Projects Rebuilding an older build of a 37 Chevy Master Deluxe

This is kind of a build thread, except that the car is already built. The basic details are a '37 Chevrolet Master Deluxe, with. Mustang II front clip, SBC 350, 700R4, and GM rear end. It was built about 20 years ago. I'll say up front that I know that this car is currently too streetrod-y. That's why I'm posting. I'm looking to update (backdate?) to something more HAMB friendly.

I don't have the time or money to do everything all at once, so I'm trying to lay this out in sequence so that I don't waste what I have. The next few posts will be pictures and plans. I'm going to break them up in to major areas.

 

Front



I'm pretty sure the bumpers are originals. They're pitted, and have been painted silver. Estimates on plating them chrome are running around $400. For about that, I can buy new ones, so that's probably what I'm doing.

The turn signals bother me. They're working, but boxy and cheap looking. I'm considering changing to the combo headlight / flasher bulb that Chevs of the 40s is selling. Maybe not quite traditional, but I think that would clean up the front profile a lot, and they don't look too obvious in the pictures.

The blue dot trim rings on the headlights need to go.

The grill I'm not sure what to do with. It's painted, but appears to be in good condition. I have a few pictures from the original build, and it looks like the chrome was in good shape. I'm hoping that I can just strip the paint off of it, and polish it up.

The top trim on the grill needs to be polished. The side and bottom trim are missing, and don't appear in the old build pics. I assume they were missing 20 years ago. I found a few places selling the top and bottom trim pieces, but only I &I reproductions seems to sell the sides. Anybody use these before? Their web site doesn't have pictures, or prices.

 

Back



As with the front, the bumper is painted. New bumper.

I'm kinda freaked out by not having backup lights. I know hey weren't originally equipped, but were optional. I'm considering adding one to the left taillight stand.

The trunk emblem is gone. I think I'm ok with that.

 

Side



The solid wheels need to go. I've been looking at wheels all summer, and I seem to really like Torq Thrusts. Trying a photoshop upgrade first, because it's cheaper than buying wheels to see if I like them, I get:



The body is original steel, but the fenders and running boards are glass. The rear fenders are supposed to be about 2" wider than stock. Looking at tire clearance, it looks to me like I could go about 1" wider at the tread than what's there now, which would help to fill out the hole a bit. Right now, the rears look like they're too far inboard to me.

The running boards are painted body colour (purple). With 20 years wear and tear, they're kinda scratched up, but they're solid and seem pretty sturdy. I'm thinking about having them Rhino Liner coated. That won't look like a restoration, but should look closer to the original steel with rubber covering.

My painter friend thinks Rhino might also be good for inside the fenders. I have some stars in the fender paint from rock hits on the inside. Before painting (I'll come back to that later) I'd like to prevent it from happening again.

 

different paint and wheels would change that car completely,I'd suggest going with original width rear fenders....what's the interior look like.?
...here's a 38 sedan I put together years ago and had lots of fun with.(no, I'm not suggesting you paint it like this)

 

The I&I pieces are decent, I used them on mine. Actually anything that I bought from them was good quality.

The grill should be stainless, not chrome, if it is in good shape it should polish up nicely, but there is a probably a reason they painted it.

I used the bed liner to coat the inside of my fenders and have not had any issues so far. Not sure about the running boards.

 

Cool, thanks for the info on I&I.

I think he painted the grill for looks. I'll scan in the old build pic later.

I'm not sure about coating the running boards either. It's something I'm thinking about doing. Looking at them, I'm thinking that taping the ends off along the fender line, leaving about 2" of paint showing, might look good. I'll try mocking that up first of course.

 

Interior and paint are on my list. Hold that thought for a few minutes. I haven't got those pictures posted yet.

I kinda like the wheels and hubcaps on yours. Not sure I'd want to do that on mine, though.

 

Drivetrain



The SBC seems good. There's a Crane flat tapper cam, Edlebrock intake, and Holley 650 on there. Those are working fine, no reason to change them. Some headers maybe, I have a note here somewhere on a set that fit on another 37 I looked at at a recent show.

Cosmetically, some finned valve covers and black plug wires would help. Haven't yet found anything inspiring to replace the air cleaner. I like the look of something like the Thickstun, though.



Up front, if I can fit it, a mechanical fan. There's not a lot of room up there. The Brassworks radiator is thicker than stock. Cools good though.

Then there's the wiring. This fuse block has to go. The labels have mostly disintegrated, and those that are there don't seem to match the wiring. The harness was too close to the exhaust, melted, and burned. It was patched, but the wire colors don't match, so tracing circuits is a huge pain. There are other wiring gremlins hiding under the dash. I'm looking at Painless or Rebel. Fuse block under the dash, full rewire.

I think I'd like to lose the brake booster. I'm not sure on this. I've talked to other 37 owners with just a master cylinder, and they say it's ok. But it brakes good now with the booster. So I'm still thinking here. The brake lines need to be redone, though. Neatly, and routed away from the exhaust, and with better frame mounting.

Then there's the transmission. It's a 700R4, but with a non lockup converter, and a shift kit. The shift points are weird, mostly leaving the engine racing (no tach, but sounds like 3000 RPM or so) when driving around town. On the highway, over 60 when it finally upshifts in to 4th, it cruises nice. But, hot rods should have three pedals. I like driving a stick shift. So I want to change this to a T5. With the body on, that's going to be a challenge. I'm thinking hydraulic release, maybe cable.

That's the other reason I'm looking at that brake booster. A three pedal assembly with two hydraulic cylinders could eliminate it.

The A/C is very non traditional, but has a very high Wife Approval Factor. So it stays.

 

Since you already have the fiberglass running boards, what you could do is look at some repro black rubber covers for the stock type boards, then find some rubber matting that matches the repro covers in an online catalog from Graingers or McMaster-Carr. Cut it to shape and glue it down. That will look a lot more "stock" than the spray type bed liner. Use that stuff for under the fenders. K6

 

Thanks Kinky6, I'm considering that, too. And some underside steel bracing may get added too.

 

Looks like you have a good plan. Take your time and do it one step at a time. Then you can keep driving it while you work on it. Nice car, 37's are cool!

 

Interior





I'm saving the interior for later. I figure replacing the trans and rewiring need to get done first. So there's an acre of tweed in here. I'd like to go with a tuck n roll, but haven't figured out colors. I'm thinking a dark charcoal grey / light grey. Cloth, not vinyl or leather.

The carpet is messed up from a coolant leak. So a black or dark grey replacement there, after I get the trans tunnel worked out and shifter location done.

One thing that bugs me is the lack of storage. The doors need pockets. The wing windows are sealed closed, so the cranks aren't doing anything. I'm thinking about removing them.

The back seat is original. The fronts are out of something. I forget what he told me they came from. I don't like the plastic bucket base on them. On the plus side, they're pretty comfortable. I need to go seat shopping to see if I can find something I like better. I want some kind of arm rest in the middle.

A set of Julianos three point belts for the front, and two point belts for the back. Installed so they're not a pain to use. The current install requires opening the door to reach the outside half of the belt, and they're lap belts only.



I've been staring at this. The column is from an Astro Van, if I recall correctly. The shift lever has been removed, which looks kinda ugly. I don't mind having a tilt, but once I get it where I want it, I never move it again, so I'm thinking a straight GM column, no tilt, no shifter, no key switch, and just adjusting with the column drop to get it where I want it.

That means moving the key switch to the dash. I don't need two lighters, so one of those can come out, and the key switch goes there.

I'm looking at steering wheels. Maybe a banjo? Maybe an original 37? Right now, anything larger would hit the Lokar shifter, so that's another reason to do the trans swap first, get the shifter down below the wheel.

The dash itself was cut to install that big aluminum block in the middle. Other than the A/C vent, it's just wasted space. I'm thinking about moving the radio location to the space above the A/C vent. I think it'll fit. If not, I might put in a hidden head unit with remote display mounted there.

Getting the radio out of the glove box door (the box is gone) would also help. Then I can replace the door, and the box. That's not very big, but it's a place to put the registration and insurance card.

The dash insert bugs me. I think it's Billet Specialties. I also think it may be upside down. The turn signal indicators end up hidden by the wheel. Flipping it over would put them in a visible spot.

I'm envying this dash:



Maybe the insert and glove box door need to be engine turned. I'm not sure what to do with the cut out middle though. I don't think a turned replacement would help much. Maybe. Gotta play with photoshop to see what it might look like.

 

Paint

This is a long way off. I like what's there, but I like some other options too.

Two that I keep thinking about are classic flames like:



though I think I'd pull them forward a bit, so the flames are on the fenders, not the running boards. Or, scallops like:



Maybe in a purple / silver? Or purple / white.

We'll see. That's probably at least a couple of years from now. I have lots of time to think about this part.

 

not all grilles were stainless, some (most) were chrome steel, yours is probly a steel/chromed one that's painted. Mite suggest putting a chrome windsheild strip back on there as well as an inner strip, can be glued on.

 

Here's what I'd do, but take it with a grain of salt. Lower it with some dropped spindles in the front, and dearched springs or blocks in the back. Chrome the bumpers or buy repros. Lose the front turn signals and chrome the grille. Forget about backup lights on the back. New wheels (polished five-spokes would be good) and tires, but make sure they have sufficient stagger to eliminate some of the soccer-mom street rod look the car has right now. The flamed tudor you picture has a good example of tire size stagger. Something like a wheel size of 15x5 on the front and 15x8 on the back. And once it's low enough the car will look mean, not like it's ready to go to the ice cream shoppe.

Rebuilding the stuff that can't be seen, like the wiring, is a given. But the need for a manual trans is just personal. I probably wouldn't do it on this car.

I had a '39 Chevy tudor with fiberglass running boards, with the stock rubber covers glued to them (bought it that way). I was CONSTANTLY worried that somebody was going to crack those boards when they got into the car. And a person needs to step on the board to get into the back seat. I'd switch your boards for some stockers, or at least steel repros with rubber, ASAP. I'm not a fan of the wider rear fenders, so might as well get some regular width replacements at the same time as the way the running board bolts up to the fender might need some adjustment for those wide fenders.

Save the interior and dash for last.

 

You got a good plan, the wider fenders-you own them use them, but you need stance and enough tire to fill them.

Lotsa tweed in that interior, agree with swapping seats, something 60's buckets maybe. There's a lot of cars being "upgraded" to protouring seats, might be able to score some takeout restored early 60's seats.

I have a feeling there will be a lot more of these reverse street rod builds in the future.

 

Yeah, they sold a buttload of grey tweed for a while.... My avatar suffers from it too. Comfortable, but totally blah looking.

I'm with Alchemy (mostly); chrome the bumpers/grill, and lower it at least two inches in front, although about three in the front and a couple in the rear would look better. I'm not a fan of the polished Torque-thrust D wheels (still pretty street-roddy IMO), I think a as-cast center looks better or better yet go with a straight-spoke wheel like the ET-V.

Very similar to how mine was built. You can make the column look better by adjusting it straight then shortening the column drop, and swapping to a different wheel as an interim fix. I lucked out and my dash doesn't have any billet.

 

Thanks Alchemy.

Lowering the front might be easy. There are some rubber spacer blocks in the coil springs. Pop those out and lose an inch or so? The wheels and tires now are staggered, 14s on the front, 15s in back (P195/75R14 and P235/75R15). If I lose an inch in height in front, and gain an inch in width in back, that might help fill the fender openings better.

Yeah, I know what you mean on the trans. Personal choice. I like 5 speeds. I might regret it if I go to sell it. Maybe I'll store the trans and plan to put it back in that case.

These running boards seem very well made. I've stood on them, and they haven't budged. I weigh around 170 lbs. From the scratches on them, other people have used them too. So I'm deciding not to worry about them too much. Some steel might get added underneath anyway, though.

 

The as cast grey centre Torq Thrust is also a nice looking wheel. That was my second choice. The ET/V looks pretty good too. I'll have to play with those choices.

 

The cast grey Torq Thrust are one of those wheels to would look good on anything,including a dump truck! HRP

 

Hm?



Yeah, that's pretty cool too. Ok, so the grey TT wheels would look like:

 

Here's one of the old build pics, prior to the grill being painted.



It looks pretty clean to me. I have some other pics after it was done, when it was all purple, with the grill chrome. Later, the top got painted silver, and the grill purple.

Looks like it had bumper guards back then, too.

 

I've got one of these too. Watch the chin piece under the grille. Mine has a Heidt's MII front end w/ dropped spindles. I'm going to have to undrop it before I can drive it.

Also, I used the original pedal assembly. Put a long rod through the original master cylinder to push the remote master. The brake booster nestles up in the floor under the drivers seat, and the m/c is accessed through a trap door. Mechanical clutch linkage wasn't too difficult once I figured out the lever ratios. The original used a short chain to pull the release arm. So, that's what I did too.
I fabricated a steering column out of 1 1/2" stainless exhaust tubing, raised the firewall end of the steering shaft (for a better steering wheel angle) connected to the MII box with a couple of u-joints. My dilemma is turn signal lever or not.
I like the flames, but my wife doesn't. I hope you do them, so I can look at yours.

 

Oh, one more thing. Once you get the wheel/tire stuff figured out, you can make lowering blocks with two center holes to set the rear end back about an inch to center the wheel in the opening. I'd be looking for stock width fenders, too. You can get a 10" tire under them with the right wheel offset.

 

How much is yours dropped? How much of it is in the spindles?

I'd like to see pictures of your brake and pedal setup if you can post them. There's no original mc under mine, and I'm having trouble picturing how you did that. You're running a booster mounted under the floor?

The big auction site is flooded with "GM" columns. I assume they're imported from somewhere inexpensive, because they're selling pretty cheap. I was looking at mine last night, and the tilt is set to almost straight already, just one click up. I'm thinking a slightly shorter drop and a straight no-tilt column would work. I'd go with the turn signal stalk, but that's me. Why wouldn't you want one on yours?

I've always loved a good looking flame job, but I'm not sure that's the look I want for this car. At least today I'm leaning toward the scallops.

Centering the rear wheels in the opening would help too. I don't know why they didn't do that originally.

 

One small victory today: I fixed the wipers. They have a Newport motor, and would sort of work, intermittently. Seller thought maybe it needed a new motor (people always blame the expensive and complicated parts first). Looking under the dash, I could see the drivers side transmission tower was wonky, the linkage was binding on it, not moving it. It looked like the tower might be damaged, the bottom gear was wobbling around, and the chain wasn't moving.

Today I decided to have a closer look. Maybe it can be fixed. If not, at least I'd know what to start looking for.

Getting out was a bit of a challenge, I'm not sure my arm is supposed to bend that way. But I got the mounting bolt out, and the shaft off the motor crank, and pulled the tower free from the top side.

Cheapest fix ever: the nut holding the lower wheel was loose. Tightened it up, hit it with a little spray oil, and it seems to be fine. Reinstalled, and put the shaft back on, and now I have working wipers.

I hope not to need them, at least not often. I don't know how effective they'll be in actual rain, but at least now they work.

 

David,
These aren't the best pictures but I think you can get the idea(s), First of all, I lied. I did not run the extended brake rod through the old master cylinder. That was my original plan. I reformed the pedal rod to align with the remote master cylinder. I decided that I should keep the M/C as close to the frame rail as possible. f I had it to do over, I would probably move the M/C inboard and run the exhaust outside of that. If I come across another stock pedal assembly I may still do that. The other reason I moved it out was to keep the clutch linkage in a straight line with the pedal. This is because I used a motor plate. If you have side mounts you probably could keep it simpler.

 

I like the grey 5-spokes!

 

Nice, thanks. I like the MC on the frame rail, easier and more protected routing for the lines that way.