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The Coupe Comes Out of Winter Hibernation

These are all updated photos of the 1933 Plymouth 5-window coupe. We added bigger back tires with Champion double beadlock wheels, added Burns Stainless mufflers and collectors, and we added custom seat covers.



 

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Test and tune at the dragstrip

drag racer for sale

Test and tune at Bristol Dragway.  We recently tested naturally aspirated 127 mph, 10.8 quarter-mile. When these zoomies are wide open at this track it sends an echo through the valley – sounds awesome!

Bristol Dragway street fights

Street FIghts with 33 Plymouth Coupe

We’ve taken the car to the dyno since this test session – we’ve been able to fine tune her and looking forward to our next test and tune at the track.

This car is street legal with headlights, turn signals, brake lights, horn, tag light and a clean title. We have driven this coupe downtown to our local car show – and everyone could hear us coming.  We have not had a problem with local police, but now we have the zoomies on . . .

plymouth coupe at the car show

This 1933 Plymouth Coupe is For Sale

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Opening Day at Bristol Dragway

A beautiful opening day at Bristol THUNDER VALLEY.  We are excited to get back into race season!   Today the coupe has its first test.
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Bristol was packed. There was alot of waiting in line – it’s part of racing. We were simply happy to be able to bring this car and start the test/tune process. We only need two hits and that’s it.

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This was opening day and anyone could bring anything to race, and they did. But our goal for today was clear – make sure this car was safe and no surprises. Today was naturally aspirated test day. The zoomies sounded great, and everyone is interested to take a look.
1933 Plymouth Coupe street car

Our goal today was to make sure the car goes straight, brakes work, no odd shakes, issues, etc. No spray this trip. Now on to the dyno and start fine tuning this coupe.

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FOR SALE

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We Built Zoomies And Custom Headers For The Coup

Zoomie Custom Headers

Below are the custom exhaust headers we built for the 33 Plymouth Coupe. We just got them back from Cerakote Coating, plus we found a local stainless steel and aluminum polisher that dipped these Edelbrock Competition Merge Collectors . . . and they look amazing!

33-collectors-finished
Custom Headers and Collectors

So then we got some zoomie pipe from Smiley’s Custom Headers and found some flanges on the shelf . . .  and we created these custom zoomie headers. Usually zoomies on naturally aspirated engines don’t sound good – but this custom set sounds awesome.

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33-with-zoomies
33-with-zoomies2

FOR SALE

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It is a beautiful day for a ROMP in the Coupe!

First drive for the Coupe

Today, we took the first ever drive in the ’33 Coupe.  No wheelies, cookies or skids in this video – simply a test drive. Here are some of the highlights.

From the look and sound of things, this custom pro street is going to be a hoot!

Plymouth Coupe took a road trip w-parachute NOS-bottle

1933 Plymouth Coupe Custom

FOR SALE

 

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This Custom Pro Street 5-Window Coupe and Metal Fabrication

1933 Plymouth 5-window Coupe

The final days of our 33 Coupe Custom Build. We started this Plymouth project in November 2014, and it will be finalized this week (9/30/2015).

The only non-steel part of this car is the front grille shell. This car will have working headlights, turn signals, brake lights, horn, tag light, street legal.

1933 Plymouth 5-window Coupe

1933 Plymouth Coupe with a 468 BBC

  • Liberty (SCAT) Aftermarket Steel Crankshaft and Connecting Rods
  • 2-bolt main with ARP studs and stud girdle
  • Block line honed with Solid Roller Cam
  • Brodix Aluminum Cylinder Racing Heads
  • Brodix Aluminum Intake, Match Ported
  • Holley Aluminum Ultra XP Carburetors with 850 CFM
  • NOS Big Shot system
  • Fab valve covers
  • ARP head bolts
  • ARP Hardware; Fasteners, Nuts, Bolts, Studs
  • Melling HV77 oil pump, Milodon performance oil pan
  • MSD Billet Distributor & MSD Bronze Distributor Gears
  • MSD Digital-6 Ignition
  • MSD Coil
  • Holley Fuel Pressure Regulators
  • Barry Grant 280 Fuel Pump
  • TH400 Transmission with extra clutches
  • Trans brake
  • Trans shield
  • ATI’s Fuel & Blown Drag Race Torque Converter
  • 5 Gallon Custom Spun Aluminum Fuel Tank
  • Custom Exhaust Headers with Edelbrock Competition Merge Header Collectors.
  • Chris Alston double frame rail, round tube, mild steel custom chassis. NHRA Certified.

This is a one-of-a-kind car. This entire project will be completed by end of week and final photos posted.

We made custom exhaust headers for this car, with and added benefit of Edelbrock Competition Merge Header Collectors, you can’t find these anymore.

This car also comes with Zoomie Headers. The Zoomies make this car very exciting at the dragway  — and may reach the tracks decibel level limit!  It will certainly grab everyone’s attention.

The 33 Coupe will be complete by tomorrow

FOR SALE

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1933 Plymouth Coupe in final stages of production

one of a kind plymouth coupe

A sneak peak of the Coupe as we start to put the car back together.

This custom 1933 Plymouth 5-window Coupe is not chopped. The body has been channeled 6″ over a Chris Alston double frame rail, round tube, mild steel custom chassis. NHRA Certified.

Would you believe 900HP

This is an ALL STEEL Pro Street car. See those BIG tires below, they are 28 x 14.5 x 15 Hoosier Quick Time Pro’s.  BUT wait there’s more . . . this custom Coupe can take a tire 9″ bigger! Giddy-up!

Coupe tire size can increase by 9 inches
Step-by-step this project is coming together.

This is a custom one of a kind pro street car

FOR SALE

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This Coupe is looking good in its 80’s.

This 33 Coupe is an all steel body. We’ve been sanding on this car and trying to get it to paint. We hoped to find a local body shop that could take on this project, but no luck.  So we started sanding and sanding. We have a few spots to fix – but considering the boys in the shop are not “body guys” – this 80 year old is looking good.  Now back to sanding.

If anyone knows of a good body guy in Northeast Tennessee, have them contact us!

33 Coupe1933 Plymouth 5 window Coupe

FOR SALE

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Custom Fabrication, Mig and Tig Welding

wheelie bar fabrication

All good chassis fabricators knows that making each element look good and fit within the parameters of the project can be challenging.

When making any type of custom car parts we search of the optimum setup.

We recently made these wheelie bars for our ’33 Plymouth.  We considered the wheel base, power, tire size and transmission choice for the proper length and height of the wheelie bars. An added challenge with this project is very tight quarters to work within.

wheelie bar fabrication

custom wheelie bars

wheelie bars

 

These highly engineered wheelie bars look good – and should perform the same. We hope to bring the ’33 Plymouth to the Bristol TN Super Chevy Show in September.

FOR SALE

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Metal Fabrication

metal fabrication

The side canards have been tacked in place on this project. Once they are finalized they will mimic the curves of the car. Not only will it look cool – they will help increase the aerodynamics and air flow.
metal-fabrication-carnards

FOR SALE

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Good progress this week on the 33 Coupe

metal fabricators

Just a few quick snapshots – the ’33 Coupe is on the ground and just about ready for bodywork. Not sure what color will work best on this car — perhaps a “General Lee” look with Confederate flag on the roof . . . .

This car is for sale.

Custom Car Building in Tennessee

Custom Car Building in Tennessee

Custom Car Building in Tennessee

Custom Car Building in Tennessee

Custom Car Building in Tennessee

Custom Car Building in Tennessee

FOR SALE

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How to fit 10 gallons of stuff into a 5 gallon bucket. . .

custom grill for the 33 coupe

Making everything fit into this 1933 Plymouth Coup

One of the challenges with this custom build is fitting everything into this Hot Rod and making it look good.

Custom car builds are always unique

This type of custom car build is a step-by-step process of modifying and tweaking specific areas that are unique to this car. With this 33 Coupe we don’t have a square to spare, we just cant spare a square. So the builders had to get creative with the grille shell.

This grille and grille shell are the iconic areas of this 1933 Plymouth, and it must look good. So we spent hours of fiberglass work on the grille shell. It must be durable and aesthetically pleasing. Once this is finished no one will see what is housed inside the grille shell.

The front fenders have been finalized and adapted.  The interesting thing is, I recently read an article about an American car maker elio-motors in Phoenix, Arizona that has similar front fenders on his new American made car that gets 84 MPG. Ours does not get that kind of mileage — but an added bonus with our car is  . . . if you’re at the dragway you can easily remove these front fenders so you don’t have extra weight.

custom street car builders

FOR SALE

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The 33 Coupe Metal Fabrication and Design

wiring the pro street

The final “hit list” on this 33 Coupe is getting smaller every week.

We started this 1933 Plymouth Coupe project 5 months ago — and with steady progress — we are nearing closure. This has been a great project for the iCanFab shop with lots of metal fabrication and welding!

In the photo below, you can see the sheet metal fabrication on the firewall is finished. Around the front window the tabs have been welded for the Lexan® front windshield we will be making.
iCanFab 1933 Plymouth Coupe
This car’s suspension is very important. This Coupe will be a street car, yet at the track will be built to handle 1200 HP. Below photo we test fit front end with shocks.
1933 Coupe project designed by iCanFab
The 33 Plymouth Coupe has this great grill, but the cooling fan we need is to big and heavy to simply zip tie to the radiator core. So we had to be creative and fabricate a mount system that became part of the grill shell.

1933 Plymouth Coupe

The photo below shows lots of overall progress with the wiring; including placing of the brake system, wiring the entire car, engine, Nitrous Oxide System, vehicle lights and accessories.

1933 Coupe getting ready for Thunder Valley

The below photo shows the final sealing up of the firewall and behind dash is complete. Plus we just finished welding this mount we fabricated to hold the Racepak Digital Dash data system.

1933 Coupe metal fabrication

FOR SALE

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Brake System Components installed on 33 Coupe

wiring and brakes

Just finished installing all the brake components; including the master cylinder, residual valves, line lock, proportioning valve and brake light switch. Click the image to view larger.

Brake System Components on 33 Coupe

FOR SALE

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1933 Plymouth Chassis Engineering

drag car chassis fabrication

Today the skeleton of this 33 Coupe was unleashed. Before taking the car off the jig – we finished up the welds – and to do that we had to remove the body.

Custom Street Car Builder in Northeast Tennessee

As seen here we had to flip the chassis to finish all the welds on the other side. This is a custom chassis engineering project.

Custom Street Car Builder in Northeast Tennessee

Custom Street Car Builder in Northeast Tennessee

Below was the day we started this project (4 months ago) and put what we had on the jig table.

Getting ready for our next project

FOR SALE

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In the final stages of this 1933 Plymouth Coupe build

metal fabrication

We are in the final stages of mocking up the car, modifying suicide hidden door hinges, attaching grill shell mounts, radiator mounts, and stretching the hood to fit.
icanfab-33coupe-1

Below shows the trans tunnel and drive shaft tunnel are in. We had to split front drive shaft loop to make the drive shaft tunnel removable and serviceable. When this car is done – it will be a breeze to maintain.

icanfab-33coupe-2

New door hinges helped to smooth up the body lines with the suicide doors. It was a must to remove the original door hinges, which were external and hung outside this car body. The new hinges have been installed, checked and welded in. Strikers and locks will final final the doors.

icanfab-33coupe-3

FOR SALE

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Metal fabrication with steel tube and sheet metal

metal fabrication

Just a few months ago — this car was just a shell and a plumb bob. WE have done some fantastic metal fabrication. Steel tube, sheet metal and aluminum are are all in play right now. Here are a few action shots from today.

metal-fabrication-craftsmanship

fabrication-craftsmanship-icanfab

welding

passenger side aluminum floor

fabrication-steel-tubs2

fabrication-steel-tubs

FOR SALE

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Metal Fabrication And The Creative Vision

pro street chassis suspension

There are many factors to consider when building a hot rod or any street car by yourself. First of all, do you have the skills required to build your own car? Secondly, do you have all the tools you will need to finish the project? If you answered no to either question – you can buy this one complete in a few months.

Custom fabrication on 1933 Plymouth Coupe

In the photo below, we are sizing up for wheel tubs and cleaning up and trimming off excessive sheet metal, plus finishing up the anti-roll system.

Lots of metal fabrication, welding and planning go into each project

These cars usually have the tires outside the body, and that would be a skinny tire.

This ’33 will have big block power and will need a bigger tire. To put on a bigger tire, we opened the quarter panel four inches. We sectioned up the old fender and re-attached it to the quarter panel. Then we filled in the blank spaces with hand formed sheet metal. The rear section of the fender was shortened and moved up, as seen in the below photo.

Lots of metal fabrication, welding and planning go into each project

The goal is a balance of  style and comfort.

Door bars and seat mounts make the interior of this ’33 Coupe small, as seen in the photo below. Since we had an aluminum seat laying around the shop we decided to take out the Sharpie pen to design a custom template for a bomber seat that would better fit the interior, and accommodate a larger driver.

Lots of metal fabrication, welding and planning go into each project

Once we created the drivers seat to our liking – we made the passenger seat from the driver seat as our template.

Lots of metal fabrication, welding and planning go into each project

Flat level and square to centerline.

The below photo shows final on anti-roll bar, 4-link bars, shock mounts and final on wishbone.

rear fabrication

FOR SALE

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Chassis and suspension design for high performance

engine placement

This 1933 Plymouth Coupe project will be a multipurpose Hot Rod once complete.

The project photos below document the chassis and suspension fabrication. When finished this Coupe will be a street car.  You will be able to drive this car on the street. Plus when you feel like it . . . you can drive the car to the race track and make a few passes if you feel the need!

Engine placement is critical. Weight, balance, and the center of gravity  — these are all important factors to consider.

engine placement

The photo below shows the Floor X and drive shaft loops.

coupe-fabrication2

The photo below shows us sizing up a tire.

coupe-fabrication3

The photo below shows — we have room for Zomie exhaust.

coupe-fabrication4

Bracing is important also making it NHRA legal, as seen in the below photos.

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coupe-fabrication6

Almost done adding tubing, just a few more pieces. See kids math does matter! Pay attention in school and you too can become a mechanic, fabricator and all-around Hot Rodder!

FOR SALE

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A first look at the 1933 Coupe front end

suspension and chassis fabrication

The Nostalgia Chassis shipment finally arrived.

The chassis kit arrived in a few big boxes and included a pair of front frame rails; a pair of rear frame rails; bent 1-5/8″ round main hoop crossmember; upper and lower A-arm mounts; tubular Pinto rack-and-pinion crossmember and mounts; complete roll cage assembly; rear coil-over upper shock mount with tabs and hardware and one engine mount loop.

As seen here we are checking the wheel base. Upper control arms are not laying on frame rail to the shops liking with the seven degree of caster. . . so we will stretch. Wheelbase to be determined later.

Nostalgia Chassis is being built for this coupe

As seen below — adjustments have been made — and we keep moving forward with the project. Efficiency is very important when trying to build a project on time, and within a budget.

Nostalgia Chassis is being built for this coupe

Don’t fool yourself — planning is important — but being a professional machinist and fabricator is the most critical.  These are all important stages of the chassis build and proper decisions and implementation need to be made — with confidence.

Nostalgia Chassis is being built for this coupe

FOR SALE