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'39 Chevy Coupe project.

184K views 2K replies 24 participants last post by  1937Austin 
#1 ·
Nothing really to report, but figured I'd start this here vs. keep posting on the swap meet thread. So here's the same images from the swap meet.











The seller delivered it late yesterday afternoon during another downpour of rain. So even assessing the car just wasn't any fun after getting soaked unloading it. And unloading proved to be a chore too!
First the seller trailer had a 3/4" plywood deck that was rotted, so one rear tire sunk into the deck creating a hole! Then as we rolled it off the front tire turned with no steering box. As I went up to turn it the other tire was pointed a different direction! That's when I looked underneath and noticed the tierods weren't connected! Independent front wheels didn't make steering it off the trailer very easy!
Finally got it off, and then with a guy on each front wheel we tried to push it into position and keep the wheels parallel. Wasn't easy, but got it done. Then I simply covered it up, and went inside to dry out.
But some really good news too! I never looked at the title, or asked what state it was from. But turned out to be a current Oregon clear title, and a matching vin tag he had inside the same envelope! So it wont even need a vehicle inspection like an out of state car would need! One less hassle, and expense for me!
Hopefully we'll get a break in the rain someday, and I can get all the parts out of the car, and get a closer look at what I'm up against with the rust repairs.
 
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#577 ·
Is this hilarious or what?



The new LED conversion lamps arrived for my headlights and they have little finned aluminum heat sinks on the end with little miniature cooling fans! They're supposed to run cooler than halogens, but I've never seen a halogen with a tiny cooling fan?
 
#578 ·
I must

be missing something here. Halogens give off massive heat, even the 12 volt type where as I have yet to run into an LED that can't be touched even after it's been on for any length of time. You're the retired electrician Vall, can you explain this one to me.
 
#581 ·
That's Interesting

because I've replaced the head light, running lights and tail lights and turn signals on my Harley with LED lights, none of which have heat sinks. In my job I've replaced countless tube type florescent light bulbs with the replacement LED tubes that only required the removal of the ballast and replacing the old sockets with the new ones that only require the hot and neutral lines to one socket and the ground to the fixture and they also don't have a heat sink. I replaced the 9 under counter single bulb halogen puck style lights (which created a lot of heat) in my office with 3 24" LED light strips that don't have heat sinks and don't generate any heat.
 
#582 ·
No transformers in LED lamps as the power supplies are electronic regardless of whether they are 120v. or 12v. These lamps say their operating range is 9vdc-32vdc, so the electronics aren't harmed by alternators that can vary voltage quite a bit at times.
My guess is the fan is to protect the electronics from failure, or as Lash mentioned from values changing if the circuitry warms up.
I have all LED lights in my shop and I can hold my hand on the tubes regardless of how long they've been on and they're never more than slightly warm. I'm guessing that is because of the low wattage of most LED lamps. The LED headlight "bulbs" are 36w at low beam and 72w at high beam, so a for amount higher than most LED lamps. Halogen are about 50w-55w on low beam and 2x that on high.
Fortunately my buckets are extremely deep, so no problem with the length.
 
#585 ·
Headlight buckets on these old cars aren't really closed at all Lash. The entire bottom of the housing is open with a hole that's probably 3" wide, and 8" long. But if you think the area behind the headlights on a modern car is cool, I'd be suspect. It is an engine bay, and I'd suspect under hood temps can be quite high behind the headlamps. Especially since most have rubber boots over the lamps to try to keep things dry behind them.
I think mine sitting out on the fender with the large opening will probably be cooler than under hood temps.
 
#586 ·
It's cold here! So in order to not go stir crazy I brought my two grille halves into the basement work shop and did some work on them. I have them sanded and primed with etching primer, but they had some light pitting on the surface. And since I never planned to have the grille chromed again, I mixed up some skim coat putty and gave the grille bars a skim coat. Had to mix it in small batches as using my fingers to spread a thin coat across each grille bar was time consuming and it could set up before I finished. It took about 5 golf ball sized gobs of putty to finally get them all skim coated.
I left it to set up, and will sand them smooth and then give it a coat or two of 2x primer before the final paint. Thinking of going with mag wheel paint that's designed to not chip or wear as easily. Maybe a graphite color that will be sort of neutral and not clash with whatever color I end up with on the body.
 
#589 ·
Vall you can use the rubber boot as long as it is the type that only covers the base adapter (none of the bulb) and not the early type that covers up to the piggy tail...wow that is a big hole...does the fender have the same cut out...they would look really cool with some louvers on the out board side ...for some reason I thought that they had a short stand for mounting...and not direct to the fender...been looking at to many old cars I guess....
 
#590 ·
1938 was the last year for the stands Lash, and also the last year the housings mounted to the grille surround. When they moved to the fenders in 1939 they eliminated the stands.
Since my car is a one piece fiberglass frontend there are no holes at all. I'll simply use a holesaw to cut one large hole that the wires run through and allow for air to escape. Then drill the 4 outboard mounting holes after that.

I've never seen a rubber boot for halogen headlamps that touched the bulb? All that I've seen were either behind the bulb or on the socket part of the bulb. Can't imagine how the heat of the lamp wouldn't burn up the rubber if it touched it?
 
#591 ·
Finished sanding the grille today! Gave it a couple coats of 2x primer and then after that dried I shot the VHT graphite wheel paint on it. Didn't come out quite as dark as I expected, so chrome doesn't contrast as much as I hoped. But I think I'll leave it for now.



 
#592 ·
I think it looks fine. Chrome would have been costly because of the cosmetic repair needed right?
 
#593 ·
Chroming a '39 grille would have been costly even if the starting grille was pretty decent Mario! If they had no pitting it would still cost over $1,000 to re-chrome this grille. Mainly because of the size and the way it's put together.

I had a heck of a time bolting the whole thing together! Getting to the holes through the grille bars looked easy. But the 10-32 screws wont fit through the grille bars, so had to place them in the holes with needlenose pliers and then go through the grille and hold them with a phillips. Then try to pick up washer, lockwasher, and nut with the needlenose (one at a time) and place them over the screw as I turned the screw to start the nut! I lost track of how many times I dropped pieces before I got it all bolted together. Probably why it was originally riveted together!!
 
#594 ·
I wrestled the one piece fiberglass frontend into the shop today by climbing under it and just standing up with my back bent over to walk it inside. Then once I got it over the front tires I used ratchet straps to pull it back against the cowl and a jack stand under the nose to hold it up at that end.
But it was discouraging to say the least. I can see the fiberglass is not a very good fit, and since it's street weight it has lots of heavy bracing inside. I think the cross brace just in front of the firewall on the backside of the hood is a major problem. The frontend sits against the cowl at center rear, but both hood sides are a full inch or so high to the adjacent body lines. That will likely mean I'll have to work on the backside brace by cutting it in the middle in a wedge cut, and hope it relaxes and allows the fenders and sides to align.
For now I left it sitting on the car and put a bunch of weight on each fender to see if it will relax with time and maybe get closer. Probably wont though, so looks like a lot of work ahead to make it look acceptable.
 
#596 ·
Vall take your time on this. Sit and look and think. You will come up with a method that works. You’ve proven that over and over again. Lowering it is probably better than trying to raise a section. Look at all the fiberglass work Ian Rousell does on his cars. I have faith in you. Take some pics so we can see what you’re up against.
 
#597 ·
Thanks Mario. I think that cutting the brace off the inside would allow the fiberglass to relax and the sides would then drop down to align. But I'm not sure if that isn't overkill? It might be that cutting a slice or two out of the brace will also do the same, if it moves enough to relax and drop.
I'm going to mull it over for awhile and not react too quickly yet. I've got those heavy paver stones sitting on each fender for now to see if it relaxes any at all on it's own. Some of this might have been from the frontend sitting wrong off the car for years. If so, maybe it will come back some left in place. I might also put a block under the center on top of the cowl so it might over relax, and then it might have a better chance of conforming without major work.
 
#598 · (Edited)
Vall give it time to settle on its own ...if you go to far to fast you will stress the top gel coat and end up with crazing in the gel coat and perhaps the final paint in a short time...getting it to settle is a summer time job when you can take advantage of the heat...I feel your pain on the grille very tedious..and with older hands it just makes it a pain in the ass...seem like I drop stuff 10X what I used to...if you decide to go metal here is a start..https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/pts/d/springfield-1939-chevy-buisness-coupe/7051258117.html...are you sure that is a 39 front end...looking around at repo stuff 1937-38 have one fender 1939 is all alone...and so is 1940...maybe...?? but this site says there front end will fit thru 1939..http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/37chevy.htm
 
#600 ·
That's a '39 you linked, but it's a one piece steel welded together, so not like mine. The other you linked that says it's a '37, but fits '38-'39 is an Anglia frontend, so a bit small for my '39 Chevy.
Nothing else in Chevy's 30's or 40's cars has a frontend like a '39. It is a one year design, so this is indeed a 1939 repro glass frontend. That grille shape is the key, so although the '40 frontend would fit on a '39, it would have a vastly different larger grille opening.

I'll get the frontend braced up, and lashed down with ratchet straps, and then turn the heat on in the shop. Might even put my fan forced salamander in there to really warm things up, but I'd have to stay in there with it as it can really get things cooking quickly!
 
#602 ·
I'm contemplating another option. Maybe cutting the hood off the glass frontend and using the fenders with an original steel hood. The steel hoods are easy to find and two on Craigslist right now for $250 ea. That might be the simplest solution, and I don't care if my whole frontend doesn't tilt. I'd just bolt the fenders to the body, and make brackets to bolt the front edge to the frame rails. Then make up supports to attach the hood to the body, and grille. I'd need to fabricate some brackets so the hood sides can latch to the fenders as the hoods open side to side. But all that would be much less work and look better.
Need to decide if the fenders can be cut and leave a good line for the hood sides to butt to? I guess if there isn't a good line, then maybe I can simply glass in a metal edge inside that allows the hood to sit on it, and also let the hood sides latch to the edge.
 
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