By K. Richard Douglas
It started as a love affair on a farm, long ago and far away; he was 10, she was 26. But, five years later, she disappeared. Then, two years later, she found her way back to him.
Paul Sherman’s wife claims that his 1940 Chevy Special Deluxe Coupe was his first love. Sherman doesn’t disagree.
Sherman, CCE, FACCE, owns his own business, Sherman Engineering, and is the technical project manager for the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise’s Patient Care Devices domain (IHE-PCD).
“This is an industry effort to get the systems to actually talk to each other. My role is to help a lot of really smart design people, from different manufacturers, work together to make connectivity actually happen,” Sherman explains. IHE is a not-for-profit organization.
When that old Chevy, that had caught Sherman’s eye and attention, at age 10, went away and finally reappeared, he knew he had to make it his.
“When I rediscovered the car in a neighbor’s field (in 1973), I approached her to buy it,” he says. “She ended up giving it to me (kind of like a free kitten). We took it to my father’s house, where it sat until 1988.”
Smooth Modifications
Before Sherman took possession of the old coupe, it had been converted from a stock Chevy to a drag car.
“The neighbor’s son and his best friend modified the car to set an engine closer to the rear wheels (more traction). They cut out most of the firewall and part of the floor, then welded in motor mounts a foot back from the stock position. They also removed the front seats and replaced the rear axle (though it was gone when I got the car). The motor mounts were badly welded, leaving holes in the frame and the firewall/floor cut was quite primitive,” Sherman explains.
With the modifications that were made to the car, Sherman knew that he would not be attempting to completely restore it to stock condition, but live with some things and change others. He was going for a certain look, and was also guided by the availability of parts.
“When we repaired the firewall, there was no way to make it look stock, so I went for a ‘smooth’ look,” Sherman says.
“With the holes in the frame, and the state of the front suspension, I decided to replace the frame ahead of the firewall with one from a 1970 Nova/Camaro (Mustang II suspensions were not common then). That also let me decide to lower the car overall,” he adds.
The front bumper and the trunk handle were also missing, so Sherman decided the smooth look would be extended to the whole car as a workable option. He says that this led to the removal of the rear bumper and door handles.
Power comes from a 350 V8 that was custom built from the bare block out.
“At first, I bought a used 350 to get the car rolling. Eventually I built the engine that’s in it now. I have a friend who is a professional engine builder; rather than buy a crate motor, we built one from a bare block four-bolt 350,” Sherman says.
“He supervised the machine work and told me what parts to buy. I assembled the engine under his supervision. It is normally aspirated, with a moderate sized carb (650 cfm) on it. For what it is, the mileage isn’t bad — I normally run about 16 mpg,” he says.
That covers the exterior and engine compartment, but the modifications didn’t end there.
“The prior owners had removed the gauges. Being an old electronics guy, I wanted digital gauges. I worked with Dakota Digital on fitting their gauges to the stock dash panel,” Sherman says.
“I like my music while driving, so I assembled a pretty good sound system. I also modified the dash to take a new style radio and make it fit well,” he says.
Taking to the Road
Building a cool hot rod and leaving it in a garage isn’t the objective for most people who build a project car. Unless it is intended only for car shows, most people like to take to the open road in their creation. Sherman fits into that group.
“We have taken several long trips in the car. The first was to Mt. Rushmore; we went to meet one of my uncles — he drove from Washington state in his 1936 Dodge pickup street rod. This was before the interior was done — the seats weren’t all that comfy and the inside was hot and noisy. Since then, we’ve taken it to the AAMI meetings in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Denver, never driving back the same way we drove there,” Sherman says.
After the 2015 AAMI conference, Sherman took his custom hot rod to fabled Pike’s Peak.
When you build a custom street rod, many adjustments only become evident after putting some miles on the vehicle. Sherman learned that a few things would require a return to the drawing board. Those challenges found solutions though.
“I’ve never put air conditioning in the car. During the trip to Mt. Rushmore, it became quite hot inside. We had icy wet cloths to cool us down, so it was OK,” Sherman says.
“The only other challenge is long drives on hot days — sometimes the fuel system goes into vapor lock. That’s when heat vaporizes the fuel in the line and the car stops running. It’s pretty rare, and I may have solved the problem. During the Denver trip, the valve cover gaskets worked loose a little, letting oil leak; messy and smelly, but easily solved,” he says.
One of the benefits of driving a vehicle that is out of the ordinary is the attention it receives. People generally appreciate something that comes out of hand-crafting and imagination.
“The reaction continues to surprise us. People of all ages and genders love seeing the car,” Sherman says. “ When we stop, I usually get somebody coming over to ask about it. During the Mt. Rushmore drive, we stopped in for lunch just before a tour bus left. After lunch, we stopped at the South Dakota Welcome Center – the bus was there. All of a sudden, all the passenger came over to see and ask about the car. I really love that other people enjoy it.”
“As for the ride – it is great. The seats provide great support and the suspension has enough give to keep it pretty smooth,” he adds.
Although Sherman’s experience with electronics goes back to 1974, he has been a biomed since 1989. Before working with Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, he worked for the VA from 1990 through 2012.
“I worked at the Portland and St. Louis hospitals, then moved over to a national engineering support office, where I managed the benchmarking and recall/hazard programs and helped the medical centers when they came across really challenging situations,” he says.
If you happen to see a guy pull up to the 2017 AAMI conference in Austin, Texas, in a cool street rod, don’t wonder who it is. Just try to imagine that the shiny street rod was once sitting in a farm field; the apple of a 10-year-old’s eye.