It's not often that one gets to write about history in the first person. However, such is the case with this month's Milestones. Continuing with the tradition to publish street rods that have a lasting imprint on street rodding, this month's contribution is the Super Bell coupe. It became an icon for the Super Bell Axle Company.
Well, almost! The late Jim Ewing was a one-of-a-kind hot rodder who became the living icon for his company; yet the coupe was a mechanical extension, an expression of what it meant to him to be a hot rodder. (I would be remiss if I didn't mention Victor Leon, who along with Jim started Super Bell Axle Company and was half-owner of the coupe, but more on that in a historical perspective on the I-beam axle coming next month.)
The coupe, as it was referred to, was built in the same timeframe as two other famous rodding coupes: The California Kid and Jake's coupe, both '34 Fords with rodding legacies second-to-none, at that time belonging to Pete Chapouris and Jake Jacobs, the founders of Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Parts. Jim was a friend of the triumphet duo from Temple City and would later have close business ties. Both coupes now belong to Jerry Slover, the current owner of Pete & Jake's. But I digress.
The Super Bell coupe is now under the care and feeding of longtime friend, Frank Morawski, who has owned the car since '83 and is also the owner of The Glass Shop in Bel Air, Maryland, a custom fiberglass shop. Frank has made very few changes to the coupe over the years. However, these changes were done to bring the car back to its original build: A pair of '34 Ford commercial headlights in place of the Deitz lights (the car ran original, all-stainless '33 passenger car lights), the Halibrand quick-change in place of the GM 12-bolt, and a duplicate of the original steering wheel. However, Frank did change the wheels to the current Halibrands (much as Jim wanted to do in 1977 but never did) as the car came with 16-inch early Ford steel wheels in front and steelies in back covered with Moon discs. He also added the padding to the forward portion of the seats to help hold riders in place. (Jim and I didn't have that luxury; we just slipped and slid around while bouncing down the highway.) Aside from a mid-life steering column change and a handful of engine swaps, the coupe has retained its appearance surprisingly well over the years between its "birth" and today.
The construction of the car started in '75 shortly before Jim and Victor Leon founded Super Bell Axle Company in Monrovia, California. The car is a '34 Ford three-window coupe but Jim had the firewall altered to give the appearance of a '33. He just couldn't leave well enough alone!
George Wilson of Temple City, California, owned the coupe before Jim. It was an old race car painted a hideous green that already featured the distinctive chopped top. Jim purchased the car and had another friend Ed Belknap design a unique looking coupe that Jim could build. It was Jim's intention to build a hot rod that would not only be streetable but would cross the Salt at 200-plus miles per hour!
We know Dale Caulfield of Weedetr Street Rod Components in Red Bluff, California, but it was his father, Jim Caulfield, working out of Caulfield Automotive in El Monte, California, that got the nod to do the work along with son Dale, back then just a young'un. Remember, the top chop was already done but Jim and Dale Caulfield did all the body and paintwork. They also refit the doors (the doors were gutted and had no window mechanisms), the decklid, the hood, and installed the '50 Pontiac taillights (the body already had holes for them). They also fabricated the front frame horns, chopped the windshield frame, made the flooring and the distinctive rear rolled pan, and modified the firewall. Dale also made the unique lower front panels that the M&S four-bar passes through. The initial fiberglass bucket seats came by way of an off-road race car from Brian Bauer. The Caulfields also mounted the original stock-appearing radiator and the forward shock mounts. The radiator would become a major focal point of the coupe, but more on that later. The chassis was a compilation of odds and ends. But we do know that M&S Welding of Irwindale, California (also of early Funny Car fame and the same company that welded up all those Super Bell axles), hung the front suspension. The steering is today what it was in the beginning: a cricket rack-and-pinion that rests behind the 5-inch dropped Super Bell tube axle and is twisted into service by a Pinto flex-steering cable hooked to a Chrysler telescopic steering column.
The nosepiece, clearly the identity of the coupe, was drawn up by Ed Belknap representing Jim's design. The nosepiece was "massaged" out of aluminum by race car builder Kenny Ellis.
Contrary to popular opinion, the coupe doesn't have the first Super Bell tube axle, spindles, brake kit, steering arms, etc., but the car did serve as a rolling test lab for all of the Super Bell products. (Of the original 12 tube axles, Jim gave them out to friends, with yours truly getting one for my '29 highboy roadster.) In 1977, Victor Leon became equal owner of the car.There are two number one I-beam axles--one belongs to Dave Enmark (Jim's long-time friend). While Victor did the development work on brakes and other parts, the first Mustang brake kit and steering are under Dave's '40 Ford pickup, which was the old Super Bell shop truck that he bought from Super Bell and owns to this day. Back in those days, Jim not only stored his T-bucket at Dave's Porsche shop but also rented a house from Dave. The other "number one" I-beam belongs to Brian Bauer, who was the first shipping clerk back in the early days of Super Bell Axle Co. Today Brian's I-beam is under his '30 Ford sedan and the original Super Bell coupe quick-change is under his Model A roadster. The coupe never had an original Bell Auto Parts axle as some thought--only a Super Bell. Jim got the idea for a Super Bell by selling Gene Scott's copy of the original Bell. Both Jim and Victor worked for Gene right up until the day they started Super Bell with Gene's best wishes. In the early days Jim made his living working for Gene and making the weekly rounds at the various swap meets. He was known for selling N.O.S. parts and always had a good supply. But what most people didn't know was how Jim came up with these parts.
Jim had found a wrecking yard for houses--yes, houses! It was called House Wreckers in Monrovia that is no longer there. While cruising through the yard one day, he found a trailer and inside were all these N.O.S. parts. Well, Jim would go back every chance he got and buy up what he could and then resell the items at the swap meet. This went on for some time. While on one of these "restocking" missions he came across the brilliant orange paint that became the coupe's trademark color. The lacquer paint, gallons and gallons of it, was military surplus manufactured by FP Fuller of Los Angeles, California, in March of 1958! He bought it for $1 a gallon. From here it was back to Caulfield Automotive.
The car was originally built with '33 all stainless-steel headlights but Jim took off the '33 lights to put on a '33 roadster he was building. Frank Morawski took off the Deitz lights and installed the current lighting. The Super Bell axle is a full 5-inch drop while the car also features Super Bell spindles, brake kit, and backing plates.
The initial test drive in the coupe proved to be an experience befitting Jim. He took the car onto the local freeway and during the test run the driver's side door popped open. Remember that it's a suicide style of door and the havoc it wreaked on the bodywork meant the car went back to Caulfield, who still has a gallon of the original military surplus paint.
Dale re-did the body and paintwork on the coupe using the surplus lacquer. It should also be mentioned that Caulfields sprayed the black on the California Kid and the yellow on Jake's coupe as well as the original bodywork and first black paint on Editor Bud Bryan's Rod & Custom '29 roadster.
The coupe, finished the night before, was driven to the '76 NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The car ran too hot with the hood and nosepiece, so they were removed for the drive. Once there, both items were reinstalled and the coupe was put on display in the Super Bell booth. It was during this same drive that Jim decided to swap the quick-change for something more mundane. He just couldn't stand the noise from the Q-C, nor could he take the interior heat. Next up, the A/C and a GM 12-bolt rearend. The original Q-C was given to Brian by Jim: it came from a '34 Willys that Brian had found and told Jim, who in turn told another friend, "Butch" Fish, who purchased the Willys and gave Jim the rearend. Since the Q-C was designed for a Willys, it never fit correctly (too narrow) under the coupe--another reason why Jim gave up on it in favor of something a bit more traditional. Jim Kirby of Challenger Equipment of Azusa, California, did the rearend swap as well as other projects on the coupe. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the unique nose treatment and the hood on the coupe were designed by Ed Belknap and put into aluminum by the great Kenny Ellis. It was this unique nosepiece that gave the coupe its never-to-be-mistaken identity. It was also this sheetmetal work that caused the coupe to never cool properly, no matter what the engine--from the 435hp, tri-power-equipped Chevy big-block, a stock 350 (it ran 280 degrees, too), then to the Victor Leon- built blown-small-block Chevy with a new radiator. All the engines were hooked up to a TH-400, including the Buick V-6.
It's an even-fire Buick V-6, but it's not the first engine! The car started with a big-block Chevy, then a stock 350, then a blown small-block with a guaranteed radiator to cool (which didn't), then the V-6. A longtime friend of Jim's, Dave Enmark, still has the turbocharged V-6 that was to be installed and never was. Oh, yes, the Holley valve covers and air cleaner belong to Editor Brennan and came off of his '29 roadster's V-6.
After continually trying to get the various engines to cool, Jim finally had a L-shaped radiator built that was "guaranteed" to cool the V-8s. Well, it didn't. So, out came the V-8 and in went the V-6. The V-6 was the only engine to run within acceptable temperature parameters with the unique but restrictive nosepiece.
The original wheels and tires are another interesting story. The front wheels were 16-inch early Ford steel wheels, with motorcycle tires and Moon discs. The rear wheels were custom-made steelies with mismatched dirt track tires, since Jim couldn't find a matched pair of rubber. Yep, the driver side ran a 9.50 x 16 while the passenger side ran a 9.60 x 16, which are still in Brian's garage. Again, Moon discs were placed over the wheels. The coupe made it to a number of NSRA events back and forth across the country. Jim and I were even awarded the Long Distance Award at the NSRA Nats South one year in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. That same summer we drove to Memphis, Tennessee, and Spokane, Washington, as well as other events. The car also made it to Tulsa, Oklahoma; St. Paul, Minnesota; Columbus, Ohio; and Timonium, Maryland.
Both Jim and the coupe were well-received everywhere the pair showed up. People would always gather around the coupe because of its unique styling, but soon rodders realized that the latest in a long line of Super Bell parts would first appear on the coupe. It was a peek into the future; the next new part would always be unveiled on Jim's coupe. Everyone wanted to know! Those were very good days!
(Editor's Note: A special thank you goes out to Jerry Slover of Pete & Jake's and Frank Morawski for making it possible to photograph the coupe while attending the NSRA Nats in Louisville. We would also like to thank Brian Bauer, the original shipping clerk for Super Bell and still the local postman and long-time friend of Jim's, who supplied us with plenty of "forgotten" information from the early days. Also, Dave Enmark who was not only a longtime friend of Jim's but possesses much of the knowledge on Jim, Super Bell the company, and the coupe.)