Building a “fresh” car these days is anything but affordable, not to mention the furthest from expedient for anyone looking to put rubber to pavement in any reasonable amount of time. The flip side to that is searching for a finished car that meets your criteria, but even that has some drawbacks, the obvious being the inherent difficulty in finding exactly what you want, at least within a fairly close proximity.
So, you’re on a budget—you want a particular type/style hot rod or custom … and you want it now. Fat chance? Maybe not. What we’re about to present to you is a viable option to get what you want, in a roundabout sort of way, without breaking the bank or having to wait on someone else to fulfill your needs.
Next time you’re at the swap meet, local cruise night, or car corral at a Goodguys or NSRA event, slow your roll when strolling the rows! That ’80s-style fat-fendered rod with its price crossed out and marked down to blowout price—with a few updates here and there—could that fit the bill and subsequently fill the void in your garage? Regardless what year/make, your next car may be right under your nose, you just can’t see it past the goofy graphics, the particular wheels and tires, or even the sky-high stance!
What we’re presenting for you this month is a mild makeover that, hopefully, illustrates the potential of buying over building—for those who don’t have the time or the money to start from scratch. Thanks to the father and son team of David and Terry Stoker at Stoker’s Hot Rod Factory in Upland, California, we’ve taken a 1937 Chevy coupe test bed from back row to front row swap meet material with three simple changes. The idea is to buy low, personalize, and enjoy.
1 First thing’s first, which in this case entailed swapping out the old Chevy rally wheels for a more appropriate set of Rocket Racing’s 15-inch Strikes, in full polish form obviously.
2 Rocket Racing 15-inch Strikes
3 The other external item(s) to go: the teal and mauve (or whatever shade of pink that is?!) beltline “graphics”. A little rubbing compound backed by equal amounts of elbow grease, followed by sufficient buff and polish, rid the ’37 of earlier-era markings quite nicely.
4 The other external item(s) to go: the teal and mauve (or whatever shade of pink that is?!) beltline “graphics”. A little rubbing compound backed by equal amounts of elbow grease, followed by sufficient buff and polish, rid the ’37 of earlier-era markings quite nicely.
5 Moving on into the Chevy’s cockpit, rather than being drawn to the decent leather upholstery, our eyes immediately lock in on the seemingly outdated forward controls, all of which will get tended to.
6 First to go are the black-bezeled VDO gauges, however, the brushed-aluminum insert will remain, just not in its current finish.
7 Wheels (inside and out) require little skill to change out; instruments, on the other hand, often entail some rewiring. In the process of installing a set of Classic Instruments All American “Tradition” series gauges (including tachometer), Stoker’s opted to completely rewire everything accordingly.
8 But before the gauges were dropped in, the once-satin insert was sent to the polisher for a quick buff ’n’ shine job.
9 With the gauges tended to, the interior was wrapped up with a new Bandini-series steering wheel the shop obtained from Classic Performance Products.
10 And within the course of an afternoon, though still mild mannered, our subject ’37 Chevy now fits within more acceptable parameters than it did when first swooped off the fairgrounds lot.
