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

Loving this build, Neal. The car looks great and the work on the steering boxes is fantastic. Mart.

 

Really! While you may ***** about the price; there are some parts where only chrome will do.

 

Got the heads clearanced for the Potvin 3/8 cam. I spot faced the valve pocket with an endmill, then smoothed out the combustion chambers to eliminate any sharp edge/hot spots. I did a final check with grease on the valves checking for any contact with no head gasket. I had a couple small spots to clean up, but all clear now.

 

I also messed with the dash a little bit. I chose a hypothetical 1956/57 build date for this car, so trying to keep parts from that era or older. Since the SW big block gauges date to the 56/57 time frame, i chose 56/57 Thunderbird switches. I installed the T-Bird ignition and light switches in the SW straight eight panel, as well as a cigar lighter in the column drop.

I think the switches go well with the rest of what's going on here.

 

That looks great!

 

Hi Neal. Great looking dash/gauge/switch/wheel combo.

 

Looks really great! Nice work as usual!

 

WOW, WOW, WOW!

Glenn

 

X2

 

Like the adjustable Red Line arrow on the tach!

 

Stellar!

 

X3. Fantastic work. Really like when guys pick a specific year or two for their cars and stick to it. Final product looks outstanding when you do that.

The mixing of parts and styles from various decades really burned me out on the whole 'g***er' thing. Nice to see a purist putting this deuce together.

 

switches & horn ****on look amazing . I have made some items out of stainless freeze plugs & polished

 

wow what a set of gauges very impressive as is the rest of it

 

Picking a hypothetical build date is a great idea. The dash looks spot-on. Did you source the gauges separately or were you lucky enough to find a set?

 

The gauges were one at a time over the last 10-15 years. Swapmeets, parts trading, HAMB, Ebay, Instagram, etc...

 

Love it! Those knobs/ switches were stock in my ‘54 Customline as well. Once the T-bird came out they swiped them for it! (Or so I have been led to believe...)

 

That's cool to know, and that makes it more plausible that they would have found their way into a hot rod dash by 56/57.

 

Also, if you get yourself a spare radio knob you can adapt your ignition key into it and it looks pretty trick!

 

I like the key he has, in that location...reminds me of where it is in my 55 f100 and the key is similar (fit's his theme well). There were a lot of split kneecaps in the 50's - no seat belt + frontal collision = kneecap meets ignition key - it was quite common.
Is there a separate starter ****on somewhere?

 

I do as well. Not talking about changing the location. I’m saying you could put another knob on the end of the key and it would look just like another dash knobs/switches. I set one up like that for my ‘54 just for fun. I don’t have a picture handy and sold the car a few years ago unfortunately.

 

That is a very cool idea with the radio knob, but I think SDS was just referring to the 50's Ford key being a nostalgic piece in itself...




Something to further add to the 50's vibe of the dash. And I agree. I wanted an old Ford key, part of the reason I chose the T-Bird switches.

 

I just ran across this old mockup pic. There wasn't even a frame or axles under tbis. Just 2x4's and dreams holding it up.

 

How cool is that!

 

Gotta love a mock-up!
It means that what were once dreams and ideas just took a big step toward a reality.
Great car and thread!

 

Pic from Roadster.Com
There is alot of information about Stewart Warner Gauges
dates / years and torque thrust wheels and more

 

Here's some of the SW Big Logo/Big Block Gauge info from Roadsters.com

And some info on the SW 8 Gauge "Special" panels






So thinking back on it, the gauges are what set my hypothetical build date. The dash and gauges were really the first parts I started gathering for this project. I had plans to build a 5w way before I had a 5w.

 

A decade or two ago I gave Dave Mann that SW dating info, and then we discussed the dates on the back of my gauges in my collection to determine the changeovers from winged to big logo to modern, and even production of the twin blues. There is no hard and fast rule on the changeover date, but we narrowed it down best we could. I had dozens of gauges and catalogs of the era to review, and he had lots as well. I wonder what ever happened to Dave?

 

Thanks for the additional info. I googled Dave and he seems to still be active on Facebook.

 

I love that you started with the dash and gauges and let them lead the way for this project. Looking at the whole of it, so far, it's really cohesive.

My thinking/inspiration/effort is similar with my coupe.