Projects BACK AT IT FINALLY!! RE-BUILD OF AN EARLY CHEVY COUPE WITH A HEMI

I'll definitely look into this - thanks 97!

 

Started a conversation with the ORIGINAL ad from this frame from 2015 I'm acquiring about from PA. This was his response:

I am not sure, I would be careful....I sold mine to a friend and I am pretty sure that they built a car with it but I will ask him today what happen with it. I am kind of curious myself. I will get back to you later on today.

Tom Matthew
matthewsgarage, Today at 8:00 AM Report

 

Moving along to my '31... Spent some hours prepping and continued to weld in those infamous number of holes in the frame rails. Just have a few more to go and one side will be finished. Noticed the heat may be too intense, causing some low spots around the holes. No big deal, will come around much later and fill all of these with a good metal filler to smooth out my rails completely.

I bought a round steel rod with a length of 3ft. to weld across the frame rails - near the frame horns to hopefully keep the frame horns straight and true when I attempt to use my porta power to bend the passenger side rail back to 90 degrees. I need to cut the small block Chevy frame mount on the passenger side, so the frame rail can move hopefully. At least that's what I'm thinking...

 

What's up with the HemiChevy?... @31chevymike

 

Not much at all for the moment Steve... It's brutally hot in my garage, waiting for the damn weather to cool off so I can proceed with my build.

In the meantime, I'm communicating with a fabricator with a great idea to have a custom grille shell with quad headlights made for my Chevy. Of coarse, cannot disclose details until the fabrication process has begun...

 

Custom shell with quads sounds awesome!

 

Yea Man - Attempting to bring early 60's custom show rods to our hot rod arena!! Want to look as great as Tuck's custom show rod and hopefully have a chance to park right next to him! Also note... Tuck and I want a grudge match between two early HEMI powered hot rods!!

 

Not much to report, but a customer ran into me at work last week and turns out that he is an old time hot rodder. Has a rod shop in his huge back yard and plans to build a '32 Chevy Sedan, cutting away the rear doors and moving the rear section of the body forward to become a dually hot rod.

What I am excited about my new buddy is that he knows a frame repair shop that can straighten my frame finally - close by in Riviera Beach! And as pure luck has it, he is interested in fabricating my custom 60's quad-lighted grille shell!

 

The odds of finding another frame like the one I have is mind boggling... Like I mentioned earlier, a customer approached me at my salvage yard recently and in conversation, happened to mention that he has a rod shop in his backyard. After mentioning my '31 Chevy Coupe, he responded that he has one as well! A '31 Chevy (I thought it was a '32) 4-Door Sedan that he plans on cutting out the rear doors and moving the rear of the body forward to make a 5 window cab for a planned dually truck on a custom 8" C chassis!

So I come out to his home this afternoon only 40 minutes away and brought along my grille shell and headlight buckets to have him fabricate a quad grille shell, which in itself was very exciting. Before I left, he brings me over to his '31 and after moving away all of the brush covering the chassis, I got the chance to peek at the chassis and after some important measurements, confirmed they're the same as mine. He has a Bobcat that he will use to move his car out of the brush and work out a sweet deal to grab the chassis!!! Now I'm crossing my fingers and hope his chassis is straight and true - F" "king PYSCHED!!!!​

 

That’s awesome Mike! I was just thinking about your project yesterday and thought I’d check in!

 

It is awesome Mike! Still shakin' my head on how much luck it is to find another '31 Chevy project to grab a frame that I desperately need! Just waiting for the day when Dave has a chance to pull his Sedan body off so we can look over the frame up close!

Sent from my SM-G955U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hey man had to stop in and check on you. You must not be anywhere near the Hurricane path?? I haven't had any time in the shop feeling like the rugs been pulled out but trying to stay positive... My wife changed her work schedule so we could eliminate daycare a couple days... it was crushing us. Starting to feel the rebound of $$ a bit hopefully I can start getting some of the engine/hemi work finished so I can fire it... We need to roof our house this weekend to boot.

The fiberglass grill shell is underrated. We need to bring them back!

here's some inspiration

 

Would be terrible luck to have a hurricane named after myself to hit my area huh? I'm on the east coast above Miami - thank God in this case... Feel terrible about the folks on the pan handle.

Tuck, things always work out, just wait it out as usual! Family always come first, then your show roadster will have the attention to continue your progress. Believe me, your roadster is so KOOOOL, she's the true inspiration I need to finish mine!!

Yeah, that show roadster photo is awesome - planning on using my original Ford commercial deuce shell, modifying it to encase a pair of dual headlight buckets from the fifties. Trust me, it will look KILLER when finished...

 

I trust you man.

 

CLEARLY, we are on the same page... Check out this KILLER, Tangerine metal-flaked beauty - this panel styled paint job is what I'm planning for my '31. The Green metal-flaked Model A was featured here on the HAMB many years ago and CLEARLY blew my mind!!! Only issue will be that I will need to take out a mortgage loan from a home I don't have for a paint job like this...

 

Another visit to my friend Dave's home this afternoon to drop off my '32 Ford front crossmember to help mock up my custom quad lighted grill shell that is in the works. Brought along my '32 Ford aluminum radiator as well to aid in the task.

Had to bring up the problem of the new Ford cross member being a bit short in width for my Chevy chassis. So after a bit of discussion, Dave will help me widen the cross member so it sits flush and solid within my rails. Holding my new front Ford suspension along with the heavy weight of my hemi will do needed justice!

Thought I'd enclose a pic of Dave's '31 Chevy Sedan that has the frame that I need for my build. It's so KOOOL to see an old relic sitting in the brush, waiting to be pulled out 20 years later... I'm hoping he can guide me with spot welding the new cross members while at his home and can finish the welds in my garage.

 

Just read the whole (re)build thread Mike. This is going to be one awesome car and can't wait to see the progress! Keep up the good work.

 

Will do Eric - your comment means a lot to a novice builder such as myself - your '41's progress to date is outstanding! We're going to hear your hemi run soon enough!

 

Went back in my garage tonite to see how my 10" pie-cut Radir slicks looks like mounted on my QCR. Been drooling about this for a long time. Tried a few exhausting tries to no avail. Keep in mind these slicks with chrome wheels are HEAVY... I had bought these awesome, authentic chrome reverse wheels (NOT universal lug) from Stockton Wheel ways back. Apparently, the back spacing on my wheels are wrong to mount onto the polished aluminum finned covers for the drums. I'll confirm this tomorrow when I mount the slicks without the finned covers.

 

BUMMER

 

Can you use a different drum? Can you can run those on the front? Plain drums on the back... They will be buried in the deep dish anyways. Can you chrome standard drums?

 

A big bummer indeed

 

Not a big deal at all guys... I was just hoping the chrome steelies would work, never planning on using them with the finned covers way back. I have a set of four of those finned aluminum covers, which I plan on using for sure. Why? Because they will look AWESOME on all four corners on an open wheeled hot rod! Just have to figure out what back spacing is ideal for these finned covers. I'll contact So-Cal where they came from.

Looking at the QCR, I do plan on polishing out the entire center section, painting the tubes Tangerine Pearl like the rest of the frame to set if off VERY nicely within the frame.

 

For the most part, I have a great set of chrome reverse wheels that fit on the QCR, WITHOUT the finned drum covers. At least I know that I can use them to get her rolling again which needs to happen very soon. You know something... In all of the years that I've seen hot rods at shows and cruise nights, even while publishing a hot rod magazine called Golden Chariots for almost five years, I have never seen ANYONE with a QCR and pie cut drag slicks in person.

I need to push my buddy Dave who has the original frame that I need, waiting for him to pull out his '31 out of the thick brush. He's got a Bobcat that should work nicely, even using it to gently pull that old body from the frame. His wife had some MAJOR surgery done sometime earlier in the day, so with the attention she needs, I won't see Dave until just before Thanksgiving.

Threw in my hemi for the hell of it... Supercharger will come eventually down the road...

 

Yea, that could happen Jeff, more so if my brother and I make the lateral move out west, looking into Arizona more seriously now. Think about it, two early Chevy hot rods, both with QCR's cruisin' the boulevards together... PM me with some progress on your '32!

 

Here's one for ya Mike!

 

That's what I'm talkin' about Jeff! What happened to the wheelie bars I saw in your last pics? You know, I have my original gas tank apron that I will no longer need...