1934 Chevy Master Sport Coupe (3 window)

S

strum456

Oldtimer
This was my grandfather's car. In the late 1950s to early 1960s he converted it from a daily driver to a rat rod. Nothing was pretty on the car, but from what I hear, it really flew with the 394 Oldsmobile engine he had in it. The drive train he had in it wasn't something I wanted to deal with, so I started by getting a 1988 mustang GT as a donor car. I used the engine, transmission, rear differential, steering column, wiring harness, and many other parts. I did most of the mechanical work, tested the car, then took it back apart for blasting and painting. Picture 134.jpg

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One reason you don't see a lot of these old Chevy's on the road is because they had so much wood in them; wood that rotted and caused the metal it was touching to rot. I replaced some of the old wood with metal, but I used white oak to replace most of it.Coupe1.jpg

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The engine is a DSS short block 5.0 EFI with AFR aluminum heads.

I have seen enough Ford street rods with Chevy engines in them, so I thought I'd help even things out. :cool:491.jpg
 
That is an awsome project. Did you have many photos of the original street rod? I would give anything for one of my grandfather's cars.

Aaron
 
I have one really old photo of when the car was all original, that is it. In the late 60's, my grandfather parked the car because flywheel flew apart and he couldn't find a replacement for that Olds 394. It sat in his garage, totally buried with stuff until I uncovered it in 2006. I thought about building the car around the 1950s hot rod theme, but I really wanted EFI and more than 3 gears.
 
Normally building a project like that can be a real blast. When it has a family tie, that makes it even better. Hey.... he modified the drivetrain to make it more driveable for the time. Now you are improving it even better for the time.

Aaron
 
I'd like to see some pics from back in the day with the olds in it. What rearend did he use? What transmission? The drivetrain you adapted will make a much nicer driver but I sure dig the old school stuff.
 
Bob,

Here are some pictures of the drive line my grandfather had in the car. Maybe someone on here can tell me what kind of front end that is. My guess is a 50's corvette, based on the narrow wheel base. Is it worth anything?Picture 179.jpg

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Old stuff for sure, I wonder what year the engine is-guessing late 50's?/early 60's by the way the bellhousing is shaped. The front end doesn't look familiar-Shine will probably recognize it if it's Corvette.
 
I believe it is a 1963 or 1964 Starfire engine. I did some research of the numbers, and I believe it is the Ultra High Compression model with 345 HP and 440 ft-lbs of torque. I am still trying to decide what to do with this engine. Rebuild kits are available, as far as I know. My main hold up is the 3 speed manual transmission.
 
There is a hot rod article where they are doing a Chevy similar to mine. Someone was quoted in the magazine:"Putting the wood back in these old Chevys is like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube".

For me there was no other option than to take out every last piece of wood, blast the whole thing on both sides, and spray two coats of epoxy on it. It was a challenge getting everything to line up again, but it was worth it in my opinion.

From the factory, these cars were bare metal on the inside, with some tar slopped around here and there. The wood on my car was a mix of maple, poplar, red oak, and white oak. I think Fisher Bodies used whatever wood they had. I replaced the old wood with white oak with 3-4 coats of spar outdoor urethane. I used some poplar in the doors to cut down on weight.IMG_2663.jpg

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You're doing a heck of a nice job there, it will probably last a few lifetimes now. That three speed might be the same bolt pattern as a later model Muncie or Saginaw 4 speed or you might be able to adapt a 5 speed Tremec. Good thing the block bellhousing isn't damaged-it was common to grenade a clutch or flywheel and crack the bell on blocks like this and the older hemis.
 
Thanks for the compliment Bob. I've been learning as I go. Thanks to the guys on here, I have had pretty good results so far. I will keep you posted on further progress.
 
I am not the best at stopping in the middle of working to take pictures. Since my last update to this thread, I took the car completely back apart. The last work that I did on the car was in a hurry so I could make it presentable to use in my wedding. It turns out that I had a lot more work ahead of me than I ever expected!

I used black epoxy for all of my blocking. Here is a picture of the car in a reduced coat of gray, which I used for guide coat. This picture was taken just before my final blocking. I blocked with 100 and 180 to get to this step. I sanded most of the gray off with 220, and then the last little bit with 320. I went over everything with 400 wet and a soft pad before sealer.Guide Coat.jpg
 
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