I'll be using this thread to document progress on my 1941 Chevy Coupe. It's April, 2024, and I had just sold a modern motorcycle and had some cash making my right rear pocket hot. I was really looking for something in the traditional vein, and for some reason, this '41 Chevy from Kentucky kept coming across my marketplace feed. The guy who owned it had gotten it in a trade deal, and was looking to move it down the road. It was pitched as "could be driveable in a weekend." We know how that song goes, right? I texted a couple buddies about it, and with very little convincing needed, I pulled the trigger. I bought it sight unseen and sent another good friend down to Kentucky to fetch it for me. It turns out to be an overall very solid car with some "quick" body work and paint done. There's mud in the right hand rocker, and its painted in this satin metallic green color with varying levels of sheen per body panel. The rest of the sheet metal, frame, and floor is pretty rock solid. This is probably worth a lot more than I realize as I've lived in salty West Michigan my whole life, and we're talking about an 83-year-old car here. Supposedly all the trim and bumpers were inside the car including some trim and pieces from what I can only assume was a parts car. I now had a bunch of extra trim to pick and choose from, plenty of spare parts, and as I learned soon enough, plenty of odds and ends missing from the stash too! The Chevy is running the original drivetrain with a 216 buzzin' half dozen, vacuum assist 3 on the tree, and solid driveline. The "12 volt conversion" made me laugh a little as it appeared to be as simple as a 12 volt ignition coil and a couple wires run to a toggle switch on the dash. I utilized these parts to get it fired up and running shortly after getting it into my shop. Having a little bit better idea of what I got myself into, I compiled a mental list of needs, wants, and thought some about my vision for the car, or at least where I'd like to see it in this phase. My vision for this thing is a very mild custom. I'm trying to stick to parts from the 40's, with a maybe very early 50's "bolt-on" custom type feel. I have plans to lower the car, put all the trim and bumpers back on, install some different caps, a split exhaust, maybe a dual carb setup, and kick up some dust. I've been calling this car "The Dusty Custom" in my head because I live on a dirt road, and I can't have nice things! So if this thing gets driven, it will most definitely be dusty. What it needs at this point is a carb rebuild, generator install, check to see if it holds fluids of all kinds, a fuel pump, brake shoes, wheel cylinders, hoses, I am going to put it back to 6 volt as all the original wiring looks to be in place on the car . I'm sure I will encounter some fun detours on the way, but I wanted to introduce this project to the HAMB and get caught up here to the current state of things. I started this whole project in April, 2024, and I've since done a lot of this work, but I want to keep this thread somewhat chronological for documentation's sake. I have been doing a video series on my YouTube channel documenting this project so I will embed the videos if that's your thing. I also come from the world of forums and build thread, scrolling through 33 pages late into the night reading and looking at photos, so for you guys who are into that, I'm pulling stills from the video that pertain to the story so the thread can stand on its own. Hope you enjoy the ride, and thank you for being here!
dunno, when it says "subscribe" or "watch/follow, etc." I immediately turn it off or go elsewhere. Too much of that out there.
Hoping we may get updates here. I don’t really enjoy watching videos on doing this stuff. Otherwise, cool project.
Wow, I appreciate the response here so far! My intent with this thread is to document the progress of the car. I make the videos first, so the still shots are from that source material. Videos are there for you to take or leave. I love forums and I want to make sure this thread stands on its own. I also enjoy writing so this gives me a little bit of an outlet in that avenue. I've had a busy couple of weeks, but I'm working on the next post as I type this. Thanks for being here guys!
At this point, having done not much but look at the car and get it to fire up, I needed to dig in deeper. There were some things definitely left unfinished by whoever worked on this thing last. It looked like the paint job had been done, and a very small amount of reassembly had taken place. I started by adding fuel to the tank to see if it would hold fuel. It sounded and looked like it was bone dry when I first looked over the car. I got a couple gallons into the tank, and it held! Check! Next I noticed what looked like a replacement water pump, and a few of the hose clamps were not installed on the upper radiator hose and one of the heater hoses. Threw a couple clamps on there and filled the radiator. From the sound of the coolant going in, it was also BONE dry. I didn't notice any leaks right away, so I jacked up the car and pulled the wheels off to inspect the brakes. I added brake fluid and sent up a prayer. I pumped the pedal, Nothing happened. I should mention the brake reservoir was also bone dry. I removed the drums and found what I didn't want to see, but also, what I expected to find: The rear wheel cylinders had leaked all over the place! Bouncing back to the fuel system, The seller had mentioned the fuel pump was not working. It looked like someone had replaced it once already, as it was painted Chevrolet Orange. I set up a little fuel system composed of a funnel, a hose, and a zip tie to feed the carb while I watched for fuel flow. After running the engine for a minute or so, of course there was nothing! After some time swapping the new pump on, modifying the inlet line, and adding a new filter before the pump, it was time to test for fuel flow again. I ran the engine again, and just as I was about to shut it down, fuel started chugging out of the line that should feed the carburetor! Will it feed itself fuel? Yup. Check! After all this time, I never got any leakage from the cooling system either. Will it hold water? Yeperr. Check! All big steps in the right direction for getting it on the road again. Now I just had brakes to deal with. I'll get to that in the next one! If you'd rather sit back and watch than read and scroll, here you go! Take it or leave it! I'll be back with more in due time.
I'm not gonna go crazy explaining how I did the brakes for you guys. I picked up new hoses, wheel cylinders, and brake shoes. I cleaned everything, greased the bearings and replaced all the above mentioned parts. I then proceeded to bleed the brakes using a vacuum bleeder... ...I wasn't able to get the air out of the system. Surprise! The master cylinder is leaking brake fluid past the seals! The large spot on the cardboard in the above photo accumulated over the course of about a week directly under the master. I could see on the front of the master it was all wet too... Looks like I'll have to replace the master cylinder.... Wasn't looking forward to that, but it was always in the back of my mind that I might have to do it. Here goes! The take-it-or-leave-it video getting into the dirty details of brakes on these cars:
Alright boys, I'm sick of playing catchup, and I've been tinkering on the car pretty regularly lately so lets get caught up! So.....I replaced the master cylinder! Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I made up a new piece of 1/4" brake line with a piece I had lying in the corner that was the perfect length. I had do do some ultra-light fabrication with the fitting that came with the new master. It needed to be cut shorter in order to work with the tube nut on the end of the line, and I needed to change the flare on the master end of the line to a bubble-type flare. After all this, I was able to bleed the brakes using a bungee cord after removing the pedal return spring with only one man: ME! I did have some pedal pressure after a few pumps. Good enough to know the brakes would work with some more bleeding and adjustment. I got sick of looking at the car up on stands for several months, so I decided to do something to motivate me to keep going. I got to work lowering the car with 3" blocks in the rear, and ultimately cut 1.5 coils off the front springs. I think it sits perfect for the look I'm going for. With the car sitting on the ground and looking the way I envisioned, I put on these Olds wannabe sombrero caps, and I started hanging trim on the sides and just tinkering with putting little pieces back onto the exterior; Headlights, tail lights, side trim, hood springs, deck lid latch and support, etc. At one point I discovered the seat was not bolted into the car. Upon further investigation, I found that I only had the right side seat slider in my parts pile. I was able to locate another slider on eBay, but after some false information I read telling me that both sides were the same, I realized that I had 2 right side sliders, and they are, in fact, not the same on either side! Well, a guy needs a place to sit that isn't a true "bucket seat," so I built this improvised-but-sturdy little bracket out of some scrap metal C channel and a couple pieces of lumber I found sitting in the corner. That seat isn't going anywhere, and you better believe it's no longer adjustable! Good thing I found the sweet spot. I reinstalled the seat into the car and I was one step closer. This is how the car sits right now. I've been picking away at it, but a few big things need to happen in order to meet my goal of driving the car THIS YEAR YET: 1. Install a generator so I can put a belt on it 2. Adjust and bleed the brakes better 3. Rebuild the carb 4. Replace the pitman arm bushings and do a dirty driveway eyeball alignment Stay tuned here for more, I fully intend to drive this thing up and down the road even if there's a little bit of white flaky stuff on the ground!
Dads first car was a '41 chevy convert. He totaled it in front of the high school and unfortunately I don't have any pics of it but do have a few of his '40 coupe. He was 16 in 1952 when these pics were shot and was about to leave for an all expense paid trip to Korea courtesy of the USMC. He liked his cars low right up to the end.
I like seeing these old photos of your everyday old hot rods and customs, kinda the vibe I'm going for here. Something anybody could have done in the late 40's / early 50's. Thanks for sharing these!
I’ve been slacking on this thing a little bit, I mean busy with my real life… anyway. I get a couple hours here and there to do ANYTHING around my house, and when I was done working on my broken lean-to, I had to fire the Chevy up and pull it outside for some motivation. There’s a little video of me walking around the car on my Instagram if you are interest in seeing that: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBrzN1Zv5jd/?igsh=MWNva3V4a244Yjk4Mw==
Thanks! I'd love to see it lower, but the next level of low probably involves a lot more time and money than I have right now! I really like where it sits compared to how it sat when I got it, so I'm gonna roll with it!
The Jalopy Journal
