Hot Rods 1931 Chevrolet 5 Passenger Coupe

This is a project that I have been working on with my grandson Travis and I thought it would be fun to share it here.
When Travis was 10 we purchased a Cushman scooter and rebuilt the engine but due to the wailing of several females decided to move on to something with 4 wheels.

After rebuilding the Cushman engine and having the satisfaction of hearing it run, we determined that Travis had the interest and ability to go on to a larger project. We were able to trade the Cushman project for a 1931 Chevrolet 5 passenger coupe body and frame. The best part about the 31 Chevrolet is that it came with a legal title that we were able to transfer in our name. This is much better to have done at this stage of the project rather than trying to do it after spending a lot of time and money only to
run into legal problems later. This body style was called a Victoria by Buick.

 

Cool body style.. Should be a good project for you two...

 

What a great body style- and find!!!

What are your plans?

 

What a cool profile shot, looks solid and also would like to hear of your plans. Will follow this one. JW

 

Great project. Your grandson will remember the time you spend together forever.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I got interupted in the middle of posting but we built a 322 CID nailhead Buick engine for it and used an adapter to connect it to a turbo 400 transmission.

After the block came back from the machine shopTravis learned how to paint it and install the rings on the pistons along with all the other internal parts. He did much of the work but I helped and double checked each step.


Travis installing the pistons.


We located a set of original Buick valve covers but they were in rough shape so we sanded them down and polished them then painted the centers red to match the engine. The Buicks were painted green except for the Gran Sports and all 1966 425 CID which were red.


We also purchased a dual 4 carb manifold and set it up with 2 Holley 390 CFM carburetors.


The picture on my avatrar shows the basic plan for this car but at that time everything was just mocked up and it will be many days until we are back to that stage.

 

We have been busy working about an hour after school every Thursday on the project and it is coming along nicely. The turbo 400 transmission was rebuilt and a new torque converter installed. The transmission is for a Chevrolet as the only adapter available for a 322 Buick to a later transmission is for a Chevrolet.






Now that the transmission and engine were complete they were bolted together ready to put into the car.

 

Something Both of you will remember for the rest of your lives

 

Gonna be a great build, always like that body style.
Remember Orv Elgies (sp) for the late 70's early 80's. Not many out there.

 

motoandy Yes I think we may both be getting something out of the experience besides just building the car.
da34guy we thought it was a great body style also and since I already had the 322 nailhead it looked like a natural.
Thanks for the intrest guys.

 

Nice work. I've always called that body a Victoria. I remember almost buying a rough 32 Chevy and the guy called it a Victoria. Good luck on a great build.
We adopted our first grandson and out of three other kids he's the only car guy in our family. That's him leaning over the <---41 Ford. Altho the two older boys do work on their own late model cars. Lots of great memories

 

We sat the engine and transmission in the car and our measurements proved to be accurate. Travis looks happy to see it in the car.


Once the engine was set in the right position we started to make up the motor mounts. 322 mounts are hard to come up with and 401 mounts are available at the local parts store so we made a plate that adapts the late mounts to the early engine block.


Struts were welded up to some plates we bent over in the vise and shaped on the grinder to bolt to the
engine mounts. We used nuts as spacers, it would have been better to use heavy wall tubing but the nuts were handy and worked well.

 

We had removed the front fenders to gain access to the engine mount area and we boxed the frame to add strength for the mounts and the Mustang 2 front suspension.

 

Gonna be a great build for Travis.Looking forward to this!And I admire anyone that opens up an auto transmission.

 

Looks like Travis has a Cool Old Grandpa !!! That is indeed a good looking car and somewhat Rare. When you consider the wood and the number of that body style built, you will have a Car that you don't see every day.
That grin on Travis' face says it All. Keep up the Good Work............. Jeff

 

This is great....First you taking the time to teach him, and making it a family project....Props to you. Not to mention getting another chevy back on the road.

 

Chevy called it The 5 Passenger Coupe. The answer to the Model A Victoria.........Jeff

 

Nice body style, the Chevys were very classy looking in 31-32. Good luck with your project!

 

Great project for you and your grandson. Hope you enjoy the build together.

 

Does Travis also have a dog?? If he does with your help/input he is going to grow up a leader of men!

 

very neat car, I'm sure he'll be hooked for life.

 

this is so cool having your grandson join the build!

 

That's an awesome project and that body style is beautiful! Best to you and yours!

 

The five passenger coupe is one of the classiest looking early Chevrolet bodies ever built. Great project, especially with that nailhead engine. You win "Grampa of the year", hands down!

 

Thanks for taking the time to comment guys. Yes Travis does have a dog which he loves and seems to be a leader among his friends already.

 

We were able to get a rear end from a 1973 Mavrick from a friend and purchased the ladder bar and panhard rod kit from Speedway Motors. Travis is not quite sure how to tack weld yet but with time he should be able to do it himself.


Once we had the rear end properly located we installed the Mustang II front suspension with a manual rack and pinion system.


Since we used the Ford rear end we had ordered the front end kit with the Ford pattern on the rotors so we could use the same wheels all around. We went junkyard prowling and found a set of 15" wheels from a Ford Ranger that looked like they would work for what we had in mind. The wheels were sand blasted. etch primed and painted red then we mounted up the wide white wall tires I had removed from my 1955 Buick when the radials were installed. We will change these for WWW radials later but for now they have "the look".


Now that we had some wheels we put it together enough to roll it outside where this picture was taken. The car is just mocked up at this point and it will be a long time before we are back to where the body is on the frame.


Chevrolet used a wooden frame for the body and nailed the sheet metal onto the wood. The little wood we had left was in poor shape so a complete wood kit was ordered from one of the early Chevrolet supply sources. We started by taking it apart in sections and as each section was removed it was cleaned, painted and hung on the wall so we could keep it handy.


Next we removed the body by tipping it off the back of the car.

 

With the body off we rolled the frame outside and over to the end stall so we had room to pull the engine and transmission back out. We needed to strip the frame back to basics in order to complete the welding and also box it in for strength.

 

Looking good. Great job guys.

 

Thought you might want to show this one to Travis. This is the Convertible Version........ Jeff

 

Thanks for the comments, it's always nice to know someone might enjoy seeing what we have done.