I'm building a '34 Woodie but it's really a Speedwagon

[Phildaupho]

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

With apologies to Brian Wilson and Dean Torrence

I recently read an article about Jan of Jan & Dean finally driving a ’34 Woodie for the first time after changing Brian Wilson’s Surf City lyrics in 1963 from a reference to a ’34 panel to “I bought a ’34 wagon and I call it a woodie”. In the original video for the song a mid-thirties Ford pickup is used with Woodie written on the door! I decided to convert a Revell Speedwagon from ‘32 to ’34 configuration thinking it would be pretty easy but it ended up requiring numerous modifications. I wanted to stay true to the original Tom Taylor/Dan Fink Speedwagon design but giving it a fresh look as a ’34.

- The door lines on both the ’34 and the Speedwagon are very similar so I cut away the cowls and rocker panels on both.
- Because the Speedwagon would need to channelled, the ’34 cowl required a slight sectioning as well as the interior
- The hood sides were made from sheet styrene as I wanted them smooth anyways
- Sectioning the grill was a bit tricky and the V8 emblem was removed
- The Speedwagon rear fenders were used mated to the outer lips from the ’34. The fenders were joined across the back with a fabricated panel mimicking a ’34 fuel tank cover
- The wheelbase surprisingly ended up being shorter than the Speedwagon so the rear axle was moved forward and was actually raised slightly.
- The engine was also moved forward so it would look properly centred in the engine compartment
- All of this now needs finessing

Edited August 2, 2014 by Phildaupho

[1930fordpickup]

Cool idea .

[wayne swayze]

Love cars and trucks from the 30's! Love woodies too! I'll watch this build for sure!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Nice hack-'n-whack going on here. Looks good.

[slusher]

Looks really good..

[Paul H]

Great idea - can't wait to see more. Which '34 kit are you using for those parts?

[maltsr]

I've wanted to do this for years, Phil, you've made a great start. Very nice work.

[tim boyd]

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

With apologies to Brian Wilson and Dean Torrence

I recently read an article about Jan of Jan & Dean finally driving a ’34 Woodie for the first time after changing Brian Wilson’s Surf City lyrics in 1963 from a reference to a ’34 panel to “I bought a ’34 wagon and I call it a woodie”. In the original video for the song a mid-thirties Ford pickup is used with Woodie written on the door! I decided to convert a Revell Speedwagon from ‘32 to ’34 configuration thinking it would be pretty easy but it ended up requiring numerous modifications. I wanted to stay true to the original Tom Taylor/Dan Fink Speedwagon design but giving it a fresh look as a ’34.

- The door lines on both the ’34 and the Speedwagon are very similar so I cut away the cowls and rocker panels on both.

- Because the Speedwagon would need to channelled, the ’34 cowl required a slight sectioning as well as the interior

- The hood sides were made from sheet styrene as I wanted them smooth anyways

- Sectioning the grill was a bit tricky and the V8 emblem was removed

- The Speedwagon rear fenders were used mated to the outer lips from the ’34. The fenders were joined across the back with a fabricated panel mimicking a ’34 fuel tank cover

- The wheelbase surprisingly ended up being shorter than the Speedwagon so the rear axle was moved forward and was actually raised slightly.

- The engine was also moved forward so it would look properly centred in the engine compartment

- All of this now needs finessing

Phil - Very, very clever! Thanks for sharing....TIM

[Phildaupho]

Paul - I am using the AMT 3-window - any version will do.

- Phil

Great idea - can't wait to see more. Which '34 kit are you using for those parts?

[fractalign]

This is a conversion I thought about my self but I gave up on the idea because I thought it would be too much of a challenge. Its good to see some one else taking this one on and I will be watching this one closely.