Words: Tommy Parry
Joe happened upon this ‘31 Chevy when a friend told him it was being sold outside of an estate sale. It ended up being part of an old hot rodder’s collection that the family had to sell off, and Joe gave the family a call with an offer. Truth be told, at the time he wasn’t really looking for a project car, but this one was just too nice and clean to pass up.
The next order of business was picking the right motor. Joe grew up with the Viper and was always fond of that V10 with the Chewbacca bellow, so he saved and eventually picked one up from Cleveland Power and Performance. He then went with Progressive Automotive’s front and rear C6 frame rail connectors and narrowed the front crossmember 6” so the frame rails would fit better.
Considering that Joe’s doing this entirely himself in his garage, this is an ambitious build. No computers or surface plates to help guide the process; Joe has to be extremely fastidious moving forward.
To keep the lengthy V10 mounted snugly in the bay, he chopped the firewall and brought it back slightly behind the original wall’s location. To keep the car proportional, stable and still agile, he’s aiming for a wheelbase somewhere around 108-110”. Even with a fairly long wheelbase, he’s struggling with mounting the rest of the ancillaries, since the real estate in this classic body’s engine bay is quite limited. Shoehorning an exhaust in there will be a chore.
Joe doesn’t intend on chopping the top or changing the shape of the classic body. That simplistic, classic style combined with modern suspension and a squat stance ought to provide all the presence he’s after.
“I’m going to keep it open-wheel so I can mount some wide meats all around,” he says. With the torque of that 8.0-liter motor available from zip, some broad rear tires are a must.
Once this beauty is complete, he intends to flog it within an inch of its life.
“All of my builds are, and have been, made for driving. I’m looking to drive to a road course or autocross event and just have some fun with it. I’d also love to hit some big events - maybe the Hot Rod Power Tour with my father - and tour it all over the country. What better way to do that than in a hot rod?”
While that’s quite the challenge, don’t put it past Joe. He’s got big plans for this monster, and those who want to keep tabs on its progress can visit his build thread here.