History FOUND- Nick Arias Jr.'s '37 Chevy Coupe

I also had the honor of piloting Don Ferguson's GMC powered FED this past weekend at the Mooneyes X-Mas party. It has an Arias/Howard 12 port and it runs on a healthy dose of 95% Nitro. We pulled off a 5.002 @ 139 MPH leaving off idle. Fun ride!

 

Great work and those catalogs are a treasure in themselves!

 

Thank you! Yes, they are good as gold. It's amazing how much stuff connected to this car has come about. I'm forever grateful for it.

 

Started mockup of the LaSalle trans/adapter to the GM 6 cyl. truck bellhousing. I have yet to find any literature on how to adapt a LaSalle to GM as far as the correct clutch/flywheel, throw out bearing, clutch fork combo, so I have to figure it out myself. The Cad throw out bearing and retainer is much bigger than stock GM, so the stock '38 clutch fork cannot not slide over the bearing ears to engage the clutch without having to modify the ends and widening the gap on the fork. I have tried a '50 Olds clutch fork, but it is stamped steel and far too bulky to fit within the bellhousing opening. The center to center between the bearing and ball stud on the Cad/Olds and the Chevy forks are nearly identical, so that should be good for the geometry of everything.

I finally got around to sealing up the back of the LaSalle and safety wiring all of the bolts. Not sure it'll p*** FAA spec, but it'll do.

I am also looking for a harmonic balancer rebuilder as well. If anyone has a good recommendation, I would appreciate a lead. This old Wayne balancer has gotta make its way back on the car... it is too cool.

And lastly, I busted out the Comet yesterday and continued to clean the car. It's incredible how good of shape the paint is on this car after sitting outside for 50+ years. I removed the fenders and detailed them inside and out as well.

 

Technical - Harmonic balancer repair. | The H.A.M.B.

 

Thank you. I have reached out to Damper Dudes.

 

It’ll buff out. Hehe

 

Thanks for the updates Justin! Still my favorite thread on here. I’m mesmerized by the safety ties on the allen bolts lol. I need to learn how to do that someday.

Those catalogs are cool as heck too, wow. What a find!

 

This has been an amazing journey. And still is an impressive one.

 

Progress has been slow but steady over here, as I am currently rebuilding the engine in my El Camino, so I am bouncing back and forth between projects. In this series of photos, I am modifying the bellhousing to accommodate the Cyclone adapter plate for the LaSalle. The car came with a bellhousing, but it didn't match and was installed at a later date than when the engine was built (based on the rust and paint color difference). The truck bellhousing that came with it is a '54+, and it didn't make sense to me to use a bellhousing that was brand spankin' new when the car was built in '53-'54. So, I went to see Jerry Turner at Turner's Auto Wrecking in Fresno, Ca for the correct one. That place RULES. This one is for '48-'53 truck (Left in 1st photo).

Since the bolt holes on all four corners of the transmission adapter are threaded, I drilled out the upper threaded holes in the bellhousing. The only option to make the adapter work with this bellhousing was to reverse spot face the inside of the bolt holes for a bolt & washer to sit flush. The inside of the casting is too narrow and has no flat spot (2nd photo). The top two trans-to-bellhousing bolts originally installed from the outside, now they're on the inside.

I also had to poke a hole in the bellhousing for the shifter shaft that sticks way out in the breeze when in low gear. It bottomed out about an inch before it needed to, so I drilled a hole in the bellhousing in the appropriate spot but had the local machine shop EDM drill it a lil bigger for some room (I didn't have a bigger drill at home). A few other details here and there, and it fits beautifully. It has perfect crush on the candlestick and bearing, with gasket installed, after I counterbored the snap ring register in the adapter. I can't wait to go through gears in this thing.

I mocked everything up with a spare (and ironically yellow) GMC that my girlfriend's dad picked up for me up north. I love the shopping cart stand it's on.

More soon!

 

So cool to see this coming back to life!

 

Next project was modifying the stock '38 clutch fork to fit the much larger Cadillac/Oldsmobile throw out bearing than the Chevy. The stock Cad bearings **** up against the forks and are retained by clips rather than the Chevy style that registers to the fork by sliding the tabs into the bearing groove like normal. These forged Chevy forks are heat treated, and VERY hard! I found that out when I tried to drill them with a small cobalt steel drill. I ordered some custom carbide drills and located the proper spot for the retaining clip holes to provide tension to the bearing, but not too tight that it can't pivot when the fork is articulated. The inside gap of the two tabs were widened to fit the bearing and m***aged in various places to fit. It works perfectly when installed on the transmission which is very exciting. This is the pinnacle of hot rodding, and it's cool doing the same kind of work these guys did 70 years ago to get these parts to all work together.

 

I am slowly collecting parts for the QC, and finally found the same style rear cover plug that's pictured in the Petersen Archives photos of the coupe from Bonneville in 1954. Most 1/4 NPT plugs of the same style have a larger square head, but these ones are noticeably smaller so I went on a search to see who made them. I recognized the logo, but couldn't quite remember whose it was. After some homework, turns out they are Imperial Br*** Co. plugs and I just happened to find a ton of NOS ones on Ebay shortly after, SCORE!

 

A few other updates for now. I recently received a full set of NOS military issued chilled iron lifters from my favorite Uncle Gary Cope. I can have the original ones polished, but figured it's a good idea to use some new ones after the cam has been polished. BIG thanks to Gary for the help!

I was also gifted a *****in, old Stewart Warner water temp gauge from my dad who grabbed it at the old Arias shop before it sold. It was my grandpas and was at the shop for decades. He didn't have any other hot rods or racecars after the coupe, so it's very likely it came out of the car. Why it was parted, I don't know. I have an original print of the engine and it shows the same looking loom going through the firewall to the engine. Could very well be the same one! Either way, it's going on the car this time.

A major part of this car (re)build is organizing, identifying and cleaning the many fasteners, fittings, brackets, etc. that were just piled in boxes and jars when I bought it all. I bought some good USA made storage bins and bags from McMaster-Carr to get some stuff in their right place.

To be continued soon...

 

hell

heck--YOU should open a partshouse!

 

I have a '37 LaSalle box behind a Cadillac flathead in my Model A, and had to deal with that shift shaft that launches out the front of the trans in low gear. I had a later model bellhousing that did not have the hole for the shaft, so had to drill it out. I also made a small cup that is fastened inside the bellhousing, surrounds the shaft, and seals to the surface just in case any gear lube tries to make its way into the bell.

 

Lil update on the ol' coupe. Rebuilt the master cylinder with the intention of keeping the exterior exactly the same and I think it went well. I sent the master cylinder to Apple Hydraulics in Calverton, NY for a br*** re-sleeve and they absolutely knocked it out. I took their recommendation on br*** over stainless, so we will see how it does. I'm not the best at taking "before" photos because I tend to jump into a project and tear into it before stopping and taking progress photos until later on. But, I am happy and used an NOS Delco rebuild kit that was is brand new condition. Rubber was still soft and the steel parts didn't have rust which is a good sign of lack of moisture in the box after ~70 years of sitting on the shelf.

The steel pivot shaft that is pinned to the two ears in the master casting had some good bushing wear from years of the brake and clutch pedals riding on them, so I centerless ground the shaft to clean it up and ordered new, undersized custom bushings for the pedals to be honed to size. Probably a little overkill, but I think it'll really improve the function especially with a heavy duty clutch.

Justin

 

Next up is the steering box. Stupid me got water in the box after all the cleaning I did, and it made a MESS inside the box and seized the sector shaft. I just purchased an NOS sector shaft on Ebay and ordered a rebuild kit from the Filling Station for new bearings, bushings, seals, etc. I am trying hard to keep the paint on all these parts so there's a lot of elbow grease put into these components and their hardware.

More soon!

 

Good to hear about Apple Hydraulics. Never had to use any of their services but had heard some unspecific negative reviews. So it was nice to hear from someone who actually used them and vouched for the quality.

 

I was referred to them by Vinny at C.H. Topping in Long Beach who I have always trusted. Heck, I've had a bad experience with them too, but it was more of a customer service concern over the actual quality of the work performed. There's two sides to every story. I really risked sending this irreplaceable (to me) part all the way to the other side of the country, sight unseen, but honestly couldn't have asked for much more. It was a lil pricey, but I am fine with spending it if I know I won't have to send it back and complain which seems more and more common these days. If you call, ask for Lazar and he'll get you taken care of.

 

Glad to see the updates, this is one of the cooler projects on the board. I haven't heard of Apple Hydraulics before, that's good to know. White Post is another company that re-sleeves master cylinders, although I'd think any decent machinist could perform the work.
(that is, if you could find one willing to do the job.)

 

Remarkable that the rubber parts are still good. If only we still had that technology.

I'm curious what the reasons were for using a br*** sleeve vs. stainless. I read years ago that br*** wears quickly in a regularly driven vehicle.

 

Thank you for the detail here and the great pictures. What a cool build.

 

Apple Hydraulics said the stainless is a lot harder on the rubber components than the br***. I was siding with stainless myself, but he talked me out of it. If you cycle the brakes on a car that doesn't get driven often, the heat should keep moisture out of the system and you must not use a silicone based brake fluid, like DOT 5. I used just good ol' Prestone DOT 3. We shall see!

 

Thank you! The progress is slow, but steady. The amount of detail I try to invest in this car naturally takes a ton of time but it's worth every minute. I appreciate the kind words!

 

Love to see original stuff being rebuilt and reused, two thumbs up for the vintage parts as well

 

Got the custom bushings in from Debbie Jackson at Precision Products Performance Center in NC and they came out perfect. I measured the bores in the pedals and ordered them for the proper interference for press and undersized the I.D. to be honed to .0015" clearance. The bores in the pedals were countersunk for smooth bushing install and I'll lap the ends of the bushings flush with the face. Totally overboard, but why not?

 

Laid out a bunch of the parts that have been thoroughly cleaned, rebuilt and brought back from the dead, and it was a pleasant sight of all that's been completed to this point. As you can probably tell, I am focusing hard on the little details of every component down to the washers and fittings. The hardest part is not going too far to make them look new!

A lot of parts were chromed by the next owner, and I've made the decision to polish them back to a shine but avoiding replating, repolishing or repainting as many parts as possible. Everything perfectly shows its age but they're nice and clean. I don't think anything will look out of place when it's done. Many of the steel linkages, mag drive, brackets etc. were frozen and rusted, so I am pleased to have them all back to working order.

The rest are some of the acquired parts for the car, including quick change bearings, motor mounts, spark plug wire, fuel pumps and misc. others. The LaSalle & bellhousing are 100% complete with an NOS throwout bearing, pilot bearing and modified clutch fork. Still debating whether to paint the bellhousing or not... it's currently soaked in WD-40.

 

Justin, make sure the distributor gear is bronze if the camshaft is steel. Hard to tell in your photo. I found a supplier for them. The 194-292 uses the same one as the old Chevrolet and GMC 6’s.
If the adapter bellhousing was never painted or you’re saving the way it is you can always coat it with Max 2K satin or flat clear. It will preserve what you have an be easier to clean.
It’s great to read what you’re doing and sharing with us. I think about and still miss your grandpa, Joe Fontana, Ed I, Howard Johanson/+ Sons and many more; all who I grew up buying from and getting their advice. JD

 

Thanks a ton JD. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow morning at Donuts.

The gears are cast it seems, and definitely not bronze. The core that was in the engine is steel for sure, but seemed to work with the installed gear on the tach drive ***embly. I'll start looking at bronze gears anyway. Who is your source for those?