Termites and Bowties- Early Chevy Group

Great show pics brother! Really digged the last photo in black & white!

 

Anyone grab one of those hamb license plate toppers?

 

I got one, it showed up last Friday.

 

I’m still alive! Have not touched my 34 coupe in nearly 2 months. I found out that I had 11 of these S10 T5 transmissions. So I’ve been rebuilding them to sell. It’s kept me busy. Haha!

 

If you hook them all together and put them all in 5th gear behind a 4000 hp engine you could go really fast!

 

anyone know if there a thread for later body styles like the 1949-1952 and the 1953/54 body styles? I like the older cars like the ones posted on this thread but also appreciate the slightly newer styles as well.

 

Try a search for the years you like. You'll turn up something.

 

yeah , I'll have to try the years....I tried terms like- chevy, style line, etc and thats way too broad unfortunately and you can imagine the amount of results that turned up

 

Sometimes it is tricky or just a pain. Don't give up there is a lot here. I just tried a few and didn't find what I expected.

 

I’d start in the build threads section that’s pinned at the top of the forum.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/build-thread-index.651453/
Goes by year and in alphabetical order. Good luck.

 

Had these things sitting in a box for a year finally got em out

 

Club threw some dirt drags this weekend. Had a blast

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/Tho5hD5YwKg?is=8J0v0SNYAH8reR2F

 

Seriously very cool video - your 409 showed its power, getting squirrely off the line! WHAT A BLAST!!

 

Thanks! The dirt was pretty soft so we’re going to try and do better next year. But for the first year it was awesome

 

My 1931 Chevrolet Sport Coupe- five window coupe to most folks- has (finally!!!) reached the point where I can call it done (for the summer anyway- they're never done, right?).

Since the car had started its life with an inline six cylinder I decided to stick to that configuration but move a bit forward in time with a later model engine. It just so happened that I had a engine/transmission combo sitting under a bench- a friend had gotten a '67 Nova and was putting a small block/four speed in it and I was right there to get the 250 six-banger /Powerglide power-train as it came out of the car. I installed a rear end from a 4x4 S-10 and my drive-train was figured out.

I sold the entire original drive-train and accessories to another friend who has a '32 Chevy with the original running gear for spares. I upgraded the front brakes to mid-Fifties Chevy parts to match the juice rear brakes. After almost a year I pulled out of the shop (fender-less) and drove it last summer like that.

Last September I pulled it back into the shop to finish it up; mostly body and paint. The front fenders had spare tire slots so I had to fill those in and the rears were just too trashed to use. I was able to find a guy selling reproductions on that big auction site so I grabbed them. Side aprons, running boards, front frame cover, and gas tank cover all needed work, lots of work. But eventually it is done and turned out great -I used a Hot Rod Flatz single stage in "Brickyard Red" with a Hot Rod Gloss "Ivory" firewall.

While it was apart, I also changed out the Powerglide for a T-5 5 speed transmission with a Novak hydraulic clutch, cast iron headers, dual exhaust, and a Clifford intake manifold. The plan was to make an adapter to run a Rochester 2-Jet but I couldn't get the accelerator pump to work consistently so, for now, I had to make another adapter and put the Monojet single barrel back on it.

This winter will see engine improvements. I've already started building a 292 six for the car that will be cammed enough to justify putting a four barrel carb on that Clifford manifold.

But for now it is done and ready for the road and I am definitely ready to go cruising the back roads.

**I really should have put together a build thread but I always forget to take pictures as I go until it's too late.

IMG_8480 by brokedownbiker posted Jun 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM

IMG_8483 by brokedownbiker posted Jun 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM

IMG_8484 by brokedownbiker posted Jun 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM

IMG_8485 by brokedownbiker posted Jun 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM

 

I know there’s a few here with a 31 Chev or Poncho, so if any of you are running a hood with sides, could you give me the measurements on the gaps(side-rad shell & side to cowl)? Finally got the bends on my subrails to match the kick ups on the frame and need to get the cowl rough placed(I have pics with measurements but they’re unfortunately on a now defunct laptop) so I’ll take any help I can get.
Thanks.

 

You've come a long way!

 

I’M BACK!
My last post was 3/31/26.
I had to take time off from building this 1934 coupe. I rebuilt and sold 9 manual transmissions. I also sold my 1965 Chevy truck. That put some cash in the bank and cleaned up a lot of clutter.
I’m looking forward to putting some energy back into my project.

 

Glad you’re back on it again. I’m slowly plodding along on mine still:

Need to get the cowl off the wall and start fitting it so I can get my stringers notched and permanent so I can set the body on and get the rest of the side bracing bent and welded.

 

welcome back

 

Door alignment is going well today.

 

Does this plan seem reasonable?
Please give advice. I almost have my doors aligned . . . but . . .
I’ve not yet added the internal steel to replace the original wood. So the doors are merely door skin with the door frame portion for the door gl***.
My plan is to align the doors NOW, the way they are with 5 pounds of additional ballast to simulate the weight once the full door rebuild is done. The hinges have been rebuilt with new bushings.
I know the doors will weigh more than they do now after I add the bracing behind the door skins.

 

I wouldn't add free weight. Just build the door frames without making the door skin sag or shift. When I built the inner door frames, I didn't even have the hinges in place. I rolled a 3/16" X 2" piece of flat bar to match the curve of the body/door and placed it under the belt line and cleckoed in place on the door and to the Body. Now the door always went exactly where I wanted it to live. I could remove it and place it back exactly in the same place as often as needed. You can still see the Cleco holes in the quarter and cowl panel here. I don't have a photo of them hung in place while building the inners.

Also, If you're going to Mig Weld your inners together plan ahead for shrink and warp movement. That's the nature of wire welding. I Tig most everything so that is a very minimal event. There are places Mig Welding is acceptable but in Body construction for me.

 

Probably the most productive day I’ve ever had in the shop. Doing a happy dance right now. The doors are aligned. For several months I’ve resisted the urge to drill out and move the hinge. However, that’s exactly what it took to get the beltline just under the top hinge where it should be. It probably was never this good from the factory.

 

Those are the kind of days we all wish for. We don't get them often so enjoy it. Looks good!

 

a few Chevs at our Aussie coffee run

 

By the time you're done there will be a lot of it better than the day it rolled out the Factory doors.

 

Please give advice. Share pictures if you have some.
I need to internally brace the body as my next step. I understand that triangulation is very rigid. Without a floor or sub flooring, the body wants to move. I have some angle iron. I’ll use turnbuckles for fine-tuning.
I want to brace the body front to back, side to side, and also diagonally to avoid any twist.