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Projects Not Your Average Coupe Build: 37’ Chevy Unearthed

Discussion in 'Traditional Customs' started by oneratfink57, Jan 31, 2017.

  1. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Worked on the trunk tail pan a little today. In hindsight I could of probably mad this out of one piece, instead of three, but this way I kind of follows suit with how the rest of the transitions were made

    Started out with cardboard templates and rough cut the patterns out of steel

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    Bead rolled a lip so this panel will be flush with the rest of the trunk pan

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    Traced my design onto the panel and beadrolled it

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    Finally made a seam cover similar to what I did on the trans tunnel, and cleco pinned in place

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  2. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    I left early today to go help a couple buddies with a cracked motor mount on an old tracker fishing boat boat. So when I got back a few hours later I figured I was done for the day, but the garage was such a mess I figured I'd make it a little dirtier before I cleaned up!

    Welded my rear tail pain up.

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    Now the tail pan trunk corners are all I've got left before I can seam seal and prime the floor


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  3. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    The floor is now ready for primer!

    Finally got the last portions of the trunk floor made up.

    For access to the body mount bolts, I use a 1" hole saw to punch some holes in the new panels I made

    To make the dimples, I wish I had a dimple die set; however I made due with the stuff below

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    I plan to make removeable plugs for the body mount access ( thus the reset dimples) I just don't know what I'm going to use yet. The washer works pretty darn good though!

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  4. JB36LaSalle
    Joined: Oct 16, 2009
    Posts: 27

    JB36LaSalle
    Member

    Just started looking at your thread and all I can say is WOW. You're doing a great job. Makes me feel like a slacker. Keep up the good work!
     
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  5. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Primed the floor and transmission crossmember today. Mixed a little extra epoxy primer so I laid it on the driver side of the coupe for the heck of it, even though I'll blast it off later

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  6. 1blown57
    Joined: Oct 19, 2006
    Posts: 832

    1blown57
    Member
    from Florida

    Great Job ! Makes me happy I saved the old girl ! But your hard work and talent is preserving this Chevy for future generations !


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  7. Doctorterry
    Joined: Sep 12, 2015
    Posts: 686

    Doctorterry
    Member

    I love these cars


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  8. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    For those who may have noticed, I took a break from my 37 build updates. I haven’t lost interest! It’s just I have his perfectly good 57 Chevy sitting 15 ft to the right of the 37. I’ve been spending some time getting that back to roadworthy condition.

    I put a factory gas tank back in it and am redoing some things I did when I was a kid. I’ll be rewiring the car (and using the old harness for the 37) and replacing the rear shock cross member. It has one because I relocated the leaf springs way back when

    I’ll probably throw a couple 57 pictures up on here when I feel like it.

    I suspect I’ll start working on the 37 again (likely making rockers) sometime after Christmas.

    [​IMG]


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  9. ...glad to see you're back, don't matter what yer workin on...
     
  10. ratrod40428
    Joined: May 19, 2004
    Posts: 195

    ratrod40428
    Member

    I just read your entire thread... not gonna lie, when I saw the first couple pictures of the car I thought you had lost your mind haha. Most people would have seen that car, said "what a shame" and walked away. Your drive and skills are inspiring to say the least. Great work! Ill be doing a slight channel and floor pans in my 55 Ford wagon next summer, I'll be revisiting your thread for inspiration and ideas.
     
  11. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Well gents, after a long break to get my 57 back on the road, I’m back to the 37.

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    The doors were the last part of the car that was questionable if they’re worth being saved. And I decided not to, which says a lot if you are familiar with the build.

    That being said, I’ll be salvaging the inner skins and part of the window structure as you’ll see later.


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    I had been looking for a set of doors for a few years that were worth saving, but not so nice that it would be a shame cutting them apart, and fellow H.A.M.B. member kbcookout had the perfect set.

    I bought a set of sedan doors off cookout a few weeks ago after going back and forth through pictures of his inventory. The inner skins had been cut out and they were a little rough around the edges, but they fit the bill perfect. (Thanks again!)

    [​IMG]


    Today was the day I mustered the courage to cut apart a perfectly good set of doors! So I started slicing and dicing.

    For those who don’t know, sedan doors are 4” longer than coupe doors, and the b pillar is a different geometry. This means they had to be shortened, as well as chopped since the roof is chopped.

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    I separated my coupe door skins and hung the outer skin on the sedan door to give me a good line to trace, I added 1/2” to the length to give me room to fold the end of the door for a flange for the inner skin.

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    Next, I planned how I wanted to bring the b pillar forward, and I made sure to cut between the body lines so I could metal finish later.

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    Cut 4” out of the lower portion of the inner skin that was still in the door


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    Next I cut some pieces off my coupe door, remembering to keep enough of the sedan window structure so I could lengthen it to accommodate for the chop

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    Ive just got them tacked for now until I finish adjusting the door. (You can see the body line at the rear of the door doesn’t matchup) And I couldn’t help but mock up the fenders for a photo op.

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    Last edited: Nov 26, 2018
  12. King ford
    Joined: Mar 18, 2013
    Posts: 1,477

    King ford
    Member
    from 08302

    Greetings Oneratfink!....great worksmanship and perseverance!...I see one of those air chisel planishing hammers in your last photo, how do you like that tool?
     
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  13. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Thanks King ford! It serves its purpose. It doesn’t stand up any where near to the quality of a more expensive unit. I think the big difference is the quality of the dies and cycles per minute of the air hammer. I’d pay $100 again for it, knowing the time it’s saved me




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  14. GearheadsQCE
    Joined: Mar 23, 2011
    Posts: 3,375

    GearheadsQCE
    Alliance Vendor

    Thanx for the update. I've been looking for a set of coupe doors to scavenge the 'B' pillars from to do something similar. I want to put the slanted posts from a coupe on my sedan. Your pictures and explanation show the process exactly as I had envisioned it.
    I tried to buy a whole coupe body from the auction site but the seller wouldn't answer my request to have someone come and look at it.
    I'll find some eventually, probably right after I sell the sedan. :p
     
  15. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    That’s usually how it works! Lol


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  16. I just read all 17 pages of this build in one sitting. Great floor work that's the way to save a car. I'm subscribed cant wait for the next installment.

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  17. GearheadsQCE
    Joined: Mar 23, 2011
    Posts: 3,375

    GearheadsQCE
    Alliance Vendor

    How much chop would you say that is?
     
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  18. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Thanks Harley!


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  19. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    It’s about 2 1/2”


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  20. jimmy bruns
    Joined: Jun 21, 2011
    Posts: 81

    jimmy bruns
    Member
    from Chatsworth

    Bitchin work! Heres a few shots of our 37' we built a few years back... 562281_10151161183528362_968203127_n.jpg 468732_10151200271663362_2013099907_o.jpg
     
  21. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Wow very cool! One of these days I hope to get there, thanks for sharing!


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  22. Jacksmith
    Joined: Sep 24, 2009
    Posts: 1,565

    Jacksmith
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Aridzona

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  23. Lines
    Joined: Jun 11, 2018
    Posts: 215

    Lines
    Member
    from Germany

    Great job. done a lot of work. Nothing easy to do what you have done.
    Keep on. In the end a picture of how it started and the end result will give the biggest sucsess.
     
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  24. ...you do very nice work and should be proud that you "saved" that coupe,..quite an accomplishment....can't wait to see it further along. ...love those 37-8 Chev coupes.
     
  25. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Thanks rusty1, it means a lot. One piece at a time!


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  26. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    I did a horrible job documenting progress today, but I was excited to get into the garage after a brutal Wisconsin winter.

    I started to adjust the drivers door I chopped and shortened earlier this winter. First picture was no shim. Second was the shin. Third is post shim. I could only shim the upper hinge to bring the door up in the rear. I’m trying to brainstorm how to move the bottom hinge toward the back of the car to finish the job.

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    Before I started slicing and dicing to finish drivers door adjustment, I moved onto the passenger side.

    Removed the inner skin of the roached passenger door

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    Used the outer skin as a layout template and started cutting apart the passenger sedan door to convert it to a coupe door

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  27. ...while you're at it, why not correct the hood side louvers so they are as they should have been made...?...like this...
    37 correct louvers.jpg
     
  28. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    One of these days! Lol




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  29. Wow! That's going to be a great save

    On the hinges
    We see those as bend to fit hinges.
    Body mount shims have a lot to do with it too
     
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  30. oneratfink57
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 737

    oneratfink57
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    I’m glad to hear that! I think that’s the direction I’ll have to go. I contemplated cutting out the hinge mount on the door and moving it to where I need it to be


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