Customs Back in the Family. . .after 51 years -37 Ford

Super nice car. I'm glad you got it back. Club Cabriolets are as scarce as hens teeth.

 

I finally had some time to get some things for the car done. I replaced the tires that were on it some Firestones 650-16 with 4 inch whitewalls. I went ahead and replaced the stock springs with some posie super sliders 3 inch lowering springs. I also got 2 inch lowering shackles from V Tardel as well. Put the spings and shackles on and didn't get the drop I wanted in the rear. I went ahead and removed three of the of the leafs out of the top of the rear spring. Its starting to get the stance I am looking for.

 

Ended up calling Ravenworks today. They are the guys who own Porter Mufflers. Placed my order for some shorty exhaust. I have read a lot of good things on the HAMB here about them. PO looks to have put magnaflow type headers on the car. They sound OK but I am curious as to how the Porters sound.

Also talked to a buddy who built up a nice 8BA motor but never used it. He agreed to part with it so thats going to be a nice winter project. I am going to pull the 21 stud and keep it for originality. It would be nice to have a little more humph of a flatty.

 

IMO that is a great looking car! Did you pull the hood sides to help it run cooler? Always wondered if some modified hood sides would look good on one, with some larger openings but still cover the cowl area some. And not criticizing your car at all, Nice Ride. That old paint looks pretty darn good from my computer, I'm a big fan of lacquer paint. I am jealous

 

stance looks great.. I didnt get a chance to check it out at latimore last week..

I want to know about the porters as well.. the "turbo mufflers" on my 40 wagon are starting to annoy me.

 

Congrats and good for you.
She's looks great....enjoy!

 

Thats a great story!

 

I actually did pull the hood sides off on the way to Latimore to see if it ran any cooler. Seems to have run about 160-170 on the way up and between 190-200 on the way home in the afternoon. i was thinking the exact same thing on the hoodsides as i am trying to locate a pair that are a little beat up. Was going to cut them to have a side cover for the Cowl but leave the hood sides open.

Jeff, I am curious as well. Once i get them on, you'll be able to hear how they sound and see if its something you like or not

 

Talked to a buddy today and he tells me he's going to let go of a hoped up 8BA motor he just got done doing. Stock crank with new rods and .30 over pistons with chevy valves. H&H cam grind. It has new Edelbrock heads and Offenhouser intake with 2 chrome 97 Carbs. Gonna pick this up and stick it in the 37. Should give it a litter more humph with a nice lope.

 

Beautiful...wish I could find my dad's '37 phaeton...

 

Was finally able to get the dropped axle in this week to get the front end down a few more inches. I knew I would have some tire rub issues with the 650's so I ended up switching over to Firestone 600's They still have the nice 3 inch whitewall and look good on there. The front fenders just cover the top two inches of the tire and are pretty even with the outside line of the whitewall. The front and rear axle snubbers are close to the axle's now, about 1/4 inch space. On larger bumps and get a little front end diving. I put the skirts back on to see if it still looks right and I like the look.

 

Here is a pic of the axle snubbers close relationship with the front axle. I hope they like each other because they are going to be spending a lot of time together in close quarters, lol. If the front axle diving gets too bad, I will probably cut an inch or so off the rubber stop, but I haven't had to touch that yet. I may have to look into rebuilding the the stock shocks as they will be in a more engaged state now that the body is lower.

 

I took a few shots from different angles to get a feel for how the car sits and pronounces its stance. I know I lost a lot of sleep trying to get this stance and i'll probably lose a little more as I am not sure if this is the final stance. I know I get really get too much lower in the rear without losing ride quality. I have the Posies reversed eye spring with Tardel longer shackles. I did remove three leaves from the spring in the "every other" spring order. This was after I removed the top 4 leaves and the ride quality suffered. I switched to the every other and it seem to get the same lowered distance but the ride was a little stiffer.

 

Here is a pic of the car, after the dropped axle was installed. This is still with the 650 tires on her. The wheel wells are filled nicely but there was clearance issue up front with the tires which turned a 3-point turn into a 17 point turn.

I kinda like the hot rod look to the car and I am still kicking around putting the larger 650 tires on the rear to fill out the wheel well more especially if I decide not the run the skirts

 

Congrats on getting it back in the family,I'm happy for you!!!That car dosen't need much of anything,except to drive her!!

 

While the axle was getting installed, I decided to replace the old wagner mufflers with some new Porters. Not a huge difference, theres a deeper growl and I nice rap at higher RPM's but it is a stock 21 stud flatty. I did end up buy an hoped up 8BA this week that has to be put together. Once I break in the new motor, I'll take out the 21 stud. That should sound nice with the cam regind that H & H did for the motor. They did a HotRod 274 grind that has .274 duration and a .355 lift.

 

I'm glad I read through this thread, what a great looking car and a great story. Looks wicked.

 

Awsome car man. Have fun

 

Wow!! Looks great, both with and without the skirts.

Did you do remove any front spring leaves?

 

WAAAAY coool!

 

Have you done the 8BA swap before? Gets kinda involved. No place to
connect the anti chatter rods, fan placement is difficult. Did this on my
41, changed to 12 volts to start the 276 incher. Running an electric fan.
Best of luck whichever way you go, smooth car. Classy setup.

 

new stance is looking really good, can't wait to see it again.

 

When I was a kid in the 50s they called them the ugly duckling and I never knew why cause as well as I like the 35-36s, the 37 has always been just a touch better, and just a class car. Enjoy. Shes a honey. Iceman

 

Ice Man, you are right, 37's aren't eveybody's cup of tea. It's probably not a car I would look to buy. I am still trying to restrain my self from doing too much to the car, as I am trying to keep it close to how my Uncle first built it. I really like what DrivinFord did to his 37 with extended rear quarters from a '39. Thats looks super sweet. Honestly, I'd like to take 2-3 inches out of the top. There is nothing like a chopped convertible. When done right I think its one of the best custom looks out there.

 

Denk, thanks for the heads up. I haven't done it before but I have researched it quite a bit. I has a long conversation with a guy who put an 8BA in a 36 'vert and he gave me the low down. Plus my buddy KOZ just put one in a '36 coupe and we have talked about it extensively. Its a little involved but I think it will be a swap well worth it.

 

Started working on the 8BA to swap in the '37. Its a '53 block that has been machined .30 over, adjustable lifters, chevy 1.6 intake valves. H&H ground a cam that they have listed on their website, .355 lift with 276 intake and exhaust. Should be somewhere between the Max 1 and 400JR. It came with a new Offy 2x2 intake and edelbrock heads. New polished 94 carbs. I went ahead and and got some high heat paint from Eastwood. It was listed as a Antique Ford Dark Green. When I painted it on, it was more a dark blue, kind along the lines of Washington Blue. Very cool color. I am using single wide belt truck pumps but I haven't decided on what dizzy to use, but I am leaning towards the 59AB crab style Mallory electronic unit.

 

Been looking through threads and threads of late 30's Fords to get inspiration. I keep coming back to Kent Kocera's 38 vert done by Cole Foster. I absolutely love this car and its pushing me hard to the fine line of to Chop or not to chop. Not to see what body style this vert is, is it the convertible coupe or the convertible club coupe. The me it looks like the regular coupe convertible

 

Coolest thing I've read on here in quite a while! Way to go man.

 

I hadn't seen this thread before. Well done, getting the car back. Hope to be in the same boat one day!


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Bitchin old car man, I say keep the hood sides and skirts on, early custom style. There can never be enough of them around