Rusty Bowtie

General Category => General Discussion - Intros => Topic started by: ghost28 on April 16, 2017, 10:37:56 PM

Title: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on April 16, 2017, 10:37:56 PM
I just bought a nice project. 454, muncie m21 4 speed, tilt front. This a project that came with a complete 4 door parts car and a ton of new parts still in the packages.I guess I am gonna try to re live my teen years
I dont havet to sell the Buick to build this but it would help, and I do have the 24 dodge roadster truck to bookend the 55 if i need to.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: Rattiac on April 16, 2017, 11:49:36 PM
And im having enough fun just doing one car. 8)
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: Kiwijeff on April 17, 2017, 12:31:32 AM
That's not nice John, teasing us with no pics.... haha,  ;)we who know you you, know the pics are coming.
Can't wait to see them. :)
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: TFoch on April 17, 2017, 07:02:20 AM
Where are you going to put it all?
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on April 17, 2017, 08:10:53 AM
Where are you going to put it all?
Oh YEAH. I Iorgot abou storage.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on April 17, 2017, 03:41:34 PM
 I went and finalized the deal and I am glad I did  Two cars and a ton of new body and big block performance parts that I didn't know came with it. The 55 chevy was the first look at a hot rod for me. My brother had a 150 sedan that started it for me, so Iam back to the beginning. Here are a few picture of both cars. The 4 door is a attempt to make 2 door not quite right.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: TFoch on April 17, 2017, 08:06:41 PM
Nice car to start with John.  Keep us posted.
Tom
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: EDNY on April 17, 2017, 08:42:49 PM
Nice!...assume it has a glass one piece front?
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on April 17, 2017, 10:34:43 PM
Nice!...assume it has a glass one piece front?
  Two complete steel front clips and anew glass tilt front.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sixball on April 17, 2017, 11:48:28 PM
My son and I had a '55 two door several years ago. Some rust but not too bad. Our plan was a blown 292 six gasser. But we sold it to do other projects when we thought $1500 was a lot of money for a complete '55. ;D
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: Kiwijeff on April 18, 2017, 04:07:21 AM
Woo hoo, this is getting exciting.
Nothing like a few pics to liven things up.

I saw the Buicks classified ad, and hope it all works out for you.

I'm ready to go...... when do we start? ;)
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on April 18, 2017, 08:40:42 AM
Nice project Ghost!. Ya, that 2dr conversion didn't go well just welding up the rear door. My friend that passed several years back had built his '55 210 post by '70. It was a Two Lane Black top looking car BEFORE  the movie ;)  Radious'd rear w/open, flip front (steel) fenerwell headers, w/327 tall tunnel ram w/2x4's cheesy JC Whittney long tall fiberglass hood scoop, Cragars all around and dark grey primer. ;D  I went thru it in the late 80's and turned it back, more stock yellow/white two tone.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on April 18, 2017, 10:58:36 AM
John I couldn't find the before pics, but found the almost complete pics of "Pooh Bears" '55.  He was buying all the Bel-Air trim and hadn't got it all yet. He brought down a good stock frt clip due to his being welded together, and an extra set of used rear qtrs so we could do away with the round radious as he wanted me to just raise the original wheel opening so the 12" wide tires would still work. He had installed a shorter tunnel ram but the air cleaners still touched hood. So I cut and welded in a 70-72 big block Chevelle scoop as it followed the lines of the '55 hood. (Taper, narrower at front)

Here was the old JC Whittney scoop(yuck). He hadn't replaced his Cragars yet, so I loaned him my chrome smoothies.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on April 18, 2017, 06:27:16 PM
Sammons you do nice work. I hadn't thought of raising up the stock openings a bit. I'm sure that would confuse a few people.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: chopper526 on April 19, 2017, 09:05:43 AM
Ghost, don't you have enough projects?! ;) They both look pretty solid, you gotta be happy, even the snowman's smiling.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on April 26, 2017, 09:50:32 PM
I was stripping the chevelle buckets of upholstery, and found this picture of the car when it was still in Kansas. I know Kansas is a big place, but does anybody recognise the car. On another note I got the 55 cleaned of all the mice droppings and packed it away for later in the year. I  have oficially started on the customers 35 chevy sedan again
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on April 27, 2017, 09:54:02 PM
Ghost, I've got a few guys asking around. The pic looks like late 60s, early 70s? Color appears to be close to the '57 Sierra Gold. My buddy Lonnie said he didn't remember one that color around the Greensburg/Pratt area. My Uncle in Dodge said he had never seen it in the Dodge City area, but was going to ask some of his buddies. He said most "Street" cars never left their 50 mile radious. If it had a reputation of fast, they were better known.

Use to be availible(prob still is) Kansas title history search form. It use to be $15 (and fill in form with S/N or VIN) back in the late 90s. You would get a packet with photostat pics of frt/back of title from each owner as transffered through it's time in Kansas only.

I'll let you know if somebody recals it. Good luck.

Oh, in your pic....that water drop spot below the right tail light. Is that Kenny Rogers or Dan Haggerty? ;D   (may just be my phone)
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on May 07, 2017, 07:53:05 PM
Sammons I forgot to check the title for the previous owner location. I t looks like the car came from  the Witchit  area.

A buddy called said he heard about the big block in my 55 and sold me a couple of his twin 4 tunnel rams one with dual hollys on one of them. There newer big 750's but maybe I can sell them and get some smaller street carbs, or even d tune them.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on May 07, 2017, 10:27:51 PM
Sammons I forgot to check the title for the previous owner location. I t looks like the car came from  the Witchit  area.

Ghost, that narrows it down quite a bit. I have a friend who lived in Wichita back in the mid 60's, he had a '55 and worked at Contenental Fiberglass(?) making carnival ride stuff (before he won the lottery for a vacation to the far-east). He said after hours he cast some fiberglass fenders for his '55 and then for a few others. I was just over to his house friday night, I'll show him the pic and see if it rings a bell.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on May 08, 2017, 10:09:58 PM
Ghost I caught up with my friend Lloyd. He didn't remember ever seeing the bronze color pic around Wichita in the late 60s, but said your pic in it's current state (black) looked familiar. He said a guy he knows, Schneider from Ness City (I've met several times)use to have one like it back around 2000.

Schneider had bought it from a guy who raced a few times in Great Bend. Lloyd didn't remember but thought it was in primer then. Schneider had painted it satin black, had a 454, glass flip front and had installed blue lexan (or plexi) side windows and raced it a few times at Great Bend before selling it. Lloyd said he was running around the 13s.

Who knows, just "throwing out" what he thought it looked like.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on May 09, 2017, 09:20:32 AM
Sammons thanks. I found out the owner in Wichitas last name was Leafgreen.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on May 25, 2017, 06:26:54 PM
awhile back I posted about a friends 55 chevy 2 door sedan  that got clobbered while parked in his garage. It sems a neighbor had some medical thing going on. He is buying a brandnew body and is strpping his down to the bare shell. Really all it needs is a drivers quarter and my parts off my car to repair it.

The car was  beautiful with solid floors, and a real clean frame, but with a small twist over the rear axle drivers side.He sold me the bare frame , stripped down body,  both front fenders and wells. No doors, hood, trunk lid or trim. This will make my build a lot easier since I wont have to replace floor and trunk pans, rocker panels and so on.  Since he is a buddy he gave me an unheard of price on all of it. I did pick up his supercomp fenderwell hooker headers and full 3 inch exhaust also off the same car.  I think my 3 times of being lucky is all but over.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on May 25, 2017, 06:32:35 PM
Great score Ghost!
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: TFoch on May 25, 2017, 07:07:47 PM
Awesome John, nice when you can save a little work!
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: vette59jdwl on May 27, 2017, 04:40:23 PM
Ghost28 are you going to put a 59 chevy truck streight axle under the front.If so i have ione for you just completely rebuilt   vette59jdwl
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on May 28, 2017, 08:21:03 PM
Ghost28 are you going to put a 59 chevy truck streight axle under the front.If so i have ione for you just completely rebuilt   vette59jdwl
If you were closer I would jump all over it. I am putting a complete sub frame set up under it with a afermarket axle. I was looking for the chevy axle before I found  this one.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: chopper526 on May 30, 2017, 09:43:31 AM
Good for you Ghost! It sounds like you have a pretty full plate!
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: vette59jdwl on June 03, 2017, 01:21:54 PM
Well i purchased a complete 1959 truck axle to fit the 41 chevy axle that is going under the 32 chevy roadster.At first i did not think it was going to work,but now if i drill out the bottom holes on the spindle to 9/16 it will work I also changed from course thread to fine tread with castle nuts on the ends.This way i can stay with 6 bolt chevy pattern and at any time if i decided to switch to disc's on the front it would be simple get disc kit for 50 chevy truck set up and change the master to disc / drums
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: chevygarage on June 04, 2017, 09:00:01 PM
hey ghost28, i also have a 55 chevy that i am building so far for 5 years. i'm going street rod, low but fast. i'll be keeping my eye on you. sounds like you got a great start. jeff
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: Kiwijeff on June 05, 2017, 04:32:06 AM
Leeps and bounds going on here.
John, how's the sale of the Buick coming along, any bites?
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on July 08, 2017, 09:34:59 PM
Leeps and bounds going on here.
John, how's the sale of the Buick coming along, any bites?
Just one bite on the buick guy want to trade me a 2 ford hiboy sedan and some cash for the buick. MAYBE.

tHE 55 IS BACK on it's wheels and mobile.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: Kiwijeff on July 09, 2017, 05:25:36 AM
Good to see progress.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on July 09, 2017, 08:29:53 AM
Looking good John!  Is that a vertical brace running from firewall down to frame?
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on July 09, 2017, 09:01:08 AM
Leeps and bounds going on here.
John, how's the sale of the Buick coming along, any bites?
Just one bite on the buick guy want to trade me a 2 ford hiboy sedan and some cash for the buick. MAYBE.

tHE 55 IS BACK on it's wheels and mobile.
No braces yet that is just the original body mount brace. It's welded pretty solid, to hold it all in place, but it will need more to make it a safe driver.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: sammons on July 09, 2017, 09:20:31 AM
Duh! It's been a long time I guess, forgot all about that. Had to dig up my build pics from my 57 build, remember now! ::)

Yep, I was going to go Silver first, changed my mind and went Black.
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: TFoch on July 09, 2017, 10:59:28 AM
Looks great John!
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on July 09, 2017, 11:32:59 AM
Duh! It's been a long time I guess, forgot all about that. Had to dig up my build pics from my 57 build, remember now! ::)

Yep, I was going to go Silver first, changed my mind and went Black.
Man Sammons.  I think you have me beat for the amount of builds. Great looking frame work on the 57 hardtop

I didn't realize it but my frame I am working on is a california one piece frame. No seams
Title: Re: Got a 55 chevy 2 door sedan gasser project
Post by: ghost28 on August 12, 2017, 06:48:35 PM
I have been jacking around cleaning up the shop and thhe new trailor is gettin filled and organized. I am gonna put the grey 55 in there for awhile while I sort the other 55 body and frame situation.  I picked up the crashed 55 body and I need to seperate the frame from it so I can scrap the frame, bent really bad front and rear. TIME TO MAKE IT INTO A TOYOTA. Here are a couple of pic's of the body damage, it will be fixed.
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