VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER Chevrolet Speedsters 1926 Chevrolet Speedster Build

Hey everyone. My name is Brian and I am in the beginning stages of building a 1920’s-1930’s era speedster from a 1926 Chevrolet sedan chassis that I obtained from a friend. I have been wanting to build a period ”˜special’ for a few years now and I thought that I would to share my progress here on the board.

The chassis originally had a sedan body and was purchased in the 1970’s as a parts car. Nothing was ever done with it and it sat in a yard in Kansas City, MO until it was pulled out in late September 2020. Before it was parked, it had been in an accident and the front axle was bent. Luckily, the seller had a replacement in his shed.



After getting home, I quickly stripped the chassis bare and indexed the numerous parts that came with the car. The chassis is pretty decent considering that it’s lived most of its life outside sitting in the dirt. The rails are straight, the frame is square, but I do have rot in the front crossmember. I dropped the frame off at a sandblaster earlier today and I hope to have it back and in primer by tomorrow evening.

















I want to use a Chevy four cylinder with a ”˜28 head to power the car and hopefully keep the factory 3-speed transmission. I know that the rear axles in these cars are less than ideal and are prone to breaking. Does anyone have any suggestions on a suitable replacement axle that can handle more abuse? Maybe a 1930-1931 or ”˜32 Chevrolet axle? I would like to keep the mechanical brakes if I can. Any advice about this is would be incredibly helpful and appreciated, this axle needs a complete rebuild and I would rather spend time and money on something that will work better.



Thank you for taking a look. Any advice, criticism or questions are welcome. I’ll post an update after I get the chassis back from the blaster.

Looks like you will be needing a radiator shell and hood. I have both the steel and aluminum shells. The hood is in great shape needing only derusting the surface rust.

Problem is you are a long way off. If I can help, let me know.

Thanks, AM. I actually have those pieces. The shell with the radiator is aluminum, while the empty one on the floor is chromed steel. I have an aluminum recreation that was made by a Andy Capone of West Coast Metal Shaping that I also have the option of using.

Great project! I just picked up a 29 engine that came with my 30 sedan. Now that it is sitting in the garage I'm getting crazy ideas to do something with it. Possible something like this.

The frame came back from the blaster yesterday and after a couple hours of wire wheeling and sanding with 100 grit, I laid down a few coats of epoxy primer. Luckily a buddy of mine hooked me up with professional products and a spray gun and I'm really happy with how it turned out.















I really need to get the rear axle apart now and then I can start fixing the issues with the frame and get it rolling again.

After days of messing with it, I finally got the rear axle apart. The wheel flange plates on the rear wheels would not come off the wheels. I ended up using a 3" cut off wheel to cut where the flange met the hub. Removing a chunk gave me enough room to wiggle it loose.









I mocked up the body to get an idea what I want to do with it and I laid my Tiltlok "fatman" steering wheel on the column. Does anyone have any information about it? I picked it up for cheap a few years ago and I've been hoarding it for a project like this. I found a Patent Drawing, but finding more information or even a picture of a similar wheel has been difficult.

Not a lot of progress has been made, but I did score some parts over the weekend. My father and I spent the day going through a barn, digging through tractor parts and junk to get a stash of 1928 Chevrolet parts.

Some of the things that I found include: front/rear axles, springs, rims, ”˜28 engine, ”˜27 cylinder head, shackles, Jaxon wheel bolts, leaf spring hardware, alemite fittings, brake linkage, steering column, ”˜27 hood and more.

After laying everything on the floor and talking with my dad, we’ve decided to go back again this weekend to grab some stuff that we left behind and look for even more goodies.

That looks like a GREAT load of goodies! Well done!

Cheers, Dean

Thanks, Dean!

The springs are 28 as well. Those rebound plates on the top of the springs were only used in 28 and 29. Look for a 27 rear end. The brakes are better in a 28, but the 27 rear end should have the 3.82/1 instead of the 4.13/1 in the heavier 28. The gears can be changed over in the 28 rear end if you are feeling ambitious. Art

Thanks for the information. I'd rather have the higher gears, so I'll have to try to find a set.

Alright, so my dad and I made another trip to dig through that barn and managed to fill the truck again. The big score was a stripped 1928 Chevrolet frame that was hanging from the ceiling.



Other goodies include a set of rims, various body bits, a whole ”˜28 rear body clip, ”˜28 cowl, a couple hoods, running boards, and a ton of miscellaneous parts and hardware.





The frame is actually quite nice, with exception for the rear cross member. I think the frame laid upside down outside for a while and that cross member got Swiss cheese’d. With that said, I’ve decided to use this frame instead of the ”˜26. It is larger/stronger, has standard front brakes and I have most of the bits to put it together.








We’re going to make a bunch of measurements to see if I can swap in the unit from the ”˜26 frame. If not, I guess I’ll have to make one.

Looks like the garage also had some closed car top rails and maybe other wood parts. Did you get them as well.

I did not. The lady who owes the building has a 1928 sedan that her late husband was building into a street rod. Boxed frame, Mustang II front, 4-link rear; nicely done really. But all of the body bits and wood go with that car.

I've been fooling around with getting the running board brackets and rear cross member off of the '28 frame.









I've started to mock-up the '26 replacement cross member. It's not a perfect fit, but I think I can get it to fit better. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for installing rivets?






I've been looking for a '28 cylinder head to use with the project, but haven't had much luck. While I was moving some stuff over the weekend at my storage spot, I discovered one! I knew I had this spare engine, but forgot that it had a '28 head on it. I wish it was in better shape though...





I'm going to setup an electrolysis tank to clean some parts. This cylinder head will be in the first batch. Hopefully it comes out okay.

If you find that you need a '28 head, I suggest you make a post in the Parts Wanted forum. I know there are many of these heads residing in member stash piles.

Looks like you are making good progress. ;-)

Cheers, Dean

I have several '28 heads. They are stacked in the storage building. Also have a couple at a local machine shop that are inline to be checked for cracks.

If you're not dead set on using rivets, I'd actually recommend using button head bolts instead (I'd recommend using fine threaded ones as cheap insurance). They look like rivets but don't require special tools and they are particularly nice if you're frame members don't match up perfectly because you can get a lot of clamping force to pull everything together much better than rivets do:

https://www.mcmaster.com/screws/rou.../finish~black-oxide/thread-size~5-16-24/

If you decide to stick with rivets, I'd recommend "cold riveting" like originally done on these frames vs. "hot riveting." Occasionally you'll see people "re-buck" (tighten) frame rivets after heating them up with a torch and while this will work for a while, the rivet will loosen relatively quickly as it will not retain its original strength.


-Tyler

Hi Brian dont know if anyone answered your axel question but the simplest and best t solution is a set of chrommolly repro axels from Billy Possum, the 32 axels don't fit 28 or earlier the sun gears are different, Ray

Wow. I can’t believe I haven’t posted for over two months… I’ve been busy with work, younger cars, the prospect of buying another house… Anyway.

Because the replacement ”˜26 rear crossmember on this ”˜28 frame is a little different, I welded up the original rivet holes and made new ones. I originally wanted to hot rivet the piece in place, but after doing a few tests with some scrap metal, I was not able to set a rivet that I was happy with. Grade 8 hardware with Loctite it is.







I wanted a couple auxiliary tubular crossmembers to tie the rails together. My dad has a machinist friend who made these up for me. I think we traded for a couple BBQ briskets.









When my dad and I cleared out that barn of parts where I got this chassis, we found a bucket of early canvas strap Delco lever shocks. To my amazement, they bolted on! I know these were available as accessories back in the day, but I’ve never seen a set on a 4 cylinder Chevy. Has anyone else?







My next big task is to modify the front crossmember. I want to lower the front radiator about 3”. I should only have to do minor trimming to get it to fit. I think I may use a piece of angle iron to make the replacement lower mount.

I am not into speedsters, but I admire your work. Looking forward to following your progress.

Hey Brian,

When you start contemplating your engine rebuild, we have a couple of good references on this website on the subject. Each will take you a few cups of your favorite beverage to get through!

1. Ray Holland (aka AntiqueMechanic), a master mechanic, rebuilt a '28 Chevy engine in a series called School is in Session. This story resides in a 250 page PDF on the VCCA's web page of Technical Articles. Go to the main VCCA website and in the Members Only area, you'll find the list of Technical Articles.

2. Four years ago, I rebuilt the '28 engine in Lurch, my 1927 one ton truck (see the links below). I documented that journey here: Resurrecting a '28 4 banger

I'm enjoying your journey!

Cheers, Dean

Thanks for the links, Dean. I'm going to prepare a binder of resources for the rebuild. The guys that I go racing with have an engine machine shop and they're going to put a couple engines together for me. I'm trying my hardest to get them to put them on their dyno for break-in and power numbers.

Hope the dyno is accurate at low horsepower.

I am now 100% committed to lowering the radiator 3". Ha





I trimmed the forward-facing portion of the cross member to make it flat and nibbled room for the lower neck. I dropped an engine in to double check the water neck positions before I started cutting.





I am using a piece of angle iron for just mock up. I think a sectioned piece of 4x4 box tubing will do nicely. I need to run down to the metal supplier to see what they have.