Thread: Need help with a 30's Hot Rod

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I am looking into an early 30's like 32, 33, 34 and such Chevy street rod. I am used to working on 69 camaros. With them there are books like classic industries where you can get anything you want for it. I cant find anything like that when it comes to an old chevy coupe like i want. I am looking for a store, website, phone number, or catalog that carries body parts or even the whole body for an old chevy 3 window coupe. I am looking for steel, but if there is none, fiberglass will do. I am just doing research before i start investing in one.

I am really looking for windows for a chopped top, doors, tail sections, floor boards, dash boards, or firewalls. If you know of anyplace that carries any of that stuff in steel, it would be very helpfull, thanks.

What about if i included a 32, 33, or 34 ford 3 window coupe, any steel items for them?

Hoose, there are sources for early cars just like there are sources for Camaros. If I were you, I'd start with a subscription to Rod & Custom and Street Rodder and begin collecting catalogs from the manufacturers listed in those publications.

I'd also bring myself up to speed by reading books on the subject such as....

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...e&s=books&st=*

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

Welcome to CHR, Hoose. You might also want to watch "Deals on Wheels" and some of the other trader mags on the newstand for half done projects. Sometimes you can pickup some vintage tin for a reasonable price. Also might want to take a look on eBay, "parts cars", stuff shows up on there almost daily.

I actually just got certified in welding this past may. I was also working at a chopper shop called Felony Customs for a while and i learned how to shape steel, aluminum, and such. I was only looking for parts because i want to build my own body from scratch, but i want to keep some sort of a basic shape from an old coupe. I also need to find a frame for one but i think i am gonna buy a frame off of an old two door sedan and stretch the body thats going on it. Thanks a lot for the info you guys gave me it helps a lot. I am part of NSRA and i recieve street scene which helps out a little bit.
Thanks Again, Mike

Ever wonder why there aren't more original Chevy's than Fords from the early '30s? Besides the popularity of the Ford flathead V8, there was much more WOOD in the structure of the Chevys and that wood rotted away faster than Fords could rust away! I recall a rough '35 Chevy coupe our family had and the interior was ripped up to the point that it was clear there was a LOT of wood on the inside of the body. Maybe the '37 Chevy was the first Chevy model to have mostly metal for the body structure? I think there are a few fiberglass Chevy bodies available but not nearly as many as for Fords perhaps simply because the Chevy bodies are so rare as to not be available even for molds! Having been born in 1937, perhaps I can say that to me almost every 1937 model of whatever make looked strange, with the Chrysler Airflow the worst. Still the designers got out of their collective mistake somehow and the '40 Chevy and '41 Ford looked much better. Maybe there was some problem working out metal stamping molds to go from wood-supported structures to rounded metal structures and the transition year of 1937 represents a year of a considerable learning curve on how to stamp smooth metal bodies. Anyway you can probably find a fiberglass Chevy body if you look hard enough but it would be much easier to find a Ford body in metal or fiberglass.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I got a msg from someone about chevy body parts but i am not sure it helped out to much, so i am just gonna go with a 32-34 ford 3 window coupe. Does anyone know where i can get body parts for them?

http://www.brookvilleroadster.com/

....be sitting down when it comes to the prices.

You might be better off waiting for a half finished project at a steal-it price.

Daver.

You can try Gibbons bodies too. http://www.gibbonfiberglass.com/BYOC/carselect.asp