History FOUND- Nick Arias Jr.'s '37 Chevy Coupe

Very cool!

 

Very cool! Ben teased this story a bit ago and I’ve been really looking forward to hearing the story. Thanks for the fantastic post

 

I'm glad I logged back on this evening. This is the good stuff.

 

How it went almost seven decades without being completely changed staggers the imagination, congratulations and welcome to the HAMB.
And the Kenny Bigelow history is the icing on the cake.

 

Some of the coolest stories are found on the HAMB.

 

Awesome!!! What a story

 

Fantastic find. Thanks for sharing this.

 

Yep, this has to be one of the coolest stories I have heard lately. Congrats on getting the car back in the family! I look forward to updates and the video about getting it!

 

Stories like this are what makes the HAMB so cool.
Thanks for posting.

 

It would be hard to out cool this car/story.
You did good.

 

Keep us up to date on this fantastic family find!

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Holy Bat, Crapman... the find of the century..

 

Also, this has to be the best first post ever on the HAMB?!?!

 

TITS!!!

 

Who's Nick Arias? And what is a piston? I'm not gonna lie, my eyes watered up a little bit! This is so awesome! What a piece of history

 

what a great story,...enjoy bringin it back to life.

 

Two barrels and two plugs for each cylinder. I’d love to hear that straight six run.
Totally bad ass. Don’t change anything mechanically. If anything is needed let the hambers know. I’m sure there are good alternatives.

 

What a cool story!Condrats!

 

Thank you everyone for the nice comments! As time goes on, I will be looking for more information on this car- any pictures, stories, possible parts still out there... anything would be greatly appreciated. It was documented quite well and was ran in the Screwdrivers car club of LA. It was also heavily street raced and ran at Saugus and Santa Ana between '53 and '56.

If you look in the photos, the car was always known to be a '37 Chevy, but an interesting discovery made as I studied the hell out of both cars, is that it's actually a '38! It made the research quite a bit more difficult in identifying it as the real car, but as time went on, more and more clues were coming to the surface that were definitive to it being his. It being built in tribute to Kenny Bigelow's car leads me to believe that they found this car locally, possibly with a wrecked front end, down the street or maybe in the local junk yard and installed a '37 front end on it to resemble Kenny's coupe, or possibly the actual one if it survived the wreck. Since then, a '38 front end was replaced on the car (headlights were shaved on the '37) and it was converted back to street legal and last registered in 1962. Its history after that is pretty unclear.

It's my understanding that this car ran a '37 Lasalle trans behind the Jimmy w/ a Halibrand QC. What bells were used, I have no idea. Same goes for the trans adapter... I would guess Cooks Machine made one for them if they didn't make it themselves. I may do the same, although I believe Wayne used to make them... not sure.

I will also be looking for the following parts as I revive this ol' girl-

• '37 Lasalle trans
• GM to Lasalle adapter
• Culver City Halibrand 201 QC
  
• 18" Ford pattern Divcos
• 1937 Chevy front end- Doghouse, grille, etc.

Thanks!
Justin


A few more photos-

 

Glad you found it before some hacker got a hold of it and put a LS engine in it. Looking forward to continued updates.

 

How did your grandfather do it?

A plate between the stock bellhousing and the transmission, or did he “stack”Cyclone G.M.C./Chevrolet inline to early Ford transmission adaptor to a flathead to Cad-Lasalle adaptor?

 

That's some of the information that I am looking for. I honestly have no idea. I don't even know if he 100% ran a Lasalle, it very well could have been a Packard, and I'm pretty sure Wayne made a Packard adapter for those. He was the GM at Wayne at the time, so I would guess this car was a test mule for a lot of their parts. The car came with a truck bellhousing installed on the engine with a Schiefer clutch & flywheel, but there was also a passenger bellhousing, painted the same body color, and stock GM 3 speed in the trunk. The two trans tunnel covers that came with the car both have the stock hole location for the shifter, but either really match the condition of the floor board. It was drag raced after he sold it, so it's very possible that the next owner changed some stuff up. There is a relief in the trans tunnel on the right side though, right where the shifter would be on a Lasalle, so that could be a clue. I have to get my hands on a trans first so I can start measuring. I can also check the spline on the clutch disc and that could help me confirm what the clutch is for, at least.

 

Cad- LaSalle clutch disk spline 1 1/4''- 10 Spline .

 

Maybe the coolest find I’ve seen. Damn sure is for this year. Love Love Love an in-line. Keep it real. I wish I had the things you needed. I’d give them to you just to see that complete again.I have always loved that ignition set up.
Build all you can while you can.
Jokers and Theives.

 

Maybe 39 Lincoln Transmission

Maybe it ran a 39 Lincoln trans. Shifter is close to the same location?

 

Congratulations!

The best part is ... it's back in the family!

 

Congrats again, Justin!!

 

Cool story and awesome car

Glad its back in the family once again

So whats the story with the rear end ?

Anything special with it ?

 

All I know is that it had a quick change, but I am still figuring out what width axle it had.