Plywood

After I got the car pulled into the garage, I started taking measurements and planning the project.  I then got the car up on jack stands and pulled the wheels off.  This revealed more interesting parts and pieces, including some very peculiar looking knee-action shocks.  I finally got around to disassembling the interior, starting with removing the seats. The vehicle is remarkably complete.  All of the handles, levers, and knobs are there, albeit in rough condition.  It would appear that the upholstery has been re-done.  The most peculiar thing I found is that several major panels are made from 5/8-inch plywood.  The trunk bottom panel, which separates the trunk area from the spare tire storage beneath, is plywood.  So is the panel that separates the trunk and the passenger compartment.  Additionally, since this vehicle is a business coupe and does not have a back seat, the floor panel where the back seat would go is also plywood (pictured above).  I started by just unbolting the fasteners that would come off by hand (1939 Quirk: all of the interior screws and most of the exterior screws are button-head slotted screws, unusual for modern cars).  I then realized that the majority of these screws would not be easily dislodged.  My answer to that is usually to bust out the cutting torch, but in this case I didn’t think it would be a good idea since the screws were penetrating plywood.  Instead, I utilized a variety of methods including air chisel, hacksaw, bolt cutters, and just plain old busting the wood.  For being plywood from 1939, it was in very good condition… probably because it was soaked with oil and other unknown liquids that seemed to have prevented decay.  Got the plywood out and found another interesting fact about this vehicle… turns out that underneath the plywood and behind the seats is the fuel tank.  It didn’t take much time to remove, but it brought to mind a bit of a quandary.  In modern vehicles, you would never find a fuel tank inside the body of a vehicle.  Fuel tanks are usually mounted under the vehicle.  My plan had always been to install a modern Polyethylene fuel tank/cell, but this got me thinking about where I should put it.  If I install where the old one came out, then I would be basically putting it behind the driver.  However, there is no room for it at all underneath the car.  I guess it wouldn’t be too different than putting a racing fuel cell in the trunk like most drag racers.  I’m still pondering this one, but leaning toward putting it in the same spot and sealing the compartment with steel or aluminum (not wood).  At any rate, the new one will be of modern design and safety standards.  Now that the entire interior is completely removed I can say with confidence that the car has very little rust.  A few spots under the wood, but nothing remotely grave.

Disassembly

Now begins the process of taking the vehicle apart down to the frame.  I’m doing some specific things that will help when I’m ready to reassemble.  First off, I’m taking plenty of pictures of the parts and pieces as they come off and just before I remove things.  This will help if I need to know where something came from down the road.  Next, my wife found heavy duty zip-lock bags of various sizes and I am going to use them to document where the parts came from as they come off.  Going to use bigger plastic containers for larger pieces.  I’m saving ALL the nuts and bolts, even if they are destroyed in the removal process (happening quite a bit), so that when I purchase new hardware I’ll have an idea of the bolt size that came off each particular area.  I’ll start documenting as I go, but lets just say I have the seats out and the trunk lid off... 

One thing that’s amusing is that I continue to find little odd options and design quirks that strike me as being vastly different than what is the norm today.  I’ll post more about these later.  Often as I’m unbolting a part I wonder if this is the first time that this particular piece has been off since this car was assembled in 1939.  In a way, I feel like an archeologist uncovering a piece of American history.

Road Trip

Earlier this year my wife and I finally decided that we needed to go and pick up the car that my father-in-law gave us.  It was a great adventure and we followed old route 66 for much of the trip.  We drove through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and finally to Flagstaff, AZ.  As you might imagine it was interesting with a 5-month old baby, but he was very good and it turned out to be very memorable for all of us.  Some of the more interesting places we stopped was “Pops” outside of Oklahoma City (they had hundreds of varieties of soft drinks) and a little hot rod shop in Tucumcari, NM.  We spent some time in Flagstaff.  On the way back we stopped in Santa Fe.  Of course I was towing the car back on a U-haul trailer so that slowed the pace down considerably, but my truck seemed to be up for the challenge.  The way home took us back through New Mexico and Oklahoma, but this time up through Kansas, then on to Missouri, Illinois, and finally back to Indiana.

Options

As I started thinking about motor/tranny selections on the rebuild, I knew right off the bat that it had to be a Chevrolet motor.  The obvious choice to me at the time was a small block chevy (SBC) motor.  It made sense because there are virtually endless options with these motors.  What I was originally thinking was a “stroked” 350 Cubic Inch, or what they call a 383 Stroker.  That is a motor that would potentially make a lot of power, yet still be compact enough to fit nicely within the fender-walls.  I was talking with my uncle (who is very experienced with building motors) and he suggested using an LS motor.  I had assumed that you would need a full computer system to operate one of these high-tech machines.  However, I learned there are so many aftermarket parts and options now that I started seriously thinking about looking for one.  For those that don’t know, a GM LS motor was a clean-sheet redesign of the SBC that occurred in the mid-nineties.  They are also referred to as Generation 4 chevy motors.  The original design utilized an aluminum block, and took the best of the later model generation 3 motors (LT, and Vortec).  The LS1 (5.7 L) came with 6-bolt mains, roller cam, aluminum block and heads, and the potential for big power.  As I researched the options, I read many accounts of LS motors making 500+ hp with just a few minor upgrades.  Another factor is that pre-war chevys are very commonly built with SBC’s, so I really wanted to find a way to differentiate this car.

The hunt was on for an LS motor.  I started looking for either a 5.7L LS1 or a 6.0L LQ9 or LQ4 (truck motor version of an LS).  I finally ran across a garage in my travels where the owner knew exactly what I was going for, and sold me an LS1 motor out of a 2000 Camero.

Next I have to choose and purchase a transmission, which promises to be one of the most expensive single items of the project.  I’m looking at either a T-5, or T-56, the 5 and 6 speed respectively transmissions for later model GM sports cars.  Yes, it will most certainly be a manual.  Also in a later post I will discuss what I’m thinking in terms of a rear end.  Stay tuned...