American Graffiti Ford Coupe

[bobss396]

9 hours ago, Twokidsnosleep said:

Taped up dry fit of frame, floor pan, interior door cards and body

 

VERY nice. I'll say it again, the '30 is a good choice. The Revell '32 5 window was a pain in the biscuit to chop and have it look right. 

I'll have to dig mine out. I also have a nicely done chopped '30 coupe body, resin caster unknown. 

[TopherMcGinnis]

My all time favorite set of movie cars!

[Twokidsnosleep]

5 hours ago, bobss396 said:

VERY nice. I'll say it again, the '30 is a good choice. The Revell '32 5 window was a pain in the biscuit to chop and have it look right. 

I'll have to dig mine out. I also have a nicely done chopped '30 coupe body, resin caster unknown. 

Cheers man,  I hope to make the ‘30 respectable. There is a lot of chopping and hacking to do

I am laughing at the Ford vs Chevy camps; they must hate this b-star dized car with a Chevy engine and Ford frame and body.

I prescribe to a  pick from the best you can mentality and make something work vs blind support for one group or thing

[Belugawrx]

Small block Chevy engines have been used in almost everything Hot Rod....reliability and easy parts swap maybe...?

Chop looks great Scott

[Twokidsnosleep]

Removing chrome with gel oven cleaner and modifying the steering wheel

[Twokidsnosleep]

Getting the front windscreen chopped and the kit clear glass to fit…about 3mm taken off of each!

 

 

[Twokidsnosleep]

To vent or not to vent…..that is the question

I can see the vent in front of McKenzie Phillips in the car in one scene 

Edited May 18 by Twokidsnosleep

[slusher]

Really nice work Scott, I will be following along watching you build like I did your Pinto build!

[Twokidsnosleep]

2 hours ago, slusher said:

Really nice work Scott, I will be following along watching you build like I did your Pinto build!

Cheers man

i think that Pinto was silvercreeker’s build

Edited May 18 by Twokidsnosleep

[Silvercreeker]

35 minutes ago, Twokidsnosleep said:

Cheers man

i think that Pinto was silvercreeker’s build

I haven’t done any Pintos yet. 

[Twokidsnosleep]

Opening the trunk

 

 

 

[TopherMcGinnis]

Nice work 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[gtx6970]

very cool build,

Keep it going 

 

 

 

[DJMar]

On 5/18/2025 at 10:53 AM, Twokidsnosleep said:

To vent or not to vent…..that is the question

I can see the vent in front of McKenzie Phillips in the car in one scene 

The '32 Ford used in the film was a steel-bodied project rod that the production crew found on a used car lot (ahhh, the early 70s). It had the cowl vent in place.

[Twokidsnosleep]

7 minutes ago, DJMar said:

The '32 Ford used in the film was a steel-bodied project rod that the production crew found on a used car lot (ahhh, the early 70s). It had the cowl vent in place.

Yes

This was a good article about the movie with some info on making of the car…it wasn’t yellow when they got it!!

https://kipsamericangraffiti.blogspot.com/2011/01/cars-32-coupe-fastest-thing-in-valley.html?m=1

[Shark]

That was a very good article, thanks for posting the link.

[Twokidsnosleep]

5 hours ago, Shark said:

That was a very good article, thanks for posting the link.

Glad you liked it

Some interesting background in it

[70Monte454]

One of my favorite cars of all time. Looks like you're off to a great start!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Making trunk hinges like these

 

and these

Mine are soldered brass, a bit thicker

 

Glued in and drying

 

Edited May 21 by Twokidsnosleep

[bobss396]

I definitely have to add brass fabrication and soldering to my skill set.

I did a lot of soldering at one machine shop I worked at. Silver soldering too.

We used torches, irons and hot plates. What are you using for an iron? I definitely want to get a hot plate too. We used Stay-Silv paste flux.

[Twokidsnosleep]

My hinges are a bit clunky, but will do

 

I cut out the vent. It got a bit wider than I wanted and not without some scratches needing filler

 

[Twokidsnosleep]

I was messing with the grill.
There is a Canada postal strike so unlikely able to order the chopped grill. 
I wanted that to show me how much the radiator got cut 🤔

not sure if my Nova donor will arrive in time before a strike either.
 

 

 

 

[Twokidsnosleep]

On 5/21/2025 at 2:42 AM, bobss396 said:

I definitely have to add brass fabrication and soldering to my skill set.

I did a lot of soldering at one machine shop I worked at. Silver soldering too.

We used torches, irons and hot plates. What are you using for an iron? I definitely want to get a hot plate too. We used Stay-Silv paste flux.

I love working in brass

It Is a bit of a pain filing and soldering is definitely an art and science with equal touches  of religion, prayer and swearing involved

Nokorode brand paste flux, clean parts with files and add some mechanical attachment if you can, get stable hold on a metal plate with rare earth metal magnets

Have a Weller iron but more often use a butane torch(actually a cigar lighter from Amazon) as I am impatient with the iron warming and then cooling.

I like getting the bits all aligned and locked down and then just  blast it with the torch.

This paste solder is very good to use in modelling, other than that a silver solder.

Ken Foran’s book ‘Model Building with Brass’ is an excellent reference…good present to ask for Christmas

Edited May 22 by Twokidsnosleep

[slusher]

Great hinges, I like them…

[stitchdup]

On 5/22/2025 at 5:04 AM, Twokidsnosleep said:

I was messing with the grill.
There is a Canada postal strike so unlikely able to order the chopped grill. 
I wanted that to show me how much the radiator got cut 🤔

not sure if my Nova donor will arrive in time before a strike either.
 

 

 

 

i've edited your post and remind you no politics.