Projects BACK AT IT FINALLY!! RE-BUILD OF AN EARLY CHEVY COUPE WITH A HEMI

Dale just sent me more photos of his installation of the boxing plates, new hemi mounts, the center x-member with the trans mount, the rear ladder bar kit and course, the front and rear suspension. Every task he did is only spot welded at this time.

Looks like he will install the rear cross member, coil over shocks/mounts, plus the rear panhard bar to finish up the QCR soon enough. He moved the Ford front crossmember forward a few inches to get the needed 9" or so clearance for the lower blower pulley. At some point, Dale will install the front panhard bar and my chromed Vega cross steer box and disc brake system to finish the front end.

 

Following now. First time today I have seen this build and beginning to read through the full thread.
Very cool !!

 

Thank you @32 hudson - glad you find my build interesting enough to follow my progress. It's easy to see that our hot rods are so very few and far between, I don't believe I've ever seen a '32 Hudson before either... Going to check your profile page to see if you have any photo albums to check out.

 

Please do. Our odd rods are a labor of love.

 

Went over to Dale's Hot Rod Garage last Sunday afternoon and was delighted that he's on the home stretch in finishing up my chassis setup! He has only one left of the center x-member square tubing to weld in when he has my dual master cylinder to mount in my frame. He needed to take some photos of the chassis before he placed the body back on recently, but he mentioned that the body will come back off to finish the master cylinder.

In the meantime, Dale had me sit in the coupe on one of the '59 Thunderbird bucket seats that I brought over to begin setting up the angle of the steering column. Still shaking my head that my column will go through the new steel floor and had more room of clearance of the hemi than we thought. I was missing the bottom bearing of my Limeworks Speed Shop polished hot rod column, so he will go the hardware store to pick it up and begin setting up the steering assembly with a few steering u-joints to have more clearance around the engine block. We're thinking that we may have to add a small notch to the engine mount for the polished D-bar when it's attached to my chromed Vega cross steering box (his steering box is loosely mounted for mock up). Looks like Dale and I will tow my hot rod back to my garage in early March!

 

Love it, just read start to present and subscribed!

 

So excited to see you back at it! I will follow along also hang in there!

There are times when a road block becomes so big that we cannot get around, over, under or through it, then the right person comes along & just seems to navigate it without much fuss, we can be left feeling silly or grateful for their help. That is our choice

 

Oliver, glad that you found interest in my build! This is the stage of my build that is most exciting and getting much closer to get her streetable once again since 2007!

At this moment, I'm on the home stretch of completing the chassis setup, sending Dale the last bit of parts that he needs... The brake master cylinder, steering column mounts to lock it down, D-bars, steering u-joints to gain clearance around my hemi and so forth! Dale and I are towing my '31 back to my garage in the first week of March!

 

Dale will be receiving 2 more parts (the universal joint) that will be attached at my chromed Vega cross steering box and the new chromed drag link with stainless 11/16 inch rod ends to complete the steering assembly.

In the meantime, I made arrangements to grab my hot rod and trailer her back home next weekend. I'll have more detailed photos to take once my hot rod is back in my garage. I couldn't thank Dale enough for his welding and fabrication skills!

 

Just out of curiosity, bottom pic(interior shot) did you guys drill something to get that wood pile by the a pillar? If not, looks like you’ve got termites. Ask me how I know…

 

Looks like this is a SERIOUS problem with these gosh darn termites (KIDDING)... That wood floor was a new piece of Oak that I bought way back in 1996...

 

Wasn't in a car but we had termites when I lived in the tropics 3/4" long & 3/16" round they ate allot in a hurry! Plastic too if it got on their road!

@31chevymike the coupe is looking great! You must be wrapped with the progress & how it's turning out!

 

Dale just received the universal joint this afternoon that attaches to my Vega cross steering box, the polished DD bar and one of the two supplied universal joints at the steering column. I did sent him both steering column mounts, but Dale already fabricated them and installed... Better off, personally, the mounts I bought look too "STREET RODDISH" and glad Dale had the opportunity to fabricate these mounts by hand for that "OLD SCHOOL LOOK" that we HAMBERS love way too much!

 

Just got her back from Dale's Hot Rod Garage this morning from Phoenix - feeling so relieved with the huge step of progress in my build - engine, trans and final completion of the Winters Quick Change rear!
Next, I'll be shooting for the final steering completion with the tie rod (2 inches too long at this moment - for mockup) and drag link purchases with the correct measurements.

I need to try and remove the chemical residue that I used to remove the rust coverage over the entire body and frame when I got here to Arizona from all of the rain thru 2 states. I'm hoping to use scotch brite pads to do small sections at a time to hopefully have the appearance of a smooth, bare metal body. Any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated!

 

Awesome!!

 

Thanks Oliver, I'll be thinking the same way after I drop the REAL HEMI in it's place!!

 

Go Mike Go...glad to see you moving forward on the Beast...enlisting some expertise...just part of the experience...
...the move was a hindrance as well...I hate moving...I still have stuff in boxes I can't find...looking at your mags and that steering wheel I'm thinking of Racerx's pre Green Monster days...are you painting it orange by chance...?

 

Indeed Stogy, the chassis would be an Orange metal flaked pearl, while the body color would be similar or exactly the same as my hemi. Last photo shows a typical panel paint job example - nothing concrete, just ideas to think about...

 

Holy crap, look at that engine! Dayuuummmm...

 

Looks like I’ve got some reading to do! Great hot rod man

 

Needs a Hilborn injection. He he.

 

Mike, your build is coming along great, I would make one suggestion on the ladder bars. With the horsepower and traction you will have with those slicks, the open area at the rear could have some flex, due to the lack of an upright at the rear. Hard launches produce the most force on the area closest to the axle centerline. I install a post to make the upper and lower tubes act as one. Great project !

 

Thanks Tim, trying to get her on the road for my 60th birthday... We'll see.

Ain't that the truth!!

This is great advice Marty - consider this task done when the time is right, taking the body off for brake lines/hoses, new trans install and a driveshaft after it's measured and installed.

 

Boy this time around is gonna be great...ER than the last...as we age the vision becomes clearer...SO worth the wait Bigtime Mike...

 

I couldn't agree more Stogy... I need to organize the rear of my garage and plan on dropping my behemoth '92 where she belongs!! Should be an adrenaline rush to remember and post here on the H.A.M.B. for anyone whose following my build!

 

Nice looking engine, not sure about that wooden oil pan though, might suck up a quart or two

 

Extra cool with a hemi love it.

 

Truthfully, while my hemi was on an engine stand at the machine shop, it proved it was way too heavy and bent his stand... Shortly after, I purchased an engine cradle just before I picked up my hemi. When I moved here to Mesa, all four wheels broke with the pounding the rental truck took over the damn roads across the country. Did you get to see the "REAL" 8 - 10 qt. oil pan - it's a beauty! I'm going to have it striped in white down the road!

 

Me too - I'll love it much more when I'm ready to fire the ol' '92!

 

Holy Christ! Has it been really no updates to my build since July 1, 2023? Apparently, it has! Dale and his young son David (who's got the hot rod bug like the rest of us, building his first hot rod - a Model A coupe) came over and we finished my new brake system completely recently! Those stupid brake hose tabs cost us a few weeks because they were the wrong type, needing the hole to be multi-edge to lock the front hoses to the frame - Speedway Motors came through as always. Also, went through 3 sets of front brake hoses (for 2K, you'd think you'd be getting front brake hoses with the So-Cal kit, NOT) till I bought the correct ones on the third try... The first set were WAY too small in diameter, being steel braided with a black hose covering - DID NOT LIKE 'EM AT ALL. Had to have the rubber hoses for the authentic look that I live for. It was suggested by Dale to step up to DOT 5.1 brake fluid, a high perfomance upgrade. Please note: you CANNOT mix DOT 5.1 with DOT 5 as it is important never to mistake DOT 5.1 (glycol-based) with DOT 5 which is silicone-based.

Continuing my goals, I'm eyeballin' a 700R4 transmission ('87-'92) with a non-lock up converter (can a HAMBER explain the difference and its advantages/and or disadvantages)? Going to give it a whirl to polish the entire trans case, purchasing what I need to complete the transmission (if I'm lucky to get one from "Offer Up") in due time. Been meaning to polish the center section of my quick change as well. Next, once I install the trans, then I'll measure up a new driveshaft. Lastly, a new fuel pump is in order to install with a new 3/8" fuel line - BADA BING, BADA BOOM - the chassis is mostly done - BODY GOES BACK ON!!!!!!!! There it is on a nutshell...