Projects Not Your Average Coupe Build: ‘37 Chevy Unearthed

Our first 45 degree night in Wisconsin made me realize how fast winter is coming! Needed to re direct my engine build money towards some garage essentials.

I’ll be out in the garage making some rear suspension brackets this weekend. But I hope to have this Hot Dawg hooked up soon.




Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Was a pretty solid evening in the shop. Made all my leaf spring mounts! I bought 2” drop leaf springs off speed way which are wider than both the 57 Chevy perches and factory 37 Chevy leaf springs that were in the car. So I had to make wider spring and shackle mounts to accommodate the springs.

Took out the 57 Chevy rear end. Maybe for the last time. I’ve got a spare 9” housing and plenty of center sections that I may drop in it instead. I’ve never had to shorten a rear axle, so I may just do it for the heck of it.



When I took off the front leaf spring mounts, I figured out that I could reutilize them instead of making them from scratch.

I plasma cut the ear off, taking care not to cut the ear too short



Ground the cut edge flat, to the proper height, and welded the ears in place



This was pretty straight forward and they bolted right back in place.





The cast rear shackle mounts were another story, I had to remake those from scratch. So. Started with some 8” wide by 1/4” thick plate. Cut them to length and bent one ear.



Measured the right height and punched 1-1/4” holes with a hole saw to accommodate the tubing I’d weld later.



Had to do the same thing for the inner gussets



Plasma cut and ground the profile I wanted in both plates, and cut a piece of 1-1/4” OD tubing to 2.5” length



Welded and ground the mounts



They turned out pretty slick! Leaf springs are a little longer than the factory ones so the rear shackle mounts will have to move back. an inch or so










Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Well I’m at a crossroads and looking for a sanity check from you guys.

Story time:
I had another 9” Ford housing laying around, so several months ago I bought new axle flanges, u bolts, and perches for 3” axle tubes. Well today I was working on getting it ready to shorten, and I’m glad I tried to mock up the perches first because it turns out it’s 3-1/4” axle tubes and not 3”. Im guessing it’s out of a late model F150.

To make this housing work I’d have to buy new flanges (or is the ID of all 9” ford axle tubes the same and they only increased thickness???) U-bolts, and modify my perches.


My thought process:
The path of least resistance, and most period correctness, is to go with the 57 Chevy rear. I liked the idea of both my cars having ford 9” for part interchangeability.

Summary:
My perches and U bolts will work with the 57 Chevy rear, it’s the right width, it has drums, and it has axles (id have to buy brakes, axles, and bearings for the 9”)


So I should go with the 57 rear...right?












Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Hope you have lots of spare parts for the Chevy rear.........................................

 

yeah I grenaded the spider gears in the original 57 rear end I had in my 57. Was hoping 250-300hp 283 in this car combined with not dumping the clutch at 6k would prevent it From happening if I go that way

 

You could cut the 9" housing down and put 3" tubes in it. That is what the oval track guys do. Whatever you decide, make sure you jig the housing up and have a bar through the whole thing. The original axle housings are never accurate enough to just cut and weld.

Or you could put a Quickchange in it. The standard axle tubes are 3" O.D.

 

Alright I started a quick thread (link below) and it built my confidence back up if I decide to shorten the 9”.

Now I’ve just got to let it simmer and see if low cost and period-correctness can overrule logic and strength.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/narrowing-a-9”-ford-question.1204976/#post-13736281

 

After all that deliberation, I’m going with the 57 Chevy rear, for now.









Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Made spring plates and mounted up the axle housing.

I’ve got 2 inch lowering blocks that aren’t in yet, which is why the ubolts are so long.










Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

nice work again, how are you bending those u-bolt plates?

 

It’s a press brake kit that slides into a 20ton harbor freight shop press. I posted the link below. It’s a must have for fabricating anything thicker than sheet metal.

The company (Swag off-road) sells some other cool stuff that compliments harbor freight and other name brand tools.

https://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-20-TON-Press-Brake-DIY-Builder-Kit_p_40.html

 

I was scrolling down the thread, and was also going to ask how you made the plates. Thanks for posting; 20 Ton press, is a short walk away. Right across the street.

 

Yes of course. Be sure to tip your postal carrier if you buy it. Swag Off Road’s pretty crafty and put all 69lbs of steel into one box!

Here’s a couple more pictures of the setup











Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Took me about 2 hours to cut and grind off the perches on the 57 rear. I should have taken a before picture, but the previous owner welded 0.25” plate on top of the factory perches to move the leaf spring mounting point where they needed it to be.

As hokey as it was, they made sure it wasn’t going anywhere! They had more than a few stick weld passes on these suckers.




Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Got a big shipment in today from speedway! It’s kind of weird buying new parts for this car lol.

I got a rear disc brake conversion for the 57 rear. They’re going to be covered up by steel wheels and skirts, so I went for the performance increase.

Same with the shorty headers. I had a set of ram horn manifolds, but I couldn’t help going with the 30-40 ft lbs and HP increase I’d get with this $70 pair of shorty headers over manifolds.



I’m going with dual 2” exhaust with 30” smithy mufflers. I’m pretty excited to hear the 283 through these pipes! Bought a couple straight 4’ lengths and pre bent sections that’ll let me put the tig welder to work. I’ve never tig welded gauge thickness tubing so it should be fun lol








Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Using that 20 ton HBF press to bend stuff that thick is pretty cool. Thanks for showing it.

 

Shop heater is hung up. One step closer to a warm winter!

Natural gas line/ meter gets run in a couple weeks.




Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

thanks fer the pics on the HF press,...looks like it really does the job...

 

It truly is a must have for any type of plate fabrication. Saves time and gives more fabrication options.

You can change the bend radius and form shorter legs by sliding smaller pieces of angle iron into the bottom Die.




Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Took a break on customs and hot rods to help a buddy with his MG midget. The car had some old exhaust work done that didn’t allow the hangers to be used and was bottoming out all over town. So I replaced the janky sections and brought the geometry back to what it should be.













Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

My '39 coupe was about the same rusty condition when I found it at the swap meet dirt cheap. I was the only fool who didn't walk away, although I sure tried to! Took me the first 6 months just to replace all the metal in the bottom 6" of the body. Surprisingly the frame was perfect, and I suspect it wasn't the original frame, as it looked too good, and even had good paint on it.









Nice to see someone else not afraid to start with a real rust bucket!

 

Nice work! That definitely looks familiar lol

 

Got a diff gasket and loose fit the disc brake conversion today. As I suspected, the Steelies I have might not work with disc brakes (as shown by the rusty mark on the caliper.)

I’ll try caliper bracket spacers, but I don’t think I’ll be able to move it far enough back without dragging brake pads.









Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

It’s not always fabrication and fun! Primed up the past couple weekends of work



Took the mocked up motor and trans out so I could see how high the engine hoist could get the frame. I’ve got some minor rust to fix and would prefer not to lay on my back to fix it lol.

Looks like I’ll have plenty of room







Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Picked up a spare tri five Chevy differential this morning for $20! Couldn’t afford not to have a spare center section in case the one in the 37’ pops.

For an extra $10 I grabbed the leaf springs too for my 57’

Came out of an Arizona car with 70,000 original miles.



Dropped off the 283 block, crank, and power pack heads at the machine shop after work to get cleaned up.

Then top coated the suspension parts I primed yesterday




Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Those shorty headers are bad about cooking solenoids if you use a stock type starter.

 

Plan on using a mini starter, but thinking about wrapping the headers for heat reduction and sound deadening.

 

More of a garage journal post than a jalopy journal post, but finally finished hooking up my second hand modine hot dawg and now I’m ready for winter!










Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Second/Final Coat




Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Looks great!