Thanks to magazines, and especially the Internet in recent years, hot rodding is a worldwide hobby. Hot Rod specifically, but R&C too, have been available overseas since the '50s, exposing hot rods to and influencing car builders across the globe. This led to dedicated scenes in Australia, England, New Zealand, Sweden, and South Africa, long before they had domestic magazines covering the subject. Spend a little time on the Net and you'll find all sorts of cool stuff built in those countries some 40 years ago.
You could easily believe that the sedan you see here is one such car, but it's not. In fact, it had only made one major journey between completion and our photo shoot. That's "major journey" as in taking a ferry from its home in England and driving through France to Italy for owner Paul Barrow's wedding to longtime girlfriend Beth. That's some shakedown run!
The genesis of this project began some nine years ago when Paul was staying in Atlanta, Georgia, and found the body in two halves. Actually, that's not strictly true, as the genesis probably came about as soon as Paul was old enough to say "car." See, his dad was, and still is, a rodder and started building a similar car in 1973, based on a chopped, channeled, and sectioned '35 Hillman sedan. The complexities of the build forced the car to be sold, but it was finished by a subsequent owner and bears a remarkable similarity to Paul's sedan. The Li'l Coffin influence is plain to see in both cars.
There are more influences at work here too. According to Paul, "My tastes extend further back than '60s show cars, to the cleaner, uncluttered lines of early channel jobs. I came across a picture of Roy Desbrow's pickup when I was 17 and it became my main inspiration, with its rolled pan and '41 bumper. Also, Jack Chrisman's A sedan, again with a rolled pan, but more importantly, it had a white roof with polished rain channel trim. So, from the very beginning in 1998, I knew exactly what I wanted; it just took a while to get there, with a year's work done in the first eight, and eight years worth done in the last one!"
And work on it he did. It's fair to say that apart from the minimal upholstery ("It will get finished one day, but right now I'm driving it every day," Paul said), wiring, and engine machine work, Paul tackled every aspect of the build. With the body shipped to England and made whole once again, it was mounted to an original Model A chassis. Well, original if you don't count the 4-inch front and 11-inch rear kickups, the 1-inch frame stretch, the 2-inch flattened '37 rear crossmember, the center crossmember-which was re-mounted upside down in order for the radiused cutout to clear the new tranny position-the notched front crossmember for radiator clearance, and the front-to-rear step-boxing plates!.
With the chassis set up as Paul wanted, and all the wood in the body replaced with 1-inch steel box tubing, he set about one or two body mods. The rear wheelhouses were raised 6 inches to the beltline and the body channeled 4 inches, necessitating a new floor and transmission tunnel similar to the original, incorporating rivets. The firewall was recessed 2 inches, which meant cutting into the cowl sides and banding, the rear fenders were extended to meet the bottom of the body, the roof was filled, the front fenders extended and filled where the side aprons should be, and that cool front apron wheeled and rolled from a single sheet of steel. Even seemingly inconsequential items like the roof trim took inordinate amounts of time to fabricate (they're D section brass, drilled and tapped with soldered studs then chromed). And, yes, that roof is ever so slightly chopped. Paul wouldn't ever say it, but being an extremely talented illustrator must have made envisioning the completed car somewhat easier.
There's amazing attention to detail too, such as the swage line on the hood sides rather than the top, as the natural break on the cowl is above the swage at the gas tank seam, so the hood "flows" better with the swage on the sides and the break above. That tank, incidentally, was cut open, repaired, tunneled for the gauges, welded shut, and pressure-tested before being pressed back into service. After all, where else would you mount a tank on a channeled sedan? There's more attention to detail in the headlight bar, which was stretch-dropped 3 inches and narrowed 1, then curved to match the front apron and clear the grille shell. One job Paul didn't have to do was cut the bottom from the grille. "Nature had already done that forz," he told us.
So what's behind that grille? Small-block perhaps, or some English four-banger? Well, it is English, but it's a 21-stud Flathead V-8. This one was used in WWII for running a generator or some such auxiliary purpose, and differs from usual English 21-studders in that it has fully floating main bearings. It was bought at a yard sale, still in its wartime cradle, by the previous owner, who then installed an Isky cam and Johnson lifters but never ran it. After a rebuild by Paul under the watchful eye of Richard French, this is the first time the motor has ever run in a car. In fact, Paul says that one of the most challenging parts of the build was making everything on the motor fit under the hood. Even the carb scoops had to be cut down for clearance.
With a last-minute thrash to get the car ready for that wedding and honeymoon trans-European trip, Paul put in 1,000 hours in the last four months, in addition to holding down his job as a fabricator and bodyman. We wondered how the trip went. "It's funny how you forget all the work once you're on the road! One of the best times was emerging from the Mont Blanc tunnel (over six miles long!) and winding down the French Alps past glaciers. The clutch release arm snapped on the Grand Prix track in Monaco and we had to spend a few days there trying to get it fixed.I can think of worse places to break down!"
Rod & Custom Feature Car
Paul Barrow
Farnborough, England
1931 Model A Sedan
Chassis
What started out as a stock FoMoCo frame has been kicked up 4 inches in front and 11 out back, has had the stock crossmember flipped and braced, a flattened '37 rear crossmember added, and has been step-boxed its entire length. A Magnum dropped I beam (with filled ends to appear older) and '40 spindles are hung on a reverse eye spring and drilled '37 split wishbones from Paul's previous rod. The same '40 that gave up its spindles also provided the front brakes, master cylinder, and pedal assembly, while a modified early VW bus 'box handles directional duties. F-100 shock mounts, bent to clear the fenders, hold VW Notchback shocks. A '57 Chevy rearend just fits under the rear seat, suspended on a '37 Ford transverse spring. Location comes courtesy of shortened '36 Ford wishbones, a homemade Panhard bar, and Pete & Jake's shocks.
Drivetrain
The 21-stud Flathead was rebuilt with an Iskenderian cam, Johnson lifters, and milled stock heads. Engine dress-up? "None. If it doesn't need it, it doesn't get it," is Paul's philosophy, though he did add a Fenton dual intake with Ford 94 carbs, stock but with 3.5 vacuum jets instead of 7s. Rare for a 21-stud is the Sharp dynamo bracket, mounting a Powermaster alternator, ignition provided by a Mallory distributor and 7mm Flamethrower leads. The headers are smoothed and nickel-plated tubular three-into-one items with 3-inch collectors and plugs, feeding a 2 1/2-inch system with Smithy's mufflers. Paul even made his own brass radiator tanks, with a four-row core cooling the Flattie. Of course the owner-pressed louvers in the hood help. The transmission is a '39 with Zephyr gears, a lightened flywheel, and 9-inch clutch, and has an interesting history, as it came from Barney Navarro's T. While at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the T's owner, Scott Perrott, blew the tranny, and Paul graciously offered his help so Scott could complete his exhibition runs. The promised replacement trans never materialized, but at least Paul can say his tranny case came from the Navarro T! It is now converted to open drive, spinning an owner-fabbed driveshaft.
Body & Paint
If you've read this far, you won't be surprised to learn that Paul tackled the body modifications, prep, and paint application himself, though he did have some prep assistance from fellow FH Ellis employee Mark Flitney (check out www.fhellis.com to see some of Paul's illustrations and some great shots of his sedan under construction on the "Projects" page. It shows just how much work really went into this car). The body was chopped 1 1/4 inches, channeled 4 inches, and had the rear fenders moved up 6 inches. The cowl was modified to accept the raised front fenders, while a front apron was fabricated, the firewall was recessed 2 inches, and a complete floor was constructed. Paul also fabricated the three-piece hood, liberally peppered with 3-inch louvers, before laying on the PPG '52 Chevy metallic green. Out back, 1941 Ford bumpers were used, the rear being re-contoured, and despite it requiring extra work to the aperture, Paul reused the original backlight, bullet holes and all!
Wheels & Tires
Firestone 7.10x15s wrapped around '50 Chevy rear wheels hold the rear end off the pavement, with BFG Silvertown 6.70x15s on '48 Ford rims up front. Paul didn't want a rubber rake and the next size down in the 'Stones would have been too small for his liking. The Silvertowns are bigger than usually used but fit the theme.
Interior
Graeme "Whiff" Smith stitched the bottle-green and off-white pleated Lionella seats over steel tube and sprung base frames fabricated by Paul, with side and door panels yet to come. The seat tilts for access to the rear, the hold-down clamps, called Rapaults, coming from Paul's dad's '35 Hillman. He waited a long time to use them! Whiff was also responsible for the white roof. An original '40 Ford steering wheel is mounted to a LimeWorks column, in turn hung on a '36 column drop, while the stock dash now houses Stewart Warner gauges, with the gas tank tunneled for clearance. Nick Warne handled the wiring. The floor comprises body colored steel panels and black stained wood inserts, detailed with rivets and stainless screws. Paul listed the two holes left from where the cowl lights were under "A/C" on his spec sheet!