Issue No. 15 October 1998
It's funny how things happen. I bought a '72 Corvette many years ago. The Corvette was just there�so I bought it. I never did know what I was going to do with it, actually I never did do anything with it, until late in 1997 when I swapped it for an old channelled '32 roadster.
When I cut the deal for the roadster with Mick Dunne, who'd owned it for 26 years, I didn't know what I'd do with it either. It needed a lot of work, as did the Corvette, I might add. Anyhow, after cutting and shutting a few photos, I decided on how the roadster could look, and I formulated a plan of attack.
The roadster is built on a '34 chassis, and had a suicide style front end, and because of all this it had a long wheel base of 120 inches. Working to my plan, I will leave the roadster channelled, but I have reduced the wheel base to 110 inches by substantially altering the chassis forward of the firewall. The chassis in this area has been reshaped to have the profile of a '32 chassis. The front end is new mounted in a conventional cross-member and frame horns have been added, a vee'd spreader bar is to come.
The grille shell will remain behind the front end, to keep things in proportion, and a 3 piece bonnet will be stock '32 in length. The engine has been moved rearward 4 inches, requiring a change to the firewall, so I have done away with the old fabricated unit, and I have rolled and folded up a replacement. The old custom '46(?) dash has been removed, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I like a challenge, so I decided to make my own '32 dash, so I made up a male and female die, and pressed out a dash; it came out quite good (even if I do say so). The already chopped screen will get a couple more inches taken out of it, and a hardtop/soft top will be made. Improved 'A' headlights will be used, and the current square tail-lights will be replaced by round Austin ones (trust me on this one!). The body will remain black, and will feature much nicer flames. The red steelies and whites will keep her off the ground.
The roadster doesn't require mega bucks to be thrown at it, just a lot of time and effort. The time and effort I can easily handle, and I'll spend the dollars where necessary. Eventually I may raise the body and put it on a '32 frame I have, along with many other 'just right' hot rod parts I have stashed away. Genuine Halibrands (16x11 rear, 15x5 front), dual quad Carters on a 454 Chev rebuilt etc��. But for now I just want to see what I can do with a channelled Hot Rod. My original deadline was John's R & C Picnic '98, but a recent trip to the U.S. will slow progress, so I am now aiming for the Geelong Nationals. See you there!
Geoff Rea.
As swapped. You've got to remember this car was built over 20 years ago!
That's better. Thanks to different wheels, some scissors & tape I now have something to work towards.
A friend of mine would call this 'Serious Damage'. With the roadster mounted at ride height, on my chassis frame/jig, the hard work began.
Here you can see the cross member in front of the grille shell. Note the chassis is now boxed, a Holden steering box is mounted for a cross steer system. You can just see the engine tube mount that replaces a front saddle mount arrangement.
Mocked up for an inspirational 'in progress' shot, it's starting to get the look I'm after. That bonnet top looks familiar!
Now that's a better looking dash! How hard can it be to knock up a set of dies and press out a dash? Further back down the chassis; all new gear box, cross member, X-member, front legs, master cylinder/pedal assembly and cross member, plus mounts for shortened rear radius rods. Eventually the body will come off the chassis for final detailing and welding.
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