A buddy of mine runs a scrapyard and a local farmer dropped this off. It will be available within a week
I wonder if that sat near the road for years and the farmer told everyone who stopped to ask about it that he was "going to restore it someday"...
I bought a similar fastback back in the 80's for $100 from the oldest Buick dealer in Iowa (Kewin Buick in Griswold Iowa) he had several "out back". The only difference was that it was a complete decent car...it didn't run and all I wanted was the hood.
I bought an OT car just for the front bumper. lol. I never did use the bumper, got it running and my mom liked it and used it for work for a few years. Then sold it to a neighbor.
I’ve thought this body style would be perfect for chopping the top, then put a BBC with turbos in the engine bay, and take it to the salt flats to see what it would do. All I’d need is some additional money and time and a third stall for the garage.
Let’s see, you’ll need to refurbish the existing frame, replace every single nut , bolt , bushing and washer on the front end, new body mounts and bolts, new engine ( an I-6 would be nice), rebuild/replace the rear axle, new bearings all around, new brakes all around and a lot of soap and water to get it clean.
parted out a 51 Fleetline 4 door, a 53 4 door and both were in much worse shape than that. between ebay and craigslist I got over $6,000.00 from the pair. sold every useable part from each .. like the Indians and the buffalo, nothing went to waste. this was 15 years ago, parts have gone WAY up since then.
I had a 1950 that was a bit nicer, plan was to add the back to a 1954 base on a sketch in the old Rod & Custom. Like all projects the need for money caused me to part with it. Do a HAMB search there were a few chops underway here years ago. Bob
And did I mention that you’ll need to figure out a color ( just paint it black) as well as an interior?
The 49-54 Chevy frames were the hot ticket from the early 60s to the early 70s Oval track racing, guys who are building vintage oval track cars are looking high and low for them. When ever I find one it's sold as soon as I advertise it.
Damn, those Bumpers are worth the price of admission .... what I would not give to put them on my Dodge ....
Just about perfect for a vintage dirt track look. Hard to say what shape the frame might be in, the body looks pretty solid once you get away from the wheel wells. A dirt track car would cut most of what is missing from the fenders away anyway. It looks like both bumpers are still in their proper location, so the frame can't be too bad (well, OK, maybe it can be). A running motor, a good trans, and rear end, rebuild the steering parts and make the brakes function. Give it a bath, paint a number on it and cruise it on nice days. Might be a cheaper way to having a fun ride. This car is 1300 miles from home in this picture. Everything except the brakes were used parts when the car was built, and at that point, we had added around 30,000 miles to whatever those parts had on them to begin with. That paint job is brushed on Rustoleum that was about 2 years old at the time. The top picture was 2 years later, just before a redo.
I was told there is no floor. Easy to look as I was told there is no interior. I have to make the 3 hour trip(each way) to buy some other stuff from him after the mud season is over and look at it then.
I know where there is a complete running 51 style line deluxe engine, auto transmission, complete drivetrain with front and rear suspension (drum to drum) in Iowa. It’s all coming out as soon as they are done with the shop addition. Edit: I’m keeping the floors
Hey now! I’d put it back on the road! But I might be a little biased. It’s just fun to watch people’s expressions when you drive something that looks like it just came out of the junkyard! And I’m not sure that is green Everyone calls mine green but it’s actually blue. Somehow blue and rust make green!
I would leave the body alone on either of these cars. Fix the mechanicals. Cover the seat springs with something and drive 'em. They are old, after all, and I like them to look old and well loved. That's because I'm old and cheap. They also attract more lookers than you would believe.
The perils of having a friend who owns a scrapyard is that they deal in scrap everyday and forget to use care on cetain items. I went to look at the car yesterday and in the pic of the rear and passenger side you can see the trim looks great. He moved the car and set it on top of a van as it was in his way. The trim on the passenger side is now all bent. He had to have lifted it up then tilted it back and the car slid into the masts. Drivers side looks perfect.
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