1938 Chevy Coupe — GEAR DOWN GARAGE

Steering Column (Feb, 2010)

February 10, 2010 By Bryan Leave a Comment

A year ago or so we bought a Flaming River steering column for the ‘38. We installed it and all seemed well. About 3 weeks ago we tried to start the car but got a big nada outta it.

Forty minutes of tracing wires and double checking connections led to the culprit: A defective steering column design. I shot a quick video, posted it to YouTube and emailed Flaming River. They quickly ‘fessed up to the faulty design and offered a replacement. Though they wouldn’t cross ship for free, I offered to remove my YouTube video if they would please upgrade me from a painted column to a polished stainless; I think I said ‘pretty please’, to be honest.

So, today the shiny new column, steering wheel and instrument cluster fell into place. It’ll take a bit more work, but the dash is coming together. Good job, Dad.

Filed Under 1938 Chevy Coupe Tagged With dash, Flaming River, steering column

It returns from paint (Dec, 2009)

December 16, 2009 By Bryan Leave a Comment

The ‘38 returned from the body shop in it’s new Mercedes ’so dark blue it’s black’ paint. Re-assembly will take a bit but were excitied to get it going.

Here’s how it looks as it came off of the truck…

Filed Under 1938 Chevy Coupe

Still half done… (1983)

August 1, 1983 By Bryan Leave a Comment

Yep, 1983 and my 15 year old kid polished the car up for me. I probably paid him to do it, but whatever I paid wasn’t worth him burning through the paint on the rear fenders…

So, here’s a little history: This paint was sprayed by none other than Rod Powell, my high school buddy, in the summer of 1963 at his first paint shop in Salinas. Considering the paint’s now been on the car for twenty years, it looks pretty good from these old pics. You’ll notice I’ve done some work on the car. There’s a set of Rally wheels, a ‘57 rear end, a Mustang II front clip, and a few other odds and ends. Sometime in the next few years I picked up a rebuilt 350 and a few other parts. And then, as expected, there she sat collecting dust while I went to work daily and continued to raise some kids and mow the lawns…

Filed Under 1938 Chevy Coupe Tagged With 1938, 1938 Chevrolet, Business Coupe, Chevy, Coupe

It’s 1972 and the steering’s failed (1972)

May 1, 1972 By Bryan Leave a Comment

In 1964, a neighbor gave me a 1953 Chevy straight six and I swapped the motor out. The motor fit perfectly: bolt for bolt. The original motor had a bad connecting rod when I bought it and so this motor proved to be quite an upgrade.

I drove it with that straight six until the early 1970s when the steering gave out. I couldn’t find the part for it at the time and bought myself a 1950 Chevrolet pickup for a daily driver.

So, the car sat in my 2-car garage from about ‘72 till the early 80’s when I decided to rebuild it.