Folks Of Interest New Ride, 55 chevy 150

I had some garage time yesterday and today.
Painted the driveline and the trunk piece with the brace spot welded in.

After that I welded the corners in and the tail pan.





[img width=800 height=397]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...oqBf7CFNdpa6YrDUygCCo/s912/IMG_4701.JPG[/img]

 

Some new progress

 

Markus, good to see you are making progress! If you need help getting the big and littles on the mag wheels through TÜV I may be able to help you. You just need to document, that this is a traditional modification which was common within the first 10 years after production. There´s a 57 Gasser in Hamburg running without a front bumper, legally.He´s also got skinny front runners, like 560-15s or so and about 10x15 drag bias plys or radials(??) on the rear...

And another geads you ,before you finish weld your rear panel, please check the gaps around your trunk lid . The ass end gets quite flimsy with all that metal removed.

 

Baumi I checked the gaps 4 times and with a second pair of eyes from my girl friend. Everything looks good. I sold the Ansen style rims, the rear ones had some damage on the inside.

 

Like my dad would say, jack up the radiator cap and slide a new car under it.... you've fixed a lot of the ills on an old car. Great job.

 

Thanks guys.

I made a battery tray to put in the spare tire well and delete the other part of the spare tire well. It is a small progress but it is progress.

 

Now it looks more like a Trunk and Tail

 

Congrats ! Enjoy ! Looks like you have the knowledge and skills to make it a real nice 55.

 

You took a decent looking 55 and are making it better. Very nice work! Hope you get it on the road and are driving it soon.

 

I like that rear battery box idea. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks guys.
Now it looks like a trunk inside. I am happy with that.

 

I did some small progress.
I fillered the tail and after sanding it I painted it. The new paint is a little darker than the old paint. It is a repair paint job so it is ok for me. I want to paint the complete car in the next two years.

 

Good work.

 

I like your work!!

 

Small update after few month. The undercoating is gone and I paint it with chassis paint. It is special paint with a bit oil in it so it is flexible for years.

I found out that I have a posi trac rear from october 4th, 1960. Only the marking for the gear ratio is gone.

The muncie trans is from 66/67

Know the floor looks this way



Here is a pic from the posi

 

Oh and the rear of the trunk area looks like this

 

Good job, Markus! Looks like you are close to getting it inspected and ready for cruising!

 

Yes, hopefully in 4 weeks.

 

Tank and fuel filter are reinstalled.



And I changed the vacuum secondary to a adjustable version of Quickfuel on my new Holley carb.
Before



After

 

With these wheels/tires it sort of reminds me of Roth's '55.

 

Yes the car was one of some inspirations

 

I saw this episode on youtube, after that I had no problem to "work" a bit on the passenger side header to get some frame clearance.

 

I got the car street legal on germans streets. But before that I had to rework the exhaust over the rear end and at the tail.
Also I had to get a new brake line to the rear.

I drove 100 miles last week.
There are some things to do, carb fine tuning and solving a brake problem.
I can't do a emergency stop, the rear is locking up and the front rolls. I have SSBC Force10 discs in front. I found some information about that, but it not helped. I got max 600 psi to rear break.
I think I have to change the master cylinder.

I got a wideband lambda, at 2800 rpm in 4th gear and around 65mph I have 14.9, I think it is too lean. At idle or cruise everything is fine. Holley Carb 600cfm vac. sec.

 

Looks like a Scheisskopf owned the car previously. Looking better now. Enjoy.

Gary

 

Yesterday I looked at the brake pedal, the push rod to the booster was not centered. I read at other kits that you have to drill a new hole 1" lower than original.
So I centered the push rod and that was exact 1" lower than the original position.
I checked pressure after that and now I have 250 psi more brake pressure.
I do a road test in the next days.
The second thing I did was too readjust the rear shoes, now I have a little bit more space between the shoe and drum.

 

You may do well with an adjustable proportioning valve so you can limit braking force to the rear drums. I have one in my Ford. I always keep the rear brake adjustment up. It helps to give you a higher brake pedal.

 

Bob - I did the same thing, still have to try some controlled panic stops to see how she acts!

 

I did a real-deal panic stop one night out with my son, someone blew a red light ahead of me and I had to jump on the pedal. It stopped straight and true, I've never adjusted the rear bias. The car stops quite well.

 

I ordered one wilwood adjustable combination proportioning valve and hope that this is the solution.
But.
Something bad happened yesterday. The pulley of the water pump broke at 2500 rpm idle and the fan crashed in the radiator. Everything is junk now, radiator, fan, fan shroud, water pump and pulley.

 

Well, that sucks.
That radiator can be saved. I have a shroud like that around here, I might have trimmed it a little but it fits tri 5 radiators. If it's cheaper to pay shipping than ordering a new one, it's yours. No clue how hard it would be to send to Germany. Previously, I sent packages to U.S. bases there. Not possible now.