Hot Rods 37/38 Chevy Gasser and I’ve got the Pink Slip!

Looks like a 0 to me. C would be incorrect anyway.






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Wow, congrats on the find and with some history of early drag racing . Love the 37-9 Chevy coupes with altitude and attitude adjustments.

 

Appears it ran as an Altered during the last pictures from the 70's. A Gasser couldn't run with fenders removed, as that would make it an Altered.

 

Love the old pics!

 

Purty wheels

 

He was just “running it” when he was racing that day, by 72-73 I really don’t think a car like this was a gasser or an altered...

 

What a great find, you are one lucky guy for that all that to unfold the way it did, 38's are my favorite but I sure wouldn't pass up a 37 either.
What are the plans for it ?

 

That’s what’s so cool, it’s a 37/38! I’m still digesting what I have and what I want to do with it. Do I keep it the way it was? Do I make it like it could have been if the owner would have had more resources? The PO didn’t build it, he got it the way it is. Who built it originally? I need to post the rest of the pictures, it was a really nice drag car back then. Not a roach, but not a standout either, pretty much a working class, hey, let’s go drag racing car.

 

Very cool find!

 

On the business end of the car there is the requisite 57 Pontiac/Olds rearend with ladders bars! The install is done good and looks quite up to the task of 7000RPM clutch side steps!



Transferring all that Mouse Motor Mayhem is the only correct transmission, a Muncie M-20 out of a 1965 Corvette (aren’t they all outta Corvettes?!) LOL! Lakewood Scatter shield and a custom drive shaft. Hurst Competition Plus shifter with a custom handle for that all important 1-2 power shift!

 

Didn't see it mentioned but the GB in the "VIN" confirms 37, 38 would be HB.

This too.

 

A bit unusual to see rubber wrapped leaf springs on a drag car.

 

...those rear leaf springs look to be wrapped with the original tin from the factory,...not rubber.

 

Got a picture of the rear spring shackles? Would be interesting to determine if they're originals too?

 

Not signed off?

 

It doesn't look like the ladder bars pivot around the same axis as the front spring eyes of the rear springs. Mine was like that too ('36 Chevy PU, 327/muncie, '57 Pontiac rearend). This condition makes the rear suspension be bound up and travel is non-existent.

 

Might be an issue for the street, but it was typical of drag cars in the day. They weren't worried about spring bind for 1/4 mile, and likely even liked that it didn't move too much.

 

Yup! I thought they were wrapped in an old bicycle inner tube too, but it is Genuine GM stuff. Didn’t know they did that...


Rear shackles as requested. Here’s the fronts too, they all look like they are OEM.


Here’s another picture of the ladder bars showing how they are mounted.

 

Hey GuyW, you know this shop? They still around?

Custom driveshaft, Muncie in the front, Pontiac/Olds in the rear!

 

An old time place in Berdoo. Never dealt with them but they were around when I was in HS. The 714 area code on the label changed to 909 in November 1992 so the drive shaft is prior to then. I'm sure some other old timers from the Berdoo area will have more info.

 

Jimmy nice car it should turn out to be a real cool nostalgia racer. I lived in Flagstaff from 80 to 85. Graduated from NAU, had two kids, built a few houses and Busters Restaurant on Milton. We raced out at Winslow airport it served as a 1/4 mile track. Hiked up to the San Fransisco peaks from the Snow Bowl side and skied down the inner basin side. Flagstaff's a great place.

Pat

 

Hi Pat, yes Flag is a great place to live, like an old timer told me once, “If you can’t handle the winter, you don’t deserve the summer”! Did you have your name up on the Lap the World at Buster’s? It’s no longer there, I think it’s a brewery or something now.

 

Yes I was #2 the two guys that shared #1 were in there for lunch, I had to work and didn't get there till 4PM. By that time they where gone. I lived on Navaho drive off of 180 then built a house in University Heights on Gillenwater Drive. My cars in the driveway.

Pat

 

I’m thinking you’re real close to the same age as me, I graduated from Page High in ‘79 and started working at NGS in 1980. A bunch of my friends all came down to NAU so I spent many a night at Buster’s and then Tinsley Hall cuz it was within staggering distance! Good times!

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Check out this cool hand made shifter handle...


The T-handle looks like it’s gas welded, so cool!

 

The El Camino in the background appears to be a 1975 -76. Race day 75-76 or


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Mind is slipping 1973 El Camino


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Here’s the interior, or what is there of one. Dash is pretty basic, water temp and oil pressure and you can see where a tach once was. Everything is just sheet aluminum pop riveted onto the body for as light as possible.


Seat is an early foam filled rotamolded high back bucket with a vinyl cover and a real cool seatbelt setup.


I really wish the stock dash was still all there, anybody know how hard replacing it would be, if it’s even doable? I see replacements for different cars, does anyone know if they are available for the 37/38? Or is it a cut it out of a parts car only option?

 

Silver.. our 40 Chevrolet was raced in the mid 60’s and was built very similar to yours. It ran with a 409 4-speed 57 Pontiac rear with leafs and ladder bars.
Your upper tag and our pink from 1975 are similar. We never had your lower tag.
We just streeted ours after converting it to Land Speed racing from 1975 to 1998.
If look at the pink where it says ID or engine number, California was putting in engine numbers... our was the same. Your upper tag was on our floor board at the passengers feet. That number is the ID or would be called the Vin # today. California had a choice back then and used the engine number. If you swapped engines back then even in the 30-40’s there were forms to fill out to change the pink to match, my dad showed them to me.

I had a lady who ran a small DMV satellite helping office in Hawaiian Gardens come to our garage and with the correct paperwork changed the pink to reflect the ID number on the new pink not the engine number. You can find what the letters mean infront of the number which is the 1937 Chevrolet sequence number. There are books about them and she had them and I found them. That’s why I knew where the tag belongs and it was there in the same exact way yours looked. If your not going to street it no big deal but if you are it will cost less now.

Like I said this was for California no reason you couldn’t do this in AZ. good luck and a great find.

 

The dash is welded in to the cowl. I’ve seen a ‘glass repro, probably on a street rod site. No steel repro that I know of. You’d have to cut one out from a wrecked body.




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