Ive had this car for almost 2 years now, slowly working on it. Most of what I've done was just to keep it on the road, it didn't really seem "H.A.M.B worthy" to me. A buddy of mine convinced me to post it anyways, so here we go. I picked this gem up from a buddy of mine back in early 2014. He bought it for his wife a few years before that and she had driven it daily until they started having kids, it had pretty much just been sitting for 3-4 years before they decided to sell. He knew I always wanted it, so a phone call and a little bartering and I took her home. 1950 Pontiac 4-door sedan, Flathead straight 8/automatic, bone stock car, everything's there and it is in damn nice shape for it's age... she needed some TLC, don't get me wrong, but still a very solid starting point. The original plan was simple; slam it, new interior, cruise it. So once i got it home it was bye bye tall and stock and hello 4" lowering block At that point i was satisfied with the stance, but the car needed some serious mechanical TLC to get back to truly drivable. Thankfully the previous owner had tracked down most of the parts i needed, he just never got around to putting them on. I was given a box with (i kid you not) 3 stock carburetors all disassembled and in different states of disrepair. I can rebuild a carb, but only if I'm the one that takes it apart. Needless to say I was in way over my head with that one, so i passed the basket case box off onto another good friend and about 2 weeks later he gave me back this (you can see "the box" in the background of the 1st pic): I replaced the intake/exhaust manifold, side cover gaskets, all of the fuel lines, fuel tank, carburetor and gave it a tune up and I was on the road. I also had a new exhaust put on it, single 2 1/4" pipe off the manifold then split into dual 1 3/4" pipes out the rear, no mufflers. That covers all the boring stuff... Thats pretty much how it stayed for the first year. Now is when the "mild custom" part begins. Started with the interior; new door panels, package tray, kick panels, oil/temp/fuel guages, painted the floor, etc. Its not the best, but I did 4 door panels, 2 kick panels, package tray and stripped/painted all the door tops and window frames for less than $60... so I'm not complaining. I was waiting on windshield and back window gaskets so i could pull the glass and paint the roof and dashboard... that still hasn't happened, and the seats still need to be recovered. Then came the exterior; 1957 chevy 210 front bumper, wheels/tires, shaved handles/fuel door/some trim/etc... That pretty much brings it current. I still need to figure out what to do for a grill, get the seats recovered and track down some trim pieces, then its bodywork and paint. Its not the most show stopping car, but it works. Its just a mild cruiser that i can put the ol lady and kids in and cruise. Its reliable enough to drive to work every day and looks good doin it. updates will follow as more progress is made.
Go to the upscale kitchen & bath showroom in your area - maybe the Home Depot or Lowes too, but there are more options - and look at chrome towel racks and cabinet /drawer handles and such, for grill teeth. What tail lights are you going to use? Everyone uses '50 Pontiac these days, boring .
Its actually funny that you mention the tail lights... this was my original plan: with this bumper: I decided to save them for the next build though, theres just something about the back of a 50 Pontiac... you can't beat it haha
Thanks! It took a long time and looking through a lot of pictures on here and other websites for me to settle on using a 57 bumper. It doesn't fit perfectly, a 57 is a lot more square so I have filler pieces to make the top shape fit the body better and I still have to move the bullets inward about 1.5" to make them hit the stock upper grill bar correctly. Its almost there though.
I gagged when you said '57 Chevy bumper but seeing it in the pictures I really like it, never would have thought that but it looks really good on there. Will the 5 tooth grille insert not fit in the hole? Seems like that would look nice. A '54 Pontiac grille center would be perfect for that opening, but unfortunately they're really hard to come by.
I really like that motor. It doesn't make a lot of power and its a far cry from a racecar, but it works. It will cruise at 55-60 all day long. My problem is the transmission, that hydramatic needs some love and I can't find anyone local that's able to help. I do have a 65 Pontiac 389 that might find its way under the hood someday, but for now I have no desire to change anything, just keep adding oil and cruisin
A lot of people thought I was crazy when I told them what bumper I wanted to use, I guess I just had the vision haha. Yes, I could cut up the stock grill and make it work. However, my stock grill is in really good shape, I didn't want to sacrifice a cherry grill for that. Really Id like to find either some kind of Buick grill or a 55 Chrysler back up light bar and make a floating grill. It's just a matter of time and money.
Good project - maybe find trans shop over the hill toward San Jose? maybe look at mid 50's Buick grills
Its very hard for me to pick a transmission shop that i trust with this car, I'm afraid that someone will take on the job and screw it up and then won't be able to fix it. Right now the thing is drivable, it just doesn't really use 3rd gear. It doesn't really bother me, but someday id like to fix it, that or find a 3 speed setup to swap in. As far as the grill goes, i know where theres a real nice early 50's Buick grill, i just need to go barter for it. Hopefully it will fit as good as i think it will.
In '79 I did up a '52 Ponto 4 dr - boy we had a bunch of fun with that car - real nice family cruiser.
nice build! lets use the Buick grill that's hanging in my shop that use to be yours at one point, for the teeth in your Chevy grill!
Frenching the upper grille bar might be a good idea, regardless of grille choice. (Photo from CarNut).
I thought about it, I told myself that if I was going to have to change the upper bar to a different style in order for the bumper to look right then I was gonna mold it all in and make it painted and part of the nose, it still might happen, it all depends on the grill. A large part of why I want the Buick style grill is that I love those big, whale mouth, all chrome front ends. So, if I find the right grill for that look, I will leave the grill bar alone and keep it polished.
Nice car! I just picked up a 1950 streamliner. I will get some pics up soon. My 3rd gear seems to be MIA as well.
I have an original hydra matic out of my 50 Pontiac business coupe along with the straight 6 just taking up space in my garage.... nice car btw!
What happens when its time for 3 rd gear? The 2-3 shift is the hardest shift for the old Hydro's to make perfectly. Four functions have to take place in perfect unison or it will flare, bump, jerk, or bind.
This is the basic rundown of driving my car: - I put it in "Lo" start to drive - 1st gear works great - shifts real nice into 2nd with no issues -2nd gear works great - I shift up into "Hi" - it stumbles and fumbles - no 3rd gear - it shifts into 4th - Boggs the motor way down - RPM picks up - 4th gear works great - cruises 60 all day long I'm used to the car and how it drives now so I just rev out 2nd gear a little more before I shift it into "Hi" and it works good. If I just put it in "Hi" and drive, without manually putting it in "Lo" first and controlling the shift, it will try and shift through all 4 gears and end up in 4th by 5 MPH
Where are you located? I would definitely be interested in having another tranny. If I had a backup I wouldn't be so nervous about bringing the car into a tranny shop. I do have another one of these straight 8 engines with a 3-speed manual on the back of it. I want to rebuild that setup and swap it in but the guy I got it from didn't have anything but the motor/tranny, so I would need find pedals, linkage, etc. That's why I was just gonna swap in a 389/t400 combo and be done.
Yea I'm currently bagging mine with a 383 and 700r4 or 4l80e haven't decided which, Ford 8.8 rear, 4 link, etc, I'm not using any of the drive train, just let me know if you need any of it.
Well it's been a long year so far, New Year's Day I smashed my finger pretty bad and it slowed down my progress a little bit. Now that my hand is healed enough to properly work, I managed to talk a buddy of mine into letting me use his shop to get the car stripped, body worked and in primer, so a few days ago I got started on that.
This car sat under a tarp and car cover for a LONG time so the whole car is covered in surface rust dots, all the top surfaces are pretty much hammered. the paint on this car is original and most likely lacquer which makes stripping a bit of a chore. I'm using a Dewalt buffer, a 8" sanding disc with both 40 and 80 grit papers. It's getting the job done but it's definitely not a fast process.
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