There has been plenty of threads about chopping 49 to 51 shoeboxes. I guess what makes this one different is that it is a survivor.Though a very mild custom, in 1953, it got a 49 331 caddy motor and a 1953 merc three speed overdrive tranny. By the mid fifties , it got a louvered hood, rounded hood corners, nose, decked, and a 1953 chevy grill surround with a custom grill bar and frenched head lights. In the early sixties, the original green paint got covered with black paint and some cartoonish flames that were tipical of that era. Also, the original upholstery got covered with black tuck and roll that was tipical of that era. My friend and fellow club member Mark Faggen aka fireman mark purchased the car in the late nighties and decided to restore the car. The first step was to rebuild the caddy motor and restore the engine bay, wirring, and get the tranny and overdrive to work properly, and drove it around to a few shows, but the idea of making it a full custom kept bugging him, which brings us to date. Having restored Mark's 32 3 window, he fit me up on going all the way and making the car a full custom.
I know, they are comming, tried to post the pictures myself and no luck, so I am waiting for a friend to help out.
Thanks Stephan, here are some before pictures , the black paint on the survivor was still good but the chevy grill surround had tons of bondo and the frenched headlights were done incorectly and had the frog look. The other reason for redoing the survivor was that 2 doors sedans are not very atractive stock, but make a perfect candidate for a chop.
So what is a period correct traditional custom. I feel there is a bit of confusion on what is a traditional custom, Ryan has posted pictures of customs from the past but I feel there are still a lot of guys in a blurr on what defines a traditional custom. No one can argue that customs have made a strong comeback and are more popular than ever. To me , I would define customs into three groups, The modern custom - these cars are pretty much like a modern street rod, they have the latest drive trains, wheels , interiors, colors , and paint techniques. The traditionally styled custom - These are mostly what we see in our scene today , most are bagged, have modern drive trains, but inmulate vintage customs, but use colors, techniques and styles from different eras from the past and mix and match. The traditional custom - these cars pick a certain period in time from the past and stick to it. example- let's say you want to do a custom from the mid fifties period, custom tecniques , body modifications, style of chop, upholstery design, drive train, choice of paint and colors, trim, and accessories , have to come from that era. Some guys tend to argue that these guide lines limit creativity but I argue the other, for me , it's a challenge to stay with in the limits of your time period but push the envelope as far as you can. The traditional custom movement has been around since the mid nineties , I would credit the Choppers c.c. from Burbank and some of the Beatnicks for starting the renansance and of course Rik Hoving for all the research he has done in the past. Today , the movement is growing popularity a little at a time, and it's going to be exciting to see what guys can come up with. I think all stlyes of customs are great, but my personal prefernce is the traditional custom.
I like the direction that this is headed! Do you have anymore pictures of it in its previous life? Any decision on color yet?
The chop is 4 inches in front and five in the rear and is mild by today's standards but would have been correct for the 1953 to 1957 circa we are shooting for. The rear of the roof was brought foward and the rear sail panel will be lengthen , this helps retain the look of a coupe and keeps the car from looking like a aerosedan when you do the chop.
Looks good Can I see the engine compartment? I just bought this car and trying to find out if its a Fordillac
As I mentioned earlier, the front clip was a mess, after removing all the bondo, the chevy grill surround had just been tack on. Tono moved it in a half inch inward and welded it, the 52 ford head light rings were just tack on , so we brought in the head light buckets from behind the fender and trimmed a boat three quaters of a inch of the back edgeof the rings and welded them on so they would follow the contour of the fenders. The peaks on the sides of the grill surround were redone also.
Shoe boxes have big flat areas on the side, left alone , they can be a bit borering, but provide a perfect easel to add trim and individualize your car. The trim is 1953 riviera four door, lower spears are a extra set of front fender trim. We also replaced the Cal Custom clown smile grill for a more agressive 54 Chrysler grill.
That stays and is correct for the period, lovered hoods and chevy grill surrounds were quite popular from 53 to the late fifties on shoeboxes