Projects Rollers :D '40 Chebby kind of trad adjacent. Someone's stalled project.

Thats what happens when you do a frame swap but don't measure track width first

 

It’s got a trunk full of parts. I’m pretty sure it’s got headlights in there somewhere.

@Tman yup it’s been clipped. We’ll sort it out one way or another

 

I actually own a gas door from a '51 Ford. I was gonna fill the hole, kind of down on the list. Today the missus and me were on the road for some other business and laughed about putting a fake gas cap and filler neck on it and laughing when someone was trying to syphon it.

I think the guy was gonna run dubs on it. "Circle the wagons!!!!!!"

Mrs beaner mentioned that it may have been destined for the bull ring. Its got all new glass, the back glass is not flat so the guy spent some money on it. Anyway the glass knocked out and cut the fenders for fat tire clearance was usually first.

The fenders actually were done well, even folded along the radius. He was a modern professional body man and he buttered it, which is a common practice, so the mud hangs down a little bit around the lip. he just did not get to the finish work on it.

All that said he started building the car in then '80s. So it could have been an '80s thing. LOL

I actually own a pair of 9.5x15 Westerns, a buddy is using them but he would not need them if I did. I am leaning toward steelies on the back 15x8 or so. But nothing is carved in stone. We'll see where it goes when it goes there.

The front track width is a little wide. I personally would have gone a different direction with the front suspension. I could snag a pair of shorter A arms but my Ansens tuck in nicely. 5 or 6" wide steelies would tuck in better but today I own Ansens and I have been wanting to use them. I got to find the right tires, for me cyphering thread width on a modern tire is not as easy as it is for some. I am thinking 190s will work, I have some 205x16 here and they are about 2" wider then the wheel.

Its like I said in the beginning, a stalled project you decide what you can live with and while they are odd but I don't hate the fenders. That and the wife likes the car and I am trying to put her ass in the seat, I may be running out of time on that. Not getting any younger.

@NashRodMan I may need a piece or two. I have not emptied the trunk completely yet. I'll keep you in mind. I am hoping I find the trim piece for the center of the front glass in the trunk for example, they did not V butt the glass, it has a gasket in there. It would be nothing to run some silicone in there but the divider would be cool.



I don't recall who mentioned it. Yes I am pretty sure it was a Business Coup. The back glass does not roll down for instance. There is a back seat to go in it that fits pretty good but I got an idea that whomever sits back there is gonna need little short legs and teeny tiny feet.

 

Yay Beaner!
Yay Mrs. Beaner!

 

The trip to retrieve it was an event of it's own. Started to snow like crazy once we were about 30 miles into it.
I've got pics but need to get them off the phone...
r

 

Just messing around tonight

Changed the the wheels and it went full Sorchick pretty fast!

 

Good work Mrs. Beano, good luck!

 

5-6 hour trip took about 12. We forget Kansas does not generally treat roads they just close them when they become impassable. In their defense out in western Kansas sometimes the snow falls by the truck load.

 

You'll get it cleaned up

 

You and me have been friends a long time, long enough for you to know I am an odd duck. It'll work out always does. Sometimes it does not work out as planned but it works out.

 

20 years man

 

Long time. Old friends are like old cars, pretty valuable. If they stay with ya they seem to overlook your quirks, they may not like them but they overlook them.

 

I had a '40 Chev coupe I bought back in '68 right after I got out of high school. Loved it, but never liked the '40 grille as well as I liked the '39 grille. I looked for a long time back then to try and find a '39 front clip to adapt to my '40 coupe, but finally gave up. Sold it to a friend back in '73 when I got out of the military and he still has it today!
I finally found my '39 coupe in 2019, and finished it two years later.

 

Missed one, the Master Deluxe passenger coupe, or often called the "opera coupe" because it didn't have a full backseat, and instead had two backseats that faced each other, and seat bases folded up into the trunk divider to allow the rear seat area to be used like a business coupe. This model also had sliding 1/4 windows, and is a fairly rare option. My '39 is a Master Deluxe Opera Coupe.

 

I had a 40 for a while in high school. Got it on the road with the original mill (I think a 216?) then took a 235 in trade for doing an engine swap. Rode that motor for a while, then took in a 283 4 bbl motor out of an X frame impala. That engine was the most fun. Someone lese needed the car as much as I needed to pay the bills so it went off to a new owner.

 

He told me he was going to radius the rear wheels and skirt the fronts just to mess with the squares

 

Is it finished yet?

 

I bought my '40 Chev coupe from a coworker back then when we both worked at the local Cadillac dealer. $50 and I drove it home sitting on a lawn chair because it had no seats! Original 216, but I got drafted a year later in '69 and the block cracked while I was gone. I drained the radiator, but didn't know you needed to drain the low point on the block.
When I got out of the service I bought the neighbor's '59 Imperial he rolled for $150 and my buddy and I dropped the whole drivetrain into my coupe. 413 wedge, Torqueflite, and the rear axle. All stock, but I think it was around 350 hp stock, and really moved the little coupe well!

 

Well they were not a light car but a 413 made good torque. Should have moved it along real well.

I have not checked the numbers on the business coup yet. The Master Deluxe tipped @ 3100 and change. Not bad for a pontoon fender or any fender car for that matter but not nearly as light as a Crosley. LOL

 

I sold my '40 to another coworker in 1973, and he let it rot away for 40 plus years. Then he paid a restoration shop to do a total rebuild, and make it a show quality ride. But they took the 413, trans and rear axle out, and went with a 383 SBC, TH400 trans, and 9" Ford. It kinda lost it's appeal to me, although it is gorgeous. He spent way too much since he paid others to do everything. But he finally got the car he wanted it to be.

 

Some times stalled projects are as close as walking out to your garage. Finally working on my '48 F1 panel 20 year project again. Good looking Chebby.

Lee

 

The hardest 5 minutes of any project are the 5
Minutes you have to force yourself to go out into the garage sometimes.

 

Congrats, Benno! I love 40 chevy coupes! I swapped mine for an O/T corvette. Bad mistake as my car only needed the rear pan replaced and a 1/2 quarter. I ran a 327, tremec 6 speed/9" Ford. Wish I'd kept it. Your car is painted/primed my f avorite color.

 

My main goal is making mine drivable. It is basically just wiring and bolting stuff together (that may be understated which you already know ). That said, if I can keep my steam up I got some black primer (catalyzed urethane) that I would like to squirt it with. But your favorite color is also mine.

 

It appears to have been sectioned about 4-6" too.

 

They pancaked the hood. They really worked to get the proportions right on that car. The mark of a well thought out custom is proportion. For an amature customizer like me it happens by necessity. You cut one thing then give it a look and say, well guess I better cut that too.

That custom is sweet.

 

I have actually built a hot Pinto or two (V8s and one with a tweaked cammer) that suspension works well under a Pinto. I actually know of a 40 Coupe with that suspension as well. But there are other options for an upgrade.

The knee action suspension was not optimal. I ran my first 40 with that suspension. If I had built this one knowing what I know now, I would have either run a live axle, dropped on parallel leaves. ORRRRRR My absolute dream suspension for one (and it may happen before I die) is 1st Gen Corvette, king pin suspension. It is a fairly easy swap. You can actually source most of it from a '53 Chebby and then run Corvette uprights. Either of those would be running 12" Buick brakes.

Or I have set one up with independent from a '61 Chevy truck it was a nightmare but it worked good when we were done. Lots of fab work and measuring on that one.

All that said, those changes would make it less trad adjacent. And right now this is a quick together trad adjacent project, quick being a relative term. LOL

We will be making several short hops, hopefully this summer. To work the bugs out. Kingston, Columbia, Lees Summit are actually our short list.

 

Got your chair ready looking forward to you rumbling into the the neighborhood

 

I can't wait to see this progress!

and by the way - I love this: "a spastic chimp on meth"

 

Heres a good direction to take it.