Projects 32 5W Build - The $4K Swapmeet Body / The Old Chrome Coupe

I am trying to use as many old aftermarket chrome accessories as I can find. I located the tall one piece chrome fuel pump stand and then found the matching breather cap with the cool rings on top. The plating on the stand was good enough, the the breather was pretty rusty on top. With the steel wool/brillo pad material inside, I knew I couldn't send it off for plating as is. I decided to take it apart so the cap could be replated. I had to destroy the inner tube, but sacrificed a new repro cap for a new tube. The cap is headed for plating, so this will be continued when I get it back and reassemble.

 

How cool is that! A beautiful job with so much detail, that most will miss.

Are you into naming cars Neil?

I think this one will need a name because it will be talked about & refered to for a long time to come!

 

I'm not real creative on naming my cars...like I had a patina 32 Fordor aka "the rusty sedan", a patina 32 pickup aka "the rusty pickup", the current 32 Fordor aka "the black car". And now for the 5w project, my family and close friends just call it "the chrome car"

Since a lot of the chrome is old chrome, maybe it should be "The Old Chrome Coupe"...if it were to have a name?

 

“Grape Nehi”?

 

With the Van Hoff coupe being a big influence on my build, I thought of taking the "Royal Flush" name and tweaking it to "El Royale"



Another influence is the Neal East coupe. Since I'm also a Neal and from out west in CA, a friend said my coupe could be the "Neal West Coupe"...



But I'll probably still call it "The 5 Window" I'll let you all come up with some fancy name for it...if that is the case.

 

Neal...El Royale sounds perfect!!

 

Yep understood, I'm not great with naming vehicles either, ,'El Royal' sounds perfect! Thanks for giving us front row seats to this build!

 

"Chromey"
"Chromie"

 

My old deuce roadster project with lots of old chrome was affectionately known as the Chrome Whore

 

Funny you bring that up, as seeing that project on here so many years ago was one of the main inspirations for me to start collecting old chrome for this car.

 

The name is pretty easy considering the level of this build. “THE” 5 Window!!!

 

When my mom and dad were dating, my dad had a car (can't remember the year/model) with white carpet. The first time my grandmother (his future mother-in-law) rode in the car, he made her take her shoes off... It was a point of contention till the day she died.

 

I cleaned up a corner of my shop so I could finish up the engine assembly. There are a few small things to wrap up. We got the coil mounted, using a vintage Mallory clamp. The bracket will be plated. Also worked on carb linkage. Next up is finishing the idler pulley/fan mount.

 

You have quite the eye for detail! Take that coil clamp, how many of us have looked at one and only seen a “clamp” whereas you see the early American Automotive Art that it really is! Simply stunning. Please carry on….

 

Next up is the idler pulley.

I rebuilt/modified a cool old idler pulley to fit the Edelbrock 3x2..These intakes are not machined to fit a Ford generator. The slide is 1/4" narrower and uses a 1/2 stud rather than 9/16 like Ford. I machined an adapter plate and a stepped stud that is 1/2-13 × 9/16-18 so I could use a Ford nut.

The idler was built from 2 generator fronts, so it has double bearings. Plus they made a neat little greaesable spacer that fits in between. It was missing the shaft and pulley, so i made up a shaft from an old armature and machined the pulley to get the belt to line up.

One piece at a time...

 

Neal.......I see your brother from time to time, and say that i'm watching him/you/his work..... I worked for him/Herb for many years.......... You know him( brother)...........= Ya, he's doing his thing! He's super cool! Your stuff is outta the park! I'll continue following!

 

That idler is a slick trick

 

Neal...such an inspirational build. Is that engine color a custom mix or a factory color? I might want to paint my 1960 C10 shortbed that color. I'm thinking that lavender for the body...a creamy white for the top and a white interior. Screams early 60s to me...

 

I am planning to paint the car dark purple, similar to the Joe Nitti and Pat Ganahl roadsters...


So we took some silver and stirred in the purple toner from the dark purple, until we came up with a lavender that I liked.so yeah, it's a custom mix.

 

That engine color is awesome. I shouldn't be surprised..you have excellent taste.

 

Neal is there a name for the dark purple you started with? What paint brand? And what silver? I really like a new Toyota silver called Atomic Silver. But that may be too dark to lighten up a dark color...

 

This car is so killer, someone needs to publish a new "little book" type mag just to feature it in. Unreal. Truly unreal.

 

Before installing the heads, I checked plug reach and didn't like the exposed threads. I have some new production Edelbrock block letter heads and they are chamfered, so I decided to do the same on these heads




I started installing the ARP studs and getting the heads on and torqued down

 

@NealinCA are the part numbers from ARP for those studs the same for 21 stud?

 

This was the kit for 38-48 with thick Edelbrock heads, so all studs are the same length. It would depend on what the head thickness being used on a 21 stud. All flathead studs are 7/16-14 x 7/16-20, just the length will vary with head thickness. I don't think ARP makes a kit for stock or "low" aftermarket heads that use short studs on the bottom. I have never checked into ordering individual studs by length.

 

I have that same breather, but mine is a push-on one for a different breather tube. I think I'm going to steal the bottom off of a plain breather and attach it like you did here, so I can use it on my T. How are you attaching the lower neck once the chrome is done, without damaging the chrome? Is it just a press fit, or will you tack it or something?

Do you know who made these? I love the little details like this too, and I never saw another one of these breathers until you posted yours.

 

I am planning to bond the parts together with metal super glue, like Loctite 401 or similar.

I think it will work OK on something like this.

I assume they were made by someone like Eastern Auto (later Cal Custom) as they were listed in a lot of the old speed equipment catalogs with other chrome accessories.

 

ARP does make a set for "stock" or Navarro or Edelbrock "street" heads that use the stock-type mix of longs & shorts. Oddly, it does not come with the nice stainless acorn nuts or washers like the Edelbrock kit. The "stock" kit is only for the studs.

Here is a link to the part number:

https://arp-bolts.com/kits/arpkit-detail.php?RecordID=5299

 

Thank you @NealinCA and @banjorear this is the exact info I needed.

 

Wow, I never figured the studs would cost as much as pistons.