1939 Chev Gasser - style

I haven't been able to move on with the body work due to the shed being a bit crowded, so I've been tackling some smaller tasks until I get some space back.
I bought a set of early Edelbrock valve cover off Evil-bay, and they needed a tidy up.
The casting on this set was quite rough so I cleaned them up with grinding stones, a split shaft with emery tape, and then a polish.

 

After the polish I thought they were a bit bland, so I masked them up, hit them with some etch primer and some Chevy orange, the same as the engine.

 

What's with all the holes in the valve covers? Is there a really large breather that covers all those holes?

 

Yes they came with large right angle breathers, but the breather tops were damaged. I run a vac-u-pan system, so I need a breather that incorporates the fitting for the hose to the header collector.

 

Ok, so here is my solution to the breather to vacupan in the header. I used the original cast right angle parts, and made a new top that looks similar to the original cap. I started with some inch thick ally plate, cut to rough size on the band saw. Turned it in the lathe to make a tube on one end for the hose to the header.

 

I rounded the corners with a radius cutter in the mill.Then opened a pocket in the base to intersect the hole in the tube and narrowed the base leaving the top section the original size. This gave it the appearance of a cap, but it's sealed and can only breath through the tube.

 

With the basic shape done, it was time to make it look more like a casting and less like it came off the mill. Shaping it to match the cast right angle pieces was done with a air grinder and a belt sanding attachment on the bench grinder. I drilled the holes to bolt the two together and gave the hole thing a polish. They ended up a slightly different colour, with the base being cast and the top billet, but I can live with that.

 

Good Stuff Right There

 

Very cool looking and I really enjoy seeing what it being built down your way.

Keep posting and thanks a million. Jimbo

 

Amazing workmanship!

 

Good progress chris, haven't looked in for a while but it looks like your on a roll

 

Not much on the '39, had other things going on. Slight change of plans for the intake set-up. The dual quad set-up was cool, but this looks a bit more "Gassery" and the large plenum manifold should reduce any low end torque that might break the muncie if decide to get playful.

The original shaft holes were an odd size, so I bushed them with brass photocopier bushes. The shaft is stainless steel and I milled the arms from aluminium stock, then rounded all the edges to make them look cast. The links were made from round stock. The accelerator cable mount and return spring brackets are steel and I will plate them in gold to match the carb parts.

 

Thats a nice job there Chris

 

It's a bit crowded in here

 

Just checkin!

 

Hey Chris, thanks for the laugh! I don't mind at all getting "blamed" for something like this. I've wondered a few times if you ever did the swap and just found your thread this morning. It looks like its coming along nicely and your fabrication work is top notch. As for the V-gate shifter, I haven't rowed one of those for years but really liked them. Good luck with getting it all sorted out. Subscribed. Eli

 

Subscribed. Should be an interesting gasser when it's finished.

 

Thanks mate, Glad you found the post. I haven't been slack, the pick up has to take a back seat for a while. Our little roadster has returned home after being stored at my brothers and it needs some attention to be usable. New floor, rebuilt front end, new brakes and wiring ........

 

Thanks, love your avatar.
As soon as the roadster is done I'll be back into the pick-up full steam.

 

That is SUPER nice work fellow !!!!

 

Thanks. It's my Army-themed '39 Vietnam Vets Tribute gasser. But you'll be able to haul a load of wood in the back of yours, lol.
Dave

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Well it's time to get back into the '39 now that this little one is back on the road.

 

New tail lights fitted

 

I was going to join the two halves of the bonnet together and have a one piece lift off, but the weight of the finished bonnet was going to make it awkward, so a good friend is making some moulds from the spare stock bonnet halves and we will make a one piece fibreglass unit.

 

Looks great!

 

This is a nice surprise! I was just going thru my Photoshop photos the other day, saw your truck and wondered how you were doing on it. Its good to see it back in progress.

 

Sweet truck man. Did you make the bed for it?

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It's really good getting back into it, I've been doing little jobs on it, but full on into it again now. Totally stripped it back out tonight, to start final body repairs and paint.

 

Yes, it's just folded aluminium sheet, with filler pieces welded in the corners, but this time around I have put a bit more effort into making it fit together a lot better. I will also be painting it to match body this time.