Projects 1938 chevy gasser

I'm not a fan of the extreme nose high stance on these old coupes (or anything else too!) so I lik the drop I beam axles. I also like the looks of the I beam axles, and especially with some lightening holes drilled to add to the look.
I'm using a '55-'59 Chevy truck axle in mine, but I did have to narrow it 5" to make it fit the car's width, and that also made the springs align perfectly with the rails.

 

Looks Great in white!

 

Nice start on a great project. '37 - '38 Chevrolet coupes make great hot rods. I've had my '38 for fifty years. Recently I learned something new about their frame wall thickness. Back in the late 70's I installed a 327 four speed in mine. I fabricated front engine mounts and secured to the frame rails with four nutserts per side feeling I had made a very solid cradle for the new motor. Many miles and years later, this summer I heard an odd noise under the hood. It was the fan ticking the lower radiator hose. Either the core support had move up, not likely, or the engine had moved down. It was the latter and further investigation revealed that over time, torque had worked the factory frame side wall on both driver and passenger sides enough to shear a nice "smile" under each of my home built mounts. See photo. No fix for this one except to blow it apart and weld it up. It's on the way back together now with a few updates but my 2 cents for your project is to design your front mounts with this in mind.

 

Went ahead and started the sheet metal work with the firewall. Going to locate the brake and clutch pedals

 

That is the stock Chebbie axle , at least it is the same axle that was in my 37 Coupe

 

Those top hat style frames are just sheet metal . I always added tubes through the frame to strengthen my mounting surface . Ladder bars of some type are a must , I twisted a NOS set of rear springs into a nice S shape easily . My thoughts were the torque tube was , there to stop twisting of the axle / springs . No torque tube = ladder bars

 

I never care for the look. Especially when some one builds something that did not start life with a solid front axle then get’s a van/truck axle then uses blocks. I’m just that way.

 

Bending the roll cage, had to set the body back on the frame so I can fit all the bars tight.

 

Love your car!

 

Thank you! I will for sure

 

The stock frames are much thicker than sheet metal, but not as thick as a C shaped frame rail. There have been numerous big hp cars running the drags in past years and using the stock frames. The issue is the mounting points really need to incorporate the bottom of the frame rails where the thickness is doubled. My motor mounts are welded to the inside of the boxed frame, but also to the bottom frame rails so they get support from below and from the side.

 

Glad to see some progress on this one!

 

Nice work man, a 38 chevy coupe is a car I've wanted for a long time but have never managed to get one, I was a FCH from buying this one a couple weeks back, but I'm just out of room for it and not willing to sell anything to make the room.



A 37 would be just as nice but I like the 38's horizontal grill bars better for whatever reason.
I have many photos of 37-38's saved but I really dig this yellow one.

 

Agreed 1971BB427, and my revised design incorporates just that support from the bottom. Never too old to learn.

 

I know! It’s about time

 

Thank you, that yellow car is very cool, the six cylinder just makes it plain awesome

 

My grandpas 37 Chevy in 68-69

 

Wow! You had a cool grandpa with a awesome car

 

Bent the roll cage tubing and tacked into place

 

Going to remove the body for welding and finishing

 

Cut the original floor down the sides and removed the body

 

Cage is completely welded. Next up is some custom made brake and clutch pedals

 

I am sure you checked to make sure the body fit after the roll cage was constructed;!

 

He built it inside the body, and then removed the boy to finish welding. Check his earlier posts.

 

Of course,Hambers know what they are doing;!

 

Looking great . My HS Buddy , his Dad has a ‘38 with blown Pontiac in it . Raced it for years . It left such an impression on me that I looked for years and found my 37 Coupe .

 

Sounds like my story! Had a buddy in high school his dad had a 38 chevy coupe race car, 265 with dual quads. We would go over after school and see it in the garage, never saw it run and I’m guessing it’s still there! Never forget it had two cams sitting in the front seat in boxes, I had never seen a roller cam before.

 

As thin as those top hat frames are, I would wrap those bars totally around the frame with some plating or strapping.

 

Not necessary if you make sure the mounts are tied to the lower flat part of the top hat frames. The metal is double thickness there and will hold anything any other type of frame holds. I always make sure my motor mounts, or any suspension, trans mounts are bolted or welded to the bottom part of these frames. That's what Chevy did with the entire front suspensions, and people have put hemi engines in without wrapping these frames and never torn out the frames.

 

Al Guerrero and Ben Liesmaki 37 Chevy with a fiberglass tilt nose. Did anybody notice they spelt Liesmaki's name wrong on the driver's door. Ben was great at building 6 cyl engines.