'32 Ford High-Bolster Roadster - 9-7 Update

[Bernard Kron]

One of the signature details of many '40's era Roadsters is a large padded bolster across the top of the bench seat, often wrapping around to the rear edge of the door, and even wrapping all the way around the edge of the cockpit opening. It's something that's unique to this period and, as much as it lends tons of period character to these cars, it's rarely modeled in scale. I've attempted it a few times, on a couple of '27 T's and the "Challenger" '29 A from the film Deuce of Spades that's in my signature. As far as I know there aren't any kit or aftermarket parts for these things and you have to fabricate them. I've never been entirely satisfied with the results I've gotten (the '27 T Highboy I did, and maybe the '29 A came closest) so I thought I do a straight-up period traditional Deuce roadster in this style. I'm using the seat and interior from the Revell Deuce Highboy kit as the basis. The kit will also form the basis for the rest of the model. I'm planning a rigorous period build with buggy spring rear end, juice brakes, I-beam front axle and flathead V8. The last time I did a traditional hot rod it was a 7-day quick build last Xmas. This will take much, much longer. Wish me luck.

Some examples of high bolstered Deuces:

The bolster was built up from bits of 1/2 and 1/4 round styrene stock and mated to the Revell kit seat. It snaps into place along the cockpit opening. Still a lot of filling a finishing to go to be presentable...

Thanx for lookin',
B.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Bernard Kron

[DrKerry]

Lookin' good Bernard, always like watching what you do!!!!!!!!

[Intmd8r]

Cool build. Can't go wrong with a period correct Deuce!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Always a treat to see your period work, Bernard. You capture the real feeling of these old cars every time. 

[Jantrix]

Very cool. Looking forward to seeing this.

[misterNNL]

What a great signature detail!Period perfect.

[Spex84]

Great start Bernard.

For something like that bolster, I think I would consider sculpey or Milliput...potentially less work than trying to shape it all from plastic. But there's something to be said for keeping it styrene!

 

[curt raitz]

Hey Buddy

nice job, looking forward to another one of your builds

thanx

[Phildaupho]

Your high bolstered seat is a strong component of the many vintage looking hot rods you see these days like those that compete at the Race of Gentleman which I find very appealing.

[10thumbs]

Bernard, go for it man.  Your research and enthusiasm is always a treat and we can all benefit.

[Dennis Lacy]

Very neat project idea, Bernard. It's interesting because with all of the traditional and neo-traditional hot rods being built these days to try and emulate or relive the past the high bolster look isn't done  a whole lot. I think it may have to do with that it excludes the use of a top. Almost everybody I know with a roadster has a chopped and stylized up-top which, I think, is ironic because it defeats the purpose of having an open car. Before I sold my T roadster my ultimate plan was to paint the car shiny one day and have a built-in seat with a bolster that wrapped over the top and sides of the body where the wood tack strip would have normally been. 

[Agent G]

Looking good so far!

G

[Skip]

Great subject Bernard, agree not often modeled but it's such an important part of real Hot Rod history.  Many forget it was the Hot Rods of the lat 30's and 40's that laid the foundation for the 50's and early 60's Hot Rods so any of us love.  Don't know why, but when I read the tag line I thought it was another one of Dennis' builds, you two turn out some real beauties!  Please keep the cool pix coming, I'm enjoying the eye candy so far!

makes me wonder now that we have some really sweet Model A and Deuce roadsters why no one has done a bolster in resin.  I know I'd like to see it happen for anything from one like '27 to '32, it's such a classic look that literally screams "Dry Lakes and Street Driven Hot Rod".  

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx everyone! Yeah, a big bolster can definitely get in the way. How about the one on this '27T seen at the lakes around '48:

It's just about the whole seat. But as you'll see below there seems to have been a way to accommodate them!

I made quite a bit of progress in the past week or so, but before getting to that I thought I’s share a bit more hot rod lore since it seems to have been so well received. I finally trackd down the car that is inspiring this project. It’s one that I’ve noticed quite often in various books and on line but I only recently was able to put a name to the pictures. It’s the Hank Negley roadster, sometimes referred to as the Hank Negley C-Class roadster because of its success at the dry lakes after WWII. Negley started it in 1938, put it in mothballs for the duration during the war, and raced it on the lakes throughout the late 40’s. It was also the inspiration for the far more famous Joe Nitti Roadster. Nitti was a close friend and Negley helped him build his version.

This is the Negley car as it looked immediately prior to Negley shipping out to war, presumably in 1942 or so. It already has a nice rubber rake, but sports Kelsey Hays wires and a stock hood. The b&w photo makes it look black but it was in fact a deep purple for which it was well known among California hot rodders. This will be the version my build will most closely resemble.

This is the best known photo of the car, in its classic post-war version complete with louvered hood and tubular shocks, ready to go 123.79 MPH on the dry lakes in 1947.

Home from the war the roadster was also Hank’s daily driver, including a trip to Denver across the continental divide Somehow he managed to fit a top to the car despite the fairly pronounced bolster and the by-then chopped windshield. This was one classy ride, no doubt about it!

Next, my progress so far…

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Bernard Kron

[misterNNL]

Thanks for the inspirational history behind your build and for posting the period B&W photos.Great stuff!

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks Tom!

Now for the progress report. I got the bolster finished up. The larger cracks and seams were filled with more styrene stock, the whole thing sanded to final shape, and then a skim coat of putty applied and finish sanded. I think it came out with a nice rounded continuous shape that suits the car.

Trying to keep this firmly in the 40’s time frame requires a considerable number of detail changes to the venerable Revell Deuce kit. First off was installing a ’30 rear cross member from a Revell ’30 Sedan kit. I’ll be using the buggy spring and shocks from that kit as well. I decided to go with the Columbia 2-speed rear axle from the Revell ’40 Ford Standard Coupe kit, which will contribute it’s flathead as well. The Columbia rear axle was a popular hop up in the 30’s and early 40’s since it allowed extra high gearing using the axle’s overdrive 2nd speed for dry lakes speed runs while permitting good street driveability for daily driving. I had to cut down the width of the axle to fit the Deuce, so while I was at it I adapted the rear axle ends from the Deuce kits.

Besides the rear end the chassis required some detailing and clean up. I used the Revell ’32 Sedan. flathead motor mount, so I removed the standard Revell motor mounts for the small block Ford V8. I also filled the notch in the frame for the modern cross steering as well as the bumper bracket notches on the ends of the frame rails. I also applied a strip of 010 styrene around the frame horns to represent the channels on the stock frame horns. The front suspension will be from the Revell ’30 Sedan kit using the dropped front axle and preserving the posable steering.

The wheels will be the Kelsey Hayes style wires that come in the Revell ’32 Ford sedan kit. I’ve figured out how to narrow them to fit 40’s era narrow tires while still preserving the kit chrome. Like the Hank Negley roadster referred to above, I’ll be running chrome rims and hub caps with black painted spokes. The front tires will be plain old AMT Firestones while the rears are the very cool period correct truck tires that I get from Herb Deeks every year at the NNL West (you can buy them from him on eBay as well).

The stock firewall is one of Norm Veber’s incredible castings from Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland. So thin, so smooth, so styrene like! How does he do it? It even comes with a matching hood with a relieved rear edge for a perfect fit. The hood comes smooth so I glued some .030 half-round stock down the middle to represent the hood hinge.

And finally, I hogged out the inside of the Revell Deuce Roadster kit dashboard to remove the 8-track cassette player (?), radio and air conditioning vents. I substituted a blank panel and hope to be able to apply a range of p/e gauge rings and decals from Model Car Garage.

Next up, suspension engineering, then the flathead, primer and paint.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

 

[Dogfish_7]

[1930fordpickup]

Like all the rest have said this is so cool . 

I do have a question about the bolster part. Is this just a cover for the top or did they remove the top because it never rains in Cali (or so the song says )? 

[Bernard Kron]

...I do have a question about the bolster part. Is this just a cover for the top or did they remove the top because it never rains in Cali (or so the song says )? 

Thanks guys!

The bolster was part of the upholstery, an integral part of the seat back, sometimes extended into the door panels. It was not a cover for the top. Indeed most cars didn't have top, the bolster often interfering with mounting one. The hanl negley car's bolster stop just short of the bodywork, I believe it used snaps mounted to the body to mount the top over the bolster. Some cars extended the bolster to a full wraparound aling the door sides. A very famous example of this is the Eddie Dye '29 Roadster built by the Ayala Brothers in 1950-51. The doors on the cra were welded shut and molded in. You simply vaulted into the car. It was extremely low.

The Eddie '29 Ford Roadster:

Edited August 7, 2016 by Bernard Kron

[1930fordpickup]

Thanks for the info. 

[Bernard Kron]

Just a quick update. I’m making good progress and have gotten some basic housekeeping out of the way. I determined the color of the car and shot a test shot to make sure it looked like I wanted. The body and chassis will be Tamiya TS-11 Maroon over red oxide primer. Here’s a quick test shot with just one coat of color and one coat of clear, but it’s a close match to Ford Mandarin Maroon and what I thought would be appropriate for a 40’s era hot rod.

Here’s the interior, finished in Testors Acryl Leather over red oxide wth flat black carpeting. The basic leather texture is in place but there’s still some buffing down and weathering left to do.

And finally, I did the final chassis prep before primer and color coat. I separated the Revell kit shocks from the brackets/headlight mounts, stripped the brackets of their chrome, and glued them in place before paint. This is something I always promise myself I will do but manage to overlook and land up having to paint the brackets by hand after the fact. This time I finally did it right. I also made small brackets for the split radius rods I’ll be using at the front. The main chassis will, of course, be body color, but I masked out the floor pan so it will remain bare plastic. It will be painted Testors Metalizer Gun Metal once the chassis is fully painted and cured hard enough to mask.

The Flathead V8 block is painted and the motor ready ready for final assembly and detailing. Meanwhile I’ll start primer and paint on the chassis and main body parts.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[Spex84]

Looking good! I dig the maroon/leather combination. Going to have to use that on one of my projects sometime!

[misterNNL]

How was the Columbia two speed engaged on those early cars?I drove a Ford straight truck for a few years in the 1960's as part of my job delivering air cargo and that was activated with a small pull knob fastened on the right side of the floor shift knob where I could easily pull it up or push it down with two fingers as needed.

[Bernard Kron]

How was the Columbia two speed engaged on those early cars? I drove a Ford straight truck for a few years in the 1960's as part of my job delivering air cargo and that was activated with a small pull knob fastened on the right side of the floor shift knob where I could easily pull it up or push it down with two fingers as needed.

The Columbia was introduced in 1932 on the Auburn Speedster and was a vacuum operated unit. Here's Hemming's summary of the unit:( see http://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hmn/2006/06/Columbia-two-speed-rears/1280603.html )

"The Columbia two-speed offered a low gear ratio for low-speed pulling power and fast acceleration from a dead stop. It could then be shifted into a higher ratio on the fly to give the vehicle a smoother and more efficient ride for highway speeds. The higher ratio also allowed the engine to run at a lower rpm once the car was moving fast enough to utilize the second speed or ratio. The two gear ratios were achieved by engaging and disengaging planetaries within the rear end housing by means of a vacuum-controlled canister that was mounted to the differential. The shift mechanism for the overdrive unit was a control valve that was attached by a special clip to the unit's bellcrank to the clutch pedal. The control valve was connected to a plate below the carburetor, which supplied engine vacuum on the intake side and sent this vacuum to the "motor" on the rear axle on the exhaust side. The vacuum canister or motor was connected to the control valve by copper tubing and a rubber vacuum line that ran the length of the driver's side of the undercarriage. A cable-operated activation switch was installed on the dash to engage the two-speed unit."

Here's a company that rebuilds them and sells repair parts, etc. for them today: http://www.columbiatwospeedparts.com/Pages/default.aspx

[Misha]

Great project Bernard! Especially enjoying the historical aspect of Hot Rodding you've provided. With the many deuce variations out there, it is very refreshing to see the direction you've taken. I'll certainly will be following this one!

Cheers Misha