Old Anvil Speed Shop Built Scudellari’s 1929 Ford Roadster

Building a Traditional AV8

By Ryan Manson   –   Photography By Brian Brennan

When it comes to building a traditional AV8 highboy roadster, one of the most challenging aspects can be modifying the 1932 Ford’s frame rails to fit the body of the 1928-29 Model A. Where the flat Model A frame left a lot to be desired, the Deuce chassis has much more shape, carefully following the bottom of the body with sweeping kick ups at both ends. This shape that makes the 1932 Ford frame much more attractive, also contributes to the difficulties one faces when adapting to an early body. Not only does the rear kickup interfere with the flat floor of the Model A, but the shape of the two bodies is quite different in the passenger compartment and cowl area, requiring a rework of the shape of the perimeter frame rails in the form of a pinch or two. But this work is not all for naught, for the resulting modified Deuce chassis makes for a more solid foundation and a much more attractive chassis when compared to the spindly Model A ladder frame.

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02 Jeff Allison inspecting the Speedway Motors frame and chassis for the traditional hot rod
Jeff Allison took the time-honored Model A on a Deuce frame and gives us another great-looking traditional hot rod. Here we will be using a Speedway Motors frame and chassis along with a Brookville Roadster body and we will enlist the help of Old Anvil Speed Shop to put the chassis together.

Read More: Two Timeless Model A Hot Rods

With a handful of classic trucks and muscle cars built under his belt, Jason Scudellari decided it was high time to build himself a legit hot rod. And by that we mean the only car truly deserving of the term: an open-wheeled, highboy roadster. Not wanting to spend half his remaining adult life repairing an original Henry Ford body, Scudellari rang the good folks at Brookville Roadster and ordered one of their all-steel 1929 Ford roadster bodies. Following that call, Speedway Motors was given a bell, resulting in a parts list that would include a pair of their 1932 Ford frame rails, full-length boxing plates, dropped front crossmember, and tubular crossmember kit. This provided a solid foundation upon which Scudellari could start his hot rod build, but after some quick mock-up work he soon realized that it might make more sense to take his chassis components to a shop better equipped to build frames from scratch. Enter the gang at Old Anvil Speed Shop.

03 The Old Anvil Speed Shop crew created a plywood template for the Brookville Roadster body
The first thing the Old Anvil Speed Shop crew did was create this plywood template with the dimensions of the Brookville Roadster body noted. This will allow the guys to carefully modify the 1932 frame rails to follow the contours of the 1929 roadster.

Read More: 57th Annual L.A. Roadsters Show & Swap

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Having the ability to fabricate a chassis in a precise manner requires a specific combination of skill and equipment, something Old Anvil Speed Shop has in spades. The guys know what it takes to put together a hot rod, so they immediately set their sights on Scudellari’s roadster body so that it could be dimensioned, the overall shape noted, and the body mount locations plotted out. These specs were then transferred to a sheet of 1-inch plywood, which will act as a template as the frame rails are modified. Armed with this information, the Old Anvil Speed Shop crew started fabricating not only the chassis, but a new chassis jig that will serve to locate future AV8 builds as well. As each section was heated, tweaked, and modified to better fit the confines of the 1929 body, uprights were added to the chassis table to keep things locked in place. The result is a chassis that has literally been built-to-suit Scudellari’s roadster in an extremely accurate manner. MR

04 Comparison of the trapezoidal Model A frame and the curvier 1932 frame
Stock Model A frames are trapezoidal in shape, being wider at the rear, tapering toward the front with a pair of straight frame rails, while the 1932 frame is much curvier in nature. While the Model A frame doesn’t follow the shape of the body whatsoever, the 1932 frame, once fully modified, will. This results in a much-improved look over stock, something hot rodders realized nearly a century ago.
05 The Speedway Motors Deuce frame rails being compared to the Model A template
Here, the curvature of Speedway Motors’ Deuce frame rails (PN 91657007) are compared to the Model A template and the required modifications noted.
06 The intersection of the new frame being set to spec in the chassis jig
The trapezoid shaped of the Model A body/frame means the intersection of the new frame can be set to spec and locked down in the new chassis jig first since this section will not require any modification.
07 The Old Anvil Speed Shop team discussing the rear kickup on the 1932 frame rails
The Old Anvil Speed Shop crew carefully discuss how to address the rear kickup on the 1932 frame rails. If this configuration is to be retained, the rear floor in the Model A will need to be modified to suit.
08 The back half of the frame rails being trimmed to fabricate a flattened rear section
Instead of modifying the perfectly good sheet metal, it was decided to trim the back half of the frame rails and to fabricate a flattened rear section using square tubing, fully boxed and grafted to the existing frame rails. This section will constitute not only the rearmost body mounting locations, but also function as the rear spring crossmember.

09 The newly fabricated rear section using square tubing fully boxed and grafted to the existing frame rails

10 Jake Caballero and Brandon Gerringer using a torch to form the frame rails
Moving forward, it’s time to start forming the frame rails to better follow the Model A’s cowl section. Jake Caballero and Brandon Gerringer use a torch to heat short sections of the frame rail, with slight pressure applied. Work is slow but made with purpose as the specifications are met.
11 An upright being welded to the frame jig to secure the frame rail in place
Once a section is shaped, an upright is welded to the frame jig to ensure nothing moves and the frame rail is securely clamped in place.

12 The frame rail securely clamped in place on the frame jig

13 A large wrench being used to reverse the twisting of the heated and pinched frame
Teamwork makes the dream work, but sometimes what’s required is a bigger hammer—in this case, it’s a bigger wrench. While the frame is heated and pinched it can tend to twist as well. A big wrench helps reverse that tendency.
14 The basic shape of Scudellari s 1932 frame taking shape to match the Model A body
At this point, the basic shape of Scudellari’s 1932 frame is starting to take shape and more closely follows the shape of his Model A body.
15 The Speedway Motors boxing plates being installed by the Old Anvil Speed Shop crew
Next, the Old Anvil Speed Shop crew set their sights on installing the Speedway Motors boxing plates (PN 9108969). Scudellari’s chassis will be boxed its entire length from the bobbed frame horns …
16 The rear square tube section of Scudellari s chassis
… to the rear square tube section.
17 Close up view of the curvature in the frame rails
Here, the amount of curvature that has been put into the frame rails is pretty evident
18 A Speedway Motors tubular crossmember kit being trimmed and dropped in place
A Speedway Motors tubular crossmember kit (PN 91657029) has been trimmed and dropped in place next. This will serve to further strengthen the chassis and act as a mounting point for the transmission. Note that the boxing plates have been fully welded and ground smooth.
19 The 1 inch dropped front crossmember from Speedway Motors being installed
This 1-inch dropped front crossmember, another Speedway Motors item (PN 91657012), will help place the frontend of Scudellari’s roadster that is much closer to Mother Earth.
20 The completed chassis being pulled out of the frame jig at Old Anvil Speed Shop
With the fabrication complete, the guys at Old Anvil Speed Shop are ready to pull the chassis out of their frame jig and send it off to the In The Garage Media Tech Center where Scudellari will take over the build.

 

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Sources
Brookville Roadster
(937) 833-4605
brookvilleroadster.com

Old Anvil Speed Shop
(657) 223-9889
oldanvilspeedshop.com

Speedway Motors
(800) 979-0122
speedwaymotors.com

Tech Center updated

Click on this issue’s cover to see the enhanced digital version of Old Anvil Speed Shop Built Scudellari’s 1929 Ford Roadster.

mr sept 2023

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