Well, this thread has gone 3 pages farther than I thought it would....and boy do I have some decisions to make over the direction of my car......I had it pretty much done in my head, and then 4 pages of different choices on beautiful cars. My car is definatley the ugliest car on this thread, but that's why I started it....to check out the options...... Thanks Guys
Yah, it's 1 of my all time favs. Billy built some cool shit over the years. Some of his stuff took best of show at world of wheels. Too bad he took himself out.
Holy shit, this one's perfect! Anywhere from 1960-67 would be more like it. Maybe the intake setup narrows it down to about 1965-67 but this one's right on.
This one really is making me think chrome reverse and narrow whites are the way to go.....awesome......
Since I got my 55 running and mobile, I thought I'd take a couple pictures, so that you guys could better see what I'm working with.....the paint and bodywork is horrid, but it hardly has any rust under the car at all.
Mmmmmmm Butch........ looking at "ALL" your tasty rides I'm the one tossing and turning at nite......lol......I've always like that black 55 of yours brother and I just know that the 56 is going to look so sweet when done. I'll also second that thought brother.......CUT55 's 55 looks KICK ASS!
This picture was taken by my dad in 1965 of the Red Reaper, Charlotte, NC. Indoor car show at the Coliseum.
Chris: change the wheels. I dig the sidepipes, so leave them and see how it looks with wheels and perhaps a lift in the rear.
I have thought about painting them with high temp black, and moving them in under the rockers. If you've seen my wife's burn scars from harley pipes over the years, you'd understand why I NEED to do something with them....... If it's hot, and within a 5 block radius, my wife will burn herself on it.....
gasser55 your car is tough. uwonamos that is one sweet 55 . Newbomb....I don't like 57's generally but that thing could make a shadow in my garage anyday! it is cool.
just posted in the Gasser thread. Note the sidepipes! I am TELLING you, man, you got something there!
I'm starting to really dig this thread. Got mine out today since it was so nice out. Fall colors and my "Great Pumpkin" go together. What a day!
My inspiration came from '65, but basically I'm just showing off my newly painted headers! This thread is kickin butt. Hey, my kid thought it was COOL...
My brother in-law use to run around in the 60s with a 56 wagon on Keystones,fenderwell headers and 60 over 283 and gave me his copy in the 80s. Its what he had on his wall. I bet many had this too.
uwonamos, my car came from NW Omaha. I found it on Craigslist...... Herdez, love that poster, I've never seen it before....... Bob, I'll think about the sidepipes.....honest.... If I take them off, you can have them.
A guy that went to my High School had a 55 that sat like this. I bet it drove like hell but I always thought the look was cool.
I would lose the little protector thingie over the lock mechanism, squirt some black paint over the leaf springs with yellow overspray, lose the side pipes, add a set of Cragars and call it a day for now. That would make for a great looking car without spending much money. You would get a TON of compliments while you spend time detailing everything else out. Do it. Post some pics!!! Good luck.
Yeah, the lock / scratch protectors are gone, it's just that they took the paint with them..... As for the overspray, somewhere along the line, someone "detailed" the bottom side of the car with white spraybombs....
I don't quite recall what was typical for "hot rod" tri-5 Chevies in 1965, but if circa '68-'69-'70 is close enough for you I do remember a friend's older brother's '55 Chevy street racer, that while maybe not exactly typical, was considered one of quickest, trickest hard-core street cars in town. Basicly a plane -jane, '55 Chevy business coupe, with a Muncie 4-speed, 4.56 geared '57 Olds rear end, buzzed rear wheel openings, no front bumper, and slightly raised suspension via air shocks and slapper bars in back and coil spring and ball joint spacers and shock extemsions in front. Paint was dark blue (stock color maybe?) but with white lace paint stripes added to the roof, hood and trunk lid. In its first incarnation , circa '68-'69, the engine was was an 11.to 1, 327-375 hp short block, with ported heads, a solid lifterEngle 'oval track' cam, an Offy cross ram with two 550 cfm Holleys and 1 5/8 fenderwell headers. Later on - around the spring of '70 the car got a bit more (a lot more?) radical with an L88 solid-lifter cammed 396 and with alluminum heads, a gutted Chevy L88 intake with a 950 Holley 3-bbl - and later, the same combo, but with 5.13 gears , ladder bars and a tunnel-ram with a pair of 660 Holleys. Around the same time that the car got the big-block, the stock front suspension was chopped out and replaced with a straight axle and leaf springs from a '66 Chevy van. The first time around - circa '68-'69, the wheels and tires were a pair of 9.00-15 re-cap cheater slicks on 7 inch wide chrome reverse wheels in back, with a pair of 15X4 Cragars and 7.00 -15's up front. Later, when the car got the big-block and the straight axle, the wheels and tires were replaced with Fenton aluminum slots all around - 15X8.5's rears and 15X3.5's front -with a pair of 10 inch-wide M&H slicks with some minimal tread grooves hand cut into them on the rear and a pair of 5.50 VW-beetle -type tires up front. Mart ================================
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