There’s a lot going on in the Redline Rebuild garage—so much, in fact, that Davin needs to change locations for a bit and borrow some fabrication tools at the Hagerty Learning Center.

The 1937 Ford Coupe race car needs a metal box for its fuel cell, so Davin explains that he needs to use a shear, brake, and roll machine to build one. “Usually you buy a kit that has the bladder and the box, but since we already have a bladder … I’m going to bend up a box.”

Davin explains that it “should be pretty easy,” and he certainly makes it look that way. He builds the box in several pieces, then spot-welds it together, leaving a 1.25-inch lip on top to which he can attach the lid.

The top is a little tricky, since it requires a 6-inch hole in the center where the fuel cap sits (plus holes for the inlet and vent hoses). After taking measurements, Davin secures a board in the center of the sheetmetal, drills a hole in the board 6 inches from that center point, inserts a plasma torch into the hole, and rotates the board in a circle until the hole is cut. After smoothing the edges and punching holes along the lip, the lid is ready to be attached with bolts.

The box is a success, but after moving back to the Redline Rebuild garage, Davin doesn’t like how the cell sits inside the car. It isn’t level, and the back of the tank “is more rearward than I’d like, so I’m going to cut the braces and slide it forward 3 inches, then level it.” When that is done, Davin fabricates a brace, so the fuel cell won’t bounce around when the car is racing on the track.

Up next: leaf springs and shocks. They don’t come together as easily as Davin had hoped, so he makes plans for more cutting and fabricating. Since he’s reached the end of his day, however, that’ll have to wait until next time.

To stay up-to-date on all the projects the team is working on, be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel and never miss a new video.

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Enjoy 1937 Ford Coupe stories, opinion, and features from across the car world - Hagerty Media

That Cadillac 365 V-8 was a big priority for Davin, but now it’s assembled and broken in. Of course, there is no time for sitting around and twiddling thumbs in the Redline Rebuild garage. Too many projects are waiting, and one that has been languishing for a good while is the 1937 Ford Coupe. Today, Davin is fabricating the transmission mount for this Ford build and sharing some tips for those interested in tackling a similar project.

The task is simple, at first glance: Install a bar that bridges the frame rails and supports the tailshaft housing of the transmission. Easy enough, right? Well, sort of.

“This is a race car, so simplicity is king. I want to design something that makes service easy and that also has a side benefit of being the easiest to build,” says Davin. “If you threw service out the window, it would be even easier.”

The raw materials to create the final part are mundane—some simple square tubing and angle iron. Davin starts the process by laying out the design with the transmission bolted to the engine and hanging from a strap to determine the proper location. From there, he needs just a couple cuts and a little time with a welder for the mount to come into shape. If you don’t have the confidence or experience Davin does, the best way to tackle a design like this is to sketch the part on paper or mock it up with cardboard so that you can make any necessary adjustments before you grab the welding hood.

This crossmember is now burned into place, which means the Chrysler 440 V-8 is actually ready to pull. That Mopar mill is on the Redline Rebuild docket, but the Honda Mini Trail is nearer the top of the priority list. To keep up to date on all the projects the team is making progress on, be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel to never miss a new video.

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The 1937 Ford race car has been on the back burner for a minute, but now it is blasting to the top of Davin’s to-do list. That’s because the body and chassis are headed to the sandblaster to be cleaned up. The process could potentially reveal some structural problems, but Davin is hoping the car’s bones are solid. He’s also crossing his fingers that rebuilding the restarting assembly on the Buick straight-eight will be trouble-free—and, sometimes, Davin gets what he wants.

The axle-less coupe is levered onto Davin’s flat-deck trailer and dropped off for sand blasting. The car looks pretty solid through the thin, mismatched paint. There are a few rust holes, but is that really any surprise when you’re dealing with an 80-year-old race car? It shouldn’t be.

Expecting that the Ford could be picked up later in the day, the team heads back to the shop’s engine assembly room and makes some progress on the Buick straight-eight. New pistons have arrived and are ready for their rings. This requires properly filing the rings and assembling the pistons onto the connecting rods. However, right when Davin is about to put the pistons into the block and torque down the rotating assembly, he gets a phone call that the Ford is ready to be picked up—and he had better hurry, because rain is on the way.

So off to the blaster goes the team, loading the trailer quickly and bringing the Ford back to the climate-controlled safety of the Redline Rebuild garage. There the vintage racer is safe from flash-rusting, and Davin can inspect it to see just how much welding wire he’ll be burning in the coming months. Judging from the first look, he’ll need more than a little … If you want to see the whole process, you’ll have to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel and wait for next week’s Redline Update.

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It’s a matchup for the ages as Tom Cotter takes a break from hunting roadside treasures and helps Davin tear down the ’37 Ford racer in the Redline Garage. If there were ever a perfect project for Tom, it’s this one—for a multitude of reasons.

First off, Tom was the one who found this particular car. Years ago, as Tom was traversing the countryside prepping to write his book about barn finds, Tom stumbled upon the property of Snowball Bishop. The grounds were packed with a seemingly endless supply of interesting cars, but something about this particular race car piqued Tom’s interest. It never really left his mind, and when he returned with the Barn Find Hunter camera crew, Tom made sure to discuss the vintage racer.

A second reason is the smorgasbord of parts which comprise the car. While we call it a ’37 Ford, that is a bit misleading. The chassis is from a 1955 Chevrolet, the solid front axle is from a Ford, and there is a smattering of race-car-specific parts throughout the chassis. The “wide-five” front brakes from Franklin, for example, are not a factory piece for anything.

Which is where Davin enters the scene. Over the last 20 years, Davin honed his racing skills behind the wheel of a dirt modified race car on tracks across the Midwest. Tom is no slouch as a racing driver—he holds his SVRA racing license—but dirt tracks are new territory for him. Davin plans to leverage both his and Tom’s knowledge to create a car that does more than just look the part—it also can tear up some dirt.

With a Chrysler 440 V-8 under the hood, the racer certainly won’t be lacking for horsepower. Davin also notes that viewers have asked for a car with a slick paint job, and that wish is about to be fulfilled. The Redline Garage hasn’t had something shiny on its lifts in awhile, and it time for that to change.

Tom and Davin get the car stripped down to its most basic components; next, the heavy lifting will begin. While it doesn’t seem like there could be much left hiding on the body and chassis, Davin is sorting out a way to blast off the remaining corrosion and paint so he can complete some reinforcement and re-engineering. To see this racer return to the track, be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel to receive updates with each new Redline Update that goes live.

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