Yeah, it wont be a big deal around town as there's no shortage of stations. But out on the highway I hope the freeway mileage is good enough to stretch the distance a bit. With the sump drop I can run the tank right down to damp and squeeze every drop out. But sure don't enjoy cutting it that close!

Options aren't really good for finding a higher capacity, and having it fit between frame rails. I'd likely need to have something custom built, and that could get spendy. Or get a larger and have it narrowed, which wouldn't gain much fuel capacity.

 

Enough driving over the last month to get a feel for the small gas tank, and I'm pretty sure it wont stay long. I'll leave it for this summer, but over the coming fall/winter it will get pulled and replaced. Even if I have to get a deeper tank to stay within the frame rails, I'll be OK losing some trunk space if I have to cut the trunk to let it extend up into it 3"- 4" to keep the bottom of the tank up.

I've had very few issues, other than fueling often, and a couple small parts failures. Had the new fan sensor quit after just days, and didn't call on my electric fan. So bought an adjustable that isn't in the coolant system, and wires to the back side of the radiator to sense temps. It's working fine, and I like being able to choose the on/off temperature.
Had an issue with glass that turned into a real bizarre ending! The passenger side windshield cracked a short time after installing it. Called the supplier to buy a 2nd piece, and asked if they could make it slightly smaller. He told me they'd note it to the suppler who cuts the glass, and make it 1/8" smaller top to bottom, and 1/4" smaller side to side. But a month later when it finally arrived it was 1/8" smaller side to side, and the same size top to bottom! I ended up having to take the weatherstrip rubber down all around using my belt sander and a new 80 grit belt. That allowed it too fit, and it went in a little easier.
Called to tell the supplier it was in, but it didn't come smaller as requested, and the guy went berserk over the phone! Started ranting about how he never promised he'd make it smaller, and nobody has ever had trouble with his glass, and he's never had any glass crack, etc., etc., etc. He went on ranting for 5 minutes, until I finally hung up on him. Then he called my home phone and began the rant all over again! And it got really much stranger after another 5 minutes of ranting. He suddenly stopped yelling, calmed way down, and politely told me if I ever needed any help with glass, or even just needed questions answered, please call him. I was speechless, and said nothing. I just hung up the phone without replying. I think the guy is psycho, and shocked he's the owner of a business still operating?

500+ miles on the car so far, and just did the first oil change, and readjusted the valve lash. Other than that, I'm still doing minor sanding, and bodywork.

 

Got near the end of my interior work, and began getting estimates from a few upholsterers to do my Pontiac bucket seats. I had leftover diamond pattern black vinyl, so I just needed to pull the seats out of the '39 and give them my material to do the inserts. My driver's bucket seat had cigarette burns where some clown smoker seemed to not be able to control his cigarettes anyway, and I needed to tie the pattern to the doors and back trunk divider too.
After getting a $1500 estimate at the first shop (Yikes!) I went to another and got $2,000 which was even more shocking! The 3rd was actually way cheaper than the first two, but even he wanted $700, and still not worth it to me. After all, this is supposed to be a budget build, not a show car!
So I pondered the thought of maybe trying my hand at upholstery work. Heck, I even contemplated if I could stitch the inserts in by hand with a needle and thread! But I figured that would be taking things too far. I finally decided I'd buy a good used commercial sewing machine, and then just sell it when I was done to recoup some or all of my money.
Began searching Craigslist, and surprised at how expensive used machines were too! They ran $850-$1500, so I shelved the idea, but didn't stop looking. A few weeks went by, and I found a CL ad for a used machine for $280! Ad said it ran well, and was recently gone through. I sent a message, but got no reply. Then the ad disappeared. A week later the same ad again, and I sent another message adding, "If you'd respond to me email I could buy your sewing machine!" The seller called m phone number and told me he had no machine currently ready to sell, but he refurbishes them, and would call me in a few days when he had one ready.
He did call, and I went over to look at the machine the next day after his call. It was an old 1950's copy of a Singer commercial machine, and he said they were so exacting that parts interchanged too. He demonstrated it by sewing two thick pieces of leather together, which it easily handled. I also brought along scraps of my material, and he let me sew those together also. It did so easily, so I bought the machine for $250. He tossed in a box of accessories, owner's manual, and extra bobbins. As I was carrying the behemoth outside (must weigh 40 lbs or more!) he asked if I had a cabinet? I said no, so he went back inside and grabbed the one it was sitting on, and gave me that also!

I got it set up in my shop and began playing with sewing straight lines, curves, etc. It is too old to have a reverse, so have to leave the needle in the fabric, lift the foot, and turn the fabric 180 degrees to change direction. No big deal, at least I don't think so.
After some playing around, I removed the seats, and began ripping fabric off, and then ripping out the seams to make patterns. In a couple days I had both seats recovered, and reinstalled in the car. To my surprise they actually came out pretty good for a first attempt, and it was more work getting the material off and back on, than it was to sew it! Here's the end results:









Decided the machine was so cheap, I'll keep it to use for other heavy duty sewing needs. I'm into my whole interior including seats, material, headliner, carpet, and sewing machine, less than $600. So it's aid for itself many times already. I wont be doing it for others, as I don't want the work, or the time stolen from my own projects. But I'm open to doing my own seat repairs, and might do a little repair on my '69 Suburban's driver's seat soon.

 

Nice job Betsy Ross, seats look great!

 

Thanks.

Got the weatherstrip in the doors yesterday. Bought some with 3M self adhesive backing that's a universal .39" height, and hoped it was close. Since these cars didn't have weatherstrip in the doors, they tended to use the windlace to seal the doors. The .39" weatherstrip just barely makes it! If it was any larger the doors might not close and latch. I got them to close well, but I can tell it's tight. Hopefully sitting with the doors closed for a few days will take a set and then they'll be a little easier to latch.



I also got the windlace installed around the door openings. It was a tough fit in spots, as there's a thin channel with a narrow groove in it running up the hinge side of the frame. Too wide for a single layer of the windlace edging, but barely wide enough for the edge to be doubled over. I put weatherstrip adhesive into the groove, and used a putty knife and a tack hammer to drive the doubled over edge into the channel. It's a nice tight fit, and came out looking more finished with the windlace installed. Back edge was easier, as I simply loosened the 1/4 panel interior trim, glued the windlace edge, and then secured the panel back down to hold it.





That finishes up the interior work, but have one more area to weatherstrip. The lower edge of the door to rocker panel needs a larger rubber to seal it. I purchased GM universal trunk weatherstrip to do that area, and hope it is the right size to seal off the lower doors.

 

Some updates, and major changes over the last month. Been putting miles on the '39 in hopes of building confidence, so I could drive it on a planned 900 mile trip in early October. Then a couple weeks ago it developed what sounded like a bad lifter tick. I chased valve adjustments and it seemed to be on #6 exhaust valve. No amount of adjusting got rid of it, but adjusting did reduce it or change the noise.
So after no improvement I decided to look at the possibility of a bad problem, and started testing things. I did a compression test and all cylinders were within a couple psi of 150 psi. So did a bleed down test on #6 cyl. and that also showed no issues.
I finally called Howard's Cams to talk with a tech, and he immediately told me he thought it sounded like debris caught in the roller lifters. He went on to tell me that roller lifters had closer tolerances than old flat tappet lifters, and it wasn't uncommon to have this issue if the person who built the short block didn't clean the oil galleys well.
So I finally gave in and pulled the intake off. I had a NIB set of Elgin OEM style roller lifters, so swapped them all out. At the same time I thought I better not take a chance on the valve springs being the correct high lift .550" springs needed for my roller cam. So I ordered a set of high lift springs and changed out all the valve springs. After all the new parts were installed I still saw nothing wrong, but no way to test lifters, so I assembled the engine, and fired it up. She started right up, and ran fantastic, with no more weird noise!!
Yesterday I took the '39 for a 300 mile drive around local freeways, country roads, and stop and go city streets. All went perfect, and even with low 90's temps it never got over 180 degrees sitting in traffic. I used a '32 Ford High Boy aluminum radiator for a SBC swap, and it fit the '39 very nicely. Seems to be plenty of cooling also, as it never runs hot. I have an adjustable thermostat, and a backup electric fan that is installed as a pusher to help if the mechanical isn't enough on hot days at idle. But it never kicks in since it's set at 185 degrees.
Just need to continue to put on miles so I'll feel confident to do my trip up near the Canadian border in NE Washington in a few weeks.

 

Put about 500 miles on the '39 since the repairs to the engine, and no issues. So took off last Thu. for my trip feeling semi confident, but a bit apprehensive. After a couple hundred miles I relaxed a bit, and even decided to take a scenic detour on my way to Tonasket, Wa. destination. Went past Grand Coulee Dam, just to see it, and take a out of the way route.
I put about 600 miles on the odometer going up, and about 500 more coming home. All without any issues with the car at all. I did have to fill more often than I hoped due to the clowns who sold me a 15.5 gal. tank that is actually only 12 gal.! But the car averaged 17-19 mpg depending on how much mountain driving I did and how often it dropped out of overdrive. I mostly cruised at 65-75 mph, and it loves the upper end of that range the most. Purrs right along at 2200 rpm at 75 mph, and just smooths out nicely there.

 

Awesome, it looks great!

 

Thanks!
Hopefully it will look better after this winter. All the bugs worked out now, so I'll finish up bodywork, and hope to get paint on it by next season.

 

Realized I haven't come back to this project thread in a very long time! And there have been numerous changes over the last 18 months on my '39 Chev coupe!
First off I tried to get someone to paint the '39, but everyone was either way out on a waiting list, or too expensive for my low budget project. So spent some good money to buy one of the highest end spray guns Harbor Freight sells, and did some practice shooting scrap fenders, etc. to get a feel for painting with it. Gave the car another coat of sandable primer, and then went for it, and shot the Wimbledom White Restoration Shop acrylic enamel single stage paint. Gave it 5 coats to use up all but about 6 oz. of paint, and stopped there.










It's not show quality, but considering it's my first ever paint job it came out better than I hoped.





I then contacted 5 different pinstripers and sign painters to do the lettering I'd mocked up on pictures I took of the finished paint job. I had a couple not answer my phone messages, and three that were interested. One wanted me to email him my mockup pictures, and was very interested. But in the end all three simply fell through before we even discussed prices! Just a flakey bunch all around.
I decided to contact the sign company I used to letter my last car, and had them make me stencils that would allow me to hand paint the lettering, and then pinstripe the borders without looking like a 3rd grader did the work. My hands are too shaky to attempt this lettering freehand.
Got a nice day, and measured out all the placement, and peeled the templates off the protective paper, and applied them to the car. The door stencil was much too large to deal with in one piece, so I cut it horizontally across, and laid down top and bottom halves easier.





Once I finished the main red color, I used a pinstriping brush to border the red, and pulled the stencil after it all dried fairly well, but not so dry I couldn't clean up defects I found when the stencils were pulled. Turned out I didn't need any touchup, or cleanup, as edges were clean and sharp.