I had a little search for a similar thread but couldn't find one, if there is already one please point me in that direction.... Please post photos of any 40 chevy car projects, customs, rods, resto's, barn finds, sitting in fields etc... anything really to give me inspiration and ideas plus i always like to build up a good colection of different looks and styles of cars that i'm into. I always dreamed of having a 39 or 40 chevy Coupe since i built and customized a plastic scale model of a 39 in my teens... now my dream is set to become a reality when my 40 Special Deluxe Business coupe arrives at the English docks after it's long journey from Colorado. i am very excited indeed! These are my rough plans for the car... Running gear and suspension: A Chevy V8 with a decent transmission, not sure on manual or auto yet...and obviously a different back axle. C Notched rear frame and 4 link rear along with IFS Mustang II front on air all the way round so it sits extremely low and still drives niclely. Bodywork: No major mods as i love the roofline and general shape just how it is but i may make a few subtle changes here and there. i'm a painter by trade and although i haven't done much for a few years i'm damn proud of the standard of my work so i'm going to have a play with some custom touches... nothing set in stone yet but i have some ideas. the interior will be basic, i'm not into custom interiors with modern gauges stering columns etc and I love the Art Deco look of the original dash, steering wheel so that will be staying looking just how it is except being cleaned up and partially restored... again i have some ideas here as far as paint goes Here's a few pics that i bought the car from...
I've had this old girl for a couple months shy of 30 years. In process of getting new black paint. Has a ZZ4 crate motor with a 700R4 trans, 65/67 Chevy II rear end. Heidts MII front suspension. Logged almost 160,000 great miles.
Looks awesome on the Salt flats! 30 years and 160,000 miles, wow!... i wonder if i'll still have mine in 30 years, i hope so! Out of interest do you know what sort of MPG you get on a good run? Please post some more pics on here when its got it's new coat of black!
Last trip to Bonneville with this car was 2006. 3 weeks, almost 7000 miles and it averaged right at 16.5 for the entire trip pulling the Mullins trailer. Lots of time spent in the Rocky Mountains and other ranges to the west. I traded a '62 Vette I owned for 15 years for this car in 1979. Never thought I'd have her this long but it's just one that still suits my fancy. Charlie
Just heard today that my 40 has cleared Customs and is ready to pick up from the docks(once i pay the £2k shipping). I am really quite excited now!
Wow! that's a lot of custom work you've done there Cleatus... looks awesome! got anymore pics on here? What's the grille?
I've owned 5 40 Chevys over the years. I think they are one of the best of the old Chevs. Good luck with the project. (Unfortunately I have no pics)
I had two that I sold about a year ago. My plans were Vortec 4200 in one and a BBC in the other. Body mods included turning one into a 4-door phaeton like the Holdens that were available from '37 - '40. For headlights, I planned on a set of Mini headlights recessed into the front fenders. I agree with T McG that the '40 were a good looking car - last year of running boards. Good luck with the project.
Glad to hear you guys rate the 40 as a car, i like the later 40's cars but the door bottoms remind me of Morris Minors too much... much prefer the running boards! I have several ideas about the headlights, one is to sink the pod into the fenders more and smooth them in... i'll need to do some drawings i think to work out what looks best in my eyes. I can't wait to actually see it, hopefully there aren't too many sins hiding under that messy orange paint!...
Hi Tim, sure your chevy wiil have a nice stance. If you stay with the stock torque tube, (like the brown '40 of your pics), rear wheels are no more centered in the fenders. Cleatus's one rules!!!!
I wont be driving it anywhere until i'm 100% happy with the stance It's ok the torque tube will be going along with most of the other runnung gear... When you going to make a start on yours again?
I see the glove box door latch is missing. The 67-72 chevy pickups had one that works. They didn't have a lock like the original one which I like. Jeff
i picked up the Chevy yesterday... we don't get a lot of snow in England any more so as little as 8 inches causes is us big drama's as we're not used to it... to a lot of you guys in the States i'm sure this is nothing at all! here's what happened... We(my friend Mazo and I ) set off at 5:45am this morning to Felixetowe with a trailer to pick the 40 up, the road outside my house was 6 inches deep and it was snowing really hard... the first hour on the A1/A14 was the scariest drive of my whole life, i **** you not! We were going 30mph tops, there were lorries stuck and jack knifed... my wipers froze up and just smeared ice and snow on my windscreen and there was nowhere to stop and to top it all we had no heat for the first 40 miles but had to have the fan on full to keep the windows de-misted there was not a single ounce of snow in Felixstowe though and once loaded with an extra ton and a half or so of Chevrolet we had a fairly smooth journey until at the end of the A1M the traffic stopped solid! We just managed to get of in time and ended up on the A47. it got worse until the road was snow covered and once again i was a little nervous to say the least... anyway i now have a huge amount of respect for my T4 as it pulled through without a hitch even when the front(driving wheels) were lighter on the ground than normal with less traction because of the trailer/Chevy on the back! What an exciting day, i wont ever forget it and altough it was extremely stressfull i'm so glad i didn't turn back like i was so tempted to do at every junction for that first hour... Here's some pics... just as we left.... at 5:45am No photos on the way really as we were too busy trying to stay alive :lol: Another car that makes my T4 look like a bedford rascal :lol: some random **** in the Chevy... No snow in Felixstowe... Some snow on the road near Stamford... Lots of snow near our house in Stamford! Me looking happy that we made it(well almost, another mile and a half to go), and Cheers in the back ground being a funny ****er :lol: Mazo noticed this while we were parked up near my house... where the **** did the outer bearing race go and when??? we didn't hear or feel a thing! : At last, home sweet home... well the Chevy's new home anyway, luckily my land lord had cleared the entrance and most the yard with his JCB
Thanks for that Jeff, I'll have to look out for one of those A quick detail of the condition of the car as i've found so far... The body is in amazing condition rust wise, the only through rust i have found is on the rear valance outwards of the bumper irons, the rear R/H fender front and rear edge and a tiny bit along the inside of the bottom of the drivers door. the floor is really clean inside the car and the whole of the underside of the car is really dry with only light surface rust. Amazing for a car that's 69 years old and looks so messy on the outside It looks like the last owner has been playing with the bodywork over the years, there are lots of areas that are bare metal or just have a light coat of primer over them, and you can see bondo on the body around the trunk lid and on the tunk lid it's self, but generaly it's very straight and there are lots of areas where you can see the original Kingston grey paint. The car also seems very complete, most of what was missing on the photos was inside the car including the hood badges, rear bumper, overriders, bonnet drop side panels and rear fender. the biggest part it's missing is the seat. Mechanically it seems pretty complete too, the motor turns over and is just missing it's dizzy cap. not that all that matters as mechanically pretty much everything will be replaced. so as you can imagine after buying the car from only four **** photos and an more less useless description, now i've see it in the flesh i am a very happy man indeed!
Good luck with your 40. I was building my coupe but it was number 2 on my mental list of cars to build/own. Number 1 was a 33-34 ford coupe so I made some deals to sell off my 40 to buy my 34 coupe. Before it went away I took about 239,345.7 photos of it. Mine came from the northern U.S. and had a few floor issues and the panel below the decklid needed replaced. I used an EMS piece and was happy with it. Had a buddy install his homegrown version of a mustang II and built a 327 small block chevy for mine....used a T-56, 6 speed ****** from a late camaro and built a 9 inch ford for it. I used all Ch***is Engineering rear suspension with their sway bar kit..nice stuff...Here are s few photos and if you need more "in-detail" photos just pm me with your email adress and I'll help you out. 40 chevy coupes kick ***. BTW, I've seeen Cleatus' 40 in person a few times at the HAMB drags and at the roundup in Texas...very impressive. I've also got a few photos of Charlie Chops blue 40 ragtop he sent me. Great 40 chevy, that.
Rocky, do you know if the new owner of your old 40 has progressed with it at all? I noticed something that looked like it might be a letter on the p***enger door above the chrome trim... after a bit of cleaning we found it says 'KEEP P***ENGER DOOR CLOSED' i can't see any other writting on the lower doors but they have both been sanded before that nasty red/orange paint was applied.... the writting was probably from it's days as a comercial back in it's early life... if only i could trace it's roots... any ideas anyone?
That wasn't me...my car hasn't left California yet. Tim...That car is in amazing condition - keep us updated when you get to work on it.
Nice to hear from you Cleatus. Tim, your chevy seems to be in good shape. If you intend to keep the stock trans crossmember, check it carefuly. Mine looked very nice but after little hamering i discovered it was as thin as a cigarette paper and fully rusted inside. Don't forget to keep us updated. Thanks.
I met Tom H at the street rod nationals with my "40 in black primer - all of 20 years ago. He told me all about the derelict '40 convert he had just gotten. A few years later I saw the car and Tom had chopped it. On the way home I told my wife that I was gonna chop mine. It was done and back on the road in less than 2 weeks. Although Tom and I have had cars at the same meets I don't think we've ever had the 40's together at the same time. Charlie
Yes i was blown away by the lack of rust the car has and how straight it is... pretty much the perfect starting point i think Don't worry there will be regular updates, right now i'm saving my pennies to order lots of parts i need...
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