Hot Rods 1938 Chevy Coupe I Just Bought Bell Auto Parts Connection

I agree that if you put any paint on it, it really has to be blue with a red firewall again (maybe the firewall is good enough to preserve? Door jambs maybe too? Would be neat to save some of the paint if possible). Unfortunately it looks pretty sanded off to keep much if any of the current outside paint, but at least it should be good to match it up to. To change anything (including colors) after being preserved that long seems like a shame.

A car this highly finished, and this distinctive/identifiable, I would think there's gotta be period pictures of it somewhere. Hope you find some.

 

Very cool car, and I like the '37 front clips a little better than '38's. The interior, and the whole build are very cool!

 

Squablow...I really don't understand the red firewall...was that a thing? Ive seen period cars with a white firewall. I'm thinking Chuck was going to paint the car red..and that got painted first. The blue is a neat color seen in the jambs..etc. Ill shoot for that color.

I hope there are period pictures of it out there...that would be awesome.

I used to love 38s over 37s...before I even heard of this car that had changed to preferring 37s over 38s. Chuck was born in 1937...maybe that's why he switched the nose? Who knows. Don Nowells 37 was a major reason why I like 37s more now..

 

Amazing find!

 

Holy cow! Amazing

 

You know Don Nowell's coupe was a '38 with a '37 fibergl*** nose on it. Great car also

 

Very Nice! If the window moldings were original to the car before going to the chrome shop, the car was built as a Master Deluxe. In that case, it would have had Chevrolet's earliest independent front suspension. Clearly that's not what is there now but given the connection to Bell Auto would it be a real Bell by any chance?

 

Didn't know that about Nowells car being a '38. That's cool...

Yes it was a master deluxe...was switched to straight axle..but it appears to be a truck axle? Will post some pics of that when I drag it out of the garage...

 

That is some *****in interior...... awesome find

 

Way cool, great score!

 

Very cool . I think it has found the right caretaker

 

Wow!! Great find!!

 

***S!!

 

My '39 was a Master Deluxe with control arm suspension also, and I swapped in a '58 Chev truck axle. They're easier to get parts for than a stock late 30's Chevy solid axle. Had to narrow it 5" to fit my '39, but that also made the springs align under the frame better.

 

Is the inside/underside of the hood also red? I could maybe see the engine compartment being painted in a different color just to make it showy looking/stand out when the hood is open. I don't know if it was ever really a trend, but the engine certainly was painted and lettered to show, it's possible. It's different for sure, I think if the whole engine compartment was painted and detailed that way, I'd really like it.

 

I bought a '56 Studebaker parts car 23 years ago that had the back seat done in that crazy black and white material!

 

I didnt get a hood, headlights or running boards with the car..but they might exist somewhere on the property. There are sheds and containers to dig through. I'll have to look at it closely to see if the red is old or new paint. I did get some pieces that look like inner fender stuff that is red. Looks like it might be two pieces per side...one of them per side is upholstered white like the material used on the white parts of the interior..

 

So is there just a short block in the car now with the hydro attached? I like the copper engine color. Looks like they had a big 90 degree breather on there. That might be a stroker crank in there, they were common, and he had the connections for sure.

 

Way Cool! Love the interior!

 

Bob...there is a most of a motor in there. I think it might be a 303 or 324. Casting number on the block is 561747. There is a Moon finned aluminum front cover and a big Gilmer belt blower pulley on the bottom. The heads are #10s and are ported. There are newish looking valves in the heads, so I think the heads are redone. The valve covers are old chrome.

 

The age of that Schieffer flywheel decal on the cowl would be a good indicator of the age of the firewall paint. If those upholstery inserts indeed are part of the engine compartment, then it was almost certainly detailed under the hood in show-car style.

Are those unused header flanges bolted to the heads, or are those custom made block off plates? That's interesting, too.

 

What a cool find

 

Great find! Congratulations. Don Nowell's car, one of the best.

 

Don Nowell was a local Granada Hills racer and a great guy. I was interested in his car because I'd heard it was a '38. He confirmed that it was with a gl*** '37 front clip. Beautiful and a very well built g***er. The '37 sheetmetal was always my favorite. I had family that lived in Bell, Calif and I bought my first Hurst Compe***ion shifter from the Bell Auto store. I don't remember this Chevy g***er but it does have a great history. Hope it's put back together and runs at Bakersfield.

 

I'm guessing a week ago, when you would wake in the morning, you'd wanna pinch yourself.
Unbelievable.

 

Firewall may have been from original engine (pre-olds). I have seen pics and cars built in the 50s and '60s that the firewall matched the engine color. One thing I think that we do not recognize about hot rodders and the rules is that the main rule that many followed was/is "whatever makes ya happy".

Like the old coupe man. Looks like fun to me. That dash is delicious by the way.

@Squablow I think you commented on wheels and tires. I usually go after wheels and tires early in a build. In my mind it sets the tone of the build.

 

It looks like he put together a mock-up engine to set up the blower drive and pump and build headers.
Ported #10 heads would be good street heads these days. Since the owner himself was making some changes, feel free to paint the firewall another period color. Zolatone?

 

Bob...I agree...I believe this car had an Olds engine in its first version completed in 1957. I think the engine is the same one from back then, just being prepped for a blower. I think the "Jolt by J2" on the pan was from its first go round. Finding a 303-324 blower intake might be a problem.

 

I think Weiand may have used the same casting for 324-early 394 engines just machined differently and stamped 324 or 371 after machining. I believe that a 371 version could be remachined to fit a 324. The port mismatch would prevent using it on a 303 unless #9 or 10 heads were used.

 

Any updates? Find a blower manifold?