Just another guy from Europe:)

[fiki]

Hey all!

Been registered for couple of weeks now and finally decided to introduce myself...
My name is Filip and I come from Croatia(just google it), its a ex Yugoslavia country, right next to Bosnia.
Im 24 years old, studied mechanical engineering and naval architecture, now Im in CNC machinery business.
Got love for hot rods since I first saw American grafitti some 15 years ago
For some time now I am in a search for a project car, any 20's, 30's coupe(model A is my first choice), so any information about someone that is selling a car or body would be great
To my knowledge, there arent any hot rods in my country, there are few model A's and T's but they are original restoration...so I wanna be the first one to spread hot rod culture of the 50's in my country
So, help out guys!

 

[Tripper]

Welcome!!!

Filip,
Welcome to the forum... make u're self @ home! I hope u can find a project & I'm sure that would freak everyone out there!!! Have you tried looking on eBay Europe? I'm sure that would b a little cheaper because of shipping. What kinda motor are u thinkin' about using? Are there any car shows there?

BoB

 

[FlatBroke]

Fiki,
Welcome to RRR. Glad to see you finally posted. As far as projects in Croatia, I don't have a clue.

 

[fiki]

Tnx Bob, Flat...

There are no hot rod projects in Croatia
Ive looked on ebay europe...found few but expensive...mostly complete resto cars that will be shame to chop up But Im patient..something will come.. I hope!
Regarding engines, there are chevy's, ford's, and all sort of V8's...so no problem there...just need to get a hold of some strombergs or rochesters
So my idea is to get a hold of some chevy SBC V8, th400 auto, and put 3 stromberg 97's on. Good combo?

Only shows that we have in our country are those of fast & furious style, few oldtimer shows and vw bug shows....but 90% racers here are hung up on that ricer f&f scene...bleeeeh...
Fastest street race car had low 11's this year...pathetic!
One more reason to build a hot rod

 

[Bonehead]

Welcome to RRR, the quest you are on sounds like alot of fun. Surely you can find some old sheet metal maybe not American, was'nt there anything being built in europe in the early 30s?

 

[fiki]

Hey Bone!

Yeah, we had cars in 30's in Europe..heh
Well, as I figured it out, pre WWII cars are kinda rare here or people just overprice them...maybe because lot of them didnt survive WWII..i dont know..thats my input on that. 30's Mercedes costs alot of money!
And europe car design kinda differs from usa cars...smaller, rounder cars were popular here...to shorten things out, didnt find a european car that I like enough to turn it into hot rod...maybe if I find some truck cab...was thinking before of turning vw beetle body into a truck cab, cut it in half, chop it(alot), and try to make it look like some 40ish chevy cab or something like that...what you guys think of that?

 

[Tripper]

I agree!!!

Surely you can find some old sheet metal maybe not American, was'nt there anything being built in europe in the early 30s?

I agree... I saw a mid-30's Citroën that looked very similar to a Chrysler Airflow... looked *really* kool! I would snap one of those in a heartbeat!!!

BoB

 

[Gastrick]

Welcome to RRR fiki. It's great that you are interested in bringing hot rodding to Croatia. Your plan seems solid but I wouldn't completely discount starting your project with a restored or partially restored car. These cars may come with parts and pieces that may be difficult for you to obtain otherwise should you decide that you need them later. This is just a suggestion. If you are using a mildly built small block Chevy engine in your project, a TH350 transmission would suffice. The TH400 is larger, heavier, and requires more horsepower to turn.

 

[fiki]

I agree... I saw a mid-30's Citroën that looked very similar to a Chrysler Airflow... looked *really* kool! I would snap one of those in a heartbeat!!!

BoB

Well, know what u mean...but to find a good cheap Citroën is a kinda hard...u see, Citroën of that time had very thin sheet metal, and I mean paper thin, so cars that are ok are valued...even rust buckets cost like 5k+$
Believe me, I did my homework But tnx for a suggestion!

 

[Tripper]

Truck?

even rust buckets cost like 5k+$

Fiki,
WOW!!! That is steep!!! Guess that one's out. Have u considered a truck?

BoB

 

[fiki]

Welcome to RRR fiki. It's great that you are interested in bringing hot rodding to Croatia. Your plan seems solid but I wouldn't completely discount starting your project with a restored or partially restored car. These cars may come with parts and pieces that may be difficult for you to obtain otherwise should you decide that you need them later. This is just a suggestion. If you are using a mildly built small block Chevy engine in your project, a TH350 transmission would suffice. The TH400 is larger, heavier, and requires more horsepower to turn.

Tnx for welcome Gastrick!

To be honest, I think its a shame for me tu cut up and modify allready restored car since my plan is to radically customize my rod.
Always like to see an original rolling down a road.
I rather left those cars to ones that love a original resto cars and to keep a history alive...

 

[fiki]

Fiki,
WOW!!! That is steep!!! Guess that one's out. Have u considered a truck?

BoB

I will consider a truck also...like I wrote few posts before about that vw bug idea...what you think of that?
I actually have more ideas for a truck then a coupe..heh

 

[babyface]

Good luck!

Fiki,
Welcome to the forum, I think you'll like it here! Hope you can find a decent body & can only imagine what people will say when you get it on the road!

BF

 

[gassersgarage]

Welcome, from the beaches of sunny California. Perhaps you should consider buying a completed rod thats close to what you're looking for. It would save the time and expense of tracking down individual pieces, not knowing if they will work or not. I believe, in the long run, it will be quite a bit cheaper, considering the shipping expenses for parts.

I still have stuff in my garage from a project I finished years ago. Since then, I have sold the car but still have the parts gathering dust.

As for building it yourself, you can still build a frame, chop or channel, paint, etc..........but all the important parts will be there. Axle, rear end, engine, trans, etc.............

However you decide, good luck! Besides ebay, try craigslist, collectorcartraderonline and hotrodhotline.

 

[joehalford01]

awesome! welcome to the site! how hard would it be to get ahold of a volvo 544 like in my avatar? they look similar to 1940 fords and can totally pull off the gasser look. also, you might consider the vw bug as a starting point if it's cheap enough. several people stateside have built very cool hot rods from bugs. worst case scenario, how hard is it to import stuff from america over there? is it fairly simple customs wise? might be the only way to go if you really have to have a particular car.

 

[fiki]

Thank You guys for all suggestions!

I did consider buying a complete car...theres a but coming...but I really wanna build a car by myself. Always loved to work with my own hands, building or tearing something apart...when it come to parts, there are suppliers around europe, can get probably everything, its just matter of how long you wait for ordered parts to arrive...

to be honest I did consider volvo 544...can find a bunch of them online...but also, they got their price...but thats not the look im going for

A ship container costs around 2000-2500$ from USA to Europe...
When it comes to particular car I would then want 5w 1932 model A...but thats just wishes

If everything fails I can still build myself a T bucket out of fiber

 

[fiki]

For now, this makes me happy also

 

[22dodge]

Welcome to "here"...

Welcome Fiki. Glad you found us. How are your welding skills?
I have seen a few very nice bodies pieced together from panels and pieces of roofs and fenders that had the correct bends and curves.
Maybe that is an option that you could explore for a roadster body?
Old tractor grills and fuel tanks, and so on.
Good luck on your project... '22

 

[The Rattler]

Now that's a project!

Welcome Fiki. Glad you found us. How are your welding skills?
I have seen a few very nice bodies pieced together from panels and pieces of roofs and fenders that had the correct bends and curves.
Maybe that is an option that you could explore for a roadster body?
Old tractor grills and fuel tanks, and so on.
Good luck on your project... '22

Fiki,
I think 22dodge's idea is ideal! You could use a frame available over there & get body parts shipped over in this form & assemble them there. Now that's a project!

Rattler

 

[fiki]

Welcome Fiki. Glad you found us. How are your welding skills?
I have seen a few very nice bodies pieced together from panels and pieces of roofs and fenders that had the correct bends and curves.
Maybe that is an option that you could explore for a roadster body?
Old tractor grills and fuel tanks, and so on.
Good luck on your project... '22

My skills are on amateur level, but I got a friend that is a master tig/mig/arc welder so I got that covered...
That idea is not that bad, but for starts I want something with roof and patching a coupe that way will be alot of work...my second rod will be a roadster