35 Ford Coupe

[35coupe]

Come On! He was on his Honeymoon after all.

Frank even broke a shocker bracket, wot a legend

Gold...

[FRANK BASILE]

The windows were getting foggy with humidity, I wind the screen out ,my wife winds the rear window down,and everything light [road maps, scarf ,some clothing, on the rear parcel shelf flutters out the back
Frank.

And what were ya doing to make the windows foggy Frank

.Scott
Unfortunately this was due to...... Combination of temp and rain ,windows up because of the female thingy on getting hair messed up .
No demister
Frank.

[FRANK BASILE]

Looking at the front axle and the shocker bracket in the photo.
This also reveals a dropped tube axle had been fitted at some stage.
Brackets are also different from my original build recollection..
Frank.

[35coupe]

Thanks everyone for their contribution – it’s been great to get an insight into how The Coupe came to be. Looking forward to hearing, and maybe seeing, more as we go.

Now, time to share some of the build. I’m slowly scanning and loading pics into photobucket. As I said earlier, there are some good pics, and some ‘not so good’ pics... you will see what I mean. Note that the car is still very much in progress, with bodywork at the top of the list of current things to do.

We’ve a strong idea on where the car will be at when finished – the overall style, stance, drive/build quality, and finish is clear. We are working through the small details and problems as we go, Rodding away at it as best as we can. Nonetheless, as I post up the build pics, constructive critical comment, ideas, suggestions are all welcome, and encouraged. This might even make it a better car. After all, I’ve joined this forum for this reason, plus the opportunity to get better connected with those involved in HotRods.

Around 1990 the time had come to pull down The Coupe, and find out what lied beneath...




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The bare chassis was taken to a place in Dandy South, with an industrial sandblaster. I remember the whole process taking hours... it took the guy are few goes until the right quality level was reached. It was then taken home and primed to keep the rust out.


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The chassis was not in good order. This is probably understated. It had the torsional stiffness of a wet sock. I swear I could recall picking up one corner of the ground by ~5”, and the other 3 corners would barely move.. Even looking at these photos, it is hard to explain how flimsy it was. I make no exaggerations here. This pic shows just how ‘nice’ the front end was.


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I’m pretty sure we’ve kept the missing piece of the front x-member.


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This is where the front/upper shock mount attached to the LH rail. Nice!


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Even the original steering box mount was cracked. Note that it had been ‘modified’ to accept a HQ Box...


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The centre x-member was also “modified” to accept the various brake, gearbox, and clutch “upgrades” fitted. This was a clear contributor to the lack of strength in the frame. It seemed that if anything needed to be fitted, a hole, and notch, of a gouge was taken out of the bloody thing!


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'A'-frame connection is stock ’35 Ford. See the 'A'-frame on the floor – just about all of these chassis components we sandbasted by Greg or myself.


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Rear springs were narrow. The photo doesn’t show it, but the shackle mount was built up onto 3 plates, with a long S-shaped shackled mount.


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So, at the time there was plenty of work ahead of us on the frame... and we hadn’t even got to the hard part yet... ....


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Alright then, that’ll do for now.... time for me to cross town and give the Old Man a hand with this build!

[blown36]

Keep em coming, I'm sure there'll be more than a few of us checking in on this one.

[FRANK BASILE]

I will "fess up " to the plates fitted to the rails where the forward spring hanger for the rear springs is fitted, the rear shackle mounts were cold chiselled from an FC Holden on it,s roof on a vacant block of land around from the Kew Junction in 1972. :
I am surprised that non of these items were ever improved on ,in all the other mods carried on over the years.
The centre X member block did have some material stepped to clear the rear of the Chev 3 speed,looks like more was "lost" later.
Frank.

[35coupe]

Keep em coming, I'm sure there'll be more than a few of us checking in on this one.

No worries blown36 – plenty of stuff to load up soon

[35coupe]

I will "fess up " to the plates fitted to the rails where the forward spring hanger for the rear springs is fitted, the rear shackle mounts were cold chiselled from an FC Holden on it,s roof on a vacant block of land around from the Kew Junction in 1972. :
I am surprised that non of these items were ever improved on ,in all the other mods carried on over the years.
The centre X member block did have some material stepped to clear the rear of the Chev 3 speed,looks like more was "lost" later.
Frank.

G’Day Frank,
I agree that a lot of these items could’ve been improved upon over the years. I guess that’s why the car parted so many owners, before Greg bought it – maybe people decided against the required upgrades / improvements, and decided to sell? Nonetheless, I have to say, it’s a credit to you, that the car was driven daily (and largely reliably) for so many years after you rodded it. Sure, it copped two more engine swaps, and various other changes, but it seems the majority of the car is basically still there, as you might recall it...

It was (and still is) an honest Hotrod, born from times when certain resources were available, and people were motivated (and brave) enough to build something fun and different.

And yes, I recall some ¼” flat bar that was bent up, over the gearbox linkages, bracing the top section of the frame (across the X-member cut-out).... anyway, you will see... as we post up more of the build... that we have Embraced many of the original modifications, adding our own enhancements along the way.

Cheers,

[35coupe]

Righto... I guess I’ve cleared up some of the mystery surrounding Frank’s coupe. I don’t have too much more to add here, not until the car is finished and back on the road.

So, the time has come to start my own BUILD THREAD in the MEMBERS RIDES section, dedicated to this build... The thread is here: http://www.ozrodders.com/forum/viewtopi ... 36&start=0

[geoff28]

Geoff Moffitt here. Just found this post. Great to see that the old coupe is still around. I had heard that it was written off in a smash. Good to know that was not true. As Frank said, I sold the coupe as I had a baby on the way and the 37 was registered and drivable and the 35 was not. Les Mathieson had done a lot of work on the body and paint when I bought it, but there was no motor. I still have some photos of when I brought it home, but I don't have the technology to put them on the internet.
I don't have any famous relatives as the spelling is different. I am still into rodding and my latest is a 32 Tudor that I imported from the US. I am hoping to have it at the Nationals in Geelong, but there is still a lot to do to get it finished.

[35coupe]

G'Day Geoff,

Great to hear from you. Another part of the puzzle... The Coupe did get hit in the rear from a Melbourne Taxi in '86, but it certainly wasn't a write-off...

Do you have digital pics of the Tudor?

Cheers,
Brett

[geoff28]

Brett

Yes I do, but I don't think I should put them on here as this thread is about the 35 Coupe.

Geoff

[35coupe]

Good call.... will keep an eye on the Members Rides section ...

[FRANK BASILE]

Good to hear from you Geoff.
One curiosity.
That vehicle had a prev rego "KRH518" That came up when I rego,d it in Dec 73 as "LTE 272" This was noted on the rego papers I still have. I replaced the plates a year later for "LYN O35",
The coupe must have been rego,d around 1970 with the "KRH" and then taken off the road not long after.
Where did the flatty go?
The motor and box were the only bits missing.
Frank.

[peteratcliff]

Thanks Brett.
I will look for some shots,unfortunately I am not much of a 'shutter bug'.
I got the coupe registered 28 Dec 73. "LTE 282 " In at Lygon st .After the police sgt initially bounced my rear rims,then looked at one after I removed it for inspection. I have the old rego papers with the stamped alteration to the change of plates in 74 to "LYN 035" [my wife is Lynn].
Those were the days when you could get "future issue "plates reserved in a sort of manner.
You had to go into Lygon St HQ, see a bloke upstairs who had a big ledger book.Were you the first to rod the car? How did you come about owning it?

This is my first post to the forum. After spending 3 weeks of trying to figure out how to post photos, here we go. All because I found a pic of 35coupe's old 35 coupe LYN-035 taken in March 1975 when Frank owned it. I took the photo in Hawthorn Rd North Caulfield - only b&w in those days.
http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k55 ... 1296467317