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'26/'27 Coupe


fletch

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The '26/'27 Model T Coupe has always been a favorite of mine. It just looks so much classier then it earlier cousins, but finding a '26/'27 Coupe in plastic is next to impossible. To the best of my knowledge the only one ever produced in plastic was from MPC in their Switchers Series. Personally, I've never seen one but they tell me they did exist. Altered States Resins has 2 '27 Coupes available, one with a 6" chop and the with a 10" chop. I know both chops sound extreme but considering the height of a Tall T, the chops aren't that insane. The Altered States Coupes are suppose to have been mastered from the MPC kit, but after careful observation, I am not so sure. The Revell Lil' John Buttera '26 Sedan, '27 Touring cowl looks identical to that of the Altered States cowl

 

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Seeing how I have had no luck in locating an original MPC Switchers kit, I decided to see how possible it would be to convert a Revell '26 Sedan to a '26/'27 Coupe. The side window of the Sedan had to be shortened by aprox a scale foot. Once the window was shortened and the body reassembled, the flat area behind the window had to go as well, by the time all was said and done the body was in 5 pieces.

 

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IMG_1778-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

 

Yet to come in the build is to fabricate the turtle deck area, open the cowl vent, decide whether to build the coupe with or without fenders, decide what engine to add to the build and all the other misc fun parts.

 

Stay tuned

 

Fletch

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Fletch, that's a gutsy start. Good looking match up. I always liked the tall Ts better than the chopped ones. What are you going to do for an engine and drive train?

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David,

Not to burst a bubble but this is what I found out from a few searches.

 

The MPC Switchers series, which included the 1925 Ford 'T', the 1932 Ford Sedan, and the 1932 Ford Coupe, are near and dear to the hearts of modelers from the early 1970's. So you may have been better iff doing it the way you are! Looking good so far!!!

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Fletch, that's a gutsy start. Good looking match up. I always liked the tall Ts better than the chopped ones. What are you going to do for an engine and drive train?

Les, I'm not 100% sure exactly what the plan is, this started out as one of those 'Can it be done' type projects. I am a fan of the Ford flathead, if it gets built without fenders a flatty is a real possibility. With the release of the Revell Midget with the 60hp flathead there is a possibility of building it with the small version of the flathead, I haven't checked yet but believe the build could progress with fenders if the V8 60 is used. One of the options I had considered is using the V6 from the Thunderbird Super Coupe. The fun of a build like this is there are no boundaries, your imagination is the only limit

 

The Model T frame doesn't lend itself to traditional hot rodding all that well, so chances are it will get a totally fabricated chassis. This is the frame from another '26 Sedan that is on the bench, it is shortened along the lines of the body for the coupe but with the panel behind the side window still in place.

 

 

IMG_1647-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

 

Here is the link to the '26 Short version in case you what to take a look: http://public.fotki.com/dcfletcher/model-cars/projects-2009/builds-2011/26-sedan-the-short/

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David,

Not to burst a bubble but this is what I found out from a few searches.

 

The MPC Switchers series, which included the 1925 Ford 'T', the 1932 Ford Sedan, and the 1932 Ford Coupe, are near and dear to the hearts of modelers from the early 1970's. So you may have been better iff doing it the way you are! Looking good so far!!!

 

Not a problem Mark, I had never seen the supposed version of the Switchers that included the '27 Coupe. One of the forums that cater to Traditional Hot Rods had a '27 Coupe build either late last year or early this year that, the builder indicated the body was from an MPC Switchers kit. None of us had ever heard of the kit, but he swore that it was plastic not resin. One of our club members has close to 2,000 kits, I ask him if he had the kit, needless to say he looked at me like I had lost my mind. With that in mind I started gathering photos and drawings of the '26/'27 Coupe, figuring short of buying a resin version the Sedan to Coupe conversion was the only other option.

 

Here is a photo of the 1 worked from to get an idea of how visually correct the windows are on the cut down body, it was one of the almost 400 outstanding cars/trucks/motorcycles at last weekends Portland Roadster Show.

 

IMG_1773-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

 

More then anything else the goal is to produce a creditable looking '27 Coupe.

Edited by fletch
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Early this morning I took a Jimmy Flintstone '27 Lake Roadster body and taped the turtle-deck sides to use as patterns for the '27 Coupe conversion. The tape was then placed on Evergreen .030" sheet styrene, the sides were cut out, sanded and carved to shape to fit the the shortened Sedan body.

 

The Lake Roadster body that the patterns were taken from:

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Someplace along the way I decided to dig out the fender unit for the Sedan, I sat the roadster body on the fenders and realized that the length of the turtle-deck on the Roadster vs the Coupe is totally different. The turtle-deck sides on the Roadster are aprox 1/4" longer then those of the Coupe.

 

The Lake Roadster body on the fender unit:

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The turtle deck sides were shortened and attached to the shortened Sedan body, they are a bit rough, and have been cross braced, there is still quite a bit of work to be done but it's progressing.

 

IMG_2037-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

 

Stay tuned

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Fletch,

 

Years ago one of the guys in Camas had a tall T with a blown flat head in it. Quite a little buggy. Don't know what ever happened to it.

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Fletch,

 

Years ago one of the guys in Camas had a tall T with a blown flat head in it. Quite a little buggy. Don't know what ever happened to it.

 

I think I know the car you're talking about, haven't seen it in years, like you don't know where it went or what happened to it. The more I think about how to put this build together the more tempted I am to build it full fendered, a S.C.o.T.s blown 59AB flathead is sure sounding like the flavor that this lil' Coupe needs. One of the guys on Facebook sent me photo of a '27 Coupe that sure looks good, short of having a Small Block Chevy and chopped top.

 

 

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The tire/wheel package of this Coupe sure fits what I had in mind when I started the project. There are little things about this coupe that I wouldn't use on the build, but overall this sure has got the 'It' factor.

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Whoever owned that T, he must have had deep pockets. I remember American mags being about $300 a set in the early 60's. I was only making about $2.20 an hour in the paper mill at the time.

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