Build Thread: 1937 LaSalle / Family Hot Rod

I hope that this thread won't be one too many build threads on CHR, and that despite being a four door that many of you will help me out anyways. I will include pictures with my pleas for help and while I may not have alot of expertise to share I am looking forward to sharing my progress. My philosphy on this build is to keep it on a budget and do much of the work myself. Eventually, the goal is to have a resto-mod car that I can fit two car seats in and take the familiy to car shows and on trips. Other than a lowered stance, nicer paint, and some subtle body mods it will look fairly stock.

The project is a 1937 LaSalle built by Cadillac. I purchased the vehicle two years ago at the Scottsdale, AZ Goodguys event. It had been someone's long neglected project. The previous owner scavenged much of its upgrades from 1971 BBC Camaro. The front and rear suspension was upgraded and the car was set up for a BBC. At some point the bodywork was done to the point that it was ready paint, however paint never happened. But a bunch of dents from shop equipment and 5 years of Arizona weather did happen. The frontend included a power steering box and all the linkage. Oddly, when I decoded the rear it comes up as 2.73 non-posi rear. I had hoped/assumed that it would be a taller gear posi unit considering it came out of a big-block Camaro.

I have been working on it since I unloaded the treasure trove of unknown parts from its empty shell the first day it was delivered. Here is where it stands today. I cleaned it out and inventoried the parts and found most of what I really needed: headlight buckets, trim, handles, locks, window regulators, etc.

Engine: I got a hold of a 92 Suburban that had some right front damage. It came with a 454 BBC backed up with a 4L80E transmission. I stripped the Suburban for anything I might ever use again. Especially the wiring from tip to tail and the computer. Since installing the engine I mounted an aluminum radiator from Speedway. I should mention that I have taught myself how to weld using a MIG flux core or gas unit. I have never hooked up gas, I am just using wire. There was no radiator supports on the car so I rigged some mounting tabs directly to the radiator shell. The metal on this old car is so thick that I have no concerns with burning through. You will also notice from the pictures that I freshened up the look of the engine with a rattle can overhaul.

Steering: I wasn't sure I would ever get this thing to steer, but my persistence paid off. I first cut out a previous failed attempt to route the steering and through the miracle of Borgeson joints and the steering column from the donor Suburban it now steers. A little too well in fact. Currently the wheels contact the frame if I turn too far. This will certainly be a future topic of discussion.

Brakes: Just getting started. I have mounted an underfloor brake booster and have thought a lot about what parts I need, but that is as far as I have gotten. The fronts are disk brakes from the donor Camaro and the rears are the Camaro's drum brakes. I look forward to your assistance in tackling this project.

Fuel: Still musing over some ideas for the fuel cell/tank.

Electrical: I am hoping/praying that I can make the wiring from the Suburban work.

Body: Much of the body work is done to look presentable and prevent additional deterioration. As I finished a panel I shot it with Black flat rattle can primer. I have deleted the original taillights, filled the holes and will mount 41 Chevy units in the bumper. I am also hoping to use a 40 Ford taillight as a third brake light. Originally the LaSalle had decorative Chevrons on the trunk lid. The previous owner deleted the fender filler cap and put a flush fuel door on the car. The originally four piece hood has been welded together and now tilts forward. I do have the hood sides, but my patience for bodywork ran out before I got to it.

Interior: What interior? The car had been gutted of its interior but at least they saved the headliner bows and the window garnishes. Since buying the car I picked up a set of 2004 Olds Bravada seats: power, heated, leather,and the front seatbelts are built in to the seat. Wiring these is something I fear greatly.

That's the important stuff about the car. A little about me. I am younger guy, 32, with a beautiful wife and a great little boy (15 months old). We live in Glendale outside Phoenix, AZ and I am a car nut. You may notice the Cobra in the background of pictures as this thread proceeds. It is a fun little car and although I always intended to build one myself, I was made an offer I would have been stupid to refuse. We have had the Cobra for about 4 years. Technically, the Caddy is my wife's car and when it comes to the appearance of the car all the decisions are her's. However, I know her well enough to know how the car should run/drive in order to keep her happy. It needs to start everyday, hence the TBI engine and auto tranny.

Tomorrow I will post my first quandary relating to the rear suspension, but until then here are some pictures from deliver day to the present.

By the way, did I mention that the body was recently removed from the frame and to the disgust of my neighbors is again back in the elements parked in the backyard.

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Looks great so far,room enough for the family and then some! Hank

That's a nice project. It sits right and the wheels/tires fill the wheel wells properly (black picture). It's going to be a sweet ride. Keep the updates coming.

Tom

Looks good nice start, keep us updated.
Brad

love that car.

My latest task on the Caddy has been to fabricate a setup to mount some rear shocks. The original camaro setup has been modified because there is no longer room to mount the shocks on the outside of the frame. I got a hold of the shock plates from a 71 Camaro, cleaned them up, flipped em over and mounted them. My thinking has been that by flipping them over the shocks will now mount inside the framerails and the angle of the lower mounting point will tilt the shocks inboard just slightly. The other oddity is that the camaro originally had the shocks staggered and I intend to do the same. In fact I kept the passenger side in front of the rear axle and the driver side in back of the axle just like it would have been. I don't know that it matters but I thought maybe there was a torque issue. Staggering the shocks is also supposed to help with wheel hop. The next step is to fabricate the upper mounts, but before I weld anything in place I have some questions.

* The bottom mount of the shock is just a hole in the bracket and I am uncertain what kind of mount to weld to the top bar I fabricated.
* If I can find the right shock I will probabaly have answered my own question, but I need a refresher on getting the right shocks. I seem to recall that the shock should be compressed some percentage at ride height, but I can't recall whether the compression is of the total length or just a percentage of travel.

Here are some pics. The metal bar is filling in for the shock. The upper bar is fabricated from some 1 1/2in OD, 1 in ID pipe and the ends are made from 1/4 inch plate. You may recall an earlier thread about how to best make holes in thick plate. Well, I followed CHR advice and got a good hole saw. then I ran the bar through the holes and welded the bar on both sides of the end plates. It is rock solid despite my gernerally mediocre welding skills...which are improving.
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Thanks for all the kind words. I am really excited about this project.

By the way, I do have a target "on the road date" and a budget. I have already blown by $3,000 (the magic CHR figure). The car itself even with all the previous work was only $2000 but the donor Suburban was $3500. I sold many of the parts off the Suburban, so my net cost was probably a little over $2K. However since then my most expensive parts have been about $1200 worth of wheels & tires and the $300 radiator. I hope to be on the road for about $8500. And by on the road I mean black primer and a very no frills interior, but roadworthy. I hope to drive it to the 2008 Goodguys show in Scottsdale. Wish me luck, with the help of all my CHR friends I am confident I will get there.

That Caddy looks great very unique . i'm no master fabricator like some but some flat stock and some added gusset should hold it still . Look at another build thread my track style T by J Robinson and also 3K build by Itoldyouso . They have done some great fabbing and you can get a general idea from them on shock mount building . Do you have the triangulated torsion bars to hold rearend center .

Look at some pics of a 4 bar rear link system at the lower shock mount . That design can be modded to lay flat and mount shocks also .

Looks like a great project, looking foward to watching your progress. Just a word of advice on your MIG welder; hook up the gas. Welds done with flux core wire have a lot of acid and will rust right through bodywork and/or paint in a short time.

Thanks for the heads up about the acidity of flux MIG welds. I hope to get around to buying a bottle soon.

As for the shocks, I am going to try and go down to NAPA to find shocks with the right length and compression. Once I have the shocks then I will know waht kind of bracket I need on the top.

I had not planned on running a panhard bar or torsion bars. This is more of a cruiser and not a racer. I don't think either the Cadillac or the Camaro had anything like that to hold the axle centered, and many of the pictures I have looked at have gone without. Am I making a big mistake or overlooking something serious?

A panhard bar is for keeping the rear from moving side to side, with axle clamped to leaf springs it's not necessary.

So this is what the whole '37 LaSalle looks like?? I've only previously seen the transmissions.......usually behind an Olds or Caddy engine. :D

Don't worry about one too many build threads, these are our lifeblood on here. Love peeking into another rodders garage and seeing stuff go together. Please keep it coming.

Looking great so far, and you sure won't be seeing too many copies of your car at any rod run. I like it. :D

Don

Bob now that i am thinking harder your right some type of stabilizer was only used on coil type rearends . I'm learning all the time here , if i would have thought the Stang has none with the leafs either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bluestang67

I'm learning all the time here ,...........

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And teaching.............

If there was anyone not fully following these few comments you just completed the concept.

I went to NAPA today, but came home empty handed because I was unsure of my math. However, I now have more knowledge than when I came. Here is my thoughts on shocks.

The length of my shocks at ride height will need to be approximately 19in, most shocks I saw had travel of about 8in. If I assume that the shock is compressed 30%-40% of travel at ride height (approx 3in) then I need a shock with an extended length of 22in.

Does this sound right????

That would be a close guessement . Do you know them well enough to let you bring home a tester . My local old time parts store is letting me borrow some belts to get correct fit when im ready.

Monroe Shocks has an online application chart listing various lengths and eye configurations. Here it is:


http://www.monroe.com/catalog_lookup...iscappinfo.asp


You might consider air shocks too. I put a set from a Ford station wagon on my Jeep truck to handle extra weight. With a big sedan like yours you will be hauling lots of people sometimes.

Don

Thank you. The dimensions chart you sent me looked very familiar as that is what I was looking through at NAPA this morning. I did buy some shocks with stud mounts on both ends. The measure 22.125in extended and should fit perfectly. I will have to wait and see how they perform. I think their actual application is a Ford F-150.

If I can get out to the garage tonight I will post some pictures of my progress on fabricating upper mounts and installing the shocks.

I worked on two things tonight: 1)repairing some notches in the frame where incorrect upper shock mounts used to be, and 2) fabbing an upper shock mount that isn't right.

I learn alot by screwing things up or rushing through a project only to realize I made a stupid mistake. The upper shock mount is just the most recent mistake, but at least I have learned from it. I learned that I will need mounts that extend farther from the upper tube and that I should mount the shocks more vertical. I can't get the washer past the tube on my first upper mount attempt. I will begin work on the next set of mounts next time I get some garage time. The pictures tell the story.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by 37 Caddy

I learn alot by screwing things up or rushing through a project only to realize I made a stupid mistake.

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There's another way? ;)

rushing through a project only to realize I made a stupid mistake


Caddy your not alone at all on this . When i reinforced my frame i forgot to leave room for the battery so off it came and had to redo it .

Thats the part of fabbing redoing something to better it or find that a little change in it will work better .

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, but much of my time has been spent cleaning up the garage in preparation for Turkey day visitors.

Surprisingly enough it only took me two tries to get the rear shocks mounted. After the previous attempt I fabrictaed the shock mounts in a completely different way. It was easier and quicker and yielded a satisfactory result. I have attached some pictures to give you an idea of how I did it and the final result. It also demonstrates how "frugal" I am, my wife calls it CHEAP. The 2in square tube I am using is a piece of the gate to our community that found its way to the ground after some idiot tried going in the out door. I have used this piece of tubing for my tranny crossmember, extensions on the rear running board brackets, homemade lowering blocks, etc. I really need someone to crash in to the gate again soon, I am down to about 6in of bent tube.

The basic strategy for making the brackets was to cut a 1 1/2in hole in either side of the tube and then cut down through the middle of the holes to separate it into two pieces. I am pleased with how they came out.
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That is a good idea preshaped mounts . They look good and sure will take the bounce out of driving .

Well, as I mentioned earlier I haven't had much of a chance to make any progress on the car. However, I did get the garage cleaned up so none of the out of town family would get hurt wandering around looking at the cars. Although most of them are still trying to figure out why I don't just buy a car rather than working on some junker.

I was very fortunate when we bought this house to have a 4 car garage. What you see in the pictures is one of the 2 two-car garages that are on the house. The other garage is perpendicular to this one, but it only houses the boring daily drivers.

Here's some pics of the garage.
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I've got to do the same thing.......clean our shop. During the last 90 days we have just been throwing stuff around and we can't find half our stuff. Now that we are done it's time to sort it back out.

Having the room like you do sure makes it easier. Also like your Cobra car. :) :) :)

Don

So I was all excited to install my new driveshaft last night only to discover that it is too short. The shop that put it together has been quick, professional, and will fix it. However, I need to educate myself so that I know what I need to ask for.

Right now the driveshaft will not fit into the pinion yoke. I push it all the way forward and compress the collar on the tranny and I still need about 1 1/4in. to get the u-joiny over the ears of the pinion yoke. Here's the question:

* How much play should there be in the driveshaft?
*Just enough to install it, or should there be a little extra?

I will take the driveshaft back to the shop on Friday to get it shortened.

Thanks, 37caddy

The shop I use has me measure from the flat surface of the tailshaft to the flat surface on the rear end yoke, and they do the math from there. I just have to tell them what tranny yoke and what rear u joint I need.

Usually about 1 to 1 and a 1/2 inches of sliding room is sufficient. Don't feel bad, my Buddy had to get his done 3 times to get it right and I couldn't understand how he screwed up. Then I did one when I swapped a 5.0 Ford into my Jeep truck and had to have it redone because I mismeasured. :o :o It happens. :)

Don

That's a great looking rear shock mount; I believe that'll work great on my project. I'll have to copy that if you don't mind.

Here is a picture of the driveshaft at the pinion yoke. The other end is all the way in to the tranny and the seal is compressed.


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hi i guess you like lasalles ,so do i heres a couple i built some years ago that all the purest classic car ownes fround on they said i killed the value by streetrodding it ,well i sold the both of them for more than if it was original .heres a few pictures or a 34 and a 35 ,they call me old school joe,

the 34 coupe has a 510 cui caddy ,turbo 400 trans pontiac rear ,ac ,power windows and more . the 35 convt has a 350 chevy , turbo 400 trans 41 cad rear both cars have genuine leather interior thats my profession,i built the entire cars chassis up ,was on the cover of hot rod magazine august 19 59 the car was called the eastern show stopper ,have many more pictures of cars i built in the past ,i was a member of this forum for some time but not active , my fault ,THANKS joe brienza

Those are stunning LaSalles. I was going to ask about the interior, I really like the LaSalle crest embossed in the seats and I caught a glimpse of the rear speaker location. Stay tuned. It will be a long time until this car gets that far, but that is part of the fun.

I haven't had much time in the garage lately but I have made some small progress.

First, I got the driveshaft shortened and got it installed. It turns out the problem was the result of human error and bad penmanship. The shop fixed it right away, no questions asked.

Second, I mounted a much stronger and better looking bracket for the steering rod support. In the picture you will see the newly installed bracket and the one I removed. The new bracket is recycled from the upper shock mounts I cut out of the frame earlier. I just didn't have much confidence in the tiny little piece of angle iron that was holding it all together before.

Next steps are to try to find some daylight hours to clean up the frame and wait for Santa to arrive. Hopefully, Mr. Kringle will be showing up with all the brake fittings, proportioning valve, and brake hoses. I will certainly be seeking some of your friendly advice as I move into the brakes.

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looks like your doing a good job, the steering bracket looks plenty strong and neat the one you took off did look mickey mouse you did the wright thing ,it hard to put in alot of time around the holidays dont rush it ,you know the old story measure 2 times 3 times and cut once,

looking at your master cylinder and booster it looks like the same setup i put on my lasalls

Great looking job! Fits really nice around the headers.

looks great :D

Joe - Speaking of the master cylinder. What did you do to mount a brake pedal arm? I bought this setup before I knew better about the frame and I am planning on fabricating and then bolting a bracket and brake arm pivot to the x-frame. I plan on cutting up and using parts from the setup I purchased. See pic

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It has been a month since the last post, but I don't have much to show in the way of progress. I am slowly cleaning and painting portions of the frame. I have started working on the brake lines because it allows me some sense of accomplishment. I am starting to bolt on parts Santa brought me including: power steering lines, brake lines, brake hoses, and I am really looking forward to putting the new Olds/Caddy style air cleaner I got.

Once I started mounting the power steering hoses I came to find I had an extra low pressure port on my pump. I forgot the Suburban had a hydroboost setup. So I swapped it out for a non-hydroboost pump. It was only $50 and well worth it so I wouldn't have to rig up some cap or whatzit to make it work.

Quick question: I got the brake lines back to the rear hose that splits out to the rear drums and found out the hoses are not 3/8-24. I am guessing they are AN-3. Can anyone confirm what size adapter I likely need to make the connection?

Thanks. It is good to be back.

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I am running the lines for my front brakes, does it matter if the brake lines from the front tee to the front discs are different lengths?

Jay