1937 Chevy Coupe

[DozerII]

Seems like all the tasks that should be quick and easy turn out to be the most exasperating [ Turned out great.

 

[charliebob]

Nice work Dr. C

 

[kenny c]

Looks great

 

[Skip]

wow

 

[05snopro440]

Looks great Dr. C!

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Thanks, guys!

Seems like all the tasks that should be quick and easy turn out to be the most exasperating [

Agreed. It looks simple and it is... not so simple, however, when you're trying to fit pieces with your carcass folded into space less than your physical volume and displacement. (I've come to realize, blubber isn't rubber and I don't bend like I used to.)

I need to touch on a couple things while I'm here...

1) I picked on my friend B-tard and I called him a name or two. I mean no offense, strictly humour, but he does have big feet.

2) Apparently, North America (in the 30's) was populated by leprechauns and pygmies. I'm not an anthropologist, nor am I an expert in genealogy or midget wrestling, but clearly, these cars were built for smaller beings than B-tard and myself.

.

 

[Bamamav]

Dr C, it’s the hormones fed to the livestock and chemicals used on the plants that have caused us to grow larger than our ancestors. Girls have knockers now by age 9, 50 years ago they were mid teens developing. Us men folk have bigger feet, longer legs and other things than they did back then. And I firmly believe it’s also the reason cancer and diabetes is so rampant today.

Off the soapbox, I’m digging the small tunnel, but wonder why you didn’t taper the rear down to the floor? More under seat room?

 

[animal]

Super work on the tunnel! Sometimes it takes the most work to make the smallest piece. Great job! [cl[cl

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Dr C, it’s the hormones fed to the livestock and chemicals used on the plants that have caused us to grow larger than our ancestors. Girls have knockers now by age 9, 50 years ago they were mid teens developing. Us men folk have bigger feet, longer legs and other things than they did back then. And I firmly believe it’s also the reason cancer and diabetes is so rampant today.

Off the soapbox, I’m digging the small tunnel, but wonder why you didn’t taper the rear down to the floor? More under seat room?

I flat towed my '38 once. At the time, it still had the original seat, steering and pedals. I'm 6' 2" 275 lbs. (40 lbs. of cement in my head makes a difference.) Seat was too high, steering wheel and pedals were too close. I felt like Andre the Giant in a Pinto... my 12 year old son fit like a glove...

The tunnel is cut short and blunt on purpose. Plans include a full console and shifter. If the shifter needs an inch where an inch doesn't exist, the taper could (potentially) be the inch we need and we'd have to trim it back to square.

I expect the console to fully consume the baby tunnel and it will never be seen again. If the tunnel were to remain exposed, I'd taper it for sure and leave it be...

.

 

[Bamamav]

Makes sense to me! Was just curious, most everybody tapers the tunnel, so was wondering if y'all were starting a new trend....

My Linc still has the factory seat, although recovered. You sit on it, not in it like modern seats. I'm 5'11" and I have plenty of headroom, even with my cap on. I would like to replace it one day with some better form fitting buckets, like Expy or Tahoe.

 

[Torchie]

I flat towed my '38 once. At the time, it still had the original seat, steering and pedals. I'm 6' 2" 275 lbs. (40 lbs. of cement in my head makes a difference.) Seat was too high, steering wheel and pedals were too close. I felt like Andre the Giant in a Pinto... my 12 year old son fit like a glove...

The tunnel is cut short and blunt on purpose. Plans include a full console and shifter. If the shifter needs an inch where an inch doesn't exist, the taper could (potentially) be the inch we need and we'd have to trim it back to square.

I expect the console to fully consume the baby tunnel and it will never be seen again. If the tunnel were to remain exposed, I'd taper it for sure and leave it be...

.

Makes sense to me! Was just curious, most everybody tapers the tunnel, so was wondering if y'all were starting a new trend....

My Linc still has the factory seat, although recovered. You sit on it, not in it like modern seats. I'm 5'11" and I have plenty of headroom, even with my cap on. I would like to replace it one day with some better form fitting buckets, like Expy or Tahoe.

The ergonomics of the cars that we are used to driving now are totally different, even from the 80's car let alone the 30's and 40's. And yes. For what ever reason people are much bigger now. The saving grace on these older cars is the fact that the roof height allows for the use of different seating heights. But the down fall is that the amount of foot room is still what it is.....
Carry on good Dr.[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Bamamav]

....... For what ever reason people are much bigger now. The saving grace on these older cars is the fact that the roof height allows for the use of different seating heights. But the down fall is that the amount of foot room is still what it is.....
Carry on good Dr.[P [P [P
Torchie

That is until those hot rodders chop the tops down![ddd[ddd[ddd
Couldn’t resist that one Torchie!

 

[Torchie]

That is until those hot rodders chop the tops down![ddd[ddd[ddd
Couldn’t resist that one Torchie!

Guilty as charged. Your honor.[ddd
Torchie

 

[ratadixshun44]

Very educational and informative, my shop teacher would have given excellent grades on all your fabrication skills. thanks for the lessons[cl

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Back for another round...

We built the passenger side body mount... relocated and countersunk like the driver side...

I don't have any pictures of what goes between the frame bracket and the floor pan, so you'll have to trust me... we fabricated a box section that ties the inner rocker to the floor and takes up the vertical space between the frame bracket and the countersunk bolt. Make sense? Probably not... anyhow, we have the floor panels and tunnel pretty much done, except to weld them in forever.

Now, our makeshift column drop has been bothering me since we placed it. B-tard and myself were studying the issue and taking some measurements when the conversation somehow turned to gauges, their placement and the dashboard. OK, let's go there...

We knew this handiwork existed from the very beginning. When B-tard and B-tard Jr. stripped the car out, B-tard took this underdash photo...

Yum-yum. 20 pop rivets and clear evidence of a perimeter "weld." I can hardly wait to see what lies beneath.

I laid the grinder to it...

Fabulous. 1/2" of filler (at its thickest) and many, many slobbered gobs of brass. I've never seen such a small panel buckled and deformed this badly. It's only 4.5" wide and 6" tall...

We marked the perimeter of the lapped "cover", cut it out and methodically removed the remaining brass, a little hammer/dolly help along the way.

Ready for a proper repair...

The cut out on the bench. Notice the three bottom rivets had a firm grasp on a bucket of fresh air!

Finally, a '38 dash with radio, ashtray and trim panel intact, in case anybody cares what was there originally. ('37 is slightly different, but the holes are the same.)

.

 

[Old Iron]

Ya never know what you'll find under a half gallon of filler in a one foot square area [ddd
[P[P[P

 

[DozerII]

Wowzer that was some kind of repair.

 

[kenny c]

It looks like you've got it figured out [cl

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Fast as molasses in February, we filled the ash hole today. (Say ash hole three times fast... my wife can do it, easy.)

Chevrolet put the ashtray there, not my fault... anyhow, we formed a patch to fit. The black marks are felt pen, not gaps as it may appear...

Tacked in...

Welded and ground...

A few dark spots remain and they could be "pick and filed" to perfection, but the metal is wearing thin, largely due to grinding the brass out... at any rate, it's been worked to death and a skim coat will have to serve from here...


.

 

[Torchie]

Looks like it grew there.
[P [P [P
Torchie
p.s. How much practice has your wife had saying that.LOL