Projects My first 33 Chevy 5 window build

Very nice, lot of detail.

 

Car really coming together, looks great

 

After waiting on parts, I was able to start the fuel tank. I looked at getting a tank built but it was almost the price of another car, so I figured why not do it my self.

First I made a cardboard sample to see if my dimension were correct.


This pic shows all of the parts already fab'ed, lucky my B-I-L had a pan break to bend the main tank parts. Now I'm finishing up the lay-out for the clean out covers.




Here I'm setting up the fuel sending unit. Unfortunately with the odd shape of the fuel tank the fuel gauge increments don't reflect the exact gallons that are in the tank, (i.e. full tank 14 gal. / 1/2 tank 8.5 gal.) but with the tank showing empty I still have 1.3 gallons, so it should keep me from running out of fuel.



Puting on the final end cap after welding the baffles to the tank. Never been a fan of the welding magnets, but after buying a pair, I use them all the time...go figure. Yes the magnets do pass thru the clean outs, and I did go over kill on the cleanouts, but that's part of custom work.


I guess now would be the time to see if the tank will actually fit where I want it to.


Fits like it is suppose too, now it can be welded out.

 

Got the tank welded out and had to fix 5 leaks, I was expecting a lot more. This was the thinest metal I believe I've ever Tig'ed
Not one leak at the clean outs...surprised for sure.

 

Nice job on the tank!

 

looking at that o/s corner weld--we might nickname you "robot -man"=beauty!

 

Great work! I really like how you did the gas tank. What gauge did you build it out of?

 

Tank body & baffles 16/GA.
Clean out inserts and covers 3/16"
Cover bolts 1/4" x 20 x 5/8" long
Complete tank weight approximately 30 lbs.
Tank is 14 gallons

 

My seats finally came in after a month wait and got them in position.
Now I need to get the steering column mounted then set the pedals




The passenger side had some damage of sort. I didn't notice it at first, but something was puting pressure on the top of the seat, and left two indentations in the surface. I'll try to let the seat set out in the sun and see if it relaxes the material.


I would've preferred a bench seat but these seats were one half the cost of a bench.
I have no idea why bench seats are so expensive.

 

Got the fuel tank mounted and all of the fittings for final plumbing.


Bottom of the tank mounting brackets.


With the tank mounted in place, I was able to finish out the final run of the exhaust pipes.

 

Update on the dents in the passenger side bucket seat.

Before with two dents in the top.


After left in the sun for about 6 hours...dents gone.

 

After getting the correct hole saws, I finally got my dash gauges installed.

But first I had to fix the butcher job on the actual dash panel.
Before:


After:


Dash gauge panel with gauges installed.


Closer view.

 

After getting the fuel tank mounted into the body, I was able to finish up the rest of the exhaust system.

The final piece is the axle back pipes.


I also added some missing body mounting brackets, this would be at the end of each frame rail


Was able to install the coil over springs and the axle bump stops


Was able to tuck the pipe hanger bracket up under the frame and out of sight




And a view of my custom exhaust pipe flanges

 

Just finished reading your build thread - Your '33 Chevy 5 window coupe is coming along great Mixerman! Keep up the great work!

 

Finally got my radiator grill powder coated (chrome)

Pretty good results for powder coating.

 

Back when i bought the 33, I got a trunk deck lid with it but that's all I got. No hinges, lift support, or any latch system.

I bought some universal hinges, but they didn't work out at all. I found out that the pivot point was to low and needed to be higher or closer to the actual trunk lid to work.


So I had to remove the panel that was already installed to seperate the cabin and trunk area in order to move the hinge pivot point to a working position.


Panel removed


Here is the final design of a working hinge. I want to thank "MalloMike" for posting pictures of his 33 chevy trunk lid original hinges. Technical - 33-35 chevy 3 or 5 window coupe trunk hinges | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)


Then I wanted to put some lift assist shocks on the trunk lid instead of the original hold up bar that was on the trunk.


For those that are interested these are 45lb lift struts. I had 100lb struts, but they were to strong for the weight of the trunk.


The struts came with a chart/formula to install to your trunk lid size.


Now to install the trunk latch, and again it came with nothing there and the previous owner butchered the area where the latch goes, but I have some sheet metal work to do in that area before ths latch can be but back in. Thanks to I & I reproductions for the new latch and handel parts.


I believe the rolling chasis is getting almost complete, got the exhaust coated with high temp aluminum exhaust paint and installed.

 

After cleaning up the area at the end of the trunk lid, the sheet metal looked worse than I thought. The problem is that there is no one in my area that handles 18/ga. material, only 16/ga. and thicker. I have to go to Houston to get 18/ga. The joy of living in the middle of no where.


The rust goes all the way across the end of the lid.


The outside only about 2/3's will need to be replaced


And the whole outer lip

 

Where are the seats from?

 

Speedway Motors, but was about a month wait to get off backorder, and of course free shipping.

 

While I'm waiting on the 18/GA. to come in, I went and fab'ed up the the parts where the rubber stop adjustments sit.
Parts before fit and welded:


Before driver side:


After driver side:


Before passenger side:


After passenger side:


I'll weld these parts in after I fix the rusted trunk lid and outer lip area.

 

Nice work on the hinges and trunk!

 

I finally finished the working functions to the trunk lid, and replacing all of the rusted/rotted sheet metal.

The piece I replaced needed to have a little bit of a roll and a crown, cut the piece wider than needed a used my 80 gallon air compressor tank to form it around and it came out fairly good.


New piece in and fit up, along with the new lip on the end of trunk. I used a plywood shim to keep the lip in position for tack welding in place.




Had to re-do this part of the rain gutter so the rubber bump stops would hit the center of the new fab'ed stop pads


New bump stop pads


And the inner piece of the trunk also had to be replaced.


This is what the trunk looked like where the latch went.


Now with new metal and a new latch.


Last was the striker plate for the latch, and all of the metal structure was not original so it had to be modified to work. What I did was made a 3 x 1-1/2 x 1/4 flat bar so the stricker plate could bolt up to it on the inside of the rear trunk panel. It's spot welded on the inside, and is designed to be shimmed if need be later on to keep the latch tight.


Striker plate installed.


A look from the inside.


And with the new trunk handle installed. The bracing on the inside of the trunk prevented me from getting the dent out of the trunk lid, so I'll have to pull it from the outside.


What the hinge and lift shock look with the trunk lid closed.

 

Very nice fabrication skills. All looks thought out and executed well.

 

I moved on to the 1/4 window garnish install. Previous owner added material to the "B" pillor that will have to be trimmed brfore it will fit in place, but first I need to make sure the side window rubber and windows fit good. As I expected the windows were not cut to the right size. When I put the rubber on the window the corners had big gaps that you could see into the cab. Shout out to "I & I Reproductions" for getting me the correct rubber.

So plan "B" make a plywood template. It took some time but I believe I got it fairly close.


The corners are a little bit tighter now.


Driver side...


Now I need to have new glass cut.


The glass that came with the car was laminated, was wondering if going with tempered glass would be better?

 

I got the "B" pillor cut to where the rear quater window garnish fits good.

What I had to cut out.


Got it in position, now to figure out metal tabs to mount it to, but first....


There appears to be some missing tabs on the inside of the window garnish.


Now to make a die too press these out...another fun project.

 

I made a die for my window garnish tab, just took a few hours to fab.

I'll show the blurred photo first.


This view from the other side.


It's not perfect but it will serve its purpose, and will be hidden when installed.


Don't ask to see a pic of the die, it's down right ugly as AZZ, but it works.

 

not ONE of us thought that die would be made and used ALREADY!good job!

 

It's been awhile since I posted any progress on the 33. I've always wondered how to get the cab to frame bolts to be flush on the inside of the floor board area.

This is what I had before modification.


Even if I left the spacer pad off I was still left with the bolt head sticking up above the floor board.


Why not insert a 3/4" air impact socket and kill a few birds with one stone...so to speak.
1) Now the bolt head will be below the floor board edge.
2) I'll be able to tighten up the bolt without a back up or an extra body to hold a wrench.
3) With the socket welded to the body frame tubing no need for the spacer stiffener.


Hole drilled and beveled for welding.


Had to cut the socket down in length to fit flush.


Welded and ground flush with floor board.


Finished with a bolt in place, now to finish the rest of the mounting bolts.

 

Man I started with “why Would he do that?” And ended with “ shit that’s clever!

Quite a lot of sockets to find and cut up but I bet it’s quicker and cheaper than machining something similar. I’m gonna have to ponder on this for my project!

 

Thanks, sometimes I wonder if I'm going a little over board with this build. As for the sockets, I have 6 mounting spots that need to be hidden. The sockets are Craftsmen and got them on Amazon for $6.50 a piece. Not bad for the look I was going for.