A 1934 Chevy 3 Window Coupe Build

After deciding that I wanted to build a Hot Rod, naturally I needed to find a starting point. The possibility of purchasing this 1934 Chevy 3 Window Coupe turned up and started with a viewing of the car along with the parts that came with it. Then, came the negotiation process about an extra chassis from a Chevrolet Master that was lying in the sand under a tree and a Ford flathead motor. The viewing ended with a braai, 2 bottles of whiskey and only after the first bottle was finished was the price of the car mentioned for the first time. It was an eight-hour process that lasted till 7 PM in the evening which culminated in a deal being struck.

The deal included one car with a chassis, an extra chassis with a cross brace and one flathead engine. The deal was that if the flathead engine was no good, it would be replaced with a second option and that I would return the Corvette wheels and the Jaguar front and rear suspension after moving the car to my workshop.

So, the car was collected on the 21st of Feb 2013 and the work in cleaning up the chassis began immediately. It was decided at this point not to weld on the chassis at all. Furthermore, I decided that drilling into the chassis would be limited to an absolute minimum, This was to preserve the originality and patina of the rusted masterpiece that had preserved itself in rust for so many years.

After removing all unnecessary bits from the chassis, the body was placed on the chassis for the first time. A variety of wheels were placed next to the car to assist with this as sizes dictated ride heights and rakes. Then, the body was moved back and forth and the engine was hung in position to conceptualise and visualise what the final look would be. Finally, four inches were cut out of the front firewall to lower the body onto the chassis to achieve the required look.

At the same time that this was happening, the Flathead was disassembled, measured and inspected. Unfortunately, it was soon apparent that the bearing was on the max and that the engine was no longer in a state that would make it a viable engine for my project. A good friend made the remark that to build one Flathead, you better buy three. I took him at his word and went beyond and bought twenty-three.

The engine was put back together, returned and true to word, a replacement was provided which was then stripped and measured. This was perfect and the refurbishment of the engine was started in earnest. Parts were sourced from Mac van Pelt in the USA and the crank was reground by Bastics. Also, new main bearings were line bored, original conrods were fitted with new bushes and new cam bearings were installed.

Original pistons were fitted with new hand-filed rings courtesy of the genius Stan. Under Stans supervision, I fitted the valve train, adjustable lifters with new valves and reground valve seats. A new high volume oil pump was fitted and the original heads machined. Then, Pretty Polishing was tasked with polishing the best two original Made in Canada aluminium heads I could find along with the intake manifold.

By this time, my collection of donor engines had grown and I could find original parts such as a starter motor, carburettor, generator, distributor and fuel pump to clean up paint and refurbish to complete the build.

Engine building proceeded at full speed. By the 29th of June, I had a painted engine on the engine stand ready for assembly. With careful guidance from Stan, the engine was assembled, new water pumps installed and an engine stand that the engine could be started and run on with a radiator. I started the engine with a second-hand Ford Holley carburettor and despite many adjustments could not get the engine to run perfectly. Help came in the form of a brand new Stromberg 97 carburettor. Finally, a perfectly running 8BA flathead engine.

I had by this stage decided on the items I needed for the build. I sourced a flathead to Toyota bell housing adapter from Flatattack Racing in Australia. A Toyota five-speed gearbox was purchased from a local supplier of new gearboxes. Also, a Toyota Quantum clutch was modified to fit the flathead flywheel operated by an internal slave cylinder. I ordered a Split Bones type solid period front axle, a 60 Ford 9 differential with all the matching Wilwood disk brakes. Adjustable rear gas shocks completed my hardware list which I ordered from Speedway Motors. I chose a set of four Bias Ply, Firestone whitewall tyres with wire wheels from Coker Tyres. Now the wait for the ship to arrive began.

Once everything arrived I made the required brackets, mounting plates and engine mounts to suit the Flathead motor with the Toyota gearbox. I got everything to fit, all installed with a spare flathead block as it was easier to move in and out of the chassis for the multiple trial and error fittings that were needed. Drive heights, clearances and travels of front shocks, steering and rear suspension were all checked.

It was now time to fit the body. This again took some thought and assistance from Stan as internal clearances for driving position, steering wheel location, length and angles were critical to a good driving experience. The time had come to complete the second order of parts. All steering knuckles, a top hung Wilwood brake and clutch pedal box with master cylinders, a wiring loom, dash instruments, indicator stalk switch, aluminium Bomber seats and an electric fan were ordered from Speedway Motors in the USA. I carried on with fabricating an internal frame to brace the body and attach it to the chassis.

Plates were cut to reinforce the door pillars front and back. All wood internally that Chevrolet used extensively at the time was preserved in its original state. The body was pulled and pushed until the doors would open and close with the required gaps. Also, I made a floor out of strips of 22mm shutter ply and fabricated a gearbox tunnel cover out of a 2mm mild steel plate.

The second USA order arrived and fitting the seats, brake and clutch pedals with the steering column began. I again called on Stan to assist with making my steering into a traditional cowl steer. He hammered a recess into the body and assisted in fabricating a custom pitman arm to suit the Mustang steering box. His knowledge of the angles, lengths and positions was invaluable to me since I lacked the required experience to make this exceptionally complicated part of the build perfect.

The rebuilt engine was installed. A prop shaft was locally made and installed. It was time for a test drive without brakes but with the clutch in order to test the steering. This went perfectly in the workshop and accelerated my enthusiasm for the build.

It was now time to have a radiator manufactured to fit the lowered front grill. I fabricated a mock-up superwood which I took to the radiator manufacturer in Paarl. One week later, I collected a perfect replica expertly made with all the required pipes and fittings ready to install.

Now, with brake and clutch pedals in, it was time to run the pipes, balancer and required fittings which were all done in stainless steel. Then, brake fluid was added and the brakes bled. A vintage Ford handbrake was installed with a bracket to suit. A 2nd test drive was now possible with brakes.

It was now time to concentrate on wiring, lights, indicators, fuel pipes, a fuel tank, final positions for the seats, a battery box and fit the door locks. All this was done within a couple of weeks. A ready-made wiring loom was invaluable. I found some second-hand Harley Davidson indicators to use as brakes and indicator lights. Also, I was given a broken compressor which I converted to a fuel tank and worked like crazy to get the car to Dusty Rebels.

This was to be the first proper drive on the road and it went absolutely perfectly. The only items still to complete were the seats which needed some cushions and the roof which had to have a cover in the event it rained. I found an old piece of leather and had this made into two seat bases and had a removable roof made with Lift the dot clips.

My aim was to drive the car to the Vintage car show in George and since George is notorious for its rain, the roof was an absolute must. The last job to be done was to fit a front and rear windscreen before the drive to George. Lexan proved to be the answer. I made two templates, cut the Lexan to fit and installed it into the body. I managed to get a rear frame from the original seller and only now need an original front frame. Hopefully one will turn up at some stage and then I can change the Lexan to proper shatterproof glass.

George or Bust I left Cape Town driving. We made it to Hermanus for breakfast and after breakfast left for Arniston where we were to spend the night. Due to a navigation error on the part of the lead car (which was towing a trailer for backup in the event of rain or a breakdown) we landed up on a really badly rutted dirt road. I did not want to shake the 82-year-old car to pieces. The original woodwork was preserved in the build and I decided to load the car onto the trailer for the last 30Kms to Arniston.

It was at this point that I discovered a hairline crack in the driver’s side cylinder head. Debates about welding, Indian Head and Bar’s leak continued into the night. The next morning I thought I would give it a go, hopefully, the crack would self-seal once the engine reached operating temperature. The first few kilometres were hairy. Air that had been sucked into the cooling engine needed to go somewhere. The radiator cap vomited on the windscreen a couple of times and suddenly all was ok. I made it to George again completely on my own steam. The George show was great. On the drive back to Cape Town, all 433Kms went without a single incident!