Projects My first project: 1937 Chevy Coupe

I hope this is the correct place to post this. I just started my first project, a 1937 Chevy Coupe. I was hoping for a little bit of guidance!

I've attached a picture of my car as it sits. I've also attached a picture of a car I am in love with.

My question is, are there any experts who can give me a general idea of what type of custom work has been done to the car I want to emulate? I want to make sure I consider everything as I put together my plan. It looks as though it's about a 2 1/2" chop but other than that I'm not sure what else they've done. Lengthened hood and hood sides? Your advice is greatly appreciated! If you have questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

 

Looks like they may have stretched it or just angled the grill shell. You are already sitting close enough they have theirs bagged so it can squat when parked, custom running boards. Mild chop. It probably has late model lights grafted in like from a Mercedes, but you can get it close and be way more traditional with '37/38 Ford headlights or perhaps 40s. They are running spaceship wheels with rubber band tires probably 18s at the least and maybe even dubs.

 

Thanks for the response! I've found it very difficult to locate anyone who fabricates custom running boards and fenders. I don't like the original Chevy headlights and would definitely like to go with the same style headlights as the '37 Ford.

I attached a picture of a '38 Chevy with headlights I like. Any idea where I can find someone who does this kind of work? I'm not sure it's something I could tackle on my own. Thanks!

 

beautiful looking car, unfortunately discussing the modifications would make the thread off topic.

 

I do know a guy here in KC are you made of money? Nothing rolls out of his shop for less that 100K. that is what that kind of work costs if you go to a reputable shop.

or you can learn to do it yourself. Those lights that you posted are not ford lights, real deal '37s ( or 8s0 is what you want and after that you use what you got to make them work.

Take a look at this thread. the guy that is doing this truck is all self taught.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/posts/11092987/

 

I'm still learning since I'm new here, so you're not allowed to discuss modifications in project car threads?

I hope I didn't break any rules...?

 

What makes it off-topic is that this is a board for traditional modified cars...doing the slick "street rods" mods that you've seen take it out of the HAMB time period.
Those old Chevys have a lot of character, and making them "slick" and "smooth" removes some of their character. My feeling is, if you want Mercedes lights and looks, get a Mercedes, and if you want an old car, get an old car.
When that car was twenty years old, people were customizing them. How did they do it? What did they look like? That would be a HAMB friendly topic.
I stuck my beak in here because I'm on the lookout for a 37 Chev four door sedan...have some ideas for one...
After you've done your research on good traditional custom ideas for your nice car, let us know what you come up with...

 

You didn't break any rules that is just a pro built late custom. some of the mods can be discussed but one would want to be really careful not to get out of the bounds of the HAMB.

it is just your basic slice and dice job and any of the mods could have been done 100 years ago or today with the few exceptions of the later model pieces.

Start where you are at, I would probably tackle the chop first, just keep in mind that a round top is harder to chop that a square top like T or A. look at some of the round top chops on the board to get an idea of how to do it then take your sawzall to it.

Stretching the fenders and the hood is going to take some metal fabrication. To get it done is going to be pricey and it will not be easy to do yourself, but you can find extra fenders and a hood and cut n past them together to get what you are after.

For the headlights keep your original headlight buckets you will want to cut them down for the tops of the new lights and once you find your Ford lights you can start figuring out how and where to cut.

remember don't be afraid to take the sawzall to it but take your time measure twice and cut once.

it helps to take photos and scissors to figure out how to do what you want to do.

 

I'm not married to the idea of the street rods, I don't guess, but I do know I don't like the way the stock '37s looked. This thread has given me a lot to think about, back to the drawing board apparently! Thanks to all who offered insight.

 

Are you trying to build a street rod or a custom?

If you don't like the way the '37 Chevy looks, maybe that's the wrong starting point for your vision.

 

a lot depends on your current skill level. most all of us admire some of the pro built cars. but, the time and $ involved can be overwhelming. porkn******'s suggestion of starting with the chop is a good one. things can become very involved with more modifications. best to do stuff that you can to get it driving down the road, rather than end up with a multi year project.

 

I like the way many '37 Chevy Coupes look, just not the stock ones.

I'm open to either, I've seen examples of both that I like.

 

This is exactly what I'm discovering, you are correct! I really want to get it driving so the first step I suppose is to address the floors (the previous owner did not weld the floors in properly) and go from there.

 

37 Chevy coupe is a great cl***ic. Congratulations. This is the right forum to bounce your ideas and modifications. The forum is geared to the more traditional rods and old skool customs. Some HAMBers have built very radical rides. There is a lot of experience on the HAMB that can give you really good solid advice no matter what you are building. . Some like them just as Henry rolled them out with power upgrades to slammed and chopped so low that a person lays in their ride. A very diverse group & wide range of tastes. HAMB builders no matter what their taste and style are very skilled and knowledgeable. It takes a lot of metal skill to either bring a rusted out car back to stock or to channel, chop etc to get the roof 2 ft off the pavement. If it is an all out radical custom similar to those at Riddler then that would be outside the HAMB convention for cars. A lot of good people here and a good humor as well. Usually someone in a conversation will give you what you need or the information to create your own ureka moment. Welcome aboard. Look forward to seeing more on your car.
Glenn

 

...37 Chevy coupes are my favorite designed auto from the 30's, they look good in any form, stock, g***er or custom,...there have been some nice traditional custom ones posted on here before; good luck with your build. ...here's mine...

 

A 50's-60's custom build on that car would be taildragger, skirts, nice paint.
A hot rod build would be nose high, slicks even with the fenders, small block and 4 speed.
If you want a/c, power windows, big wheels, 2 tone striped paint, then you may just be a street rodder. Nothing wrong with that, just won't get much love here.

The car you have pictured has modifications to every panel on it, if you pay someone else to replicate that car, you'll go broke. Either learn how to do that level of work or scale back the plan.

Its a pretty solid complete car. I keep looking at a 37 coupe myself, it's a real lop of ****, but I keep going back to look, I may be in trouble.

Get the floors in it, get a small block chevy, auto trans in it, fix the brakes, steering and start driving it. That's the simplest path to get on the road. From there you can tear down an area each winter, change what you want, and still have fun driving it. If you go frame off from the start, it'll be garage art for 10+years.

Hope I didn't scare ya away

 

Thanks~!

Great advice! Yes, my plan will have to be scaled back. I don't need a/c or power windows or any of that really, I mostly just liked the way that car looks. But I also like custom '37s although not a fan of g***ers.

I already have a small block chevy engine, a 550HP 383 stroker.

You didn't scare me away at all, in fact, quite the opposite. I was starting to get overwhelmed by seeing how much money some folks had spent on their cars. I think you've made me okay with the idea of getting it drive able and then doing what I can do over time.

As they say, you can't swallow an entire elephant at once.

 

Welcome to the HAMB!

Love that coupe. Wish I had one all right....

If it were mine I'd keep the body pretty much STOCK. Slight chop could be cool.
Maybe smaller headlights if ya don't like the originals? I like the originals though. But no grafted in Mercedes lights - way to #%^&^$!! STREET RODDISH! No goofy bling bling wheels either.

I like the character of the original car. You can add a hot rod flavor without making it a trendy, over built, eye sore.

And did we mention the $$$ to take that original beauty and build such an abortion?

Good luck... keep us posted.

 

By the way, mine is in worse shape than it looks. I bought it from a NASCAR champion crew chief.

They also cut the right rear quarter panel so I'm going to need to fix that as well.

 

I'm thinking about 2 1/2" max.

It's mostly the location of the headlights I don't like, but at the end of the day I don't hate them so much that I couldn't stand the originals.

 

I'm working on a 37 coupe myself. I've had it for about a year. It's been driveable since I bought it, but it had been sitting for over 10 years when I bought it. It was a backyard build done in the early 1980's. Needs a lot of attention.

You could spend a fortune building the car in your picture.

TRUE STORY.... I went to a car show about 6 months ago. A guy pulled in with a 38 Chevy coupe. As he drove by, I thought WOW. I went over to look at the car. It was by far the NICEST 37-38 coupe I'd ever seen, and to go a step further, it was probably the nicest street rod I'd ever seen.

Got to talking with the owner. He had the car built. It cost him $175,000. Yes, one hundred seventy five thousand dollars... Had ostrich leather interior fabulous paint... etc. etc.

WAY outta my league.

 

You sure are, and that car is beautiful! You got all that work done in a year?! Great work Chuck. My uncle's name is Chuck as well and he's the reason I decided to build one and bought this car.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I've been putzing with it for a little over one year.
I painted the running boards, but they're not back on the car yet. Many like it without them, but they're going back on.
Did lots of work in the rear and under the hood. I farmed out the heavy duty stuff, like replacing the trunk floor. I'm now getting to the interior. Have my new buckets installed, and still have 4 more garnish mouldings to paint.

Still have to install an emergency brake, then a new steering column. PLENTY of work to keep me out of trouble.

 

...got this 38 coupe for sale if anyone's looking, has almost rust-free body, doors, fenders,hood, headlites, etc, but needs floor and firewall as previous owner cut those out,(former drag car) floor panels/ firewall are all available or can be fab'd.

 

I’m building a 37 coupe g***er and wonder what frame everyone uses that makes for the best fitment for everything?

 

The stock one, that's what would've been used back in the day anyhow, do a little boxing and maybe a K member in the middle to strengthen it up.

 

37-8 frames are a factory box design, don't need much to build into the g***er style....everything can be fab'd and bolted in/onto the frame...good luck with your projects,..hate to see these great cars mess'd up...

 

My car is probably not all that Hamb friendly also, but in my opinion the 37 and 38 Chevys look good the way they are and don't need extensive modifications to look right. Stance, wheels etc and your styling.

 

Sounds like you might want to go custom. Check the styling of some 35-6 Fords that have headlights grafted into the fenders. Might want to check 40 Chevy headlights, 46-7 Studebaker pickup headlights....and I'm sure there are plenty more. Also, when you remove the headlight stands you'll probably want to rework the top of the grille to get a good flow.