Projects 37 Ford/ New member

Hi all, new member here. My wife and i recently acquired her family’s street rod that she grew up in. Her dad and grandfather built it in the late 80’s and drove it up until about 6 or 7 years ago. Long story short my father in law cant drive anymore and he couldnt stand to look at Bertha anymore in the garage and not be able to take care of her. I grew up reading Hot Rod and Rod & Custom but thats about my extent of knowledge. No hands on expieriance with vintage cars other than I know I like the look of a more traditional street rod and dont like the ZZ top looks of billet or late 80’s/ early 90’s builds. Bertha has a mustang 2 front end, 350/350 combo, leafs and drop blocks out back and i think what appears to be a 9” rear end ( not too sure how to tell difference between 8 or 9). She probably has about 50,000 miles worth of california car shows and cruises since they put her together. Body and paint reflect memories of my families history and and i wouldnt change a thing about that. Checked all the fluids today and theyre all still there albeit aged for 7 years. Put a new battery in her and fired it up. She idled fine enough i guess. Still went into gear and the brakes worked like i remember. Probably against my better judgement loaded up the family and drove Bertha around the block. Had a couple throttle hiccups along the way and ended up dying 3/4 of the way home with no effect on a restart. She cranks fine. Only thing i can muster up in my infinite lack of wisdom is a fuel delivery issue from old fuel? I would imagine it could be a multitude of problems, just figure id consult the group before i did anything else stupid. Happy to be here ready to learn.

 

Oh and one more thing, only aesthetic change i would like to make to Bertha is wheels and tires. I like the looks of smoothies and white walls on these old fat fenders for a more traditional look ( although porsche red is pretty untradtitional i guess). Pretty sure they used drop spindles and cut coils in the front to get the look they wanted from the mustang 2 front end. Anyone have any recommendations on how to measure clearances for wheel/tire fitment? She currently has 195/70r14’s in the front and 225/70r15’s out back. Pretty much zero room up front for different backspace or circumfrance up front at full lock. Would 15” smoothies and a shorter sidewall up front look too wierd with a white wall? I was also thinking about maybe swapping the front springs and shock to an adjustable coilover maybe to help bing it up a touch. I guess im just pretty lost in genera, thanks in advance!


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Sounds like you have the right idea. Bertha would make a great traditional rod with little effort. Welcome and best of luck getting her running. Sounds like it could be a fuel delivery problem. Assuming it's running a carb, it's pretty easy to check if you're getting fuel.

Adjustable coil-overs aren't really going to get you on a traditional track.

 

Good looking 37, looks like it is a flatback always liked them. Fresh fuel might get it fired up along with a good tune up. I agree with the wheel change, it's personal preference as to what to put on it.

 

Thanks fellas. I prefer the traditional suspension and mechanical beauty of the old ways to what this car has. Unfortunately for me and my skill set at this time im afraid it might be a bit involved for me to swap things back. Definately not off the table. Maybe someday when i can build my own project ill work trough my sprint car themed hidden torsion bar setup ive always dreamed of! For now Bertha is too close to being family ready to change the front end. I really appreciate the culture of this site and hopefully my project is not too blasphemous to the tradition of what you all do here.


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Welcome, you have a good looking 37 there. Others have already mentioned your possible fuel delivery problem and I’m wondering how old the fuel in the tank is if the car has been sitting so long.
I suggest you take some time to familiarize yourself with the car first and see what may need attention to make it roadworthy and safe. Check brakes,belts,hoses and fluid changes.
It’s getting tough to find 14” tires, I would definitely move up to a 15” wheel and see what’s available in a comparable height maybe a 195/65/15 would work.
You can learn a lot here,enjoy the journey.

 

Beautiful 37. Had a chopped 4 door for 20 yrs. I ran 1956015's in the front with a IFS from Heidt's and 2257515's out back. Rode like a dream.

 

http://www.project33.com/

There is a handy calculation tool on the link above that you can input your current tire sizes and compare the dimensions to a larger diameter rim size to come to a comparable solution
If you like the way the car ‘sits’ now and the way the current tires fit the wheel wells - use wheels as tires with similar dimensions and back spacing. There’s no sense messing around with what someone else has already figured out for you.
Welcome to the H.A.M.B.- that 37 is a sharp looking car. An updated set of wheels and tires will give it a fresh look.

 

Your car is fine here as long as you don't feature the non-traditional aspects of it in your posts.

 

Do you think 15x7’s for the front?


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You guys think i should use fuel pump to drain the tank from a disconnected fuel line?


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Do not change a front end that clearly works, just to fit in here. Chrome reverse and wide whites will keep it New Hamb friendly. While coil overs might not be traditional, they will help improve the ride. Just don't mention them here, or post pics of the front end. Remember Moriarity is always watching with his finger on the delete key. Enjoy your new ride, emphasis on the your part.

 

I’m guessing unless you have 14x7 now 15x7 would be too wide.The steel wheels I had on my 37 were 15x6 front and 15x7 reversed on the rear.

 

^^ agree with I rant and 195/65/15 front 225/75/15 rear

 

Wow that looks perfect. Thank you for the specs and the picture.


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Understood thank you for that information. I got a pm after my first post, thankfully, giving me some guidance. I shoulda looked harder before my post.


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That’s a great car, the color is good and they used stock bumpers and mirrors, so except for a wheel change it’ll have a traditional look. The suspension is what it is, no reason to change that plus you have to get on the ground to know what’s under it. You’ll enjoy driving that one.


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I meant to ask if the smoker windows still worked. I think all the 37's had them.

 

Nice car.. Take care of it....

 

Yup everything is still working


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Great looking car, love the '37's. I have to agree with the above: wheels/tires and a fuel system clean out and you're IN! Enjoy!

 

My 37 has std width Mustang 2 with 205x70-15 on 7 inch wheels on front and 235x75-15 on 8 inch wheels on rear. Rear end is 56.75 FTF.

 

Awesome thanks for that info, ill take some meausre ments and see what i have.


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I'd keep the blackwalls

 

Too wide. By two inches.

 

As far as whitewalls are concerned, would you guys have any preferences for me? So far i e found coker and diamondback pretty frequently, any others im missing? Also, are wheel vintiques the “go to” smoothie or am i missing others in that department? Got about half the fuel tank emptied out today, hoping to finish that job in a couple days. Going to run some new fuel lines and get a few sets of filters too. As soon as i get all that squared away and some basic service, hopefully round two will go better than round one!


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You remember your backspacing? Im guessing max for front and rear.


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Wheelsmith is another option for steel wheels. Quality product and helpful service.

 

You don’t want smoothies. You want Gennies.
Gennies or genuines could be either newly made chrome (like in American Graffiti) or steel ( that’s made new unpainted factory spec with the hub cap bumps or you can find used stock wheels).

Smoothies use a special moon where as the Gennies or stock wheels can use factory or custom caps.

Here’s my personal opinion....
Black walls on chrome wheels...
White walls on black wheels....no caps
Black walls on black wheels with a chrome moon.

 

Bitchin thank you for this I will refine my search some more. Im kinda digging the black wall, black wheel with moon look. Out of those three what do you think would be the most traditional look for a fat fender? Im having a hard time finding very many traditional 35-40’s on the googles.


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