Customs 53 Chevy Full Custom: A Build Journal

[THE235KID]

Well… It’s time for a build thread on my 53 Chevy. I have been putting this off for quite some time. This car has been my daily driver for the past few years. Between working on keeping it on the road, moving to a new town, starting a new job, loosing my father, having a baby, buying a house and moving again progress has been slow.

We are now on it again and I’ll keep this thread updated as much as possible.

I have spent more time fixing other peoples mistakes. That makes forward progress very hard.


My plan for the car is to be a late 50’s full Custom.

The modifications will include wide whites, bias ply tires, custom chassis, with a fixed ride height (NO BAGS!) and custom made engine and trans mounts. The front is the stock unit rebuilt and modified with Fatman and Jamco parts.


A ‘58 235 inliner with a vintage Fenton intake, 2 Stromberg BXOV-2’s, Fenton dual exhaust will make up the running gear. The gears will be gone through with an S-10 T-5 trans and a 56 Chevy rearend. The trans and gas tank are the only non period parts on the car. A custom made dash, with Stewart Warner gauges and a cut down 53 Caddy wheel will guide the car down the road. Interior will be a period tuck and roll.


The top will be chopped 4 inches with a 51 Ford rear window replacing the stock wrap around rear window. A 57 olds grille and 55 Olds headlights will be added to the front as well as rounded hood corners. The rear portion of a 52 Chevy quarters grafted on, a reveal made with 56 Chevy Lee Bubble lenses turned upside down and frenched in.


All side trim and belt lines will be removes and smoothed as well as all of the stock trim, door handles and emblems. 1957 Olds Wagon side trim, frenched custom made rippled lakes pipes, a side quarter scoop and full length fender skirts will accent the sides.


The color has not been decided yet but I am kicking around a few ideas.


On the Road:
July 2007, 6am we headed out from Arlington Texas to San Antonio to pick up my new 53 Chevy. My pops, wife and I drove 6 hours and finally there she was. My new project!

[THE235KID]

After going over the car we agreed on a price, loaded her up and were on our way back home.

[THE235KID]

A week later I started tearing into the car. The clutch was weak and the motor needed some minor work. Needing a daily driver I did the necessary repairs and she was on the road.

[Road Kill PU]

Good luck and keep us posted. Looks like a good starter.
Later,
Dick

[THE235KID]

I just can’t leave well enough alone so a week later I decided to start tearing into the car and fixing what I though were just a few minor problems on the interior and body.

What I found made me sick. I started to strip the side trim holes that were filled with bondo to weld them up. I found a ridiculous amount of mud. Both sides of the car had ½ an inch and in some places it was a thick as an inch.

[GonzoSS]

Cant wait to see the end result!

[THE235KID]

Under the bondo there was a load of bad patch work, chicken wire and fiberglass. No bodywork was actually done before laying on the mud.

In one spot there was a large dent and the mud was 3 inches thick. At this point (on Friday afternoon) the decision was made to strip the car of bondo and rust then seal it to protect the bare metal.

After replacing the driver fender, hood and decklid it was primed and ready to drive to work on Monday. Most of this project was done on weekends so I could drive it during the week.

[THE235KID]

You can see from this photo the amount of work ahead of me. I was a little pissed at the previous owner but it was my fault for not checking over the car better.

[THE235KID]

On to the engine.

Not having a ton of time to pull the engine and send it to the machine shop. I purchased a 58 235. It was stock, running and in good condition. It was sent to the machine shop to be loaded up with goodies.

Once I got it back it I bolted on a Fenton intake and exhaust set. Then had to be stored away for another day. It was time to move to a new town and start my job at Hatfield Restorations.

This put a major hold on the project.

[THE235KID]

After a year of waiting to work on the car. I finally got to start on her again.

It was time to change the engine and get started on the metalwork. I made up some new motor mounts. The old ones were hacked up by a guy who called himself a “Master Fabricator”. Most of the stuff done by this guy was a joke. So I have spent more time fixing other peoples mistakes. That makes forward progress very hard.








With the old wiring hooked up, the fuel lines run and the carbs and exhaust hooked up it was time to fire it up for the first time.
It took a minute to get the fuel balanced out but it RAN!!!!

[THE235KID]

I started having problems with the Rochester carbs. I got lucky and found a NOS matched pair of Carter WA-1s. It was pretty cool removing them from the original boxes and bolt them on.

After filling the bowls it fired up and ran perfect. I have been driving it like this for over a year. Still waiting to replace the wiring, fuel lines and do more bodywork.

[THE235KID]

The Front end rebuild came next. I am using the stock front suspension set up but modified with Fatman dropped uprights from Gambino Customs and lowering springs from Jamco. The rebuild kit was purchased from Kanter.

It was a pretty easy rebuild. Everything went smooth other than the driver side, top upright was bent as well as the pivot shaft. The threaded bushings were stripped out so I had to order new bushings from Paragon Corvette Reproductions.

This process lowered the from to the car by nearly 4 inches and maintained correct geometry. I highly recommend it. No more rough rides due to cut springs.

[THE235KID]

Now on to the metal work. I started with the gas door. I will be running a 65 Mustang tank so the stock one was taken out. This was the first patch panel I had ever done. I was pleased.

[THE235KID]

Now on to the really fun stuff. I purchased a 54 Chevy 4 door and a 52 Chevy 4 door parts car. The 54 gave up it’s chassis, dash and a ton of sheet metal to rebuild the 53. The 52 is giving up it’s rear quarters and some other random parts to aid in the build.

[THE235KID]

Starting with some pretty cherry quarter panels from the 54 parts car I proceeded to start hacking on the 53.
The panels that weren’t replaced were pulled out with my stud gun and hammered/dollied smooth.

[THE235KID]

At some point the driver quarter panel was replaced. They did a really bad job. It was just tacked in and then run over with bondo. Shotty work that had to be fixed. With this done it was time to move on. CHOP TIME!!!!

[THE235KID]

Gene Winfield came to our shop to do one of his famous metal workshops. During the class we chopped my car. First I had to get a rear window. As luck would have it a friend has a 51 Ford Business Coupe. I cut it out and on moved the progress. (This was before I purchased the 52 parts car. I would have used it if I had it at the time)

[THE235KID]

Now the chop. The class was amazing. Gene is a wealth of information. We worked long into the night on Saturday but the chop was only half way there.
　

[THE235KID]

With the chop as close as it was going to get in to days Gene moved on to LEAD!! (The only true filler)
Here are a couple of shots of the leadwork. One of my lovely wife taking a shot at it!

[THE235KID]

With the class over we gathered around for a picture. Gene and I posed with the care before I snapped a few shots of it.