1930 Chevy sedan build thread...trying for 3K.

[Gusaroo]

Dude, I see a kid in the bouncy seat behind you... Your doin all that work AND you have a newborn in the house? How???

[ford2custom]

Who ever coined the phrase "you can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse" sure didn't see this build. If there were an award for best build, you would win.
1.start with barley nothing
2.shortest time
3.most descriptive
4. Just the best little sedan for the dollars.

Absolutely beyond anything I’ve ever seen, great job.

Richard

[brickman]

Nicely done and with all your fingers! The seats look great, won't be long before seeing road shots I would say huh?

[stovens]

Nice work, nice looking baby too. Kids change our lives! Keep the posts coming. Steve.

[38project]

Wow! Great work, going back and reading the build from the start is like reading your favorite book all over again.
Thanks for the detailed post and pictures. It helps me and I sure it gives others ideas.

[buckroseau]

Got a little done on the chubby today...or at least the exhaust guy got a little done.

The exhaust guy is about 60 miles away, I had to rent an enclosed car trailer because they were talking about some bad weather.....woke up to a foot of snow this morning Last weekend it was 70 degrees and sunny and no snow was left....now winter starts all over.

Glad I rented the trailer because the rodes were just crap, the trailer was covered in slush, ice, salt and snow when I got there...better the trailer than the car. Few pics of the action, I thought he did a hell of a job. He was able to make it in 1 piece from the headers to the mufflers, lots of bends and got it tucked up nice and tight.

I got home this afternoon and continued wiring. Probably more of that tomorrow, still waiting on from wheel adapters from rally america. If those ever show up I might be able to drive this thing?

Matt

[bluestang67]

Heard that rumor of snow up that way in deep amounts . You and Dave keep it up there . The cold snaps are enough here .

Matt the itch has to be growing and i bet you have put some time in the driver seat just waiting . How is the wiring going , not into a big hurry here when i get to that part .

[Itoldyouso]

Matt, car is really looking good. Nice look to it and great stance. I like it a lot, so I hope the comment I am about to make is taken in that light. I don't think I ever noticed before what you are using for rear radius rods, but when I saw the picture today I had to say something.

Those were never intended to be used as radius rods, they were originally used with Ford torque tube banjo rear ends, and the main thrust was absorbed by the torque tube. By themselves they are way too weak to do the job. There have been countless cases where they have broken or bent, even by the simple act of going over a RR track. Here is just one report:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...hlight=wrecked

I know the ones in the story above are split, but it doesn't make any difference. These things are notorious for breaking, and no amount of gusseting will make them safe enough to use. I apologize for bringing this up at this late date, but I really felt you should know about this. I would hate to see your beautiful little hot rod messed up or something happen to you or someone else. I hope you understand.

Don

[buckroseau]

Matt, car is really looking good. Nice look to it and great stance. I like it a lot, so I hope the comment I am about to make is taken in that light. I don't think I ever noticed before what you are using for rear radius rods, but when I saw the picture today I had to say something.

Those were never intended to be used as radius rods, they were originally used with Ford torque tube banjo rear ends, and the main thrust was absorbed by the torque tube. By themselves they are way too weak to do the job. There have been countless cases where they have broken or bent, even by the simple act of going over a RR track. Here is just one report:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...hlight=wrecked

I know the ones in the story above are split, but it doesn't make any difference. These things are notorious for breaking, and no amount of gusseting will make them safe enough to use. I apologize for bringing this up at this late date, but I really felt you should know about this. I would hate to see your beautiful little hot rod messed up or something happen to you or someone else. I hope you understand.

Don

Hi Don,

I had saw your post earlier in the thread about this subject. I wasn't ignoring you or anyone else...I guess I didn't want to get into a big debate about it either.

There are a couple older local hot rod guru's I glean a lot of info off of and they are the ones who recomended doing it like this..in fact one of them gave me the rods. I did mention your concern to him to see what he thought. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but he has built several hot rods and is currently running a 32 Ford with the same set up for the last 4 years. Like I said...not saying it's right or wrong...I just have a friend that has used, and is using this set up first hand and it works well.

I think if I had a motor that had been built up and I was going to be stomping on the thing I might change my mind. My motor is a clapped out 350 with a couple bolt on performance parts and a ho-chi-mien chrome kit. I might regret my decision...and I sure hope I don't, but for now I am going to stick with it. And I sure hope you don't think that I am just blowing you off? I sure appreciate the info you and others supply on a regular basis.

Thanks, Matt

[buckroseau]

Worked on the chubby today for about 7 hours. Pretty much all of that was wiring, so it doesn't look like I have done anything.

Quick question. I am using the stock 9" headlights. I was able to re-build the lower bulb socket and wiring, that is going to be my turn signal built into the headlight. Is there any headlight sockets or bulbs that could be fabbed into the hole in the pic? I have about 2.5" from the dish to the glass and the same distance to the back of the housing.

Just wondering if there was some kit or upgrade others have done?


Thanks, Matt

[Itoldyouso]

Matt, I do apologize for bringing it up (I didn't realize I had mentioned it earlier) and I'm glad you have checked it out. I just felt that even with a mild motor there is so much force on the rear axle, especially with coilovers that do little to control lateral and fore and aft movement, that they were too light and too long to do the job. I'm glad there are no hard feelings over me mentioning it.

As for the headlights, you can get halogen conversion sockets that you can put in once you modify the reflector to fit them. You can also have your reflectors resilvered so they are very shiny. I think a mirror refinishing shop can do that, or maybe you might have to send them off to someone who specializes in doing these.

Don

[buckroseau]

As for the headlights, you can get halogen conversion sockets that you can put in once you modify the reflector to fit them. You can also have your reflectors resilvered so they are very shiny. I think a mirror refinishing shop can do that, or maybe you might have to send them off to someone who specializes in doing these.

Don

Don,

Any link or info on where to get a halogen conversion kit?

Thanks, Matt

[brianrupnow]

I just bought a set that are direct bolt in replacements for 7" sealed beam headlights from Hortons in Ontario Canada (905-876-2124)----Brian

[buckroseau]

Managed to get some work done on the chubby this week, mostly Friday and Saturday afternoon today.

I had my neighbor over Friday night giving me a hand with brake bleeding. I had to re-flare a couple ends because of a little leaking. Once we got that taken care off I finally got my brakes working. I had a few misc. little things to wrap up this morning, but later in the afternoon I managed to get it started. After some cam break in period and a little carb tuning it ran amazingly well, pops right off as soon as you hit the starter button. Did a triple check on the important stuff and decided to take it for a little spin. I live about 4 miles out of town, on the way into town on the highway I only got it up to about 40 mph. This rig seems like it's going to take some getting used to. It also didn't help that the tranny kept slipping out of 3rd gear and going into neutral. I could wiggle the shifter and get it to catch a gear again, but I'm begining to think I know why this truck had been parked in a shed the last 20 years. I stopped at a store and picked up a little transmission mechanic in a can and poured that in....took a pic while I was there out in the parking lot also . Drove around for a bit and headed for home. On the way home the tranny started to shift pretty well and stayed hooked up in all the gears. Might be a combination of the tranny getting used again and the trans-medic, but for now seems to be working....we'll see if it stays that way? But, for $200 bucks for a motor and tranny, can't expect much else?

Also took a pic of a quick tranny cover I made just for the center section for now. Just so I didn't put my hand into the driveshaft.

Hoping to get some more little stuff tomorrow done, I might also spend a good portion of the day cleaning my shop...it looks like a bomb went off in there

Matt

[stovens]

So Matt
The big K question. How close did you come to the 3k figure? I know this is personal, but I've followed this thread and have to say I'm very impressed with your thriftyness. The car came out great. Nice work. Steve.