Looks like a fun ride, and probably pretty quick too!

 

Yeah she's quick enough,not the tire frying brute my '69 427/4 speed was but probably does a quicker 1/4 mile because it hooks up better and has 6 gears.
It's lighter than the new Camaros,about the same as a '69 so power to weight is pretty good ,runs strong for just 346 cid.
It does everything else better aside from looking cool going down the street and has all the Caddy stuff from leather seats and power windows and mirrors to AC and cruise.
I'm not way behind you in age,closing in on 64 in a few short months so I like my comfort these days.
I picked up a set of genuine 2004 Z06 Vette LS6 heads with the lightweight valves and with the help of guru Corvette tuner Tommy Wong picked out the cam etc.
Tommy did the work and tune on it so she was in good hands.
Cheap thrills overall,she'll run with cars that cost a hell of a lot more than I've spent and it's a hoot to catch them off guard expecting to walk on my little 20 year old redneck express. lol

 

Darn it! I went into the shop last evening and the headliner material around the top of the back window was loose and hanging in the air! I glued it all around with 3M headliner glue, but it didn't hold. It's the only area without a tack strip, and I suspect it should have one, but no idea.
It has a tack strip along the top of the windshield opening, and I stapled and glued it there, and that held great. Asked about on the rear, but didn't get any response.
So today I came up with my own fix. I sat down in the back with a 1/8" drill bit, and a bunch of 1/8" pop rivets, and set off to drill and rivet the headliner to the metal structure around the frame. Put a rivet every few inches and twice as close in the corners.
This seems to be holding great, and once the weatherstrip is in place it will be even better! I would have simply made a tack strip, but no idea where it would mount and not interfere with the weatherstrip? No signs of where one could have been, but shop manual says the headliner gets "glued and tacked around the window", so must have had something?
Clean up day tomorrow again! Even with not bodywork, it seems to be covered in dust. Rolling it outside tomorrow, and doing a deep cleaning, which means I'll get wet as I plan to scrub the engine bay, frame rails, and everything I can reach! It all looks like 10 years of accumulated dust!

 

Well at least the weather is getting better.

 

Yeah, a great forecast this week. Our car club is doing a cruise to a lunch spot mid week where we can eat outside. Should be high 70's by then, and perfect driving weather.

 

Wow, looks lovely! How much horsepower does it have?

 

Since I built the engine myself, I'd have to estimate HP, as it's never been on a dyno. But with the heads, intake, roller cam, and exhaust system I put in it I'd guess it's probably only about 350-375 hp.

 

Yesterday I got bored and decided to try my hand at glass installation. I got a quote and an appointment to do back glass and windshield glass June 18th, but I'm impatient. The '39 has weatherstripping, so it needs to have the lip worked over the window openings as the glass is pushed or pulled in place.
I had this nifty suction cup tool I bought long ago for under $10, so figured maybe it would help? I fitted the rubber weatherstrip to the glass, and used some duct tape to keep it secured to the glass during installation. Then I cut a long piece of 14 awg. insulated electrical wire and fed it into the groove in the weatherstrip that fits over the metal lip.
I mixed up a spray bottle of soapy water and set it close by to use as lube on the rubber. Picked the glass with the suction cup tool and pulled it from inside out into the opening. Slowly began pulling the two wire ends as I sprayed with soapy water occasionally. The lip slipped over the edge, and it took maybe 3-4 minutes to work the rubber over the entire perimeter and as the last couple inches pulled over the window settled into place! It was actually way easier than I expected, and made me wonder about the $125 quote for just the back glass? They want $175 for the front, and it's going to be my next attempt, just to see if it's as easy.

 

It's been another month, and lots going on with the project '39. Because of the lack of response from a couple glass guys, plus attitudes, and egos from others, I decided to also try the windshield installation myself. It was certainly not as easy as the back glass, and took almost 5 hrs., but it's in there!

Some other changes needed as driving it around for a couple hundred miles made me realize that cool old '52 Pontiac wheel was just way too big! At 18" diameter even minor steering corrections required huge amount of movement, and it felt like a semi truck driving with that wheel. So I contacted a local supplier called "Joe's Racing" and ordered one of their aluminum spoke wheels with oversized grip, in a black anosized finish. It feels great, and is a huge improvement in driving feel! Went with a chrome horn button, just to break up and contrast the all black wheel, and I like the looks.



A small update on the doors. I got the trim rings for the door handles, and removed all of them and installed the trim to finish off the interior. They're the small tan rings under each handle in the picture above.

I had a near disaster last week while heading to a get together with club members. I was about 6 miles from home and cruising along a city street when suddenly there was smoke everywhere in the cab! I quickly hit the key and shut it down, then coasted into a handy parking lot. I stepped out and to my horror saw oil everywhere on the front fenders, down the sides of the car, and a huge puddle forming under the car! As I looked through the open hood sides I saw flames coming off the left side header tubes, and no fire extinguisher, or rags! All I could do was blow breaths of air on it, and it actually went out! Likely because the tubes quickly cooled, but regardless it was out.
I began looking for the source of such a huge oil leak, and soon spotted the source! The oil gauge line had failed, and blown out of the block fitting! I grabbed the line and it felt like a wet noodle! It was soft, and limp, and nothing like it was when I installed it. And the engine, and engine bay were soaked in fresh motor oil too!
Called AAA and they finally showed after 2 hrs., and took the car home. Had to call my wife as they wont allow passengers these days with the corona BS. But I needed to clean up the parking lot anyway, as it had a 5 ft. oil slick left from the leak.
When it got home I mixed up degreaser solution and washed down the body 3 times, and the engine and bay 3 times also. Spent the next day cleaning it underneath, and bought a copper gauge line kit to replace the crappy plastic tubing kit. I may later install a electric gauge with sender, and totally eliminate lines forever.
It lost 3 qts. of oil in a few seconds, and has a 7 qt. system. But no harm done to the engine, and after fixing the line and adding another 3 qt. it is back to normal.
I also had to exchange my fuel gauge. The supplier sold me a 90-0 ohm gauge, instead of 0-90 ohm, so it read backwards. That can really mess with your mind when you fill the tank, and the gauge pegs on empty. Then drive it and it begins to go towards full! I've got enough miles to see the mileage now, and I'm pretty happy with the result. In around town and freeway combined it's getting around 16 mpg. Most around town, and I'm guessing a long freeway trip with the OD trans will be up closer to 20 mpg. That's not economy car mileage, but considering the engine build, and the weight of the car, plus 3.73 gears, it's better than most old hotrods get!
I discovered also that my 15.5 gal. fuel cell isn't anywhere near that size! Which irritated me no end! I specifically wanted the biggest tank that fit between the frame rails, and didn't hang too low. I could have gone slightly deeper, but thought 15.5 gal. would work. I ran the car down to the tank only being slightly wet on the bottom, and it took 12 gal. of gas. So they shorted me 3.5 gal. which would mean a lot farther between gas stops on a trip. Too late to do anything now, so I'll live with it. But a lesson learned to do the calculations next time before buying. If you measure LxWxH and divide it by 231 it will give capacity. Doing the calculations I saw this is a 12 gal. tank, and they're exaggerating their specs.

 

kool, wheel looks old school. that is pretty good mpg. lol, getting gas every 150 miles is gonna get old fast if you drive it much.