Is this a 33 or a 34?

[3100 chevy]

Trying to replicate my grandpa's hotrod and need to know of it is a 33 or a 34.

And what is the best kit to use for it. I know that there are a lot of bad 33\34 kits out there but what are the good ones?

[3100 chevy]

Sorry the only pics I have are of pics.

[1930fordpickup]

AMT 1:25 #38405 '34 Ford Nostalgic Series 2N1

This is the kit you need to find. On ebay they go from 10.00 + , not a hard kit to find.

Not sure if it is a 33 or 34 but this kit will work.

[Art Anderson]

Pretty much the only identifiers as to a '33 or '34 Ford are the grille and the hood side panels. '33 hood side panels have louvers that are very slighttly curved forward toward their bottom edge, which '34 hood side panel louvers are straight, but angled to match the rearward angle of the '34 grille.

A '33 Ford grille has a much finer, almost delicate-looking chrome surround, with it's fine vertical bars in a slight concave manner--matching that same curvature in the '33 hood side panels.

Body shells, particularly the 5-window coupe, are identical, however.

Art

[3100 chevy]

AMT 1:25 #38405 '34 Ford Nostalgic Series 2N1

This is the kit you need to find. On ebay they go from 10.00 + , not a hard kit to find.

Not sure if it is a 33 or 34 but this kit will work.

Pretty much the only identifiers as to a '33 or '34 Ford are the grille and the hood side panels. '33 hood side panels have louvers that are very slighttly curved forward toward their bottom edge, which '34 hood side panel louvers are straight, but angled to match the rearward angle of the '34 grille.

A '33 Ford grille has a much finer, almost delicate-looking chrome surround, with it's fine vertical bars in a slight concave manner--matching that same curvature in the '33 hood side panels.

Body shells, particularly the 5-window coupe, are identical, however.

Art

Thanks

[Skip]

Being that your Grandfather's Coupe was not running a grill shell either a '33 or '34 Coupe is going to work. One of my Dad's Hot Rods was a '34 Coupe, however the only surviving picture clearly shows that he was running '33 grill she'll and hood sides. This was one of the last conversations Dad and I had. At that time he was in the first almost second stage of Alzheimer's Disease. He could remember things that happened in his youth like they were yesterday, but he couldn't remember yesterday at times like it ever happened. (Sad disease I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! BTW if anyone has a family member who has Alzheimer's I am willing to speak to you.)

My Dad told me that his older brother had a '33 Tudor and sorta backed it into an embankment the whole front end was super straight. His '34 Coupe was pretty straight from the firewall back, he was going to replace the sheetmetal as soon as he could, since the "Fender Laws" were enforced pretty strictly (in Washington State), so all four fenders stayed on the car. He swapped the entire '33 front end including the bumper onto his '34 adding to the mystery. Engine was a '40 truck block with a duel '94 set up on one of those 2 into 1 on a stock flathead intake adapters and some sort of headers with a 3/4 Cam and big valve springs, (probably stiffer spring to make the valves shut quicker.)

It's fun to find out about the family Hot Rod history, even the run of the mill to them cars they used to drive are for the most part pretty special nowadays! I know I look back on those conversations with my Dad pretty fondly now that he's gone.

[3100 chevy]

Being that your Grandfather's Coupe was not running a grill shell either a '33 or '34 Coupe is going to work. One of my Dad's Hot Rods was a '34 Coupe, however the only surviving picture clearly shows that he was running '33 grill she'll and hood sides. This was one of the last conversations Dad and I had. At that time he was in the first almost second stage of Alzheimer's Disease. He could remember things that happened in his youth like they were yesterday, but he couldn't remember yesterday at times like it ever happened. (Sad disease I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! BTW if anyone has a family member who has Alzheimer's I am willing to speak to you.)

My Dad told me that his older brother had a '33 Tudor and sorta backed it into an embankment the whole front end was super straight. His '34 Coupe was pretty straight from the firewall back, he was going to replace the sheetmetal as soon as he could, since the "Fender Laws" were enforced pretty strictly (in Washington State), so all four fenders stayed on the car. He swapped the entire '33 front end including the bumper onto his '34 adding to the mystery. Engine was a '40 truck block with a duel '94 set up on one of those 2 into 1 on a stock flathead intake adapters and some sort of headers with a 3/4 Cam and big valve springs, (probably stiffer spring to make the valves shut quicker.)

It's fun to find out about the family Hot Rod history, even the run of the mill to them cars they used to drive are for the most part pretty special nowadays! I know I look back on those conversations with my Dad pretty fondly now that he's gone.

Sounds like it has a lot of history. Sadly I don't think my grandpa can remember much about it.

[Skip]

OK, a closer look at your Grandpa's '34 Ford looks like he was running a pretty stock flathead V8. The "Cycle Fenders" we're probably made from spare tire cover rings as was the practice of the day. If I remember right the AMT '36 Ford had the spare tire cover. Wheels from what I see look like '40 or later steel wheels, only a stickler is going to tell that you didn't use the correct steel wheels, lots of kits have five lug wheels, look for the bias ply tires in older kits, if the base '34 Ford you are using has a stock version then you have a start. Rear fenders look like they could be bobbed stock fenders, Repro's and Miniatures has the '32 Ford Victoria Bobbed rear fenders, with a little tweaking could be made to look right, whichever fender you end up using make sure to thin the revealed edges so they don't appear so thick and plasticky. One item that might give you fits is the exposed radiator, maybe you can make the '34 radiator work.

Hope this helps a little. I've presented a few models to family and friends, the smile that comes to their face and appreciation for your hard work make it more than worth it.

[Dennis Lacy]

On close inspection the body is a 1933. The telltale is the doors, in particular the window openings. 34's had an extra vertical reveal along the back edge of the opening because the windows had a feature that would allow them to slide backwards about 1". 33's did not have this feature.

[3100 chevy]

OK, a closer look at your Grandpa's '34 Ford looks like he was running a pretty stock flathead V8. The "Cycle Fenders" we're probably made from spare tire cover rings as was the practice of the day. If I remember right the AMT '36 Ford had the spare tire cover. Wheels from what I see look like '40 or later steel wheels, only a stickler is going to tell that you didn't use the correct steel wheels, lots of kits have five lug wheels, look for the bias ply tires in older kits, if the base '34 Ford you are using has a stock version then you have a start. Rear fenders look like they could be bobbed stock fenders, Repro's and Miniatures has the '32 Ford Victoria Bobbed rear fenders, with a little tweaking could be made to look right, whichever fender you end up using make sure to thin the revealed edges so they don't appear so thick and plasticky. One item that might give you fits is the exposed radiator, maybe you can make the '34 radiator work.

Hope this helps a little. I've presented a few models to family and friends, the smile that comes to their face and appreciation for your hard work make it more than worth it.[/quote

This info will help a lot with the build

Thanks

Edited May 8, 2015 by 3100 chevy

[JTalmage]

He was a hot rodder and a pilot it appears? Thats cool. My grandpa was a pilot in WW2 and Korea.