Projects First Build, 1940 Chevy Coupe

After 22 years of off and on searching, I have found the 1940 Chevy Coupe my dad finished building into a street rod in 1976. He sold it the same year and was killed in a car accident a month later. The present owner has agreed to sell it to me and I will be leaving Pennsylvania on June 19th, 2014 and driving to Illinois to buy and bring it back to Pennsylvania. It still has the paint job my dad sprayed on it 38 years ago. Body wise its solid with the exception of the front fenders. Was told they have some rust and one is dented. Don't know how bad, but, in case they are too far gone I have been looking for steel fenders. Can't seem to find any. Anyone know of any place to get them?

The 327 motor my dad installed was just recently replaced with a crate 350 (stock) motor and has less than 1,000 miles on it. Likewise, the 350TH transmission was recently replaced with a 700R transmission. The straight axle my dad installed (originally had knee action) was replaced in the late 70's early 80's with a Corvair front suspension. I'm a little concerned about this and was thinking of changing it to a Fatman IFS. I would welcome all thoughts on this.

I love the lines of a 40 Chevy. Ok, ok, I have to admit, I'm a tad bit partial to this car. Anyway, there is one thing I do not like and that's the headlights.......they sit too far out from the front of the fenders and give the car a bug eyed look. I want to shorten the headlight buckets, mold them into the fenders and French the headlights. I also want to French some style of tail lights and also French the license plate into the lower part of the trunk lid. I have no experience with body work and would appreciate any advice on how to do this.

I have never rebuilt a car of any kind. I was a mechanic in the Army and am a journeyman maintenance man in a steel mill. I also had 1,800+ hours in a welding vo-tech program. So I do know my way around a shop and how to use tools.

In 19 days I will finally have the coupe and will give it an extensive going over. After that I will post pictures. I will be asking a lot of questions and I hope the members here can help a newbie like me. Thanking everyone in advance.


Bill

 

ready to answer all your body / sheetmetal questions

 

Congrats Bill, looking forward to seeing it.

 

Thanks Rocket, I'm counting down the days........18 more till I can go get it. Will post a pic tomorrow of what it looked like after my dad finished it. Can't do if from my smart phone and I'm working the midnight shift right now.

 

How difficult would it be to shave off the drip rail on this car?

 

Great to see you are getting your dads old car. Sounds like you have a lot of ideas, you may want to rite them down and prioritize them. Without a plan it is easy to have it all in parts and loose focus.
Please keep us posted

 

Nomad, I have tons of ideas and they are wrote down. Going to put them in some kind of order soon. Pic to follow after I post this to you.

 

Ok, here is a pic of my Dad's 1940 Chevy coupe right after he finished it in 1976. Sorry for the poor quality, but it's the only one I have.

 

Cool car! Glad you were able to get it back. Can't wait to see updates.

 

Good souce for new/used parts http://www.idaschevs.com/
I built a 40 for a customer a few years ago, have lots of photos of the build. I used a Heidts M2 font end and the car drives real nice (we did add the stabilizer bar after the build, made a huge difference). If you need any info just let me know !

 

Thank you. I'm sure that after 38 years its not going to be like I remember it. But that's ok, all that matters is that its the car my dad built and owned. 18 more days and I leave to go get it. You can't believe how excited I am!

 

Congratulations. I for one am interested in how you managed to track it down.

Rather than shorten the headlight buckets, perhaps you can sink lower down into the fenders, similar to the 1941's?

(Picture from Kustomrama.)

 

Thanks for the link Greybeard! I'll probably be picking your brain when I finally get it. I'm lucky in that mechanically, the coupe is up to date for the most part. Still not sure on that Corvair front suspension, keep it or change it. Want to hear pros and cons on it.
I worked the midnight shift last night and it is way past my bed time. Tonight I will post my ideas on what I want to do. Thanks again for the link.

 

In 1992 when I decided to try and find it, I wrote to members from my dads side of the family that lived in Kewanee, Illinois, asking anyone if they kew where it was and/or, who had it. No one knew. Not long after that I went over to a friends house and was introduced to a computer. I learned to use it and searched the internet. In 2013 I remembered my dads best friend from back then and googled his name. Finally found his name on a web site for a club that races gassers. I contacted the person who ran the web site asking fir help. He contacted me a few days later. I explained that Bryan was my dads best friend back then and that I was trying to contact him. The guy who ran the web site said they were having a meeting the next month and would give my contact info to Bryan. About 6 weeks later Bryan calls me up. We talk about old times and then I ask him about my dads car. He informs me that its still in town and he knows the guy that owns it. A couple days later Bryan emails me the present owners contact info.

And that is how I found my dads car. I never gave up and I got real lucky!

 

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. (Great summary, too!)

 

It is always good to hear of someone relocating and buying a car from their past. Sounds as though you are in good shape with the motor, trans, and surely there has to be some really good front fenders that are just waiting for a phone call, and more searching on the computer.
Curious, are the front fenders the same as those on the sedans ?
Good Luck on your endeavor.
firstnomad

 

Firstnomad, I'm pretty sure that the sedan and coupe front clip sheet metal are interchangeable. I'm also going to be looking for some metal running boards.

 

do able , but it does serve a good purpose, with the right paint, wheels you will never see the drip rail

 

UPDATE!!! The trip out to Kewanee, Illinois was delayed due to my friends work schedule. He is the one with the truck and trailer. Anyway, we left at 5:00AM on June 22nd and arrived at 3:00PM the same day. Jeff and his wife Lorie had the coupe all ready and sitting in the driveway when we pulled in. After not seeing this car for 38 years, I had a tear in my eye as I walked up to it. You just can't imagine the joy I felt. It still has the same paint and interior my dad had sprayed/installed. After 38 years, time had taken its toll on the old girl, but not too terribly bad. The interior was faded and ripped in a few places. The exterior had a few very minor rust spots and dings. The doors sag a bit. A stress crack in each fender. Paint is bubbled a bit and is spider webbed. Other than that, it is in great shape. The underside looks like a brand new car!!! It does have a Corvair suspension. I took it for an extended highway run today and have decided to save my money and purchase a Mustang II suspension. The motor is a new crate 350 (stock) motor with right about 1,000 miles on it. At the same time it was installed, a new 700R transmission was also installed. There are only two things I have to do concerning the motor and transmission. The carburetor seems to bog down when I get on it. Looks like I'm going to have to adjust it. More important is that the TV cable from the transmission to carb wasn't properly installed and doesn't shift correctly. Not sure how to do that. Jeff had also installed the following new items; aluminum radiator, plastic 30 gallon fuel tank, duel exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers, new starter (whines when started), 14" Craiger SS chrome wheels and Cooper Cobra Tires. Previous owner before the gentlemen I bought it from had changed the entire rear end and installed a rear end from a Nova. I don't know the gears yet. Something else I want to change is the master cylinder, its from a 1957 Chevy. I also want to add disc brakes front and back, but, that will have to wait until I change the front suspension.

Since I have never built a car before, or, done work to one of this magnitude, I will be asking a lot of newbe questions, so please be patient with me. Once I get the mechanical taken care of, then I will start to work on some of my mods and updates. I was going to post some pics, but, a storm rolled through and we now have no power. I am unable to post any from my Windows phone. So you guys will have to wait until the power comes back on.

I am pretty confident that with the help and advice of the members here that I will be able to do all the work with the exception of three things, paint, upholstery, and electrical. I am terrified of not being able to rewire it properly. I plan on buying a good kit that will enable me to wire everything including some electrical items I want to add. But my confidence level in this department is very low.

But, no matter what, I am thrilled to have been able to buy back my dads car 38 years after he sold it. I know he is up there smiling down on me. So the 22 year journey of trying to find the coupe is concluded. A new journey begins rebuilding it!!!

 

Glad to hear it all came together, 40's a a nice looking car.
How about a couple of pics of what it looks like now?

 

Ok, Power is back on. Here are some pics of it on the trailer.

 

awesome that you tracked it down and were able to get it! congratulations!

 

More pics after I got her home.

 

More problem areas

 

Interior

 

Engine

 

I never gave up looking for it. I'm just fortunate that after my dad sold it that the next three owners all lived in the same town my dad lived in. I still have to walk out to the garage and look at it to make sure I'm not dreaming!!! LOL.

 

Really great that you got it back, and amazing that it's been pretty much unchanged since he built it! Congratulations! I sold my '40 Coupe to a friend in 1971, and last year he found me, and he still has it! It had been rusting away for over 40 years, and he was finally repairing all the neglect, and getting it back on the road! I miss it!

 

Very cool, I'm happy for you. Nice and shiney, but the rust makes it look like they stored it outside.
I had several of those glass fuel filters on my '57 in high school, and they all developed a leak that resembled an under-hood fuel sprinkler. A bit scary, I'd swap that ASAP.

Anxious to see your progress, and again, congrats on procuring your Dad's car.