1929 Chevy 3 Window Coupe??

[Johnnycrash]

Hey gang,

So, I get a call from my dad, asking about a 1929 Chevy 3 Window Coupe. A friend of his at work has a 1/1, and would like a mini version. But, I can't seem to find a kit of one. Is that my inability to search, or the fact that there was never a kit of one of these??

These are NOT of his car. His is currently stripped down for restoration. But this is what I am looking for.

Edited December 3, 2008 by Johnnycrash

[Rudy]

I dont know if a kit exists, but it looks like you could make one out of a 28-31 ford 5 window coupw with a little filling of the extra windows and widening of the doors.............

Good Luck! Rudy

[george 53]

John, if you want that particular body style, I'm afraid you'll have to build it, caz it's never been kitted. I think the closest you'll get is the old MPC 32 Chevy Cabroilet.Maybe like Rudy says, you could modify an old Ford kit or somthing, but as a straight out kit of it, no go, sorry.I don't believe it's even in resin.

[Johnnycrash]

Dang! I was hoping this might be an easy, fast build for the guy.

Been looking at the '29 Ford... A conversion could be done. But the '32 Chevy looks promising as well. But I already have the Ford. So, more research is needed. I need to see the real one, with the little Ford in hand. That will help alot.

Thanks guys.

[Johnnycrash]

Good news, I don't have to worry about it being stock anymore. Turns out, he is going full hotrod. http://www.schwartzwelding.com/gallery/10.html

So, I can start with that '29 ford I have. For when I am done, it will have to have a fully scratch chassis, with custom wheels and tires. I don't know exactly what his final plans are, but I am sure it will require much bodywork.

I am sad to say though, a very fine '29 is toast. He could have at least just started with a rusted body. Oh well.

[Art Anderson]

Dang! I was hoping this might be an easy, fast build for the guy.

Been looking at the '29 Ford... A conversion could be done. But the '32 Chevy looks promising as well. But I already have the Ford. So, more research is needed. I need to see the real one, with the little Ford in hand. That will help alot.

Thanks guys.

Johnny,

This will be a rather involved project, for sure--given that there is but one prewar Chevrolet model kit done, MPC's 1932 Chevy Cabriolet/Panel Delivery kit (Panel delivery was only available as a stock Chevy in 1965-66, but the Cabriolet has been reissued at least a couple of times by AMT/Ertl in the last 20yrs and isn't hard to find). All is not lost however, as the '32 Chevrolet used exactly the same engine, driveline, rear and front axles and the same type of springs as the '29 (1929 was the first year for the Chevrolet 6-cylinder engine).

It's going to be in the bodywork where you have work, some serious work to do: As the '32 Chevy was the final "flowering" of the style of sheet metal that began in '29, it's just enough different in all its aspects to make it very problematic. A better solution might be to use several different kits, along with some cutting, splicing, and putty work to get that '29 Coupe.

I would be sorely tempted to start that body and fenders with a Monogram '30 Model A Ford Coupe kit. The basic lines, and I suspect the dimensions as well, are pretty close. Certainly the fenders and running boards are. Differences will be in the splash aprons (that sheet metal panel between the bottom of the body and the inner edge of the running boards, the length of the hood (Ford's were 4-cylinder engines, Chevrolet was the inline "Stovebolt" 6. The roof and windshield will be different from the A, taller and more square, with a longer door length (your Chevy coupe is a 3-window, while all Model A steel-bodied coupes were 5-window, having a shorter (length) door, with a quarter window behind it. The Model A radiator is close, but the shell will need to be reshaped somewhat, particularly in the opening, to get rid of the Model A's characteristic "widow's peak" at the top of the opening for the radiator core.

The '32 Chevy frame will need to be shortened a bit, I am sure, given that the '32 Chevy had several inches more wheelbase than did the '29. Those disc wheels will be a major effort, about the only 1/24 (or 1/25) scale wheels like that were done in model kit form in some of the Heller late 20's Citroen kits--not perfect replicas of a Chevrolet disc wheel, but oh-so-close in appearance that they just might work.

Probably some sheet and strip Evergreen styrene stock will be needed, to create the new body moldings (different from the Model A body) and lengthening the hood to clear that longer 6-cyl engine, and in reworking the roof.

Not an easy project, but one that surely could be done I think.

Art

[Johnnycrash]

Thanks Art. That would be a great help. If, IF, I was building a stock '29. Things changed. If you read my last post, you will see that he's going Hotrod with it.

[Art Anderson]

Thanks Art. That would be a great help. If, IF, I was building a stock '29. Things changed. If you read my last post, you will see that he's going Hotrod with it.

Johnny,

I saw, after I made my post, that you'd added the fact about the guy planning on rodding that Chevy. As far as body shell and associated sheet metal, the work I described, parts I mentioned, still apply. I chose to suggest the body panels/sections I did, based on their shapes, and how close they are in shape to the Chevy.

Of course, I have to wonder if your friend realizes that he's got a car with more wood in the body than probably in any stick of furniture he's got in his house? That alone is one of the reasons that Chevies of that era didn't survive in large numbers. That body shell is in fact, a wooden framed body, with not a bit of structural metal in it--all it's framing is wood, the only steel is in the outer skin--little wonder that Model A Fords, of which slightly more were built than Chevies '28-'31 have survived probably 20-to-1 over the Bowties. All that wood will make it pretty tough to chop the top, for example. but then, it's his car, his name on the title.

Art

[Jairus]

It's a WOODY?

Yeah.. nobody has ever chopped a woody before...

Would (no pun intended) be fun to do one of these with a wood skin then... or ash framing and mahogany panels like the Ford Sportsman (1946 - 48)!

[Rudy]

i think he did the right thing in making it into a street rod. just seeing the pictures of the car without it's fenders i thought that made an immediate improvement. and by the looks of things he's spending money in the right places and is well on the way to having a very nice car.

Dave

I wish I could score a car that is that mint to start with for a hotrod project! (Read HOT Rod, not STREET Rod) I would feel bad cutting it up! Anybody can restore a car, it takes a real man to cut one up!!

Rudy

[torinobradley]

I have a Metal body kit of a 1/20th 32 Chevy. Would that be closer to what you need in the body department?

[Johnnycrash]

I have a Metal body kit of a 1/20th 32 Chevy. Would that be closer to what you need in the body department?

Thanks. But, this project is on hold. I guess he wants to wait until the car is finialized. Makes sense. He's not totally sure where the project is going. So... And it has to be 1/24 or 1/25. He has a few other cars (die casts) that he want's it to go with. So, 1/20 won't work. Oh well. Looks like this wont be happening for at least 6 months anyways.

[Art Anderson]

I have a Metal body kit of a 1/20th 32 Chevy. Would that be closer to what you need in the body department?

Unfortunately, a '32 Chevy is nowhere close to the '29, no more than a '32 Ford is at all close to a '29 Model A.

Art