Termites and Bowties- Early Chevy Group

Sorry meant to say paralell springs on the front
Not transverse !!!

 

That is correct. The Knee Action included the lower half of the front cross member, and was attached with a whole bunch of bolts. These were on the side of the frame rails, and across the cross member itself.

You're Welcome. It definitely makes things easier, when knowing exactly what the car is. Obviously, with 34 Masters, and 34 / 35 Standards it's pretty difficult to figure this out. The grill shells are really tough to I.D.

The front suspension as it currently sits, is almost all 1950 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup. The only parts that are not pickup truck are the front hubs and drums. Those are 54 Chevy passenger car. The front and rear spring perches are custom fabricated, with the shackles at the rear of the springs. By the way, the 48 - 54 pickup axles are slightly narrower than the 55 - 59 axles. With the 48 - 54 axle, the tires fit inside the fenders better.

Unfortunately, there are some problems to work out. The springs are too long, so the axle ended up being located about 2 1/2" too far back. This shows up more in the attached photo, and is REALLY obvious looking straight on at the side of the car. If it was going to be a highboy, this probably wouldn't matter, but it'll be full fendered. This is the big reason that it has been on hold for the last several years. Well.....That and building a 59 GMC, building an O.T. 84 S-10, putting a new roof on my house, and the list goes on. LOL.

Yes, I "borrowed" the photo to use for reference. This was when the plan for my coupe was to replace all of the wood framing with steel tubing. Yours looks very well thought out and installed quite well. Figured that your design would be good way to pattern the bracing in my coupe.

I have a few photos of that area on my car, but they didn't show the nuts for the rear fender bolts very well. As a result, I used your photo to better illustrate this.

 

No problem using the picture , glad if it helps some people to get going on their cars.It looks like you are missing your rockers on your car !!!
4 door rockers will work as replacments , very tough.to find and expesive .Dale stevens in kentucky is your best chance in finding them .
I

 

One of the biggest problems with our 33-34 masters and 33--35 standards is getting a suspension narrow enough to fit to have the rims and tires fit under fenders so you can turn the wheels.
Stock `1940--1954 .... 1/2 ton truck beam axles are 50" wide and you would have to use a negative offset wheel to pull the tires inside.. When they were in business ????? MOR-DROP axle company in California when dropping the axle it would end up at 49 1/2" wide. Still too wide to suit the non gasser jacked up look as people began to lower their chevys..

The solution I found was I had mor-drop do a maxi drop of 4 1/2" LOWER than stock and they also narrowed the axle to 44--46" width by bending it and stretching it. The problem with that maxi drop was that the axle itself was so low you could not get over a beer can on its side !!!!! When you travelled on the highways you stayed out of the truck lanes because they are lower due to wear, where the tires ran it. You needed to run the middle or run on top of the raised area. Smooth roads not a problem.

The answer is to run a super bell dropped tube axle meant for 33-34 fords at 46" width and cross spring with leafs and 4 bar system. If I was building a 1933--1935 Chevrolet car and wanted an axle in it, that's what I would do.

Here is how the car sat with stock axle, spring eyes reversed, springs de-arched. Then the MOR_DROP axle was installed and we got real low real fast.

as the car is now with Kugel IFS front. starting in 1996

mikelynch

 

Mike, it also looks like you are in need of rocker panels. Joe @wood remover suggested this guy to possibly have a chance to buy these... "4 door rockers will work as replacements , very tough.to find and expensive .Dale Stevens in Kentucky is your best chance in finding them."

Just googled his address, hope this is the correct one:
Dale Stevens Woodworks
Woodworker in the Franklin County, Kentucky
Phone: (502) 695-1421

Another source for 33 and 34 Chevy parts:
http://www.19331934chevrolet.com/

 

Fortunately, my original rockers were in really good condition. They just haven't been reinstalled since the steel floor and sub rails were put in. Here are some before and after interior photos.

 

E-GODS... What a mess on those "before" photos! You're coming along REAL well Torkwrench! Dig that Impala steering wheel bigtime! With your Master dash, the passenger side is a glove box?

 

Torkwrench......that looks awesome

 

19331934chevrolet.com
Frankfurt kentucky

 

Looked like a good solid car torkwrench!!!
Very complete .

 

Spent the night getting steering box mount made and made new steering arms have steel cut but have to take to a bigger press to make the bend then we can start mocking up steering and finish the final shape of the steering arms.

 

Mike , I have never checked , but was under the impression that the truck and car axles were the same width?? I am going to have to check when I get back home
Joe

 

Just checked on sids dropped axle site and all axles are the same width and spring location from 1928 to 1954 .
1955 went to 54 inches wide .
A truck axle is 4 inches lower than a car axle , I have one for my 33 3 window but havent done anything with it yet

 

Your chassis is really shaping up nicely JGR - are you going with the cross steering setup?

 

Yeah, it was pretty nasty inside. Not sure what all was living in there. Mice? Rats? Raccoons? Possums? Fortunately the previous owner, (a good friend of mine), cleaned it all out when he bought it from his Father-In-Law. His wife's family had owned the car from about 1959 to 2005. Before that it was owned by a Joe Newcomer in Princeton ILL. When I bought it, (in 2008), it had been partially disassembled.

The passenger side is a glove box, but the door was missing. Have since found another door. By the way, if anyone with a 34 Master wants a pushbutton style latch for their glove box door, one from a mid 1960's IH Scout practically bolts right in. That's what I used in mine.

Yes, it was a very solid car, when I bought it. The only really rusty areas was the taillight area of the right rear fender, and the bottom corner of the grill shell. The engine was pulled in the early 1960's for a rebuild that never happened. As a result, the grill and shell sat upright on the floor for about 40 years.

About the only parts that were missing were the glove box door, radiator cap, hubcaps, and taillights. Have since found a nice grill & shell, glove box door, right rear fender, and radiator cap. Plan to use 53 Buick taillights. The running boards were junk, but I bought some steel, "smoothie style" ones, that I plan to use with running board mats.

Here are some more photos. The first two are from when the P.O. bought it, and the last three are what it looked like when I bought it.

 

Yes Vega Power box with cross steer, was a pain to fit in but once we made new motor mounts should all work. Of course when I get to headers and steering linkage may have to get creative we will see.

 

We need some more pics of everyone's projects. Page is getting slow lol

 

Joe as I showed with the early pictures of my coupe 1970--1980 running a 40--54 truck axle, at 50" wide king pin to king pin, the tires which were 78 series narrow, on a cragar rim 15 x 6 with 3" backspace. The tire sits right under the fender lip and you best have 2-3" height clearance above the tire, otherwise your going to do a lot of damage.

That's why I stressed that a narrow axle in the 44"-46" king pin to king pin center is needed to pull the tire inside the fender. Most independent front suspensions are narrow enough to have the assembly sit inside the fender.

If one wants to go retro style, pre 75 , then stock axle will give you the gasser look of higher up. Lots of people like that look. Been there , had that, not going back.

mike lynch

 

Hey guys , as soon as I get finished with work today I'll take some measurements of the doors (thanks for doing that madmike ) and frame lengths and widths , I'm not really concerned with the length of the frame not matching the body , all the factory mounts are gone , Mike and myself spoke yesterday and we're talking about stiffening the frames . I planned on building a hidden roll bar under the dash area , for use as a chassis stiffened as well as a solid mounting point for steering and pedals ect.. also in the back from the frame up around the back window and back to the chassis with two verticle diagnals going into the trunk space , tucked as best as possible and for use as frame stiffening and solid body mounting points. The inner structure will be redone out of steel tubing. As far as the rockers I'm not sure about the ones that came with the car , I really have to measure and see , I might just fabricate my own after the structure is complete. Again guys thanks a lot for all your insight , and Mike it was really great meeting you, thanks for going out of your way to help this coupe newbie. I called my friend on the way home about the magneto , waiting for a response now. I can't wait to see your car when it's finished !! Very very cool.

 

This is the 34 chev truck I am building now .
230 pontiac overhead cam , 200 4r trans ,
Toyota 4 runner rear 4.11 gear .
Replacing all the wood new sub frame.
New floors and firewall

 

Nice work love seeing everyone's projects gives me hope mine might get done someday

 

Between the lines from side of door to side of door is 40 5/8

 

DRIFTER9, so that 40 5/8" along the door , would make the car a 34 master DA series as you thought it was. A lot of the master series in 1934 was made and chasing down parts is much easier than standard series.

Only part thats interchangeable between the 2 bodies is the dash surprisingly enough and possible the windshield molding and rear window molding .

mike lynch

 

Hey mike, I really appreciate all the info . This is gonna be a long project for me, have two others to finish first but I'm going to keep looking for parts along the way. It'll be a hotrod , but if you stumble across any pieces please keep me in mind. Thanks again

 

A few more pictures of the sub structure under the floor

 

I would have posted my build on the forum but with the toyota rear end and steering box and the 200r4 I was sure to get a new a hole reamed from someone for it being non traditional .

 

Lol , I understand completely, i have read a bunch of the threads on hamburger before I registered, some extremely smart, clever , experienced guys on here. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings or cut myself off from any help I might be able to get in the future, but after I bought my car , and realized how much time and money would go into restoring it to a factory basic lol its going hot rod !! I have an 8v71 Detroit blower, old schoolish. But hot rod. I would hope they understand !! Lol I'd love to see the pics of your build.

 

DRIFTER8............I search ebay every day in ebay motors under NEWEST LISTINGS and use the advanced search under 1934 Chevrolet.......I suggest you also do the same. ....I also look at 1933 and 1935 in case something is mis-identified. All rubber parts for the 34 master are available from STEELE RUBBER PRODUCTS in Denver NC .

I have 26 items I have purchased off ebay sitting in NY state until I go down to get them. Shipping costs too here are stupid crazy. Rather go thru tank of regular in my truck and spend the day doing the trip.

mike

 

Mike , , I do search as well , from time to time. But thanks . Yup shipping is pretty expensive these days. Thanks again , best of luck. Mike