Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Lost in the 60s · President

'38 street rod

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

That sure looks like fun. I need a hot rod someday.

chevelle · Member

Hi Mitch,
it sounds like you got a good deal and there is still lots to do to build it the way you want. looking forward to seeing more.
Bruce

Tim H · Mega Poster

You should have let Rick finish drying it before the pictures

Very nice Mitch. It looks great. I like the lines on the car.

I also like the rims. I think they are a good choice for it.

SteveS · Super Poster

Very cool Mitch, you're going to have fun.

Lost in the 60s · President

First change to the car. I prefer bumpers and chrome on these cars. I have a long way to go to get where I want.

-- Edited by Lost in the 60s on Tuesday 30th of October 2012 01:49:46 PM

chevelle · Member

nice first step with the chrome front bumper.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

I have to respectfully disagree with the Chrome bumper Mitch. I think it sticks out like a sore thumb personally. That said though, its just the first chrome part being put back on the car. Get some more trim pieces and parts on the car here and there is the bumper wont stick out much. Which is probably what the plan is.

Did the car come with a bunch of parts to re-install? I may have missed you mentioning it if it does.

Lost in the 60s · President

No extra parts. The grille is supposed to be chrome too and that will add a lot to the look. The bumper brackets are aftermarket and the bumper is 2-3 inches from the fenders. I am going to elongate the mount holes and move it back some. For me, it needs chrome I hate the "mono" look of all one color.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

That's what I love about early cars- it seems you have a lot more options to personalize and customize the cars than our later Chevelles do. Stuff like running without bumpers and chopping the top or even sectioning the body aren't reasonable options for our cars. For the Model As and 32-34 Fords, deciding whether or not to run fenders is a tough call. The incredibly wide range of possibilities makes those cars so appealing. I need to build an early hot rod just because I've been dreaming about how I'd like to do one for so long I feel like I have to.

Unfortunately, the dream keeps changing. When I was in SoCal it had to be a full-fendered roadster. Since I moved here, that's morphed into a fenderless 2-door sedan (closed cars just make more sense here in the Midwest- especially if you really want to put some serious miles under a car like I do).

I still think the engine has to be either a 348/409 Chevy or a Nailhead Buick. I want the engine exposed, and those are the 2 prettiest V-8s that aren't Hemis.

There was a guy near me in California who had a vintage Offenhauser DOHC 4-cylinder in his Model A- complete with injector stacks hanging off the side and plenty of polish on the all-aluminum engine. I never thought I'd like a 4-cylinder powered rod, but that one was plenty cool for me and sounded plain nasty.

Hot rods are blank canvasses and I love 'em a lot. It still amazes me how badly some people can screw them up. LOL!!

Lost in the 60s · President

After 3 HOURS of butchering the brand new aftermarket brackets, the bumper now looks like it is part of the car........not a plow blade..

Before..

After....I modified the brackets to move the bumper back 3 inches.

Lost in the 60s · President

I ordered 4 new wheels and tires for this. The wheels are the same Torque Thrust D's but 15x6 for the front with 215x65 tires and 15x8 for the rear with 255x60 tires. The rears are currently 235x75 on 15x8.5 The 8" wheels will provide more fender clearance and the tires will be slightly wider and lower. I sold the 15x4.5 wheels and tires to Derek's brother. The current rear wheels will fit better under the Chevelle.

Lost in the 60s · President

WOW, the wheels came already...4 business days !!

66 RAT · Vice President

The "before" and "after" pictures certainly show what a difference it makes to move the bumper closer to the body. You're certainly not wasting any time in getting your modifications underway.

Lost in the 60s · President

I put the rear bumper on yesterday and it, too, is a little far from the body. The design of the brackets won't allow moving it as much as the front but I will most likely get 1 1/2 to 2 inches out of it.

The tires shipped from TX yesterday and are scheduled to be here Friday ...

Tim H · Mega Poster

The car looks great with the bumper and those wheels are great for it. I sure like this car.

Lost in the 60s · President

The new wheels and tires are on and I had a custom headliner made and installed. I got a couple pics of the headliner, but I can't download them from the camera until tomorrow. I'll get a couple pics of the new wheels too. I really like they way they look compared to what was on it. I also "chromed" the grill....

I have a complete hood in better condition coming from KY next week. I didn't want it shipped this week because of the holiday travelers. It's coming on a Greyhound and it has to transfer to 3 different buses. If the next bus it needs to go on is packed with luggage, it sits until there is one with room. I've never done this before and am apprehensive about loss/damage...

Lost in the 60s · President

Couple pics of the headliner.

chevelle · Member

The headliner looks great Mitch!

SteveS · Super Poster

Wow that does look great Mitch

Bowtieman427 · Active Member

^^^^^^Yes what he said ^^^^^^^

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Very nice!

Bungy L-76 · Active Member

That headliner looks great. Who did you have do it?

Lost in the 60s · President

Bungy L-76 wrote:
That headliner looks great. Who did you have do it?

R&R Restoration on Buerkle Rd. White Beat Lake/Vadnais Heights. He does complete interiors and convertible tops too.

RICKS70SS · Mega Poster

i LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT CAR EXCEPT ITS NOT MINE Nice choice on the wheels. They just go with that car.

Lost in the 60s · President

Worked on the car a little today.

I painted the grille a few weeks back.

Before:

After:

I bought a center strip and emblem but the fasteners are junk. They are barely held on and would fall off if I drove the car down the road. I need to "improvise" yet again on the aftermarket junk to make it work. I like how it looks, just not the fasteners.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Lookin' good Mitch.

You posted pics of the rims out of the box, but how about some pics on the car if you have the rims/tires mounted up?

Lost in the 60s · President

Just got off the phone with John at Master Trans. He will be looking for a 200r4 core to build for me...

The TH350 that's in the car now will move to the Camaro.

The new seat upholstery will be here later this week too and I can get them installed.

Lost in the 60s · President

Got a little more done today.

Pic of the "carpet" and seat mount.

Sanded, tacked and ready for primer and paint. Wow, that pic is blurry..

All painted Dove Grey. It's some paint I had around the shop. Hoping it matches the new carpet, headliner and seats OK.

New carpet set in with the seat mount. I couldn't be happier with the color match !!

I set the left seat in to see how it all looked and I like it...

Tim H · Mega Poster

cool

66 RAT · Vice President

Mitch, with the problems with your well, how do you also find time to work on the '38? Do you even bother getting any sleep?

67ss · 1K+ Club

Looks much nicer Mitch, are those S-10 seats? I had an 1987 s-10 blazer and mine looked identical to them.

Lost in the 60s · President

Ron the seat was a slow project over a couple weeks to get recovered. Yesterday was a good day for progress.

Chris, the seats are supposedly from an 82-83 Camaro and that is what I ordered replacement foam and upholstery for.

Lost in the 60s · President

I dropped off the 200r4 with John at Master this morning...

Then, after many hours of modifying the upholstery to match the original and fighting to get it to look decent, the passenger seat is done too.

I'll never buy pre-made foam again. NOTHING was in the correct place to attach the fabric....

The upholstery wasn't as bad, but still leaves a lot to be desired as far as "plug and play". The listings for attaching the hog rings are no where near like the originals and needed lots of modifying to get correct.

-- Edited by Lost in the 60s on Friday 18th of January 2013 04:50:15 PM

Lost in the 60s · President

I hadn't realized it had been so long since I up dated this. I finished the seat install but had to get different floor mounts and from there, had to modify the base again. It all ties in pretty well for color.

I'm not at all happy with the cheap crap carpet and may have a custom one made by the same guy that did the headliner. I haven't cut/fit the left sill plate yet because of that indecision. Even has seat belts now...

I had tail pipe extensions bent and stainless tips added today to get the noise and smell out from under the car. Total cost was $75

Dave's Muffler Shop 1111 Payne Ave. St. Paul

67ss · 1K+ Club

So when is the new transmission going in? Did you also mention something about a rear end also?

Lost in the 60s · President

New trans is tied into the intake swap which is tied into the radiator relocation for the A/C condensor and electric fan install. It's all one big sequence... I do have a different rear axle too that I need to get rebuilt and setup....hint, hint...

I finally got the electric fan late last week that I ordered almost 2 months ago and am ready to move on, but the Pete is hogging the shop. I'm installing a bunch of parts I've had on the shelf for 2 years and getting the truck ready to sell. It should be out by the end of the week and the coupe can go in.

I'm also still waiting to hear about a Le Mans parts car that I'm supposed to be getting parts from for the GTO. That's 2 months behind now too...

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Lost in the 60s wrote:
New trans is tied into the intake swap which is tied into the radiator relocation for the A/C condensor and electric fan install. It's all one big sequence...

Good thing you bought a "finished" car to enjoy instead of another "project".

Lost in the 60s · President

Derek69SS wrote:
Lost in the 60s wrote:
New trans is tied into the intake swap which is tied into the radiator relocation for the A/C condensor and electric fan install. It's all one big sequence...
Good thing you bought a "finished" car to enjoy instead of another "project".

I don't think I'll ever own a "finished" car but it is a driver. Another reason I'm hesitant to tear it apart. We all know what happens then...

I forgot to mention that to do the radiator re-locate, I'm pulling the front clip and while that is off, I have a ps rack to swap in with the pump. So, yeah, by the time I'm done making it "mine", I'll still have the engine it came with.......sort of...... with a different intake.........and eventually heads...

67ss · 1K+ Club

The way things have been going for me I don't think I will even get to touch the chevelle this summer. Looks like it is going to be a winter project. I have some house projects that just can't be put off any longer.

I thought the rear end you bought had a posi and the gears you wanted already? Let me know I am sure we can work something out.

Lost in the 60s · President

67ss wrote:
The way things have been going for me I don't think I will even get to touch the chevelle this summer. Looks like it is going to be a winter project. I have some house projects that just can't be put off any longer.
I thought the rear end you bought had a posi and the gears you wanted already? Let me know I am sure we can work something out.

When I pulled the rear cover that French Lake had already looked at and OK'd, I saw the bolt for the center pin was missing. It was broke off in the pin and someone had been chiseling the pin open to remove the remains of the pin. I pulled the carrier and cut out the pin with my plasma to remove the broken bolt. Then i read the cast dates and the carrier is 2 years older than the housing, so I'm thinking someone was swapping in a different carrier. Now I don't want to trust that it was set up correctly and am going to do a complete bearing and seal change and have it set up right so I know what I have.

Scott Parkhurst · Super Poster

Looking good Mitch! PM me when you have a chance....

Lost in the 60s · President

The '38 is in CAC now....

Swapped in the power rack and pump.

Intake swap.

Found the right lower ball joint was loose. Must be the source of the slight steering chatter on a rough road. As long as I'm in this far, I'm also going to do something with the springs. It rides way too rough. Project sprawl...

SShink · 3K+ Club

Oh man... right in the heart of cruising season too! But unlike us 1 classic car owners at a time, you have other choices.

Why are you losing the tunnel ram. I thought that was pretty trick! Just didn't run good on the street?

-- Edited by SShink on Thursday 4th of July 2013 10:00:12 PM

Lost in the 60s · President

SShink wrote:
Oh man... right in the heart of cruising season too! But unlike us 1 classic car owners at a time, you have other choices.
Why are you losing the tunnel ram. I thought that was pretty trick! Just didn't run good on the street?

-- Edited by SShink on Thursday 4th of July 2013 10:00:12 PM

I need it done by the 3 rd week of August and yeah, I do have a couple others to play with...

Tunnel ram isn't a good low rpm item and has no torque below about 3k. It would load up while waiting at a stop light and I'd have to put it in neutral and clear it out to keep it running. The Performer RPM should be a much beter street intake.

Lost in the 60s · President

Well, I managed to get it back together and operating. Here it is after the coil-over conversion, power rack, trans and intake swaps.

Electric fan has 1/2" of clearance ...

I moved the evap box 3 TIMES before I got it were everything fit and worked...

I had to make a 1 1/16th" crowsfoot for the #10 A/C nuts under the firewall.

Fabricated the panel for the A/C controls, added the digital gear indicator and volt gauge.

I designed and fabricated a trailer hitch and plug mount.

RE-drilled the ball mount to bring it closer to the bumper.

And here is what all the work and hitch are for...

gearlube · Active Member

Cool setup Mitch. Is the camper new?

Lost in the 60s · President

It's 3 years old with very little use.

It has everything...

2 burner propane range,

microwave/convection oven combination,

refrigerator that runs on propane or 12volt/120v

on board water supply with pump,

water heater,

toilet and shower combination

propane heat and roof A/C

table converts into a full size bed

CD/DVD player and satellite/dish hook ups outside.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Very cool, have a trip planed?

Lost in the 60s · President

dashboard wrote:
Very cool, have a trip planed?

Kool Deadwood Nights Aug 22-25

http://www.deadwood.com/events/kooldeadwoodnites/