When you look at this car, hopefully, it inspires you to get down to business and put it back on the road. This 1937 Ford Business Coupe has incredible potential. Currently, the car has a buy-it-now price of $7,500 but you do also have the ability to make an offer. You can find it here on eBay and is located in Stockholm, Wisconsin with a bill of sale only.
Under the hood is a 4.3 liter, six-cylinder rebuilt Chevrolet engine that was from a 1988 van. That is connected to a 700R4 automatic transmission that is said to need some work. It does have a Camaro 10 bolt rear end and the master brake cylinder and brake lines are said to be redone. The car sits on a 1973 Nova frame, and the wiring harness and electronics for the engine are included even though they are not connected.
The inside of the car is very empty except for the steering column, which is a GMC tilt column, and a few other pieces. One of the photos show the original seats, but they are in rough shape and would need to be reupholstered or just have a new kind of seat installed. The car does have drum brakes and has two patch panels on the left side. Beyond that, the listing says that there are a host of other parts that are included.
This car really does have a lot of potential beyond all the effort that will have to be put in to get it to a pleasing point. There is a host of surface rust but there doesn’t seem to rust beyond repair on the rest of the car. It could be a rolling project once the engine is running and the seats are installed. When I look at this car I get tons of ideas. Hopefully this little ride is inspiring you just as much as it is inspiring me.
That’s what I”m talking about! Take some pieces and build a neat car out of them. Slick build. Completed this one’s going to be a gem.
You better look close on this one. Its still on the original frame the motor is installed using 55 up 57 front mounts the front has been sub framed buyer beware
I hate the fact they got rid of the flathead to put a 6 cylinder in it!! Backed with an automatic talk about taking the fun out of a car!! The flathead was probably 100 hp and to replace it with a V6 out of a van what did you gain??? 25 hp?? Just my opinion but what a waste of time!!!
Agree, put a flathead V8 with Offy heads, vintage headers, and maybe even a vintage supercharger. Keep it all Ford for crying out loud.
TimM…. Do we know it there was ever any running gear in the car before the work started? I wouldn’t have put this setup in the car either but I will admit to putting a ’49 Nash engine and transmission into a ’41 Willys coupe at one time in my life…..
I don’t know if there was running gear prior to the V-6 but why in the world put a V-6 in the car anyway???? 350 Chevy motors are still pretty easy to find and there’s more inexpensive go fast parts than a V-6!! I would not put a 350 in it myself!! I try to keep a Ford a Ford and a Chevy a Chevy but this V-6 isn’t a Ford motor either!! It just seems to be a waste of time in my opinion and it doesn’t add power or value to the build!
Bobhess,, my condolences on the 49 Nash engines. Worked on 2 that were completely rebuilt and still had awful low oil pressure. One of them is very peppy with 3 on the tree. Like I said ran great but thou shall have good Oil pressure! I would personally $hitcan that v6 and put a v8 back in- SBC fits nicely without hacking. Know of a 40 coupe with a 265, hooked up to the orig 40 drivetrain and still has orig column shift. orig 265 manifolds clear everything. Or an early 289 with a 4 or 5 speed! was also worried about a different frame or subframe Needs good insp. Best of luck and would be great back on the street!
Cheers
GPC
There is something very wrong when looking at these vintage autos, noting contemporary engines, gauges, seats and wheels. It’s rather “tacky”, appears culturally deficient, especially when there appear to be zero recognition of what they represented when new. If one is to performance modify, do so in a period correct manner, to which there are innumerable parts available to do so. It makes the car so much more interesting and thought provoking.
That’s not the way I would’ve done it. If you don’t want the stock frame then get a custom rolling chassis that’s got all the mounts, suspension, brakes and everything else to run what you want. If this was mine, and it was already started along to road to resto-mod, that’s the route I’d take. Set it up for a late (’53) Mercury engine and a C-4 automatic. Some speed parts and get the party started. Welding a front clip from a Nova is a disaster waiting to happen. You might want to check your local DMV because you might not be able to register it.
This was a common practice back in the 80’s a camera, Nova, omega, or Phoenix all had a sub frame that bolted to the unibody. That sub frame was great it includes on it front suspension, steering, brakes, rad mounts, engine mounts, and trans mounts all in one package. When installed and welded there is an easy 2’ over lap to the old frame so as long as the welds are good I wouldn’t worry about the subframe here. It was a really quick way to build a hot rod. And with the gm clip as we called up here in Canada you can mix and match a bunch of different engines and trans combinations and they would bolt right up. Gm was really smart back then. These front clips were a hot item back in the day lots of cars were scrapped to get these clips. I new a guy back then that was scrapping cars and selling these clips to hot rodders as fast as he could find them. In this case I’d just change to a sbc v8 and then finish up the restoration.
I agree, GM subframes are still popular with some, although the ready made kit Rack and pinions are more common now. But TONS of hotrods built with these Subframes.
Camaro had a leading Steering, Nova and similar had trailing. Both have their merits. I have a 79 Camaro donor car sitting here and doing the same for a similar style coupe albeit Plymouth.
(Relax, way past resto condition, well into ratrod) and another way to go is subframe connectors, beef up the frame a bit and use both front and rear and the wheel base of your choice. With the donor car you get all kinds of useful parts besides good brakes and good handling, but small incidentals people never factor into a build like Turn signals and wiring, fuel lines and tank , The GM tilt column is also a big bonus.
Personally? I wouldnt run the V6 either, But it looks like the DPO (Dreaded Previous Owner) was using stuff he had available and I think its great something like this can get back on the road, rather than scrapped or languishing in a barn. I have built a few prewar coupes and ratrods and the Fords command a premium, so maybe this price is not out of line, However there is LOADS of other cars with similar sexy styling and lines for much less. Ive had Pontiac and Chevys, 2 Plymouths and 1 Dodge all in this style. Super affordable to find and loads of fun. (They dont enable pix here, But I have posted before my 1940 Dodge and the 39 Plymouth Coupe I still have) The others are gone now,, but these make great rod material. Nice find. (I have a 79 or 80 Malibu donor car as well, Last of the full frames, picked it up for $300 and made $1000 selling parts off it and using that as a donor for the Dodge. PB, PS, Tilt column and title and Rego as a 1940, Although I have the title for the Malibu in case I sell it)