Hot Rods I Bought 2 Old Hot Rodded 1955 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop Coupes!

Okay it's time to let the cat out of the bag... So the second 55 bel air hardtop I picked up 3 weeks ago has turned out to be quite special! So for 2 weeks it just sat on my trailer as I was busy doing other stuff. Anyways I realized I never opened the hood and didn't know what was there. They didn't tell me and I didn't ask. So anyways I got quite the shock! No sbc like I was expecting but rather a 1962 pontiac 389 with tri power! And it's a 4 speed block so the trans came from the same car as well! And it gets better! I had a set of vintage but still new 70's biasply tires to stick on it and in the process found out the rear axle was swapped out for an oldsmobile 9.3 inch! How friggen sweet is that! Now I can't wait to get it out of storage next spring and get it on the road!
The first one i picked up about 6 weeks ago and that one too has been done up but this one has a sbc (dont know what size yet) and also is backed by a 4 speed! also has a ''custom'' interior that is composed of nice front bucket seats from a 1969 gto and a rear seat from i think a 1964 impala (i forgot to get interior and engine pics) and i will try and get this one on the road too but the other comes first as does finishing my 1948 chevy wrecker.
(I also got 2 crusty 1957 chevy hartop coupes from same place [the one has v8 and 4 speed in it] and i have them for sale in the classifieds)

 

Wow. Just wow.


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That tripower air cleaner would have been probably worth more than both cars IF it had not been cut for clearance LOL.

 

Just proves, they're still out there. The very first 56 Chevrolet I bought threw a rod bringing it home; I did't have a license so a friend drove it for me. Many years later, another friend was excited about a 56 Chevrolet he'd found at the small farm his sister boarded her horse at, and kept trying to get me to go look at it. One day we went, walked around the barn, and there buried in black berry brambles was my very first car. As it turned out, the title was still in my name despite having been through at least three more owners. He gave the current "owner" his money, I signed the title over, and he had a car. The last guy to own it had installed a Pontiac engine in it; it had a single front mount installed on the front cross-member, and had a 4 speed also, but both were long gone. That number one, front header tube is sure on the small size (???). It's got a hydraulic clutch, and a "motor minder" vacuum gauge (what the heck for?). It also has extra leafs in the rear spring pack. Like the front "bumper" on the primer red 55. Which one is going to get built, or both? The 57's? Life has't been too kind to them at all. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

it doesnt have headers, just cast manifolds. also i havent looked to to see what that gauge is hooked up to yet.

 

Wow again. If Loudbang is on the money, which he most likely is, I'd find a skilled metal man to repair that air cleaner and restore it so repairs are undetectable. It sounds like you'd then recoup the money. What an awesome find and it looks fairly solid to boot!
A Poncho & stick along with that BOP rear axle. I can imagine the reactions when you pop the hood when it's finished.
He's a barn find 57 Chevy with 421SD that I posted on another HAMB thread.
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/fiel...hevy-gasser-is-window-into-drag-racings-past/

 

Now I see it; it looked like a header tube when I first looked at it. These eyes are getting older, just like everything else. How's the engine mounted; maybe it's part of a fabricated motor mount? Cool cars. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Phenomenal score! Watching to see you get running, hopefully.

 

Very nice purchases....

 

Love the look of this old skool gasser...

 

Isnt a 55 chevy a sedan, not a coupe? Very kool find!!!!!!

 

If you're going to win, win big. And the coupe/ sedan nomenclature from Chevy is strange. I think my 56 4 door hardtop was a called a sport sedan. Would the entire Poncho drive train be worth more to restorer? It does have its own vibe, I have to admit. Anyway, congrats on a great score.

 

Agreed, and the GTO bucket seats too.
What a sleeper that car must have been.
That's a great haul. The price must have been outstanding for you to pull the trigger without even opening the hood!

 

The air cleaner blows me away too, all that effort to put that engine in there and they used that big round air cleaner! Amazing score on both cars. I wouldn't blame a guy for selling off some of the pieces that are so valuable to restorers but on the other hand it'd be neat to see both put back to the way they were first built. Either way works for me.

I saw a '55 in the junkyard that had some of the vertical grille bars removed just like both of yours do to make a custom looking grille, that must have been the cool thing to do many years ago, neat to see.

 

I dont know what exact values someone would put on these but i will say i got the two 55's for quite a bit under 10 grand. so i thought it was something i could actually afford!

 

NICE SCORE!!!

 

I would like to fix just what needs fixin so i can get them back on the road and drive them pretty much as is!

 

Whats the back story on these cars? All from the same guy? How did you find them?
Inquiring minds want to know...

ps, be sure to clean out the tailpipes before cranking her up..lol.

 

i got no history on them. i bought the one sight-unseen and when i went to pick it up i saw the others and eventually made a deal on the rest of them.

 

I see a lot of boxed X’s, but it sounds like you did good.


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Me too Poh.... wish I could see the pics!


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Daaaaamn. Phenomenal finds!

 

Ive always contended that the 55 in American graffiti. If it actually was in 1962 that 55 would of had a Pontiac mill. Im a big fan of Pontiac engines. Ive got a 287 and a 400 in the hoard and some 350's and 301's.

 

Nothing but red x s in boxes

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im thinking it must have something to do with you using mobile devices.....

 

Photos working normally on PC right now

 

Talk about a sleeper - the builder left in the Powerglide shift lever and indicator; must have fooled a few casual lookers!

 

I reckon so.. oh well.


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