1937 Chevy Coupe

[lowbudget50]

When we did my mustang clip on my 50 the front springs looked the same way with no weight on them. Then they got removed for bags.

Keep it up, goin to be a cool ride

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Thanks, lowbudget. I'm not worried about the attitude as it sits, but it does look strange!

Moving forward. Some mock-up with a bare block (on the pre-existing mounts) proved we need to move the motor lower and closer to the firewall...

... since we're not using airbags and Btard is a big, tall dude, we're trying to avoid recessing the firewall and retain as much pedal space as possible. (Again, we'll see how it works out.)

.

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

We pulled the (bolted) motor mounts and "roughed in" their replacements, lower and further back as noted above...

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[Dr Crankenstein]

Detour: 10 days ago, I replied to an ad for '37 and '38 Chevy parts. I spoke with the guy and he sent me some pictures... long story short, Btard and I took a road trip today and came home with a few things for his coupe and a few things for my '38 sedan project...

.. the vent windows and regulators (hard to find in working condition) are Btard's. (He has his vent windows and would like to keep them, but his regulators are buggered.) Nice find, in my opinion...

... he also acquired this glove box door. His is smooth and doesn't have the clock or "hole" to accept one...

... I got a pair of rear fenders and a rough grille. The fenders are MUCH better than mine, clean and free of rot or lead. Now that I have these, I'm going to move ahead with my plan to radius my crappy pair and make my car street/strip "convertible"...

... the grille is rough, but has the bars my grille is missing... my grille has the bars this one is missing, so I plan to make one from the two. (My car will be never be "finished" or painted, but I'd like to have a complete rough grille.)

... the badge is nicer than mine, too.

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[Burgerman]

I like it

Nice project Doc. Good stuff indeed!

 

[smallfoot]

nice scores![cl

 

[Old Iron]

Way to go [cl
It's pretty cool when, chasing parts, ya run across other parts needed
Almost like friends with benefits [ddd

 

[Torchie]

Way to go [cl
It's pretty cool when, chasing parts, ya run across other parts needed
Almost like friends with benefits [ddd

You shouldn't have a clearance problem with the SBC and the firewall in one of these Dr. We dropped a big block into one many years ago and as I recall we may have had to do some mods (read that as using a big hammer) on the fire wall for distributor clearance. Not sure though as like most things from that long ago. It's sort of a blur.....
Looking good on the parts score. Usually when I have a car with a main part like a screwed up window regulator almost all of the ones I find are screwed up as well.
Torchie

 

[Skip]

What smallfoot said. [cl

 

[soltz]

Good road trip, [P

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Thanks, guys.

The regulators are an excellent find. Like Torchie said, when you find them, they're always "stripped". Now we have a few and a good pair, we'll probably dissect a bad one to see what the major malfunction or weakness is. [S

I'm also pleased to find and buy the fenders for my car... any others I've found are overpriced, needing more work than the pair I have, or both.

Torchie: I have mocked a big block in my '38 and though real estate is definitely an issue, I know it will 'horn in there without sacrificing the firewall. (Like Btard, I'm big, tall and want to keep as much interior space as possible.)

So, we have the small block mounts dropped and set back as far as we think can get away with. (They're only welded across the top and will pry off, if we need to move them again.)

Next, we started working on the chassis. We measured it six ways from Sunday and found it square, straight and level. This came as something of a surprise to both of us, being 79 years old and suffering the structural "compromises" its seen along the way. We also found the frame lacking any notable corrosion or damage, aside from the hatchet job mentioned previously. Its condition, otherwise, did not come a surprise given our original inspection of the car, but a pleasure to see and confirm with the body removed. What I mean by that, is, the steel is in amazingly good condition and scrapes clean (in most places) with a razor blade and/or some brushing. We're confident it will withstand many more years of use and abuse [ddd and we started building on the foundation...

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[DozerII]

Great road trip you had, and the frame is looking really good.

 

[Old Iron]

Good job on the frame!!!!!!!!!!!
[P[P[P

 

[Torchie]

Good job on the frame!!!!!!!!!!!
[P[P[P

Getting serious now.
[P
Torchie

 

[smallfoot]

Anticpatin some twist and shout???[cl

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Great road trip you had, and the frame is looking really good.

We were just outside Martensville... next day they had two tornadoes touch down... so our timing was good!

Good job on the frame!!!!!!!!!!!
[P[P[P

Thank you. It has a long way to go, but it's a good start.

Anticpatin some twist and shout???[cl

Less twist, more shout. [ddd

I'm having connection issues. I'll find the problem and continue when I have it sorted out...

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[Dr Crankenstein]

Connection issue solved and moving forward.

We were at the point where the trans mount needed to be placed, but were a little ahead of ourselves because we didn't have ride height determined. We figured ride height next, which took us back to the front suspension.

We knew the grafted MII needed its welding cleaned up and didn't think much further than that... until we found ride height and measured the critical angles. It was true to wheelbase and "square", but installed wrong... the spring "hats" were level at ride height and the cross member negative 3.5°, which eliminates anti-dive, forces negative caster and makes a wheel alignment impossible.

So, we cut the cross member out... carefully, because we intend to keep it...

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[earthman]

It's a treat to see you building something after all these years Dr C.

 

[smallfoot]

It's a treat to see you building something after all these years Dr C.

Amen! ^

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

It's a treat to see you building something after all these years Dr C.

Thanks, eman and smallfoot. It's been a treat to "be in your company".

A couple more pics of the surgery...

... plenty of grinder dust and a split-handle BFH, but we got 'er out of there.

We cleaned up the nasty frame notch and started the "refit". The cross member needed to lay back 7 degrees from where it was. This made it necessary to raise the cross member an inch, so we notched it...

... nasty lookin' deal, I know, but since these photos were taken, it's been cleaned it up and and the notch properly "capped". We ground off the previous welds, filled the cuts and holes, smoothed the whole mess down and placed the cross member correctly.

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