Inliners International Forums General Discussion Truck Talk 1940 Chevrolet Coupe Build!

Hi all! I'm a newbie here on the site as well as in the club. I just thought I'd share my build with you guys. Here's the plan:

-1940 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe.
-270 GMC straight six from a 1956 GMC 1/2 ton.
>Dual Zenith Carburetors.
>High Dome, light weight pistons
>3/4 race cam.
-Saginaw 4 Speed (2 I.D. ring---3.11 first gear)
-1955-62 Chevy 1/2 ton rear end
-7X10 tires on the rear

A little history on the car and why I'm building it. I spend a lot of time with my grandpa (I'm only 17 years old.) Like many grandparents, my grandpa loves to tell his old stories. So one day, one of my grandpa's old military buddies dropped by and they got to looking through a bunch of old photo albums. After about an hour or so we hit May of 1956. Inside were 3 pictures of him, his buddy and their 1940 Chevy Special Deluxe Coupe with a 270 Jimmy in it. Then the stories came. They had driven this car all over the west coast. Twice, they drove all the way from Bonners Ferry, Idaho (just about as close to the Canadian border as you can get) to Fort Worth, Texas. The first time was through one of the worst storms to hit the west. They said that by the end of it the front end of the car looked like a crumpled tin can from hitting all the snow drifts. The second time, they got pulled over for speeding about 50 miles after they left and were fined almost all the money they had. They calculated that they had just enough gas money to make to Fort Worth, so they kept going. Two days later, they were scavenging off the floor of the car and dividing up left over chocolate chips that my great grandmother had packed them for lunch the day they left. After their final fill up, they had 92 cents left to buy a gallon of milk. They drank it before they got out of the corner store.

Anyhow, I listened to their stories for a little while longer then went home. Two hours later I called up my grandpa and said "I've got a '40 Chevy down in Albuquerque, New Mexico" with the usual comical "Ya wanna buy it!?" thrown in at the end. He said "Sure!" so we did. Three weeks later, I had a break from school so we hopped in the truck and drove down there. The road trip alone was worth it. We racked up 63 hours behind the wheel driving from Sonoma, California (an hour north of San Francisco) to Albuquerque, NM. Trip of a life time.

Sorry, that was pretty long. But, there’s the car and there’s the story!

Stay tuned!

Pete

1940 Chevy 1

1940 Chevy 2

1940 Chevy 3

P.S. If this thread is in the wrong spot, I’ll happily move it to wherever is best. Thank you!

William, Welcome! That is a great looking ride. And what a great opportunity to work along side your Grandpop with his experience guiding you. Good Luck with your project and keep posting when you can.

Quick Update... I've got the new ring and pinion set in the rear end. It's now got a 3.38:1 ratio which should whip us down the freeway at 75 mph with ease! All that's left is for it to be sandblasted and painted!

Drew: Thanks! I will!

Chevy Rear End 1

Chevy Rear End 2

Chevy Rear End 3

Chevy Rear End 4

More to come soon!

Pete

Looks good. A popular change for improved performance and economy.
And oops! I used your sign off quote as your name. Sorry Pete.

Haha, no problem! It's my fault... I probably should change that, it's just such a great quote. When I get my paperwork back with my club membership number, I'll put it on there. Hopefully that'll clear things up a little bit.

Thanks!

Pete

Sorry for the slow updates, time has been tight... Nevertheless, the new rear end is sandblasted and painted. I also started the tear down of the car. The old Blue Flame 216 is out and the "economizer" torque tube rear end is out. Next is to pull the interior, body and everything off the frame. As for the 270 Jimmy, it's stalled at the engine builders waiting for molds to be taken of the cylinder head so pistons can be made. Apparently there was a huge order of racing motors for a race on March 1st that needed to be finished, so mine got kicked to the curb. Anyhow, I've got plenty of other things to do...

Torque Tube Rear

Blue Flame 216

40 Chevy (Minus Engine)

Thanks!

Pete

P.S. What is the nic-name of the 270 GMC's? (216 Chevy=Blue Flame 6, 270 GMC = ?)

GMC 270 block is in! Front motor mounts made (although it needs some grinding and polishing). Body just about to fall off, we just need to fire up the old bull dozer and lift it off. (I'm skeptical about tying it to the rafters, run the risk of dropping a section of the roof.)

Pete

270 GMC Block

Motor Mount Before

Motor Mount After

'40 Chevy w/ 270

Suprised you had trouble with pistons. Arias and Ross for sure have the molds for the big chambers. For the latest 270 the chamber was the smallest available especially if you milled the head .075+". A flat top would be about right compression.

I bought some JE flat tops for a 270 with it bored for an available ring package since the 270 is pretty oddball on the bore many years ago an never used it. Stuck under my bench needing the small port head done. My plan was for a 50 Chev coupe that's now long gone, oh well. Good luck with your project........

Yeah, as we learn that's the conclusion we came to. Literally had the conversation this morning. Instead of having special pistons made, we will just buy a set of Ross flat-tops and mill the head the rest of the way to achieve our 9:1 compression. Glad to see we're going in the right direction!

Thanks for the advice!

Pete

P.S. I have this next week off from school, so things should really start heating up around here! Stay tuned!

Body off and frame is power washed. Sandblasting tomorrow!!!

1940 Chevy Body-Before

1940 Chevy Frame-Before

Thanks!

Pete

P.S. I've been meaning to ask you guys... I've been having trouble posting images on the site. For whatever reason, whenever I wrap the image tags around a URL, that's just what they show up as- a URL with image tags around it. (What do ya know!) Therefore, that's why I've been using all these links. Anyhow, just wondering if anything simple can be done to accomplish this. Not a huge deal, it's just cumbersome to have to click every single link. Thank you!

That thing is nice! Here is a LINK link to a forum on Stovebolt called the IT Short Bus that deals with Net issues. This is where I learned to post links and images here.

Great, thanks! I just got a photobucket account. Kinda cumbersome, but we'll give it a shot!

Progress from today, I've got the frame sandblasted. Just a little left to be done on the front end and some odds and ends. While I was out sandblasting, my grandpa did some work on the floor boards. There were a few rust holes, so we decided to patch them up. It looks pretty good!





Thanks!

Pete

P.S. The photos are pretty huge... Is this a problem?

Good progress! Nice to have a CAT to make the process a little easier. Floor pans look very good. Your Grandpop is a handy guy. And do I spot some grape vegetation? If you have a micro winery, I'll be over!

Thanks! Yeah, the old bull dozer is great. 1961 Case 450. Never had to use the glow plugs once on that thing, the old inline 4 cylinder diesel (I think) fires up first crank every time. I love it!

Yep, old Jim-bo's still got it! It's great having him around. I'm blessed to have this time with him.

Micro Winery is correct! Haha, we call it "Rancho Pequeno." C'mon over, we've got plenty to go around!

Well, as for progress, we finished sandblasting and painted the frame today. Good thing too, because I'm getting pretty sick of sucking dust all day. Three days straight is enough for me. Anyhow, everything is painted, so on to phase two: the rebuild! Woohoo! Will be placing some pretty hefty orders to a few catalogs here pretty quick. My mattress is going to loose most of its stuffing!





Thanks!

Pete

Great progress. Someone else here will have a project done before I get off my butt. A boat is a hole on the water that you throw money into. A hot rod is the same thing except there's not as much water. A good red wine goes well with a GMC!

Pete, Got my new specs yesterday, so I can read CASE not CAT. :)My bad. Did you sand blast your front suspension pieces assembled? If so, even tho painted, I would think about disassembly to clean out any sand from the internals or at the very least pump lots of grease through the parts. Pressured sand can get into areas you may not realize. Just my thoughts.

Today was a big day! We located one of three acid striping places in California! (Nor Cal Stripping in Windsor, California if anyone is interested- really nice people- 707-838-9470.) Everything is up there, so we got rid of that bunch of junk. Will start rebuilding the frame here pretty quick. The engine is still at the builders being done, so we're still stalled out on that. I might start working on building a set of coil-overs for the front end. We may start working on the upholstery also. Who knows... We've got lots to do!





Haha, no kidding! Today was an expensive day. $3,700 bucks at the acid stripping place (although it does include a good primer job - DP-90 is the primer they're using - good stuff) Also, me and grandpa Jim spent about 3 hours going through the Chev's of the 40's catalog lining out about $5,000 in parts. I'm not going to lie... It hurts, and I'm not even fronting the majority of the bill! Ohhh... This may drive me to start drinking.



Haha, no problem. Case... CAT... who's keeping track anymore. Yep, that's the idea. Blast tons of grease through and try to clean it up as much as possible. It's definitely a concern. Wasn't really thinking when I did that. The grease should handle it... I hope...

Well, I've just about hit the halfway point of spring break. Things should start slowing down here again as the homework procrastination starts to kick in. (Here's your chance Beater!)

Still got plenty to do!

Thanks guys!

Pete

Progress from today. We faxed in the order for all of our parts. That hurt. Then we put the front end back in. We also welded in the new mounts for the rear end (it originally mounted from the bottom.) I'll let the pictures do the talking from here...







Thanks!

Pete

Progress has been slow the last few days. School finally caught up with me and my grandpa's old dog has been having trouble, and that's been plenty to keep us out of the shop. We did get a little done today though. We bent all new brake lines for the frame, made U bolts for the rear end, cleaned and re-assembled the the drum brakes in the rear. As of now, I think I'm about done with the Spring Break grind. Good thing too, because I've just about run out of things that I can do right now. We're waiting on our big order of parts from Chev's of the '40's, our body to come back from the acid stripper and our engine to come back from the machine shop. Oh yeah, and we're waiting on a bunch of parts for the sand blaster. It bit the dust today too. (haha, sandy dust!) I'm happy with our progress. If only I had a few more weeks like this past one, we may be able to get this thing back together! Anyhow, I'm happy!

No pictures from today... Not much to see... Sorry.

Thanks!

Pete

Looking good and it sounds like you and your granddad are having a great time. It's sure nice to be able to order what you need. I'm going to do that when I grow up. Too bad about the old dog. I've got one who is failing as well.

Hah, if we all made as much progess on our projects in such short order as you and Grandad have, we'd all be happy. Yes, hope the dog gets well quickly. No truer friend then a pup.

Thanks guys! I'm happy to report that now with some new meds, old Blue is feeling a little better. It'll be a slow recovery though. Dang spine injuries are the worst...

Anyhow, I was able to sneak down to the shop for an hour or two yesterday. I got the emergency brake setup cleaned and made. All that has to be done is attach the two cables (I had to use the front part from the '40 Chevy and the rear part for the open driveline rear end) with a cable clamp. I also felt guilty about having no pictures for the last post, so I snapped some when I was down there.





Thanks!

Pete

Parts, Parts, Parts!!!



Pete

Enjoy it while you can kid! I spent yesterday pulling spring mounts from a rusty pickup frame, digging through a stack of dirty old flywheels,clutch and pressure plates, and trying to put two old Mallory distributers together to make one good one. All this is for my roadster. Some of the engine parts are new though.

Haha, believe me, I am!!! One of the advantages to never having done a project like this before is having no dusty old parts to try to put together or fix. For once, we CAN'T be cheap! I am extremely fortunate to be in the situation I am in - Certianly counting my lucky stars on this one.

Thanks!

Pete

P.S. Spring mounts, flywheels, distributors, sounds major! What's the plan for the roadster!? How's it comin'?

It's a '26 Chevy. 153 Chevy 4 cylinder with lots of "Goodies" Saginaw 4 speed+ OD and Dana 44 posi on a '27 Chevy frame with Chevy leaf springs in front and 1/4 eliptic/4 link in the rear. I've been gathering parts for years and am just starting to assemble them.

Awh, cool! Let me know how the Saginaw 4 speed plus OD works. I've got a Sag 4 speed going into the '40, have been considering trying to find one of the 3 speed OD's to dismantle and use behind the 4 speed. Just wondering if it's worth it...

Fun Fun Fun!!!

Pete

There has been discussion of that here before. With a four speed the only real advantage in the final OD in 4th gear. With a 3 speed the OD of 1st and 2nd can be useful especially 2nd. I'm just doing it for 4th over because I can.

Ok, thanks! That makes sense.

Beater, I know you've already seen this on the Jalopy Journal Website, but just for good measure;

As far as the '40 Chevy goes, progress has been slow. We've been getting steady shipments of little pieces and parts over the last week or so, it's just that we have no BIG pieces to put the little pieces on! The body is still at the strippers, and the engine is still at the builders waiting for pistons to be forged. So, it's hurry up and wait here at the shop. Hope it doesn't last too long, I may shrivel up and die if I have to keep staring at that bare frame...

Thanks!

Pete

Patience, young brother, patience!

Some of us have waited many years, seeking, finding, saving, and accumulating to have what we have and to make what we want to make. Patience in the assembly is important also, getting it right so that it doesn't fail. Patience is a part of your education, and it works for you in many things.

All things come to the one who waits, my father used to say. It took me many years to learn how right he was.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

Yes oatience is alway the key even though it kills me some times

Things are moving here again! We picked up the body today! Now with all the bondo gone, we wish we had never touched it, but hey at least I don't have to stare a that bare frame any longer. I have to say that whoever did the bondo work on this car did a fantastic job! The car looked laser straight when we got it, but now, it looks like it could have been through a destruction derby! Haha, it's actually not that bad. There is just going to be a day or two of bodywork. I'll let the pictures do the talking...







I also got to try my hand at "picking and filing." It truly is an art form. My hat goes off to you metalworkers out there!



Josh and Don: Thank you both for the wisdom. I agree completely. I feel I may have left out some key details as why I am so hurried. My bad. First off, the engine rebuild is my Senior Project for high school. (Senior Project is basically a year long project required to graduate highschool.) It is due on May 14th. The car as a whole is not my senior project, however I do need to have it completely finished on or before July 4th. Mainly because that is when my grandpa and I leave our annual month long trip to the Idaho pan handle to live in a little cabin on the Canadian Border. After that, I will be headed off to college which just so happens to be up in your neck of the woods, Don. Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana! Once I take off for that, I'm gone for good. There's no chance of finishing after that. So, that's why the rush, there's no time! Again, thank you for your wisdom, I couldn't agree more!

Thanks!

Pete

That's not too bad and no matter how smooth it looks you don't want that much bondo. It will not last as long as you will. A thin skim coat is fine.

When my son and I were putting his '54 Stude wagon together, a frame off job, so he could take it to college in Texas we ran out of time. We had door windows installed on the way. We drive all day and worked on it at night. I stayed in Lubbock for a week finishing up little stuff before I flew home. Within a month or two he blew a tranny (supercharged 289 Stude V8,Big tires, posi rear end, 18 year old driver) Lucky for us we had hooked him up with a great guy who was the president of the local Studebaker Drivers Club. Those guys are great. So when you get to Purdue find the closest Inliners. They'll love having you around.

Great Story! Haha, I think grandpa Jimbo and I may end up doing the same thing! It will be tight, but I think we can make it. Worst comes to worst, we can always trailor it to Idaho and finish it up there. We've got a few friends with good shops.

Progress: Took me most of the day just to do the bondo work on the rear section of that fender I was beating on yesterday. I'm happy with the result. I still have to do the front part of that fender, but that's just about the worst of it. The rest of the dings are not so bad. They can easily be fixed with body filler. Also, the pistons for the 270 are scheduled to arrive here in the next few days... Might finally be able to put that engine back together!





Thanks!

Pete

Looking good.
For the next few years I flew to Lubbock in the Spring and we drove home. Each Fall we'd drive to Texas and I'd fly home. Soon we were pulling a trailer with a couple of Triumph 650s in it. I would not trade those trips for anything.

Wow, those sound fun! That is one mean looking Stude!

Thanks!

Pete

Hi Peter,

My name is Frank Hainey (Radar) and I did what you are doing, only 20 plus years ago (1990 -1992). Your pictures brought back fond memories. I still have my 1940 Chevy Special Deluxe Coupe and drive it regularly around north San Diego county. I even drag race it twice a year. God only knows how much time and money I have put into it - but I love the car and it still gets great reviews at car shows.

My car started out kind of like yours, with a a 302 GMC, 3/4 Isky cam, Areas 9.5 pistons, 4 into 1 header, holley 4 barrell intake, saganaw 4 speed, and Ford 9 inch w/411 gears, rebuilt front end. Over the last 20 years I have added a Mustang front end, A/C, 3 - 32/36 Webers, dual headers with small pipes, and cross member mods the accomodate a T5 transmission.

If you are not trying to keep your chassis stock, I would recommend. I wish I made them originally - especially the rack and pinion steering, disk brakes, and the T5 with cross member mods. You will not regret it. The car will steer and stop great and drive very safely at high speeds. The original sreering and brakes are obsolete at todays highway speeds.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Frank Hainey 760-451-3041, grnchevy@roadrunner.com

Wow, thanks Frank! I really appreciate it!

Some questions for you right off the bat. About the Saginaw 4 speed: did you have trouble with the Saginaw not being strong enough to withstand the 302 and 9 in Ford? One of my concerns about the Saginaw is the many reviews about it's weakness. I hear they work well for low-stress cruisers, but popping the clutch and bang shifting has been known to strip the gears and sometimes split the case in two! Did you have this problem before you switched to the T-5? I also have been considering the T-5 alternative, but I'm worried it may be too many gears for the car. What's your opinion on the T-5? Are you happy with it?

About the front end: I would really like to preserve the origional stance of the car, but I'm all for updating the front end technology to improve drivability. Do you know off the top of you head of any disk brake kits or steering boxes that are compatible. Stopping was another one of my concerns, and the master cylinder is so querky that I can't find a better replacement, so disk brakes would be the next best thing.

About the small pipes exhaust: As we aproach the rebuild of the engine, I have started to investigate possible exhaust options. Right now I am thinking the bigger the better- straight pipes out the sides with baffels to quiet it down a bit, but I'm no expert. What do you think about the small pipe exhaust systems? I've seen them on many hot rods, so there must be something to it. Noise possibly?

That sounds like a real hot car you've got. Get's me fired up about mine!

Thank you so much!

Pete

Hi Peter,
I went thru 2 Saganaw 4 speeds in a couple of years. They both broke while shifting fast. The shifter was never very positive with all this links and levers involved. It was fine for daily driving and did just fit between the floor board and cross-member. I am happy with the T5. It is a non-world class Camaro version. I use 2nd thru 4th up to about 40 and 5th after that, although the engine will pull smoothly in 5th as low as 20 mph. I use 1st for drag racing and starting on steep hills at traffic lights. My 1st is 3.0. I tried an S10 T5 but the first gear was way too low. It has lasted many years and still shifts great. But you have to cut the middle section out of the cross member to get the T5 under the floor board. This required a V shaped piece of angle iron go behind the T5 and bridge the gap in the cross member. This also has to be bolted in and removable to change the trans or clutch. Without this reinforcement the frame will bend in the middle.

I switched to the Mustang II front end because the the car did not steer or stop well - even with a vacuum power attached.
You are correct that most mustang front end kits drop the height of the front end by 2 to 3 inches. I welded spacers under mine to keep the car at the same height. If you get one, order the lightest gauge coil springs and the biggest disks you can get.

I kept the old master cylinder because I wanted to save the peddles and clutch. The output line runs along across the cross -member to under the passenger side of the engine compartment where a vacuum booster increases the pressure . It works very well - feels just like normal power brakes. I think you can get disks for the original front end from Buffalo Ent. and I think the Vega steering box can be used to get better steering controll.

With all this said, I often wonder if I would have been better off just getting a modern frame ,like a Chevy Blaser, and just fit the 40 Chevy body on to the modern frame.

As for the exhaust, I have experinented with many. The best setup I have found for performance so far is the dual headers with small pipes. I use 1.5 dia on the single ports and 1.625 on the siamese. These smaller pipes work better because the keep the exhaust pulses moving faster and create a mini vacuum at the cylinder during the cam overlap, causing new gas and air to get pulled in as the intake starts to open. You can feel the boost. Larger pipes do not do this. One other tip is to go to a junk yard and get the entire exhaust system from a old Jaguar XJ6. Its all stainless, the right size pipe and will sound great with your GMC.

Frank

Really good information. The voice of experience. I ran a Saginaw 4 speed in my pickup for several years. '53 Chevy, stout 270,Dana 44 limited slip with 3.54:1 gears. I didn't race it but I beat the crap out of it and had no problem. I took it out because I wanted an OD and couldn't figure out how to make it work with the shifter I got from Patrick's. It's a modified Hurst that moves the stick forward to clear the seat. I gave the Saginaw to a friend who put it behind a 350 in a Model A coupe and blew it up within a month. I replaced it with a T-5 from an S-10 but WC inside. With my gearing 1st is still too low and the OD in these is not as high as the Camero version. The shifter is far more sloppy than the Hurst. I am either going to a 3.08:1 rear end or try and find a better geared T-5. I am going to use a Saginaw 4 speed with a BW OD in my Roadster but it's just a 4 cylinder.