Gap Problem - Model A Body on 32 Frame Rails

[modeladave]

Guys - I've spent hours now looking through old Street Rod magazines for an article on how to correct the gap between the lower cowl area and deuce frame rails. When you sit the body on the frame, there is an unsightly gap and before I go tearing into it, I wanted to see if anyone out there has some better ideas than mine on fixing this problem. Any feedback would be great. Thanks

-modeladave- :?

[moose]

You have only three choices

1. Build a spacer to fill the gap. Not the best choice as it looks like you added a spacer and it doesn't blend well.

2. You can flatten the top of the frame rail to eliminate the gap.

3. You can modify the subrails to allow the the body to lower down to remove the gap.

With each choice there are compromises to make. I am in the process of putting a 31 coupe on deuce rails. What I did was mofify the profile of the deuce rails to match the contour ofthe A body. In stock form they don't match. Because of personal taste I also slightly channeled the body to eliminate the gap issue and to remove some of the bulk that the Deuce frame has when you place an A on top of the rails.

go here

http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9970217718494

for photos of my build to this point...

Tim

[modeladave]

Tim,

Thanks a lot. I've got a '29 Coupe and its narrower at the cowl then the the 30-31 bodies. My plan is to have the body sit flush with a pinched frame so I'm figuring that I'll have to take a wedge shaped piece out of the bottom of the cowl panel to get it to sit down. We thought about putting in a filler piece but your right, it will always look like a filler piece was added. Since channelling isn't an option for me, I'm going to give the pie shaped cut a shot. I'll let you know how I make out.

It looks like you've got a great project on your hands...good luck.

Dave

[Dave]

Tim,

Thanks a lot. I've got a '29 Coupe and its narrower at the cowl then the the 30-31 bodies. My plan is to have the body sit flush with a pinched frame so I'm figuring that I'll have to take a wedge shaped piece out of the bottom of the cowl panel to get it to sit down. We thought about putting in a filler piece but your right, it will always look like a filler piece was added. Since channelling isn't an option for me, I'm going to give the pie shaped cut a shot. I'll let you know how I make out.

It looks like you've got a great project on your hands...good luck.

Dave

There was an article a few years ago in street rodder i think on modifying a model a cowl to fit a 32 frame. Of course its got to be pinched to work and look good but you already knew that. I sure wish id get smart and start making a sheet to catalog all the good info if read in the mags. Wouldnt be that hard just time consuming going thru all the old issues.
Dave

[donsrods]

In the 1970's, Rod and Custom did a series called "Project '29" (I think) where they built a traditional '29 High Boy on '32 rails. They shaped a piece of wood to lay on top of the rails and turn that portion into a flat surface so the body would fit tight.  It seemed a little Mickey Mouse to me, but they said that was the way it was always done. They painted it body color when done, and it blended in ok, though.

I think modern technology would allow you to flatten that portion of the frame, and I know some companies sell '32 frames that are made for the A bodies.

[river1]

http://www.classicroad.com/modelA/index.htm has one way to go about it.

later jim

[Dirty31]

I rebuilt the subrailes and the wheelwell to make the A body look like it was made for the 32 frame.  Really easy to accomplish and the only modifying of the frame was for the pinch in the front at the cowl.   Heres a couple pics

[Rex Schimmer]

On my car, which is a 28/29 roadster pickup on 32 rails the first thing I did was to lay a heavy wall piece of 2x2 tubing along the top of the 32 rail and then find the place that was fartherist from the 2x2, I cut the top flange and then split the frame web section and clamped it all to the 2X2 tube. This made the top rail flat to match the 28/29 body and set the size for the pie piece that need to be added. Once I did that I did a really big pich on the rails as I had narrowed the cowl by 3 inches. My front frame rails are 18 inches from side to side. My car is going to be a "lakes" style car and I am running a four cylinder engine so I wanted it to be narrow. Also I cut the front horns and the rear horns off of the 32 rails which you wouldn't do if you are building a standard 29/32 rails car. With the rails flat on the top every thing fits well and of course you need the pinch to match the cowl width of the 28/29 body.

If I could ever figure out how to post some pictures I will post some of my frame.

Rex

[Rex Schimmer]

If these go through you can see how much I pinched my frame.

Rex

[Rex Schimmer]

This picture before I had the frame powder coated shows the pinch better.

Rex