New Guy, Old Car!

[BIGfoot455]

Just joined. Hope to help with info and gain some in return. I'm currently working on my 1937. It is a 2 door sedan deluxe. Very hard to find parts that cost an arm and both legs!

[Ringo64]

What's your goal with the '37? Complete restore?

[ScottieDogFLA]

I LOVE these 1930's coupes: so much style!  Good luck with the restore!!

[BIGfoot455]

Car is really solid for a Michigan car, but pretty far gone for a restoration. Budget hot rod is my end goal, I just want to drive it! So far, it has a Mustang 2 front suspension and 94 T/A rear.  Still have lots of work to do!

[Frosty]

Nice start to your project.

Where in SW Michigan are you located? JUSTA6, Indyman Joe, and I are located in SE Michigan. notallthere is in Sarnia Ontario. I work in Lansing.

[BIGfoot455]

Little town about 1/2 hour Southwest of Kalamazoo known as Decatur.

[Frosty]

Closest I've been was to see relatives in Paw Paw and South Haven. Perhaps we should meet up at the Gilmore sometime. They have a muscle car exhibit going on right now. A friend of mine has his dad's lightweight factory '65 GTO on display there through April 2019, along with a bunch of other rare Ponchos.

[BIGfoot455]

Sounds like a plan. Whenever I get stuck or bored I go to a show to get ideas and motivation!

[BIGfoot455]

made a little progress

[Frosty]

Small block Chevy from the looks of it. Looks like everything fits like it should.

[BIGfoot455]

Stock 350/350 from a 79 van. Had to finagle the bottom radiator hose and trim the fan blades to keep the engine low in the chassis. I didn't want to cut the firewall or transmission tunnel.

[Frosty]

Wouldn’t an electric fan have been easier? Or is there not enough real estate for one between the water pump pulley and the radiator ?

Edited August 12, 2018 by Frosty

[BIGfoot455]

I don't think it would have been easier, certainly take more time.  trying to get to the hold downs on the back of the radiator would be a BIG pain in the butt.  All I did was scribe the blades with the calipers, cut them on a bandsaw and bolt it on. no wiring or thermostatic switch. I didn't want to try and push the retainers through that 81 year old heater core style radiator either. If cooling becomes a problem or I decide to go with more performance, I might have to switch over to electric or go aluminum radiator.

[Frosty]

Hmmm.....good to know. I can't fault your logic, particularly about the radiator.

[BIGfoot455]

A can of starting fluid, free no needle syringe from a pharmacy, sending unit off a salvaged cheapo gauge and miscellaneous stuff laying around and now I have a working 81 year old gauge that was chopped out of a car and thrown into a box of dash parts!

[Frosty]

That's great work. Truly hot rodding ingenuity at it's finest.

Now that the gauge works, do we know if it works correctly and/or reasonably accurately?

[BIGfoot455]

works exactly as it should, and I only had to move it a few degrees to match my candy thermometer at 200. They used ether when it was built, so my using ether didn't change expansion rate or accuracy. And I could have suffered with a few degrees off knowing I spent $5 instead of $250!

I have new cluster decals, so soon it will look completely restored and work!

[Frosty]

Just now, BIGfoot455 said:

works exactly as it should, and I only had to move it a few degrees to match my candy thermometer at 200. They used ether when it was built, so my using ether didn't change expansion rate or accuracy. And I could have suffered with a few degrees off knowing I spent $5 instead of $250!

I have new cluster decals, so soon it will look completely restored and work!

Excellent work my friend. Gawd I love doing things on "the knew" and on the cheap.

So where did you come up with the new cluster decals? Does some one commericially self them or you know someone who could make them up special for you ?

[BIGfoot455]

I asked someone that I found on the internet. Turned out to be a really nice guy and told me who he bought his from on E-bay. I contacted the seller and he listed one for me. How or where he came up with them, I have no idea. Just happy to get them!

[Frosty]

Hold onto that seller's contact info. You never know when someone else may need it. Got a picture of the completed gauges or cluster yet?

[BIGfoot455]

I haven't done mine yet, but hope to soon. They still look like this:

[BIGfoot455]

managed to get a little work done on the faceplate!

[BIGfoot455]

been working on the original horns. All fixed up and LOUD! back to the body panels now. Just needed some completion motivation!

 

[BIGfoot455]

[Frosty]

That cluster restoration is amazing dude! That almost looks like porcelain in these pictures. The horn looks really neat.

Excellent job my friend.