1937 Ford Coupe - Bad Habit

There have been a great many conversions in the hot rod hobby where a former race car has been tamed and converted to street use. There were a lot of '32-34 coupes that went that route, and it seems that nearly every '49-50 Anglia you find in the United States was once a cut-up gasser.

But, you don't find nearly as many '37 Ford coupes that were once race cars and then converted to street use-even though they were popular on the dirt tracks back in the day-but that's the path this particular ride has traveled.

Chet Miller, from Temecula, California, had started working on a '37 for a customer of his, and saw that the former race car was fairly well beaten on in its day, but the frame was heavily modified and beefed up to take the abuse, which is probably how the car survived at all in the first place. It hadn't run in more than a dozen years, but Chet was confident about what it could become. A little more than 18 months later, the black 'n' red coupe featured red upholstery and red rims-very hot-roddy.

Chet had also been working on a '49 Cad fastback, turning it into a mild custom. The owner of the '37 really liked it, too, so the two traded cars one night over dinner, and Chet tore apart the '37 to build his dream cruiser.

During the build, Miller had enlisted the help of the Bio Kustumz crew in Hemet, California, who modified the chassis, which now features a Jaguar XKE IFS with rack-and-pinion steering. Out back, a Currie 9-inch (2.73:1) went in, and each corner received disc brakes (Chet says the '37 rides like Henry Ford designed a Corvette and slid it under a Coupe De Ville). Firestone airbags also found their way onto each corner, as did a set of custom wire wheels, made to Chet's specs by Hobbycar.com-specialists in custom wire wheel configurations based in Orange, California. Chet wanted to use a Cadillac center hub (he liked the look on the '57s) but have the spokes run to the lip of the rim, like a Thunderbird wheel, rather than to the center of the hoop. Hobbycar.com complied and, wrapped in BFG wide whites, the result gives Chet's car something of a Roman chariot look, which is perfect for a custom.

The engine isn't what you typically find in today's hot rods, either. It's a 400-horse 351 Cleveland (wow! A Ford in a Ford!) equipped with a three-quarter cam and topped with an Edelbrock manifold and a 650 carb. The trans is a C4 unit assembled by Ron Ginnings, and uses a Gennie Shifter to select the gears.

Like many other customs, the majority of the labor went into reshaping the look of the body, and it seems that nothing was left untouched on Chet's all-steel Ford. Lowering a car will make it look a little longer, but Chet helped that look by extending the rear fenders 6 1/2 inches and molding the running boards, which are void of their rubber matting, into both fenders (they're a little wider than the stock 'boards, too). The rear bumper was shortened and turned upside-down, and a custom splash apron connects the body to the bumper, creating an even longer appearance. The stock taillight housings were extended an inch, and then fitted with '53 Chevy lenses.

Another splash apron was installed up front, with the flipped front bumper moved away from the grille 1 1/2 inches, and Chet made his own fender welting (the stuff typically found between the body and fenders). In the steel front fenders, the stock fluted headlight lenses gave way to clear covers that work with blue/white halogen headlamps. Still more work went into creating the trio of spears found on the hood sides, which used a twin blade design in stock form, and though the split windshield design was new for '37 Fords (as were the in-the-fender headlamps), Chet converted his windshield to be a crank-out, and filled in the cowl vent.

One of the bigger changes you might not notice is the filling of the seam between the roof section and the body. The driprail, still intact on Chet's car, used to flow into a seam and around to the back of the car, just under the rear window. With the seam filled, the seamless look aids the vehicle's overall smooth appearance.

Inside the coupe, you'll find a custom dash and a set of original gauges, which were restored by United Speedometer to work with the 12-volt system. A new steering system was installed, too, based on a Chevy van column and a '64 Impala steering wheel, color-coded to the car's exterior. The tall floor-mount shifter is topped with custom whittled knobs, which not only match the car's colors but glow in the dark, too. Another of the subtle tricks Chet employed in the car's construction was the use of green-tinted glass-something you don't really notice but which adds to the look.

Once the Bio Kustumz crew completed all of the bodywork, it was off to the Pala Indian Reservation and to Laughing Bear Paint & Body, where the custom was covered with two shades of PPG green paint-dark on the fenders, mint on the body. Body and paint completed, the only thing left was the interior, which was stitched together by A&C Upholstery in Nuevo, California. A white leatherette was used in a pleated design over the twin six-way bucket seats, which came out of an '86 Cadillac, and the material was carried over onto the door panels and the headliner, as well as in the trunk. Carpet was dyed green to match the dash, and Chet was ready to glide down the boulevard in his two-tone cruiser after the addition of a Vintage Air A/C system and a killer 400-watt stereo system.

With an aversion for trailers, Chet is more than happy to drive his '37 anywhere it needs to go, with one of his longer trips being to a car show in Utah, more than 1,000 miles from his home. The coupe made it there and back, lookin' cool, and like Chet says: "If you were born in the '40s, then you were just right for the '50s."