From a rumble seat to a trunk - 1934 coupe?

[steve hackel]

Hello; to all of you later model guys (personally had model A's all my life)
I am looking at a 1934 - 5 window coupe that has a rumble seat and I would much rather have a trunk. Aside from matching the paint, what issues do I need to address if I end up with this car. If the handle is the same on the trunk & rumble, and the hinges are removed, what else do I consider.
Thanks for the help

[FlatheadTed]

You need to fit cadge nuts to were the new hinges will be ,you need a side prop and fitting on the gutter ,handles the same ,switch it to the bottom and weld up the hole ,A cross brace support for the body hinge part under the rear window ,a rear slam panel with the striker . at the lower trunk panel .Ted

[DavidG]

There's no exterior handle on an original '33-'34 coupe rumble lid, only on roadster rumble and coupe trunk lids. The latch on a coupe and cabriolet rumble lid is controlled remotely from inside the passenger compartment with a handle mounted adjacent to the rear window riser handle. So, no hole to fill, only one to add.

Hopefully the pair of trunk lid hinge support brackets (one shown in the photo below) are there as they are on many rumble seat equipped coupes. The biggest challenge apart from finding complete trunk lid hinges will be finding the steel panel that fits inside the lower back panel that serves as the platform for the rubber trunk lid stop bumpers and the latch where the handle engages and locks, which evidently in New Zealand is known as a "slam panel".

[Mart]

My 33 is an original trunk car (one of the things that attracted me to it), If you need photos of any specific parts, I might be able to help. I have never done a conversion as such, but can help with pics of an unaltered car.

Mart.

[Karl Wescott]

Originally Posted by DavidG

There's no exterior handle on an original '33-'34 coupe rumble lid, only on roadster rumble and coupe trunk lids. The latch on a coupe and cabriolet rumble lid is controlled remotely from inside the passenger compartment with a handle mounted adjacent to the rear window riser handle. So, no hole to fill, only one to add.

Hopefully the pair of trunk lid hinge support brackets (one shown in the photo below) are there as they are on many rumble seat equipped coupes. The biggest challenge apart from finding complete trunk lid hinges will be finding the steel panel that fits inside the lower back panel that serves as the platform for the rubber trunk lid stop bumpers and the latch where the handle engages and locks, which evidently in New Zealand is known as a "slam panel".

The lower drip channel or "slam panel" is reproduced in steel, as is the trunk striker.

[DavidG]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Karl,

Thanks; I did not know that those reproductions are available.

[Tim Brown]

Steves Auto Restorations sells the parts that the hinges bolt to. I used them on a conversion recently. I made my own "slam panel" with the help of a local fabrication shop. Its really just a few straight bends on a brake, then one curved bend that we did on a tipping wheel. If you have one to copy from, its not that difficult.

[JSeery]

J&Rs is another source for 33-34 parts.