Poking around on FB marketplace and found this. Made a deal and it's in my shop. The story is it was last raced in the late 60s, early 70s at Maryville Drag Strip here in Tennessee. The track closed about that time. Has several period racing bits. 57 Olds rear end with 5:36 gears, old Mallory Rev-Pol switch under the dash, vintage guages, etc. The date code on the rear tires is 1970 and while they are badly dry rotted I have no doubt they were close to new when the car was parked and forgotten. She's a rough old girl to be sure but needs to be saved. I'll be on here daily now searching for tips on replacing all the rotten wood in the body & doors with metal, upgrading the front brakes and what to do about the odd very small bolt circle they originally used. The rear is fine since the Olds rear uses a 5 on 5 bolt circle. The front is still stock and has a 5 on 4.25 bolt circle. Also and more important to me anyway is I'm hoping one of you old timers on here might be local and remember the car when it was racing. I have zero history on the car. Vintage pictures of this car would be a miracle but much appreciated. I am quickly discovering that the 36 Chevys are the bastard child of these old coupes. Nearly all of the usual parts vendors list 33-35 and then skip to 37.
'35's are similar, but have suicide doors. The main concern should be the "wood work" as that supports the body. Hope you find some history, Carp.
The 4.25” bolt pattern was used on Mopar A body cars, like Valiant and Darts. OEM wheels are mostly 13” and 14”. Good luck with your project!
My understanding is there is only wood in the doors on '36 Chevys. I never had one apart to know for sure. Good luck with your search.
36 was the year they started getting the wood out. There's none in the roof or the front door posts on the body but the doors are still loaded with wood as well as the whole back structure of the body. Where the door latches on the body, all the window frames, inside the trunk, etc. Even the trunk hinges are attached to the body with big wood screws and most all of the wood is bad.
The 4.25" bolt circle was used on some mid 30s Chevys. The small Mopar bolt circle was 4". I know because I've been keeping my wife's 70 Dart going for 40 years. I wonder if the spindles would accept 1951-59 Chevy pickup truck brakes and 51-54 car hubs?
...I've heard that later 36 Chevs had virtually no wood in the body,..had a nice 36 tudor that had no wood.
It looks you have the small Chrysler BP. If it should have drums off an A-body Chrysler a Mustang drum may fit you spindle and give you a 4.5 inch BP. The Chryslers and the Fords shared the same bearings just needed a different seal.
Great find. A little rusty but it’s alright, in fact it’s a gas. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It's also been used on late-models ('90s Ford T-birds and many imports) but finding something 'Traditional' looking may prove hard.
At the moment just getting the rust taken care of and gathering parts. Long term goal is to keep it as a gasser but make it street legal. Hoping someone in the area might remember it and even have pictures from back in the day but the track closed and the car was parked around 1970 so that would mean anyone who was active at that time would be in their 70s now or older.
I was going to say the same thing ^^^, I am not totally sure about this but I believe that GM used 6 lug wheels. I would like to get a look at the front brakes. Just a curious bastard. neat old heap
And.. I'm not finding any Mopar cars of any vintage that used 4.25 bolt circle wheels. The older small cars used a 4" bolt circle. But I really want to upgrade the spindles to something a bit stronger anyway and preferably that will accept a 4.75 bolt circle like most modern Chevys. https://www.roadkillcustoms.com/wheel-bolt-pattern-cross-reference/makes/plymouth-wheel-size/
Private message Pat Ganahl , he goes by @pgan on here. He wrote a story in Rod and Custom years ago about using 49 to 54 Chevy car brakes and spindle's on 48 and older Chevys. That would give you the bolt pattern you want. I just do not remember how far back they would interchange. I have always wanted to build a 37 chevy coupe. Nice find. Larry
The early A bodies (60s era for sure) had 4.25 bolt circle 5 lug wheels. I don't own a web sight I am just an old gear head. I don't know what you got for a front axle, Anglia spindles were common dragster spindles and they were pretty light.
Misread the title, thought it said "OLD GEEZER FOUND AFTER 50 YEARS" .Was thinkin "whats the big deal,"? Now i see the interest !
I screwed up on my first post, Pat's user name is @pgan not pganahl . Pat is the master brain of all things rod and custom and he definitely knows just about everything in regards to stovebolt Chevy's . Larry
I can tell you first hand I used 49-54 brakes on 37 straight axle spindles with I thing 65 hub , I know brakes will work as they were made for 48 and down . The hubs I can recall , but I changed to later hubs to gain roller bearings over ball bearings . Bolr Circle is 4.75
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