Bought it on March 27, 2009 from a man in Fort Worth who owned it since 1961. Started rebuilding it in 1980, but had a kid and he never finished. I have only noticed a few small (less than dime size) places where it is rusted. The car came with boxes of parts. Picture of how it sat when I got it from Fort Worth On the way from Fort Worth back to Houston I hit a rain storm that had me slow down to 25mph...this continued for over two hours. Lets just say all the boxes stored in the car were now a little wet! I had to store it for a while until I could make some room at my house. I didn't realize that it would take me a year just to get it home!
So I started looking for parts to upgrade the mechanical brakes to hydraulic, and I ran across a chassis that bluesman had for sale. It was a running 39 chassis. So after we work out a deal I have a running chassis. I sure am glad now that I bought the chassis, because once I tore into the flathead that came with the coupe I found that the cylinder walls were cracked in multiple places... it may be fixable, but that will be something to look into on another day. I brought the coupe to my garage at my house in March of this year.
I had dart165 do a rendering of my coupe and it came out great! Thanks for all your help! Now this is the long term goal of the coupe. Right now my plans are to get it on the road and drive the snot out of it for a while.
I started removing all the fenders, running boards, steering, and body bolts to get ready for the frame swap. Well about a month ago I had some buddies come over and help me move the coupe body from the '38 chassis to the 39 chassis. I some how lost my camera, and this is the only photo I have right now. The swap went relatively easy with a few adjustments along the way. Hooked up the battery and started to crank the flatty, but she was not getting any gas. Nothing an air hose couldn't fix. Got the engine running, and I was ecstatic to hear it run again! Here is a video of the maiden voyage! Throttle got stuck at the end and I didn't have a gas pedal. Hooked up a linkage to drive by hand and a return spring...I got some funny looks from the neighbors driving it around all afternoon! <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IzCCASYjfzA?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IzCCASYjfzA?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> I plan to get it all the body back together soon, rewire it, and drive it!
get a longer 2x6 for the trunklid. getting tired of getting bonked by the durn thing!!! he he. lookin good!
Ok guys, I am new to the flathead, so I have a few questions... First, I start the flathead every week while under construction, but I cannot keep the carb primed. I can put air pressure in my tank to get it primed, but I am sure there is a better method to this. Secondly, where do I put the oil pressure sender?
the oil pressure sender mounted in the block just behind the #8 cylinder, it's the round thing in your picture just to the right of your rubber to metal fuel line connection. sorry, but I got nothing on the carb problem, can you describe the problem a little more. is the bowl going dry between starts or is the carb losing fuel once it's running?
Thanks! The bowl is going dry between starts. Sometimes it will be a day an others a week. It has not been consistent. The carb does sometime leak a small drop when running, but stops after I turn it off. I know the carb will probably need to be rebuilt, but would this cause the bowl the empty?
Harrison, Thanks for posting a picture of your your old car. I now own it and it's gettting the brakes changed to hydraulic as we speak. I've been slowed down by every thing iminaginable this year but hoping the Pileup will see it there running AND stopping. I am using the brakes (and total rearend) that came under the restored '40 I was building for my wife so everything is new. Good to see you starting to enjoy your new toy. I don't know about you but one to coolest things about a '38 is that crank out front window. Frank
simple answer is the float it hanging open, like you said the carb needs rebuilt, so rebuild it and that should solve the problem... good luck man, that car is awesome...
Frank, IMO - & I'm extremely biased - you have the coolest '38 coupe ever. Can't wait to see some update pics. JH
I have been traveling a lot with work, so progress has been real slooow! I got the rear fenders mounted with new fender welt. Taped up the welt, marked and cut. Used the passenger side as a pattern for the driver side. I am going to go back and replace the bolts and washers since some of them did not like to go back in.
The arse looks much better now! Need to get some rear fender braces now. Now that the fenders are mounted I realize that I will definitely need to lower her a bit.
Paul Wright (irishpol) made me a killer battery box after seeing the one Kathy (kisam) is using on her three window. Kathy was nice enough to bring it back to Houston after Day of the Drags. Thanks again Kathy! Now I need to find a new home for it in the trunk
The Jalopy Journal
