Father son build

[Buickresto ss]

Hey everyone my names adam and I'm trying to start a build with my father. He is very mechanically inclined and he is the man that everyone calls when in need of help. Obviously time goes by to fast and I want to enjoy and learn everything I can while building a memory. I recently got the itch to build a hot rod after crashing my 95 ss and repairing it with my dad. I have a complete running and driving ss drivetrain and suspension that I had leftover from a donor car that I purchased. So... I figured Ill find a body to build a hot rod with, which I acquired a 1930 Buick Marquette 4 door ($1000) that is fairly solid except the wood framing. I guess I'm trying figure out what may be my best approach to making this build go as smoothly as possible and least costly. I don't know if I can just roll the 95 components under the Buick frame and work from there or should I work with putting the body on the 95 frame? Or just build a new frame? I appreciate your knowledge and thanks for reading

 

[donsrods]

Welcome to hot rodding. Nice to see a Father/Son (or Daughter) building things together. My two Sons and I do exactly what you are doing, and it has been the best thing we have ever done together.

Now, let me give you a dose of reality........not to discourage you, but to make sure you don't get frustrated and give up. There is an old saying about building a car, it goes............."It is going to cost twice as much as you think and take three times as long." Truer words were never spoken, and we all have run into that. It is just part of the hobby we have chosen.

You have chosen a very non traditional, hence EXPENSIVE, car to build. It's a wonderful car, but parts are going to be costly and hard to find. I think your plan to put the other motor and trans in this one is a good one, but not the suspension. Two entirely different animals. Instead, I would pull the frame you have down, check it all out, clean it up, and replace bushings, tie rod ends, etc. The later parts are probably too wide, but a tape measure will determine that.

Brakes are going to be a real problem to overcome, I think. I don't know of any company that makes kits to upgrade to discs or better drums. Anytime you are working on something other than Ford or Chevy, you are pretty much on your own. Again, not to discourage you, just for information you will need.

I've always recommended that for a FIRST project people do not jump right in on a full build, like this one, but, rather, buy a car that is almost done and make changes to suit you. Doing something, like this build, is not for the faint of heart, it will be huge. Even guys who have done a few of these would be undertaking a lot of work, time, and money.

But, if you keep it simple, use as many stock parts as you can, and take your time, it is certainly doable. Good luck.

Don

 

[smallfoot]

Don touched on most of the important points and I have to agree with most he said. It will really wind up being how determined you are to see your project thru. The original frame could be used if you check it out to determine its condition. If it's still solid, many changes can be made to strengthen it for any kind of drive train. There are lots of choices to upgrade anything involved but most will take work to make them fit. The best advise I could give you is to decide what you want the ride to be and what you want it to look like and then cruise the build threads in this forum. You'll find the issues and methods to make things work with stuff that was done before. There is so much talent in this group and ideas up the ying yang. These guys have taken the time to show step by step processes of things they've gone thru to accomplish what they wanted and the most important thing about a place like this, is that all of these guys are willing to help with all their knowledge. If you ever have any questions, just ask!
Welcome to the best rod forum around...

 

[I-R-POPS]

Welcome from New Mexico.

 

[Old Iron]

Welcome to the site
Glad to see you involving your Dad and glad to see he is actually wanting to be involved.
Start a build thread so we can follow along.
Since your pic was sideways, I turned it to make it easier to view.

 

[Camo King]

Old iron. Looks like a nice scenery picture to me [S

 

[Buickresto ss]

Thanks don and small foot I appreciate the welcome and the advice. I'm in no rush to accomplish this as I hope to gather as much info and possibilities before I get at it 100. I can't say it's my dad's first build cause he's been doing it sense he was a kid but obviously this is a whole different animal that I'm throwing at him. If I know my dad this is something he wishes he could have done when he was younger but just never had the time or money to accomplish it. Now that I'm older And have the opportunity to dedicate time and money I figured it would be something to inspire him while making a memory together. Thanks again for the welcome and I'll be sure to read up on some previous builds/projects going on to try and get some different ideas. Plus asking questions to try get different opinions about things. I appreciate the welcome and is good to be on a forum that welcomes you with open arms thanks everybody and I'll be sure to build a thread to document my climb to
MT. Everest

Adam