By Al Cook
I am a weak, weak man. I am pitiful. I buckled. Crumbled. Succumbed. Caved in. Choked. Broke. Whatever you want to call it, I gave in.
The original plan was to leave the chassis of the Killer Koupe attached to the Koupe just the way Henry Ford assembled it 66 years ago. I figured it would be simple to pull all the sheetmetal off the car, get rid of the running gear and drivetrain, attached the new rear end, install the new Mustang II IFS, drop in the new engine and tranny and then just drive this baby home! I've done this before. What's the big deal? Fat chance.
One of the best parts of belonging to a car club is the camaraderie enjoyed by club members. One of the best parts belonging to the Roadmates car club is the wealth of experience these guys carry! Now approaching 50 years, the Roadmates members have a well-established reputation of building quality hot rods. The bad part of belonging to a car club is the varying opinions on how things should be done. Ask 10 guys and you'll get 12 opinions. The bad part of belonging to the Roadmates is that all of these opinions make perfect sense!
The sheetmetal was a breeze to remove. It was clear that this car rarely saw foul weather. All the nuts and bolts were removed by hand tools and spun freely. All the sheetmetal was in perfect shape and in less than 4 hours we had the car stripped down to the shell. Everything, that is, except for the chassis. Besides, I am not taking the body off the chassis am I. Or am I?
The body stripping (sounds sexy doesn't it?) was done quickly with the help of Henry Murray, Rick Norton and Don McCartney. These guys work fast. Don't get in the way or you'll be stripped clean too. I left that weekend with all of my clothes intact. Dirty, but intact.
Unfortunately, having a demanding business prevents me from working on the Koupe during weekdays. Most weekends are dedicated to work on the Koupe. The kidding at club meetings every other Wednesday was fun. Members would gather around the Koupe and comment on whether I could get the car finished without taking the body off. Clearly, there were two sides. The "yes" group said they have done it before. The "no" group said it was next to impossible. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
One of the best features of my old '35 3w coupe was the big block power plant. Man, there is nothing like it! To feel that torque-iness under your right foot is something else. Oh how I long for those days. Maybe I will have to resort to a small block for the Koupe. But then again, maybe not. One of the most-connected hot rod guys in Southern Ontario is Brian Lawrence. Ask Brian about a part and if he doesn't have it, he at least knows where you can get it. A casual conversation with Brian led me to a 454 Chevy out of an SS pickup truck. The best part is that it comes as a matched set with a 400 Turbo. The even better part is the price was too good to pass up. I am now the proud owner of another big block. I feel like a proud father again!
The
first order of the day required patching up a small spot on the chassis
that was butchered years ago by some hacker. It was a small area where
the original steering box was located. With Henry Murray's cardboard mock-up,
we quickly cut a piece of metal and welded in the patch. The rest of the
chassis was nearly perfect. Off to the metal shop to buy some 1/8"
sheet steel for the boxing plates.
More mock-ups, more welding and before you know it, the Killer chassis
was stiffened up. Before any welding took place, however, we ensured that
the chassis was supported by cross bars to ensure the shape and measurements
remained consistent. This point can't be stressed enough. There will be
nothing worse than having a great looking chassis that no longer fits
the body from whence it came.
The cross member was a challenge to say the least. My second trip to the steel mill netted me 20 feet of 2 x 5 steel tubing. Only problem was, I bought the 3/16" thickness. Probably great stuff for a 700 horsepower big block drag car but definitely overkill for a mild mannered 454. A third trip to the steel mill was the order of the day. The 1/8" thickness was much more reasonable and much easier to carry……….. needless to say.
Henry Murray has been an unfaltering assistant/team leader on this project. As regular as the rising sun, Henry arrives with coffee in hand every Saturday morning at 10:00am. His wife has to postpone her chores for him because he "has to help Al at the car club". Thanks Cheryl.
Henry has plenty of experience with '35 and '36's. He has built one '35 and has another on the go right now. His experience is invaluable. During the week, Henry is constantly thinking about how we can make a unique cross member for the Killer Koupe. A great plan was developed. We would take approximately 6 feet of the 2" X 5" tubing, heat it at certain points and make our own X member. A great plan that needed a few small modifications.
For those of you familiar with mid thirties Fords, you will realize that there is a curvature of the frame from front to rear. In other words, the chassis dips down in the middle and rises up on either end. No major hurdle here. We will just slice the cross member at strategic points and get it to shape the curvature of the chassis. After about 3 slices, it worked perfectly.
As of January 1, I now have the cross member in, the rear end mocked up, the chassis boxed and am waiting the arrival of the Mustang II IFS. Can't wait to tackle this project!
Kookie Killer logo by Jeff Norwell