Ford 34, a street hot rod who did not reach the finish line

[Ulf]

I started this project just over a year ago. I saw the Calb56 invitation to the Race of Gentlemen presents... California Drag Racing 2023 Build Thread in Community Builds and thought it would be fun to participate. My idea was to basically glue together some parts from the junkparts, it would prove to be a total lack of self-awareness. My starting point was a pandemic desparation choped AMT 34 five window coupe and thought that I have everything in my scrap boxes (I bought some scrap boxes during the pandemic when I returned to the hobby).
I jumped in on page 6 with my body and worked on during the spring, but then I unfortunately became so stressed that I did not dare to work on this one. Just before the turn of the year, most things around me had calmed down so much that it was time to start again but now the time for the group building was over and the focus was on other things so now I start again here. Rightly or wrongly, I start here because my thought is that it is a hot rod for the street making a small detour to The Race of Gentlemen. 

[Ulf]

I had already lowered the top, it was out of frustration during the pandemic, and it was my first top as an adult and I have learnt a lot for next time.
-Have a plan.
-Brace the body with a few sprues across the inside so that it stays straight.
-Measure three times, saw once.
-saw with a fine saw.
-Saw carefully.
-Be sure to build the internal window frames when the roof is gone, it's nice and steady.
All this does many more experienced model builders.

[TarheelRick]

You have a pretty good start on what looks like a decent period street rod. Should fit right in with the RoG. Bring on the updates.

[Ulf]

The wheels are half the car, after a bit of deliberation it was Moon discs from AMTs1925 Ford T Chopped No. 1167 kit. I am a bit restrictive with buying kits just for a few parts but I know I will build a T-rod one day. The front wheels are from an AMT 49 Ford and the rear are actually wheel backs from an AMT 62 Corvette. The moon discs were not as nice as I had hoped for actually. I put the wheels in my poor man's lathe, it turned out like that. The truth is revealed when the primer comes on.
 

 

Edited January 21 by Ulf

[Ulf]

Now almost a year later I'm not quite sure why I have a Chevrolet inline 6 but I think the engine in the AMT 25 Ford T was a bit too new(?). Anyway, I had an injected 51 Chevrolet with manifolds that looked enticing. The cylinder head that I had never seen before turned out to be a Fisher cross flow and I got good help from Ace Garageguy with links and other information to be able to build a sensible engine. Afriend said that I really chose AMT's two sourest lemons, 34 Ford which is a little weirdly skewed and 51 Chevrolet engine which is soft which I noticed. To get some rigour I made my own engine block, The "clutch" is an old Monogram rim and a part from the 51 air cleaner. The ribs on the tailgate are a pair of valve covers from an AMT Corvette.When I was done with the engine, I found a new engine block from a Galaxie 47 Chevrolet kit in one of the scrap boxes I bought the year before…

Edited January 21 by Ulf

[Ulf]

The plugged hole in the roof got what will hopefully look like spot welds when all is done.
On the underside I glued a slightly smaller equivalent. Of course, the one on the inside should be negative, I know, but my thought is that it will be easier to paint when there is an edge. Carbon black in the corners that should not be seen and sharp contrasts I hope will hide what should not be seen. This build isn't perfect but it's a lot of fun.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very VERY nice. Love that engine, and the overall look and stance are perfect.  

[Ulf]

The fight against the release angle goes on around the clock in parallel with the fight against seam lines and ejection marks on the forum. As a result of my struggle against the release angle, the AMT's interior went out and with it there was a little disorder in the dimensions of the coupé. I called in Bob to help me get the seat height, steering wheel position and angle, pedals and lever. The work is ongoing and I have promised to paint Bob clothes when we are done. It immediately turned out that the small bracket for the seat that I made was far too high, ok I have to drill some delicious light holes in something else.

[Ulf]

The holes in racing cars are tempting, my first attempt was not so good, the frame was a bit thin on one side, honestly the starting material might not be perfect. It was a retake with the equivalent from a 32. Just as honestly, I like the pattern on 34 better but you have to be able to live with compromises. One way to drill sharp holes in thin plastic is to clamp a thicker plasticard sheet on each side and drill through three pieces.

[ColonelKrypton]

57 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Very VERY nice. Love that engine, and the overall look and stance are perfect.  

I will second that.

seeing that your '34 Ford is powered by a six, you might consider including it in "the straight six community build rides again"  community / group build.

https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/187050-the-straight-six-community-build-rides-again/

Backing up thin stock with a thicker piece in order to drill holes is one way. However, I use small four flute end cutting end mills  ( amazon or eBay ) that can cut the hole directly on the thin stock without needing to be back up with thicker stock.  I have a few select sizes that cover my needs.  Available in metric as well as imperial sizes and various shank sizes. This is a link to an example on Amazon.com  to show to what I am referring:

https://www.amazon.com/1pc-Flutes-Carbide-Square-Mill/dp/B09VFFQWP9/?th=1

 

I am really liking this build.

cheers, Graham

 

 

 

[Bullybeef]

@Ulf so glad that you took your progress to a new thread! Keep going you have a winner here.

[roadkill]

G'day Ulf, when I stop to read and see someone else's work I usually scroll down slowly so I can stop before I see the first pic. Then I read what ever is there then I go to the pics, so when I read your blurb I started to think that the model was not going to be all that great, WOW, was I wrong, this is going to be a work of art, very well thought out and beautifully executed, very well done sir, can't wait to see the finished build.

 

Michael Pederick, (roadkill),

from the left coast Western Australia.

[Paul Payne]

Love the little figure you constructed- great for testing fit and position! Will be following!

[CabDriver]

This is a great looking project - I like the work you’re doing on this one!

[Ulf]

Thanks to everyone for all the friendly feedback.
Tonight I did some colour studies  with watercolour on a few prints.

I think a blue grey will meet red, primer red, steel, aluminium and a little rust well.

Edited January 24 by Ulf

[ColonelKrypton]

On 1/23/2024 at 2:06 PM, Ulf said:

Tonight I did some colour studies  with watercolour on a few prints.

What a great idea. I will have to give that a try.  I dabble a bit with water colours and other mediums; doesn't have to be water colours, will also try some inks and markers.

cheers, Graham 

[Bainford]

Very cool project, Ulf. This is one Chevy-in-a-Ford I can get behind. Looking cool.

[Ulf]

Wise words from one who knows, her "boss" is probably ironic, the wait staff is more accurate.

Next time I shop a top I will do a lot of parts before I put a fine toothed saw in the plastic, the front window frame and interior window frames as well as the edges of the openings I will work a lot on because now I know how difficult it is to do afterwards. My ambition is humbly to get this car together.

I cut away the bottom part of the window frame and replaced it with a plasticard profile and fitted the top part in and will try to sand the inside a bit to make the framme both sharper and thinner, a job to be done during the day in daylight....
I glued the thinnest round plasticard profile along the inside as a reinforcement. I have moved the firewall back to accommodate the engine and in order to one day be able to mount the instrument panel, I have put quite a lot of effort into making sure that these mounts have a perfect fit. Right now I'm working on a smaller dog house and  I'll come back to that in the future.

 

[Kenmojr]

This is gonna be super cool....

[Zippi]

Nice mods going on here Ulf.  The colors you choose are going to look pretty kewl.  I'm liking this build.

[Ulf]

Now I have come a long way with the cover over the gearbox and clutch. I have built a diamond, about 13 parts, facets. It really can be made easier and faster but now it's almost done. I started from the cover in the floor tub in the 34 kit and glued plasticard around it so that the angles were equal, in short, the cover became larger but retained shape and proportions. I am really not sure that a Ford 34 floor looks like this so it may be silly to copy an incorrect shape but it felt like a part of the 34. The primer will reveal how I managed the task.

Because I moved my inline 6 back I also need to move a cross member and make new front engine mounts. 
It feels a bit like being forced to make a heart change but now the new beam is in place, glued and stapled with styrene plastic and it will be allowed to dry during the week. I hope that my choice to glue styrene with styrene glue is right.
The old beam will probably have to stay in place for quite a long time in the project to support it.

The next tough question is, shock absorbers or not in the front ?
A car screwed together by parts to accelerate a little straight ahead at some point, are shock absorbers something that I have to deal with ?

 

[Ulf]

A slightly unmotivated update but now I have finally test fitted the engine to the new mount.

[bill-e-boy]

Kool project - coming along nicely

[Muncie]

Love '34 Ford coupes with Chevy sixes. The slicker and more attitude, the better. Thank you for continuing the build and the posts - this thing is pretty darn cool!

[Rattlecan Dan]

Looks really nice so far!