Wray Schelin is planning to build an aluminum 1937 Coupe Express from scratch

[garyash]

I've been building the aluminum body for my 1932 Studebaker Indy car replica at Wray Schelin's Pro Shaper shop in Charlton, MA for about 2 years now. Wray just posted a new Facebook video showing how he plans to build a 1937 Coupe Express truck with an aluminum body, including stretching the cab a bit for more room inside - Wray is 6'-5". Wray has an interesting helper for the project. See his video here:

https://www.facebook.com/ProShaper/videos/1129291304109237/

I'll be there on Friday and Saturday, will take notes on the project.

[t walgamuth]

Looks like a good start!

[DEEPNHOCK]

I follow his work on YouTube. He has some excellent fabrication tips and methods and is very thorough in his presentation.
Seems natural to do an iconic art deco beautiful design from the 30's.
Hopefully he (and his customer) will do the project justice.

[garyash]

Wray says he wants to build an aluminum Coupe Express to showcase his shop’s abilities. He plans to drive it around a lot, but it will take a year or two to build. He started with the headlights, made a wire form, and wheeled out four identical halves. He uses a “flexible shape pattern” made from fiber-reinforced packing tape on a layer of paper tape to check the shapes of the parts as they are formed. Here is the result.

[2R5]

Thanks for posting Gary , very interesting video

[52-fan]

Interesting video. I was glad when they got down to work and the girl stopping doing a Vanna White impression. I guess she was nervous being on camera.

[Cowtown Commander]

Appreciate the post - do you have any idea how many hours it took to get the lights to this stage?

[pinehurstbob]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.
Bob

[garyash]

I don't know how many hours were put into the lights. He did them as a project with some students, so it was not a concentrated effort to minimize time. I suspect that making the wire form took 3-4 hours and four aluminum parts a couple of days. The 0.062" aluminum would have been rough hammer formed on a sandbag and stump, maybe some shrinking on the big power shrinker, then English wheeled to the smooth surface.

I put Wray in touch with a NH parts vendor, who will sell Wray a couple of rough 1937 Dictator front fenders to use as models for his truck. The grille will be the tough part to duplicate.

Here's Wray at the stump with some other parts:

[S2Deluxe]

It looks like, it should be, a very impressive, looking vehicle. Didn't he say, he was also constructing, his own chassis? It's not going to be the original, wheelbase, is it? What are his plans for the drive line? It sounds like, he may not have any plans, to use any actual Studebaker pieces? Is that actually the case? Will he actually be able to register it as a '37 Coupe Express? Or, just a 2021 replica? What are his plans, for finishing it? Just polished and clear coated, anodized, painted, or what? It looks like, it should be pretty Badass, no matter what's done!

Mark

[garyash]

Here it is about 8 months later, and there is some progress to show. Wray has been having his metal shaping students work on the lights and fenders. This past weekend, one of the rear fenders was about 99% finished, the 2nd rear fender well underway. He made a wire form buck for the rear fenders, will do one for the fronts. A pair of very rusty original front fenders were obtained to use as models.

The cab will be 4" longer to accommodate Wray's 6'-5" height, wheelbase will be 2" longer. He says he will make a chassis, not sure what the drivetrain will be. This will be a long project.


Full size drawing of CE truck with cardboard model of Wray in stretched cab.


Travis, a student who made much of the fender, with Wray.


Close-up of the aluminum fender made from 0.062" thick type 3003-H14 sheet.

[studegary]

Thanks for the update.
I believe that a 6'5" American would have been a real oddity in 1937. Our class president was 6'4" in the 1950s and that was out of the norm. By the 1990s, a neighbor kid was 6'5" when in Junior High.

[garyash]

Much to my surprise, after I had left Wray's shop last Sunday evening, the two students who stayed on for a few more days started work on the wire form for the cab. They used the 1:18 die cast model of a CE truck to define the cab shape and started putting the 1/4" steel rods in place to make a buck. More wires will need to be added to provide enough detail to accurately form the aluminum, but it's a start. Here's Larry with the wire form for the cab. The yellow tape is to make the form more visible in the photos.