Big Bertha

I got this one a few months ago.
Nothing fancy just an old 4 door beater. I'm not sure if I have a sickness or what's wrong with me but I feel more comfortable driving junk than a nice car. Maybe it's the thought of having something nice to only get it keys the first week it's painted(my 61 chevy) or having people sit on the fender and hear it pop when they get up. Kid crashing into it with their bikes. Down here where I'm at now I think I'm cursed to drive beaters. No sense in having something nice if it's going to get messed up.
Anyways This old chevy will be used for a dailey for a while. If it's around this spring my wife can drive it while I'm in my car. It will be a family run around car. Nothing cool about a 4 door other than the kids can get in and out real easy.

Most of the chrome was off the car when we went to get it. I spend alomost a day putting some of it back on. Big Bertha is a 1949 Chevy Fleetline Deluxe.
Why the name Big Bertha? When I first seen her she looked like the fat girl your buddy would try to set you up with on a blind date so he could have the cute one.

Big Bertha is bone stock other than the tires and battery. The rockers are rough and the interior needs help but it's one of the more solid older cars I've owned. Other than the brake lights, radio and clock everything else works. E brake, dome light, glove box light, all the gauges, speedo ect ect. The car is a low milage car that has been sitting in storage for a long time. The owners manual and heater control tag is still in nice shape in the glove box.
The car came with a trunk load of parts. I have every piece of chrome for it. Extra stuff like sets of hub caps, back part of the rockers that are rotten, extra chrome and more.

Bertha is as big as a bill board so ....

That's my son having fun doing the tramp stamp.

I drove the ol' girl over 400 miles the first month I had it. I racked up some miles on the stock drive train. One place I stopped in was the Rat Rods and Rust Queens 2011 Calender Release Party at Taz's place in Cincinnati, OH








It was a good time.

In what little bit of spare time I have I have been tinkering with the 49. Big Bertha will be a family cruiser with some mild custom touches. I started shaving the door handles

I used the flared end of a 3/8 metal gas line to use as a guide for the key to hit the latch.

Here you see the flared end. It will also act as a gutter running the car wash or rain water around it instead of going into the hole.

The key will have a hole drilled in it and hung on my key chain. All it is, is the piece out of the old door handle that use to hit the lock.

link to shaved doors above. http://www.scroungers.net/tech-f30/shaved-door-handles-t3684.htm

I was getting ready to go get one of the kids from school a while back. I fired old Bertha up and man she was running rough. She chugged and puked and wouldn't run. I pulled the throttle open and jumped out and opened the hood. It looked like you turn on a water spicket. Gas was pouring out of the top of the carb. I shut it off and started smacking the carb hope the float would come loose. It never did.
I was running late so I opened up the top of the carb and I moved the float with a screw driver. It moved fine. I put it back together and hoped for the best. Didn't work!
I knew what it was then. Late last night I went out and ripped the carb apart. Pulled the top off and yanked the float off. Held it next to my ear and shook it. It was half filled with gas.

That's the second time I've had that happen to me. No deal on getting a rebuild kit. I had to order it. So as of now my cobbled up fix is still working but the true test will be in a few days. I took a razor blade and dug a small hole in the top to let the gas out. The bad float was just a pin hole where it was put together. I mixed up some JB Weld and put it around it.

As bad as my cobble job is I was hoping it will hold till I get a kit. It may hold forever I don't know. I cleaned it all up and messed around with some plunger that is inside it. I was driving it around most of the day and she seems to be running better than ever.
Bad part was being on my hands and knees looking for the needle when it fell out of the seat. It took me over an hour to find it.

Don't make fun of my photo shop It's easier for me to cut a real car in two than to mess with this computer stuff. But this is my idea. As you can see just a drop and a set of skirts would go a long way.

Steering box is junk. 6 banger is pouring oil out of the rear seal. The old radiator is getting worse. Looks like a complete V8, auto and rearend swap will be in the works soon. Just trying to figure out what the best route to take. I should say not the best way but the cheapest way. I went to the junkyard looking for a frame to clip the front. No luck there.

After thinking it over and doing a LOT of research I bought a parts car.
So here are some the plans. Some things may change. They always do.
A 92 Caprice was bought to make the 49 more modern and capable of driving cross country without trouble. Power everything so my wife or son can drive it, if they want. A dependable, stock or slightly modified small V8 for gas milage with an overdrive trans.

The Caprice body will be cut off leaving the floor, firewall, fame and all it's drive train. The 49 Chevy will be done the same way and then the 49 will be grafted to the Caprice floors and firewall.

The Caprice's specs.
With 170 HP and 255 ft-lb of torque this is no road rocket but it's not meant to be. If the engine needs gone through, this is the plan.
Stock rebuild and just clean everything up on the bottom end. Mill the head 20 to get a little more compression. She's sitting at 9.3 stock. Ditch the computer for a dual plane aluminum intake and 500 cfm carb. I haven't ran the specs for the cam but depending on what it is I may go with an RV cam or a step down to a gas milage cam. I'd have to do a little home work to get what I want.
Fueleconomy.gov estimates the Caprice at 24 MPG highway and 18 MPG combines. I'm figuring to get that or more in stock form or the mods I may do. The Caprice is running straight pipes now with no cats or mufflers. I'm leaving it like that. That will help with gas mileage and the big difference is the weight. The 49 tipped the scales at 3265 lb & the Caprice is a hog at 4079 lb's. I know the Caprice frame will add some weight to the 49 but I still think it will be enough to get as good or better than 24 MPG on the highway.

The Caprice will be cut like a hog for a starving tribe. Not too much will go to waist. Some of the body parts I'm hoping to sell. Hopefully I will make a couple bucks off them.
I'm selling the billet grille, fenders, 4 doors that are shaved and the trunk. Also all the lights and any other small crap that will sell. Moon disk will be put in stock for the other projects and the roof will be cut out and used for metal for this and other projects down the road.
If anyone knows someone that has a Caprice like this that may want some custom touches like shaved door handle doors, grille ect let me know. I'd sell the stuff cheap.
I'm also looking to sell the frame and complete drivetrain from the 49. Any money that I make will help with other stuff on this build..

Extra stuff I got with the Caprice that I will use on the 49:

All the 12 volt light bulbs for taillights, dash lights ect ect.

Rear speakers sound good. I'm not sure if they are after markets or not but I'll keep those.

German Skull shifter knob


True duals, straight pipe,
5" echo cans with flame throwers


aooohgaaaaa horn lol


Swan mirrors.


Skirts


New radiator that I'm going to try to us.


Cheapie steering wheel with bullet horn button


I'm hoping my Chrysler caps will fit these rim but if not I'll be running these Moons.
The new tires will stay with the 49 too.

One thing I hate on these early Chevies are the wheel wells. If you look at the picture you can see the front wheel well opening is kind of funky shaped. I'm going to change that to something else. Still looking for the right fender to get the look I want and then I will cut it off the donor car and weld in a new opening.
Also note that the wheel base doesn't sit in the fender wells. The front is pulled back 1" to 1 1/4" and the rear wheels are 1 to 1 1/2" forward. The Stock 49 wheelbase is 115" The Caprice is 115.9 With the .9 it should center the wheels better.



Here where it gets a little crazy. Try to stay with me. One of the 2 problems the Caprice has is the steering box is going to interfere with the core support on the front. Core support can be cut and reshaped without too much hassle. After looking at the profile picture for what seemed to be a million times I think what I will do is move the whole wheelbase back 1 1/2 to 2". When I look at the body it looks like a wheelbase for an altered 60's race car. The wheel openings are moved as far forward as they can get them. I'm changing the front wheel wells to a more round one so I can move them back 1 1/2 to 2". 2 inches is not that drastic but it will help with the look and the core support problem. So that leaves the back. I don't mind the rear wheel well of a two door but on a 4 door it seems to squeeze the lines. I was going to make some cruiser skirts to hide that but after I seen the wheel wells on the Caprice I'm stealing them and welding them in.

The Caprice's rear wells are longer and I can start the front lip just 1" further back and they would be centered because of how the Caprice's wheel wells are made. I will also weld them in a little lower than stock than the 49 so the car looks lower and I can run the Caprice fender skirts. That alone will save me $100.00+ for skirts. Besides I like the shape of the Caprice opening. It will give it a little more style.
I hope all that made sence. Basically moving the wheelbase back maybe 2" and reshaping the wheel well opening on the front and back

I tried the flame throwers. I wasn't sure they would work with that throttle body injection but they do. Kind of. It took alot but we got both pipes to fire. I don't think the throttle body works very well for dumping enough fuel to get it to light like a carb. I'm afraid of the stuff but this would be a nice kit for propane. I'll hold on to it in case I run a carb but if I keep the FI it's not worth the time to get it to fire.

Bertha with her second coat of snow on her about two weeks ago. We are looking at 5+ inches today. Sick of the snow!

Wow thats an undertaking for sure, will be watching this build for sure. Loved the videos you did for shaving the handles and headlights, almost made me feel as though I could pull it off. Do you forsee much of an issue with the Caprice rear wheel wells matching up to the rear doors of Bertha?

Can't wait to see more.