My first car at 16 years was a 1955 Chevrolet Belair 2 Door Hardtop. It
was the Gypsy Red/India Ivory two-tone
with a 265 cu.in V8 and a 3-speed on the
column. That was a very nice car, but being a foolish teenager, I made
some changes to the car I would not be
happy with today. I don't seem to have a photo of that car.
My second 1955 Chevrolet
Belair 2 Door Sedan was Harvest Gold/India Ivory. I bought it in 1974 without
engine and
transmission and found a nice 265 cu.in. V8
block, built the engine and coupled it with a 4-Speed transmission. This
was a very nice car with absolutely no rust
anywhere. See photos below.
We sold that car in
1979 because I could not afford to finish it the way I wanted. It needed
paint and interior and
then of course were the most
expensive main projects. So for over 25 years, I would always talk about getting
another one. Occasionally, I
would get the bug to have another one, but only found ones that were basket
cases and
it was very discouraging. I
would let it go and another few years would go by and I would start the process
again.
Finally, I started searching again in
2005 and finally found my perfect restoration project. I purchased this 1955
Chevrolet 210 2 Door Sedan. As
seen below, this is what sold me on the car. It is complete and pretty
original.
Everything works including the radio.
It ran okay, but the brakes were not good.
I spent a fair amount of time on the car with rebuilding the carburetor, new
spark plugs and points. I worked on the
brakes to make them acceptable and
made some changes to the interior. The photos below are from 2006.
Fast forward to 2010
and this is the year to get after the restoration project. I have been
gathering parts over
the last 4 years or so and this year
will be the time to complete a frame off restoration. The plan is to strip
everything down and rebuild it as a
1970s era retro hot rod like I always wanted since I was a kid. The interior
and exterior will be Regal
Turquoise/India Ivory. The third photo is very similar to what the car will look
like when
complete. Keep in mind it is a Belair with
different wheels. This photo is from Mike Oatman in Mississippi. Mike
did a beautiful job on his car and was kind
enough to let me use his photo on my page so you can see the car that
makes the perfect model for my project.
Thanks Mike! This will be updated as it progresses...stay tuned.
June 5, 2010 - The project has begun! We worked on it all day and removed
the engine, transmission, driveline,
exhaust system and radiator/radiator brace.
We have been cleaning and bagging parts as we go so everything is
ready for re-install when it is time. As an
example, the fifth photo is all of the throttle components from the gas
pedal to the rod to the carburetor.
All of the parts cleaned up nice and are in excellent condition. Of course, the
throttle arm and carburetor rod will be
changed out to V-8 compatible parts.
June 13, 2010 -
Continuing on to remove the grill, splash pan, park lights, headlights, fenders
and inner fenders.
is going to require some new parts here for
sure. The fourth photos shows the headlight buckets and they are
beyond repair so replacements are in order.
Because of that, the rust also is bad in the fenders in the headlight
area so it will require some patch panels.
The park lights are also beyond reasonable repair and will be replaced.
June 20, 2010
- Continuing on to remove the passenger door. I removed everything including
window mechanisms,
door handle, trim, etc. I will now rebuild and refurbish the wing
window assembly laying on the front seat.
June 26, 2010 - Here I am at it again. The poor old car it looking pretty
pitiful at the moment. I have both
doors and all the dash and
heater removed. I like the restoring and refurbishing as I go as I can bag
and box
everything as I go as you see
in the last photo in this segment. Tomorrow I will remove the rest of the
interior
and deliver the
doors and new fenders to the
body shop - Stockton Street Machines. The original front fenders
are in too bad of condition and would require too many hours
and patch panels to make them serviceable so I found
a different set from a fellow
55 enthusiast.
July 2, 2010 - Today, I removed the steering wheel assembly, seats, carpet, rear
side panels, headliner and all
interior trim. The floor pans are
excellent and will not require any work to prepare for paint except one small
area
near the driver seat rear
bracket. As
suspected, there is rusted out sections in the wheel wells as
seen in photo 2
and 3. It is not as bad as I suspected. The 4th photo in this series is the heater assembled and ready to
go back in
the car. And
an update...today (July 5th) I finished my car hauler so it is now ready to haul the car around
during
various stages of the project. I picked up a Carson trailer that
needed a little work and a new wood deck. It
looks
pretty good now.
July 10-11, 2010 - This weekend was very productive. Now the only thing
left is remove the gas tank. The car is
pretty much done as the rear is
now stripped out including the taillight assemblies, bumper, trunk lid, etc. I
also cleaned
the front of the frame so it
will be easier to remove the steering box and front end pieces after we remove
the body
from the frame. The last
photo was taken through the trunk for some visual effects. I should be
taking it to the body
shop on Sunday, July 18 to
remove the body and bring home the frame for disassembly. The wing window
assemblies have
been stripped and cleaned.
New rubber seals are installed. Once the new glass comes in, it will be
time to reassemble
as good as new.
July 17, 2010 - The gas tank is removed, parking brake assembly removed and the
car (what's left) loaded on my newly
refinished trailer and
ready for the trip to the body shop on Sunday to separate the body from the
frame. Then I can
take the frame home and
disassemble it. I feel like a proud papa taking my baby in to have it
renewed. Update: We
did not have the manpower
to remove the body, but did remove the remainder of the stainless trim.
July 22, 2010 -This just in from the body shop (Stockton Street Machines) and
the body and frame have parted ways
until another time in the
near future. The frame is ready to come home for disassembly and complete
restoration to
include powder coating
the frame and upper and lower A-arms in satin black.
July 27, 2010 -Today the chrome pieces and stainless steel trim was dropped of
to Custom Chrome and Bumper to be
treated to a better than original show
quality finish. We also added on the front guard rail on the car hauler to
prevent
the car from rolling too far forward on the
deck. As seen in the tow photos above, the frame is home to be dismantled.
It looks really good. It has some
surface rust, but will clean up nicely with some sand blasting. Time to
get going...
August 15, 2010 -This weekend, I finished dismantling the frame components,
including the rear end, upper and lower
a-arms and spindles. Everything
is now ready to go in for powder coating. Just before delivery to the
powder coater,
the frame is being modified with the
leaf spring pocket relocation kit as shown in the last two photos. This will allow
for wider tires and wheels.
August 28, 2010 - The newly powder coated frame and other pieces to the car came
home from the powder coater last
evening. The rolling chassis
will be assembled right here on the driveway - weather permitting.
September 4, 2010 - As shown in the photos, the spindles are modified for disc
brakes and ready for installation. The
a-arms are bolted in place and ready
to install the coil springs and shocks. Then once the leaf springs were
compressed,
the spindles were bolted in and shock
absorbers were installed. That was a back breaker with the coil spring
install. I
have washed some dust off for the
photos.
September 5, 2010 - Today is time to reassemble the steering parts and install.
Once that was completed, I have
installed the hubs, disc brakes and
hoses. It is coming along very well. The disc brake assembly is from
MGChevy,
Mike Garcia from LA area. He is
a great guy to deal with and his conversion is easy to assemble.
September 18, 2010 - I bought this rear end about 4 years ago. The housing
was narrowed 2 inches on each side
and has a 4:11 posi-traction with
Dutchman heavy duty axles. The work was done by Tom Taylor of Diamond Springs.
It is now bolted in place with the
leaf spring pockets and new 5 leaf springs. I'm working on some brackets
to install
traction bars.
September 22, 2010 - The chrome and stainless is complete and at home waiting
for installation. The third photo
is of one of the tail light bezels.
It looks real nice. I unwrapped a few other pieces to check them.
Custom
Chrome and Bumper in Yuba City
promised me a show quality chrome job and judging from what I saw so far, is
spot on. The coolest part of the
whole trip was when I got there this evening, they were just finishing up a
couple
of my pieces. The owners took
me on a nickel tour and when it was time to finish one of my bumper guards, they
allowed me to plate it myself.
I lowered it into the chromatic acid, hit the switch and removed it about 90
seconds
later to find the finished chrome
plating...beautiful man! Now I can say I even did some of my own chrome
plating for
this project.
October 9, 2010 - Well after taking a 2 week vacation in the motorhome, it is
now time to get back to the project. I
completed the installation of the
rear suspension to include the narrowed rear end, 5 leaf springs, traction bars
and
rear shocks with frame shock mount.
The rear brake line and parking brake cable is installed and the differential is
filled with gear oil and ready to roll.
I guess it rained a bit while we were gone as the frame has dust and water spots
that need to be cleaned off.
October 17, 2010 -
I was able to install the
new brake lines and fuel line today before it started to rain. I tried
to use the original clips to
hold the lines on the outside of the frame but I did not like the way it came
out. The zinc
clips with rubber inserts from
local hardware stores and self-tapping screws makes for a nice clean and secure
installation.
October 31, 2010 - Well it has been raining and we are approaching that time of
the year. I decided it was time
to rearrange the garage and
bring everything inside to protect it and make it easier to work on. Once
that was done
I installed the engine,
transmission, fuel pump, starter, clutch linkage, and lower inspection covers on
the bell housing.
Now we are talkin'...it is
looking really good.
December 3, 2010 - Today, I dropped off some additional sheet metal replacement
parts at the body shop. While
there I figured it would be
good to get some progress photos. Paint is being stripped off and new
parts will be
welded in place. I will
not meet my original deadline of Christmas, but hopefully soon after we can
start the painting
process.
December 11, 2010 - More progresses as the rusted panels are being replaced.
The new steel panels are very nice
and the metal is the same gage.
The guys make it look like a simple process and it is coming out really good.
This
shows the driver and passenger
quarters with a new surface.
December 24, 2010 - More progresses at the body shop. I delivered the
rolling chassis to the body shop to give them
something to measure for the
custom body work. As you can see in the photos, the body is on the rotisserie
and coming
along nicely. The rear trunk
area is about done and the outer fender sections are looking good. Now to
replace some
braces and then on to the
widening of the wheel wells.
January 25, 2011 - Additional progresses at the body shop. More rust abatement
and sandblasting. It is looking a
bit better as we go. The
doors, front fenders, hood and trunk lid have also been blasted and ready for a
coat of
primer. The firewall is looking
very nice and ready for some primer as well.
January 30, 2011 - This weekend was tinkering with the inner front fenders.
Remember the first photo from earlier
when I was dismantling the car.
The inner fenders looked like they were in bad looking condition. After
sandblasting
and powder coating, they look
much better. I worked on them this weekend to attach all of the
anti-squeak gaskets
with weather-strip adhesive.
Now when it is set up solid in a few days, I will drill from the rear side
through the
original staple holes and
replace the staples. This prep work will save time for later during final
assembly.
February
4, 2011 - I received some update photos from the body shop today. He is
cutting out more rust spots and
replacing them with sheet metal as
you can see in the photos.
February
21, 2011 - I got a few more photos today. Slowly, but surely...still
welding in pieces.
February
27, 2011 - Today I finished the anti-squeak gaskets and rubber pieces on the
fender wells. Everything
is now glued with 3M
weather strip adhesive and wire staples as were used in 1955.
April
26, 2011 - There have been a few setbacks on the project, but now it is rolling
along again. The welding
of the replacement sheet metal
on the underside is complete and Corroseal has been applied to encapsulate the
surface rust and create primer.
The mini-tub is well underway and close to completion. It is now getting
closer
to primer stage.
June 6, 2011 -
The project is moving at a good pace now. The above photos are showing the
undercoating of
the body. The sheet metal work
is complete for this portion. The photos show braces we have replaced with
smooth work and no visible
welds. Photo 4 is one of the mini-tubs and it shows no modifications
either.
August 31, 2011 - Today I
received these photos from the body shop. The main body has been primed
with
epoxy primer on the
outside. The inside will be primed with urethane primer. There is
still a lot to be done
before paint as the trunk
area needs final touches and sanding of the mini-tub work. The front
fenders still
need sheet metal work and
brackets. It is taking shape and the workmanship is nice.
September
27, 2011 - Today I received these photos from the body shop. The Regal Turquoise
metallic
made to factory specifications
is looking great. This is the firewall and dashboard. Now that this
is
painted, we can mount the body
on the newly refurbished chassis. Then to finish the final touches on the
body and final sanding and we
will be ready for the entire paint job.
October
3, 2011 - This evening was a treat. I went to the body shop and we cut the
hole in the floor
for the Hurst shifter and then
we set the body on the new rubber mounts on the frame. It's beginning
to look more like a car all the
time.
October
16, 2011 - Yesterday, we test fitted the wheels and tires. I've been concerned
about clearance
issues to the inside of the
rear fender wells. As it turns out, we have about 1 inch of clearance which is
plenty. With the mini-tubbing
and narrowed rear end housing, there is enough for about 15 inch tires. Of
course, these are the tires and
wheels I dreamed about when I was a teen. They are U.S. Indy slots
from the 70s. The fronts
are 8 inches wide with Mickey Thompson Sportsman radials P255/60R15. The
rear wheels are 8.5 inches with
Mickey Thompson Sportsman radials P295/50R15. It makes the car look
great with that 70s hot rod
look.
December
17, 2011 - I
got some more progress photos today. They have worked more on the trunk
area
and started block sanding.
The areas where the new panels were welded in have some extra attention as well.