Thread: A Journey Ends And Another Begins

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Greetings,

I'm a new member and my name is Bill Blust. I'm also a first time builder. But before I continue any further, let me tell you my story.

My parents were divorced when I was young. Each Summer my dad would drive from Illinois to Pennsylvania, pick me up and drive back to Illinois. A month to six weeks later he would repeat that trip to drop me off back in Pennsylvania. In 1972 when I arrived in Illinois, the two car garage was filled with parts from an old car. I asked fad what it was and he replied that it was a 1940 Chevrolet coupe. Mmmm, ok. I was twelve and hadn't caught the car bug yet. In 1976 when I arrived in Illinois, it was finished. Man, it was so cool!!! I had gotten my license earlier that year and dad let me drive it. That Summer was way too short and in August my dad drove me back to Pennsylvania. When he returned to Illinois he sold the coupe and bought two new old project cars. Then the night of October 1st, 1976, he was killed in a car accident. Fast forward to 1992. I started writing to family members asking if they happened to know what happened to the coupe. No one knew. Not long after that I was introduced to a computer. I learned to use a computer and tried to find my dads car. Fast forward 22 years. I remember the name of my dads best friend from back then. I google his name and finally find him on page 8 or 9. I have to jump through some hoops, but I finally get his contact info. I call him and ask him what happened to dads coupe. He tells me its on the third owner since my dad sold it and still in the same town. He gets me the present owners contact info. I call him and tell him my story. He doesn't want to sell it but agrees to sell it to me. On June 22nd of this year, my friend and I and my son, hop into my friends truck and head to Illinois. I buy my dads car and trailer it home. After 38 years, and a 22 year search, I finally have the car my dad built into a street rod. You can't imagine the joy I feel. So that's the end of that journey.

Now, the beginning of a new journey. The coupe still has the same paint and interior that my dad had sprayed/installed. And even though it has been kept in a garage, 38 years have taken a small toll on her. Nothing serious. Just some small minor rust, doors, hood, and trunk deck don't align properly, and a few minor dings. The 327cu.in was just recently replaced by Jeff (the gentleman I bough it from) with a new stock 350cu.in. At the same time he replaced the 350TH transmission with a new 700R transmission. Jeff also recently installed the following new items; aluminum radiator, duel exhaust with Flow Master mufflers, starter, plastic fuel tank, 14" Craiger SS wheels and Cooper Cobra tires. The second owner had replaced whatever rear end my dad had installed with a Nova rear end. My dad had replaced the knee action from suspension with a straight axle. The second owner replaced the straight axle with a Corvair front suspension. The carb needs adjusted, it bogs down when trying to accelerate quickly. The transmission valve cable that runs from the granny to the carb was never set properly. These tw items are tops on my list to correct. I took it out for an extend test drive two days after I got her home. Right now I totally hate the Corvair suspension and whatever rack and pinion was used. Steering to the right is fine, when I steer to the left it only turns half as much as it turned to the right. From the end of the steering column to the rack and pinion, it is connected by some type if flex cable. I'm told this set up was used on early Pinto's. I'm not sure I trust this. At 55MPH the front end has a slight shimmy and shake. At any speed I can feel every bump in the road. And lastly, the steering floats, not much, but constant minor corrections are needed. I have been researching the Vair suspension under a street rod. I guess it was popular to do in the 1970's. Personally, I don't like it. Not sure if its worth the time, effort, money, and aggregation to attempt to correct it. My thoughts at the present time is to ditch the entire front suspension, the rack and pinion, flex cable, and present steering column and replace it all. As for the suspension, I'm thinking of a dropped straight axle or a new Mustang II style IFS. Would like to hear the pros and cons of both suspensions. The present steering column sits at an angle but is too vertical. Its from a late 60's early 70's Chevy. I would also like to add power steering. So the suspension and steering is my second order of business. On my list third is the brake system. The master cylinder is a single bowl from a 1957 Chevy, or so I've been told. It has drum brakes all around. I want to switch to a duel bowl master cylinder, add power brakes, and disc brakes all the way around. Once all the above is done it should be fine mechanically. Then I can start on the mods and updates I'm thinking of doing. I would love to hear members feedback, positive or negative. I'm open to news ideas. I'm presently at work for a 16 hour shift and I am unable to post photos from my phone. But, sometime tomorrow after I wake up I'll post some.

I was a mechanic in the Army and have 1,800 hours welding from a Vo-Tech in the mid 80's. So I am handy with tools and know my way around a shop a little bit. But, I have never done any of the things described above. So I seriously need advice and suggestions.

Thanks,
Bill

Great story Bill!

Welcome to CHR - lots of great folks here and they'll begin to chime in with suggestions and ideas. Hope to see some pictures soon as most of us are visual and can add more meaningful insights if we can see what your working on. I'm not a 40 Chevy guy, but there are some here for sure.

Nice tribute to your father - he would be pleased and proud!

Hope your stay here is long and profitable for you in terms of information to help you with your car.

Glenn

Welcome to CHR. That's quite a story, and says a lot about your perseverance. You might take a look at Fat Man as an option for a new IFS, and once that's decided you can figure out the steering column and interfacing DD shaft & u-joints. Looking forward to seeing some pictures, and following your build.

Glenn,

Thanks for the welcome. I have many other ideas for the interior and exterior, but I think getting the mechanicals in proper working order are my first priority. Its 1:30AM here at work, only 4 1/2 hours left in my 16 hour shift. When I get home I have to get some sleep. But I promise to post some pics in the afternoon when I wake up. I do photography on the side, so I know what you mean by being visual. I hope the members will help a noob like me. Thanks again for the welcome.

Bill

Rspears,

Thanks for the welcome. I have checked out the Fatman MII IFS. From what research I have done they make the best one. Not sure if I'm going to go that route or the dropped straight axle. I have to admit that I'm leaning towards the MII IFS.

So, you said my first step (after the carb and TV cable adjustment on the transmission) would be the front suspension. Then I could figure everything else out. I'm assuming that after choosing the steering column I would want to use would be the second step? Would the Fatman suspension come with a rack and pinion? Is the rack and pinion the way I want to go? Would this be a good time to incorporate the power steering? Will I have to be careful of what angle I mount the steering column in order for the linkage and universal joints to fit? I'm assuming the DD shafts is what I'm calling the linkage. What if exhaust manifold is in the way. Get different exhaust?

Sorry so many rapid fire questions. But as I stated, I'm a first time builder and know almost nothing.

Thanks,
Bill

I'm thinking I should actually be asking all these questions in another area of the forums.

welcome to chr bill.

Originally Posted by Bill Blust Jr.

I'm thinking I should actually be asking all these questions in another area of the forums.

Bill,
I'd start a build thread for the project, and use that for all the questions. Pretty sure that the Fat Man clip will come with the rack, so you need to know when you order that you're going power steering to get the assisted rack vs manual. If you go IFS you'll want to go rack & pinion of some type, IMO. When you re-locate your column you can do it in a way to skirt the exhaust without messing up your wheel position, so having the exhaust you're going to run is good to have on hand for fab is a good thing, too. I expect you'll have to have one universal at the column base, a mid point universal and intermediate support off of the frame, then a third universal at the rack which is common with an IFS MII type rack where the shaft is toward the middle of the rack, angled back to the side.

You mentioned power steering as one of the requirements/desires, so that would almost negate the beam/tube axle option. Rack and pinion is tricky with that axle, and a power steering box (hydraulic) is pretty clunky and probably would have trouble fitting around the left side of the engine/exhaust. There are some new electric power steering systems, but they are pretty spendy and haven't been around long enough (on hot rods) to know dependability. Which pretty much throws the ball to the MII with power rack. I'm not as big a fan of Fat Man, not because it isn't well known and serviceable, I just don't like the esthetics. I think Heidt's is superior, but that's just me. Another alternative is Chassis Engineering Inc. (that Inc. is important because of another similar named company). There are any number of "big brake kits" made to fit to the MII spindles so you'd have good choices there. Again, my preference is ECI.....good quality and service. Lots of choices out there for steering columns (but stay away from Helix, it's unsafe junk). As Roger mentioned there are lots of choices in shafts and flex joints to make it fit, see Borgeson or Flaming River.

If you want a car that rides nice and handles other than straight line well the MII is a good first step. Some decent anti-sway bars front and rear are a good addition too. One of the things to keep in mind on front spring rate is don't go too heavy. Remember, the original engine placement for the design was directly over the spindle center line whereas in your arrangement the engine will be behind that line. Many make the mental calculation error of going for the heavier MII spring rates imagining the Pinto/Mustang were light cars, but in reality they weren't very much lighter than your coupe, and the weight distribution was different as described.

Welcome Bill sounds like a great project.


.

Here she is.

Rear view.

Interior, front

Interior, rear

The pictures lie. In person and up close you can see the faults. But it's in great shape for having been painted and interior installed 38 years ago. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.