Customs Back in the Family. . .after 51 years -37 Ford

[Gman0046]

Super nice car. I'm glad you got it back. Club Cabriolets are as scarce as hens teeth.

[fryguy]

I finally had some time to get some things for the car done. I replaced the tires that were on it some Firestones 650-16 with 4 inch whitewalls. I went ahead and replaced the stock springs with some posie super sliders 3 inch lowering springs. I also got 2 inch lowering shackles from V Tardel as well. Put the spings and shackles on and didn't get the drop I wanted in the rear. I went ahead and removed three of the of the leafs out of the top of the rear spring. Its starting to get the stance I am looking for.

[fryguy]

Ended up calling Ravenworks today. They are the guys who own Porter Mufflers. Placed my order for some shorty exhaust. I have read a lot of good things on the HAMB here about them. PO looks to have put magnaflow type headers on the car. They sound OK but I am curious as to how the Porters sound.

Also talked to a buddy who built up a nice 8BA motor but never used it. He agreed to part with it so thats going to be a nice winter project. I am going to pull the 21 stud and keep it for originality. It would be nice to have a little more humph of a flatty.

[s55mercury66]

IMO that is a great looking car! Did you pull the hood sides to help it run cooler? Always wondered if some modified hood sides would look good on one, with some larger openings but still cover the cowl area some. And not criticizing your car at all, Nice Ride. That old paint looks pretty darn good from my computer, I'm a big fan of lacquer paint. I am jealous

[sawzall]

stance looks great.. I didnt get a chance to check it out at latimore last week..

I want to know about the porters as well.. the "turbo mufflers" on my 40 wagon are starting to annoy me.

[2935ford]

Congrats and good for you.
She's looks great....enjoy!

[Evel]

Thats a great story!

[fryguy]

I actually did pull the hood sides off on the way to Latimore to see if it ran any cooler. Seems to have run about 160-170 on the way up and between 190-200 on the way home in the afternoon. i was thinking the exact same thing on the hoodsides as i am trying to locate a pair that are a little beat up. Was going to cut them to have a side cover for the Cowl but leave the hood sides open.

Jeff, I am curious as well. Once i get them on, you'll be able to hear how they sound and see if its something you like or not

[fryguy]

Talked to a buddy today and he tells me he's going to let go of a hoped up 8BA motor he just got done doing. Stock crank with new rods and .30 over pistons with chevy valves. H&H cam grind. It has new Edelbrock heads and Offenhouser intake with 2 chrome 97 Carbs. Gonna pick this up and stick it in the 37. Should give it a litter more humph with a nice lope.

[dudley32]

Beautiful...wish I could find my dad's '37 phaeton...

[fryguy]

Was finally able to get the dropped axle in this week to get the front end down a few more inches. I knew I would have some tire rub issues with the 650's so I ended up switching over to Firestone 600's They still have the nice 3 inch whitewall and look good on there. The front fenders just cover the top two inches of the tire and are pretty even with the outside line of the whitewall. The front and rear axle snubbers are close to the axle's now, about 1/4 inch space. On larger bumps and get a little front end diving. I put the skirts back on to see if it still looks right and I like the look.

[fryguy]

Here is a pic of the axle snubbers close relationship with the front axle. I hope they like each other because they are going to be spending a lot of time together in close quarters, lol. If the front axle diving gets too bad, I will probably cut an inch or so off the rubber stop, but I haven't had to touch that yet. I may have to look into rebuilding the the stock shocks as they will be in a more engaged state now that the body is lower.

[fryguy]

I took a few shots from different angles to get a feel for how the car sits and pronounces its stance. I know I lost a lot of sleep trying to get this stance and i'll probably lose a little more as I am not sure if this is the final stance. I know I get really get too much lower in the rear without losing ride quality. I have the Posies reversed eye spring with Tardel longer shackles. I did remove three leaves from the spring in the "every other" spring order. This was after I removed the top 4 leaves and the ride quality suffered. I switched to the every other and it seem to get the same lowered distance but the ride was a little stiffer.

[fryguy]

Here is a pic of the car, after the dropped axle was installed. This is still with the 650 tires on her. The wheel wells are filled nicely but there was clearance issue up front with the tires which turned a 3-point turn into a 17 point turn.

I kinda like the hot rod look to the car and I am still kicking around putting the larger 650 tires on the rear to fill out the wheel well more especially if I decide not the run the skirts

[Firepower flyer]

Congrats on getting it back in the family,I'm happy for you!!!That car dosen't need much of anything,except to drive her!!

[fryguy]

While the axle was getting installed, I decided to replace the old wagner mufflers with some new Porters. Not a huge difference, theres a deeper growl and I nice rap at higher RPM's but it is a stock 21 stud flatty. I did end up buy an hoped up 8BA this week that has to be put together. Once I break in the new motor, I'll take out the 21 stud. That should sound nice with the cam regind that H & H did for the motor. They did a HotRod 274 grind that has .274 duration and a .355 lift.

[TairyHesticles]

I'm glad I read through this thread, what a great looking car and a great story. Looks wicked.

[Drivinford]

Awsome car man. Have fun

[cvstl]

Wow!! Looks great, both with and without the skirts.

Did you do remove any front spring leaves?

[redlineracer42]

Originally Posted by fryguy

My persistence has finally paid off. After 4 years of saving, buying, selling and swapping I was able to put enough scratch together to purchase an old family car, my Uncles 37 Ford Club Cabriolet.

I remember my dad telling stories of my uncle and how he used to help him after school putting the car together.

Originally my Uncle was a dirt track racer who used to race at the now defunct Sanatoga Circle track in Sanatoga, Pa in the mid to late 50's. He won this car in grudge match against one of his rivals. My dad tells me he helped my uncle drag the car home as it wasn't much to look at. My uncle was a body man who worked at his brothers garage during the day and painted cars for himself at night. He was the go to guy in the P-ville, Spring City, Royersford area to have you Hot Rod or Custom painted. He actually painted all the hot rods in the movie, The Blob, including the Rexroad roadster that was driven by Steve McQueen and the Pete Petermans 40 Ford.

He was a man with a family and not a whole lot of extra cash to spend but he was able to finally get the car back together and on the road in 1961. He owned the car until 2002 when he ran into health issues and sold it to Les Pursell who was bugging him for years to buy the car.
Les passed away in 2009 and his wife Fayetta had decided to sell the car. I first saw the car for sale three years ago at the Duryea Days Labor Day show in Boyertown in 2009. I told myself that I had to buy the car and have it back in the family. After 3 years and a few price drops I have finally aquired the car. I can't be more estatic. I have had a big smile on my face ever since I drove it home. When you get into the car, its a time warp back to 1961 when the car was built.

Its a 1937 Ford Club Cabriolet series 78 with a with a 1940 Flathead with single Stromberg 97. Car has old fenton headers split into dual exhaust. Running a dual pont crab style distributor. Still on 6 volt. Car is still in the Black Laquer paint my uncle painted it, it shows its age but still shines. Top is a creamy white that has faded into a darker off white. Car is running the stock Wide Five wheels with the stainless spider wheel covers running skirts in the rear.

Immediate plans are to drop the rear a few inches, put wider whites and drive her. -Fryguy

WAAAAY coool!