piece body and I will need to attach the fenders. All of the wiring is done, drive tran is in, brakes are on, gas tank in, window installed, door locks installed, all dash gauges are in. A/C needs to be added, but most of the major stuff is done. I really need to know how the fiberglass get attached to the body.

Regards,

Steve

Generally, even if it is a fiberglass body, fenders and other items like running boards have flanges on them where you have to drill holes and run bolts through to afix them. Sometimes you insert welt between the two to act as a dress up and also insulator. (I've never owned a car with fenders, so I have not done this personally :3dSMILE: :3dSMILE: )

While buying someone elses half finished project can be a great way to get a good start and save some money, the one drawback is you sort of have to start without a clear picture of what you have to do to finish it. You just have to start holding things like fenders up against the body and mocking up the car, then you can see what needs to be done to bolt them on. Loosely tape parts on and block them up until you are sure they fit before you start drilling holes. All parts, whether they are glass or steel require a certain amount of finesing to get them to fit properly, and sometimes this can require some compromises just to get them to fit reasonably well.

Most of the knowledge you need will come from just sitting down and studying your car and seeing what looks right.


Don

Thanks Don,

I was thinking do you go with bolts or will pop rivets work, these are the kinds of question as of right now, I'm going to get some books and go to car show to look at some other cars. I am looking it over before I start and get the books I need, reading what I can.

regards,

Steve

Building Hot Rods is much different than building Muscle Cars. There are no hard and fast rules on putting the parts together, therefore there is not really "A" book you can buy that tells you everything you need to know. It is an on-going quest to learn as much as you can from books, magazines, looking at how other Rods are put together as well as the willingness to fabricate, cut and adapt parts as needed. Almost every Hot Rod is put-together differently, I like to look at the way others have done similar projects on their cars then decide for myself which one I like or if I want to do it totally different. IMHO that is what makes this hobby so much fun, because no two Hot Rods are exactly alike!

In your case all we know is that you have a fiberglass body, but we don't know who the manufacturer is or if the fenders are made by the same company as the body which could make a big difference. If you can give us more info, I am sure someone here will have seen or built one similar in the past and can be more help. Knowing what chassis you are using is a help, from the photo It looks like the chassis is finished and that you have a Mustang II IFS setup, which in my book means you need to keep the fenders on the car.

One thing is for sure, just because it is a "kit" it will not go right together and it probably will need some adjustments to fit correctly. My guess is that you will have some work to do to make the glass fenders match up to the steel boards. The price/value of the car when you are finished will depend greatly on how well you can get these pieces to fit!

Hope this helps...

Dave Brisco

Dave,

Understood, the body is a manufacturer that may not be in business any longer. Do you know of any old kits that are not produced any longer, I waiting on the seller to send me all of his paper work. I understand that fitting and getting everything mount is a must.

Here a few more pics maybe someone will see something and know a little more, one I get all of the paper work I should have a better idea of parts.

Regards,

Steve
Thanks to all

I was thinking do you go with bolts or will pop rivets work


No, use bolts and self locking nuts (nylock) where ever possible. I like stainless because it keeps it's finish forever, but they can't really be painted to hide them.

Dave is absolutely right about there being no true guide on how to do each and every application. Every car is different from every other car out there, even though many look the same. You are an artist, and your canvas is your car, you are creating a work of art. Your work of art.


Don

PS: I overengineer everything I build because when you drive your car there are stresses put on it that you can't imagine. You are being smart asking these questions. Keep doing that as often as you need to, we love helping other rodders.

Thanks to all, I'm really excited to get thing going, I will be asking more question I'm sure but I also need to reseach as much as I can.

As soon as I get some paper work I can give more details on the body and other parts.

PS: My other car is attached
Steve

My other car is attached


Oh sure, rub it in. You have a running car and we don't.:LOL: :LOL:

I love the body style on those, really pretty car.


Don

Got to have something to drive.............::3dSMILE:

thanks

Steve

There are probably more out-of-business manufacturers than there are still doing business... There are just so many companies that have made 32 and 34 bodys there is just no way to know unless someone recognizes one detail or another...

The engine mounts on your chassis look very similar to the Chassis Engineering chassis on my 32... The more photos you can post the better the chance someone might recognize a detail that gives away who the manufacturer is...

Any idea on when this project was originally started, it might give us some clues. By the looks of the chassis color and the square headlights bolted to the frame this car might have been started more than a few years ago..

Dave Brisco

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texascuda

Do you know of any old kits that are not produced any longer.

---

Yes I'm think 5-6 yrs ago, when I get the paper work it may clear up alot of things. I get some good pics and post later, plan on get the car on jack stands to get under for pics.

Steve

Someone who knows fiberglass bodies (and that wouldnt be me) should be able to recognize the firewall in this car. It is different than most so it should be a good place to start.

Steve: The car really seems to have some generally good construction techniques on it, but I just noticed something in one picture that I think I would address if I were you. It may be just the temporary way it is set up, but the steering seems to have a lot of twists and turns in it with all those u joints. Possibly putting a rod end support in the system will make it function properly, and that may be already part of the system that just isn't installed yet in the pictures.

I've never used u joints to route steering until this car I am just building now, so I am not an expert, but I am pretty sure from everything I have seen and read that with this many u joints you need some supports in the system to carry the twisting motion and convert it into smooth straight action.

Some of the others on here will be better able to tell you about that, but I just wanted to mention it in case it was an issue. Look at the picture he posted guys, and see if you think something more needs done.

Don

Itoldyouso is right. I didnt study the picture very well and it is difficult to tell from the angle of the picture, but if you have more than two u-joints between the column and the box, you need a support to keep the u-joints from binding.

Steve, i have to agree with Don on that. you could either make a bracket and use a bearing or use a hyme joint. IMHO i would put it between the two universals..

Harmon

I look at that tonight, I'll get better pics.

Again I want to thank everyone for your help, I'm green at this but willing to learn and listen to suggestion.......:)

Actually, the picture you posted on page one of this thread is pretty good. I shrunk it down when I posted because it was too big and made my computer screen get out of whack. But if you look at that picture on page one it shows the angles pretty well.

I don't know if the previous owner put all those u joints in there to clear some exhaust or what, but I think he could have shortened up the first shaft (the one on the steering box, and made a smoother transition in the system. It would have also gotten that one u joint further away from the frame rail, and probably put less strain on the input bearing on the steering box.

Like a said, I certainly am no expert in u joints in steering systems, but it just seemed to me that the system has the potential for a lot of monkey motion in it set up as is. Could make for a very ill-handling and unsafe car.


Don

Well I had someone look at the steering and it should be reworked, also found out it;s Minotti body, does any have a link or phone number got Minotti?

Steve

Bingo. I knew I had seen that firewall before. Yeah, it is a Minotti body, was built right here in my backyard in Naples Florida, about 50 miles from me.

As far as I know they are out of business, but they built a great body when they were doing it from everything I heard. If that is what you have, you are lucky, as the fit and finish was supposed to be top notch. I friend of mine did fiberglass fabrication on VW parts (Stu at Creative Car Craft) He did some of the work for them on molds and stuff if I recall correctly, and he is a perfectionist. He did my firewall and dash on my '27 and the work was amazing. I think they went out of business because of factors not related to problems with the product. Everything I ever heard was very good. In fact, I think they were building the bodies too good an couldn't compete with the cheaper ones.


Glad you are getting the steering straightened out. That is real important.

Don


PS: I just called 411 and there is no listing in Naples for them anymore.

Minotti went out of buisnuess maby a year ago or so, but they were good bodies.

Thanks for trying Don, I need the grill insert so I was going to call them and ask about that. I want to make sure the insert fit the glass trim. Also I was told the chassie is TCI.

Regards,

Steve

I think there were some posts on here recently about some problems some members had with TCI welds breaking or something similar. Please don't hold me to that, but it had something to do with the way the engine mounts were afixed to the frames or something of that nature. I could be dead wrong though.

Why don't you put in a seperate thread about "Any problems with TCI chassis" or something like that, and see what you get. My memory tells me there was insufficient gusseting on the mounts, but my memory is not the best sometimes anymore.:( :( :(

I just want you to have all the info you can going into this thing, because you seem like you are trying to do all the right things with the car.


Don

If my memory serves me right, Minotti got their start by building the OUTLAW bodies for them. They wanted to have more control of their quality and profit margins, so they started Minotti. I do know they were on the high end of price, so you may have found a bargain on the body.

Again, I know very little when it comes to fiberglass, but Minotti was top quality. You are fortunate if it is indeed a Minotti body. Their should be minimal amount of prep work necessary before paint.

As for TCI, I never bought one of their frames, but I have fell victim to their chassis components and have replaced them with more "sturdy" competitive products. I would recommend studying the frame very well before final assembly, especially the gussets as previously mentioned. From all I have read, TCI once had a solid product. But due to high production output, they seemed to have lowered the quality rather than holding to their original concepts.

If it makes you feel any better, they have sold lots and lots of chassis. So if it were widespread, they would be out of business by now too.

Just take it slow and inspect heavily and you should be good to go.

Texascuda---I've been lurking, watching your posts as they came up. I am a veteran of a few "fiberglass wars", and have a fair bit (about 40 years) of experience with hotrods. Putting glass fenders on a car that has a reproduction frame is quite a puzzle, as there are no preexisting "holes" to line things up with. To get things in the correct place, on a car which already has the body mounted in place, it actually starts with the hood. WHAT???
Well, yeah, the hood. Here's how it works----The hood (if you have one) is a done deal, lengthwise. So---you start by dummying the hood into place, with a proper gap at the rear of the hood, between it and the matching body reveal or cowl-front. This determines where your grillshell should go in terms of forewards/backwards. If you have hoodsides, thats really good, because that will determine the angle that the grillshell should set at. If you don't have hoodsides, then your going to have to find a similar car and get a measurement of the angle the grillshell sets at. With the grillshell located, that determines where the "chinpan" (thats the part under the grillshell) goes. I am not sure if your year of car has one, or if the fenders bolt directly to the grillshell. On my model A, the fenders bolt to the "chin-pan". Either way, thats what locates the position that your front fenders should be in "frontwards/backwards". The rear fenders are fairly easy to locate, (or should be) because the sides of the body at the rear will have an indentation that the fenders mate up to----HERE'S WHERE YOU REALLY HOPE THAT WHOEVER BUILT THE CAR POSITIONED THE BODY SO THAT THE REAR WHEELWELLS LINE UP CORRECTLY WITH THE REAR AXLE AND TIRES!!! Now all you have to figure out is the correct rotational aspect of the rear fenders.----And that is determined by the running boards. I'm not sure if the 34 Ford has splash aprons between the running boards and the underside of the body or not---I am assuming NOT, as the 32 Fords didn't have them. Bolt the front of the running board to the trailing edge of the front fender, dummy it into a position that looks good (generally parallel to the underside of the body, and thats what deermines the rotational aspect of the rear fenders. Drill holes about 8" apart thru the rear fender flanges and body all around the fender flanges, and thru the mating surfaces of all the other fiberglass mating parts, I use a 5/16" diameter drill. Use 1/4" diameter hex head bolts x about 1" long, with a large flatwasher under the head of the bolt and under the nut---use nylock nuts, as you can't really put enough torque on the bolts to make a regular lockwasher work, without cracking the fiberglass. On the front fender inner flange that sets on top of the frame, I generally drill thru the fender flange and the top of the frame-rail at the same time with a 3/16" diameter drill, then open out the holes (in the fiberglass only) with a 5/16" drill, and I tap the top of the frame 1/4"-20. I use 2" x 1/8" fabric welting between the underside of the front fender mating surface and the top of the frame. If you want to spend a lot of time screwing around with polyester filler, you can make all the mating surfaces fit each other perfectly (thats what I did on my roadster pickup), or you can purchase vinyl fender welting which acts as a cushion and a "gap hider" between the mating fiberglass surfaces. If your running boards don't fit perfectly between the front and rear fenders, you may be able to tweak the angle of the grillshell a bit at the bottom to move the front fenders slightly forewards or backwards to give a perfect fit.---Hope this helps----Brian

Brian, thanks for the input.

I have a 4 pc steel hood with steel running boards, I'm also thinking that I will need to find a smaller set of tires for the rear as they are 31x16.5x15.

I did hook up with some fellow street rodders here in Dallas, I'm going to pay my dues and help them with a another fellows car they are working on, I hope to pic there brains for all the info I can. Did start to get a handle on the wiring so I not so freaked out about it now. I hope to make some progress this weekend on the wiring.

I will keep updates as I go, and again I want to thanks everyones input as I'm really new at this but love it.

Regards,

Steve

Well I tracked down the original builder of my project, got some good info, however it has been 15yrs since this guy started this project. Got most of the wiring figured out and now working on a new shifter install. Hope to put power to it in a few weeks to see what works and what has problems.


Regards'

Steve

Well this past weekend I cut the hump out for the new shifter got it installed. Moved on to the wiring, hooked up the battery and had, lights, doors, head lights & tail lights, R & L turn signals, no power to windows, all gauges worked.

looked over the windows and found the the switch wasn't grounded, fixed now I have windows, no brake lights but that's due to no brake light switch hooked up. So I making slow but good progress. I hope to get all electrical done this week and start going over the wiring for the motor.

Regards,

Steve

Slow down Steve, you are making the rest of us look bad.:LOL: :LOL: :LOL:


Don

You know how newbies are, I get home change and go out to the garage, then about 10pm I think about dinner, man I got it bad....:)

Steve