1928 Chevy: I have sooo many questions....

My, name is Jared and I am 23 years old. I have been wanting to find and build a hotrod of some kind now for years. I finally jumped off and bought a project. I bought a 1928 chevy 4 door. It is pretty much 100% rust free, even the original frame. I have so many questions that I really don't even know where to start.
1.) Should I try to salvage the good body by replacing the old wood with metal some how? If so, how does a person go about doing this?
2.)What do I do for the front end? Do I put new parts on the original or what other options do I have? Keep the leaf springs or no?
3.) Engine. Thought about putting in a sbc but then that requires boxing in the frame, and trying to mount the thing on it. It currently has the original 4cyl that suposedly ran 10years ago. It is free, and the tranny shifts as well.
4.) Tires and wheels. I want tall skinny steel wheels with white wall tires of corse. What options do I have for wheels?
These are just a few of the major questions I have Here are a few attached pictures.

 

When I was last active on here pretty much the only guy that, in my opinion, has successfully replaced the wood in his car body and documented it to the point where someone could follow it and get some ideas is Ghost28.
It's a tough process but I think it will be worth it in the end. I'm honestly struggling with it quite a bit and frequently take breaks from the body structure to work on drivetrain and chassis components.
Start by getting a vision for what you want the car to look like. Are you going to change it into an open touring car or close it up? One person I know turned their Coach (2dr) into a pickup. Start there. I would suggest that you decide that this is the car body you want to built and you enjoy a challenge, not that you are building it because you got a good deal.
I don't have a lot to show you for progress on my car body but I have a lot of info out there on wheels and my frame. I'm sure lots of other folks will speak up soon if they haven't already while I type slow.
Here's a group to join also:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=223
-Kirk

 

Damn that thing is solid! It'll be pretty slick when it's done.

 

Got any info or pics of turning one into a pickup. that thought has crossed my mind. As for the finished product I still havent decided. I have always wanted a "mobster" car ever since I was little. I figure this one is a pretty good body style for it. I would really like to use all the original fenders since they are in pretty good shape. So that eliminates going to low. I do however want it riding as low as I can get with fenders.

 

The first thing that you should do is research, research, research.... then, decide the direction that you want to build it in and go from there. Once you know if you want it more stock or full hot rod, you will be able to figure out what you have to do parts and work wise. Plan it out and then BUILD it and don't let anyone tell you that it isn't right or that you should do it "their way". It should be your way and then be proud of it. My other advice is to build it right the first time and learn as you go. It is great to see a young person interested in the fun of building the old cars! Keep it up and let us know what you decide.

 

Here is another problem I have found. My car is not a 4 door sedan that has the small window behind the back doors. Mine looks like this(pic below) I dont really know how to enclose the top due to this issue.

 

I owned a 28 tudor a long time ago. As I remember it was almost all wood, skinned in metal. Body by Fisher......Fisher built stage coaches. Although the metal looks great, the wood is going to be the challenge. Plus all mounts, brackets, almost everything is going to have to fabricated. Not as much stuff available aftermarket for a 28 Chevy. I encourage you to get your feet wet and enjoy the build, but this will not be the easiest of challenges. Hope you do get her finished. Plan your theme of the car. Then stick to the theme of the build.

 

If that car was mine I'd get my buddy. who'se a great carpenter, help me out with the wood in the body and as long as I was at it, I'd make the car a wood bodied wagon with steel door skins. I'd swap in a later 50s chevy pickup front axle[6 lug] after dropping it a few inches. I'd use a 55-70 chevy pickup rear axle [also 6 lug] with the open driveline and I'd drop an inline 6 chevy engine...anything from a 230 to a 292...the 7 main bearing engine. They're bulletproof , cheap and make good power. I might even entertain the idea of using a Trailblazer chevy inline 6 from the 90s with all the electronic gadgetry to make it go...they make 270 HP in stock form. Probably not tho.
I'd be looking for a rebuildable 292 and use an S-10 5 speed overdrive transmission behind it.
I'd keep the wheels 6 lug and maybe even use the stock disc wheels with modern tires. Or a set of 6 lug wire wheels...sold on the classified's all the time....it'd be cool!

 

I am so pumped about this now! I have so much info to read through to help me decided how I want to build this thing. It better than any christmas as a kid!

One more question tho. Being the front end is over 80 years old I am sure the thing needs new spindles and hubs and all that good stuff. Where do I get this stuff and brake kits for it? I havent had any luck lookin for stuff online.

 

Do a search on "Carson Tops" if you want to do it yourself. It looks like a great start! Congrats on the Chevy! Just keep at it and don't give up!

 

use the original hubs. They are standard chevy 6-bolt on 5.5" circle that chevy still uses to this day. I believe I did a write-up on the brakes in the "Termites" Social group.

As far as enclosing the rear goes I have seen the rear window shell section come up on ebay before. One of those would finish it up nicely or keep the original Imperial Landau body style and build a folding rear top.

 

If you are considering a pickup conversion, you could check out my build to get ideas..
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=420771

And you can get fairly low with full fenders if you get creative!

 

This looks pretty damn clean! I like it. you don't see too many of these around. If this was mine i'd leave keep it a four-door, and keep the "landau" style (not sure if thats what chevy called their privacy window sedans. I would update the running gear. Buy a donor car. I'd like to see what you end up doing with this.

 

Im running disc brakes on my 32 about 600 for the conversion, bolt on too

 

Ill handle the wood question ,Use wood Dont buy the expensive kits ,Just make templates with cardboard and construction paper and use pressure treated or regular lumber ,If you need hard wood ,That is also available at home depot or lowes .....Or use whats left of existing wood ,And 2 get a speedway catalog ......

 

You guys are awesome. Way to help a kid out, makes me proud to be a member. Hey nash I just picked up a 29 chivy original 3 window coupe, (someones I give up project.) I'll talk to you about the parts later. As for this 4 door, what a nice project I wouldn't mind having it, and a landau top is what I would shoot for with it. It would be really cool as a more door build. Stick around Jared with this village you will get it built.

 

I have a 28 Chevy coupe, Most of the wood has been replaced using the old wood as a pattern. Using basic hand tools and time. I"ve got to redo the top! There is no way i would ruin that 4 door body! It looks great.I would consider a Mustang II front end!

 

I suggest you don't roll that around on the rims, it will damage the flanges. Even if you don't use those wheels, they're rare in a complete set like you have..........

 

I definately need more info and pics of your build! It would help me sooo much. I am still a little puzzled on how I will do my top since my back window is framed in with wood. Yours appears to be the fixed metal top.

 

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunatley I think one of my rims may be damaged.

 

I just started replacing all of the wood with steel in a coupe and it's a big job. A big job that'll never have to be re-done again.

 

Pictures?

 

try this link lots of info here


http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/fisher/1931/index.htm

 

All these old chevys are so cool and different. I think it would be pretty rad with a iron duke and a 5 speed...

 

No, it's just like yours underneath, wood frame with sheetmetal covering it. The difference between my '31 and your '28 is that rear piece of sheetmetal comes off in a seperate piece, yours is missing. On the '31 rear body sheetmetal was all in one piece. In the picture where there is no wood, that's because I hadn't put it back in yet.

You have a piece of sheetmetal missing. The gap along the belt rail was covered with a metal (aluminum) nailing strip.





Your car is also missing some sheetmetal that covers the header wood along the sides/top



That's easy enough to fabricate with practice. Here's an example I made new header metal for Nash hot rod.


I suggest you purchase the header wood for above the windshield, to give you an idea of what the roof profile should be. Then you can figure out how the header profile along the sides and the shape of the top support bows should be also.

 

The missing body metal on the rear is a minor issue compared to the rest of the challenge.

Recognize that it's a challenge up front, to bolster the down days........

The downside of all this is that you have a lot of rust-busting and restoring of pieces to do.
This project is going to take you a couple of years, or more.

Make sure you document your progress with a lot of notes.

After you have disassembled, keep the piles of sheetmetal and doors, etc. in out of the weather.

Don't presume that in the end you are going to end up with a hot rod, or a pickup, or a restored original, so don't do anything stupid up front like chopping or whatever..... Digest the thing as you progress, it'll come to you, but alas, you'll change your mind a dozen times........

Those options will drive you batty as you progress.

Be aware that you might become overwhelmed and ditch the entire idea.

Early on you must decide if your are going to do the wood, or replace the wood with steel structure.

 

I actually have the two side header panel pieces. They are in awesome rust free shape as well. i just couldnt get them to set on top of the doors for the pictures. I also have the complete wood piece for the back window. It unfortunately is in poor shap, but all there. I need to get pictures of all the pices I have so you guys can help me figure out what pieces I am missing. As for chopping ect, I have zero interest in destroying a good piece of automobile history. At least thats what I consider it in a way. I actually still have the aluminum strip you are talking about as well. The more I think about it, I am so amazed at how much of the car is still there and in decent shape. Makes me feel better about the purchase every day. I was worried at first I had blown $900 on something that wouldn't be good for anything other that building a (cough, cough) ratrod. Ugh, I hate that term. No offense to anyone on here that builds them tho.

 

I'll offer my 2 cents here. You have got good advice from everyone here on how to approach this build. I would say that most of these guys have a few builds under their belt. I have no idea of your skill level, but an early fisher body car is a ton more work then a comparable ford. If it was me I would suggest a model a. Mostly steel construction and a ton of aftermarket support. Not to mention more advice available on here on how to build it. I would think you could get into a model a sedan body in similar shape for 1500 to 2000 and be a lot of time ahead right from the start.

Like I said this is just my opinion. I just don't want to start and get discouraged and give up. When I started my first build I jumped on a 34 Olds coupe basket case. Between chasing parts that didn't exist and having to make everything ,I ended up burning out and selling it. This was after 2 years of work.

I bought a 34 ford pickup cab after that. Now after a year and a half I'm worlds farther then I was on the olds and closer to my goal of a running and driving hot rod.

 

Here you go:


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=491532

 

I got these pic's when I bought my 27 chevy sedan. I just took pic's of pics. I am not sure of who's car it is. It's a 28 chevy like yours, more of a street rod by design but a real nice car just the same.