1931 Chevy 5 Window Coupe

This is a video we took the first time I ever drove the car.  It had a bit of a death wobble in the front end but I ironed that out later.  It was an amazing feeling driving something that I built from a truck that was buried in the dirt for about 50 years.

This is the Coupe right before we started sanding it for paint.  I took it out for a test run and the torque converter went out.  I took these pictures after it died.

I was trying to get this car ready for the Glendive car show and the converter went out about 3 days before the show.  So I pulled the engine and transmission, replaced the converter, installed the red lexan windows, sanded and painted the body and put the floor in in 3 days.  Needless to say I made it to the carshow.

Tara made the seat cover for me.

This is a 30's Pontiac dash

These are a couple of the pictures they used in the Rebel Rodz magazine that I had a 2 page layout in.

1931 Chevrolet 5 Window Coupe Body

I set the body up on the firewall, it is the easiest way to square it up.

Here I started adding steel structure to the inside of the body.  Old Chevy's had wood for the body framing.  They basically made a wood frame then wrapped it in metal.

Here is the body before I chopped the roof about 4 inches.

After the chop.

You can see here the fiberglass trunk lid I bought from Speedway Motors, then I made the panel above and below the lid.

Sandblasting, Frame Preparation, Shortening the Frame

Here is the 27' Chevy frame back from the sandblaster.  I think it cost me about $200 to get it blasted.

Here I have the sections of the frame marked out to remove.  I later found that I should have taken about 7 more inches out so that the proportions of the car would look correct.  You live and learn.



I used a reciprocating saw and a grinder with a cut-off wheel to cut the sections out of the frame.  I step cut it so that I would have more surface to weld and the lower cut will support the upper cut.

I made sure to weld cross braces from side to side to make sure the width of the frame stayed the same.

Here the frame is welded back together.  What I learned later on is I should have welded gusset plates on the inside of the frame rails over the cut sections.  My thinking at the time was that when I boxed the frame that would give it enough support.  It ended up being fine but now I always gusset stress areas. 



1927-1931 Chevrolet 5 Window Coupe Build Project

So what seems like a decade ago while we were living in Oregon, I bought a 1931 Chevy 5 window coupe on ebay from a guy in Minot, ND and while we were there my in-laws and I scrounged up this 1927 Chevy Truck, I mainly wanted the frame which I found later to be more work than it was worth but I parted it out and made all my investment back.

Total basket case

Here are both of the cars loaded up and parked at the border of Montana and Idaho

Prior to starting the build on this car I read books and educated myself on how to approach it for years.  No matter how much you prepare, it never goes as planned.

So I started stripping the 27' truck on the trailer and selling off the parts to guys that restore.

I came to find out from some guys I met in a car club the the truck was a 27' but at some point someone had replaced the engine with a 28' because they were a sealed oil system and more power.

I drug it into the back yard and that is where I pulled the engine out.  I sold the engine to the guys in the car club the "Westside Cruisers".  I ground and pounded rivets out of the frame for a couple days.

Here the frame is stripped down and ready to get sandblasted.  With the exception of the steering column still installed.