My Dad passed away Oct '15 and while going thru some stuff with my Mom I ran across these pics of his '48 Chevy. I remember him telling me about it a couple of times working together on my OT car when I was a teenager but I had never seen pictures of it. This is what I remember him telling me about it. Some of the details might be off but, it's to the best of my recollection. 302 GMC Straight Six w/ 3 Stromburg 97's - Him and his uncle pulled this motor out of a wrecked PU and his uncle helped him build the intake for it. He said he had six 97's on it at one time but that didn't work out too well so they ended up with three when it was all said and done. Shaved door handles, decked, nosed, frenched taillights and headlights, etc. - I have no idea who did the body work but it was done in San Diego County some time in the mid 50's. The bumpers? - He told me what they were off of but I don't remember. I do remember that him and my grandpa where on some kind of roadtrip and got them from a wrecking yard in New Mexico on their way back to Escondido. Door poppers - Dad said he installed some micro switches behind some thinned sheet metal on the rear fenders. You would press on the fender and it would pop the doors. Hood and trunk lid lifts - Dad told me he got some screw-jacks from a wrecked Cadillac convertible and installed them to lift his hood and trunk lid. Dad went into the Air Force not log after high school. He took the car with him to Illinois and ended up selling it there when he got orders to Germany in roughly '59. I can't remember much more than that at the moment. I miss him, he was a cool Dad.
Neat! '49 0r '50 Plymouth bumpers, I am thinking. Believe a '50 Plymouth grill bar. That, folks, was a custom of the '50s. Beats Barris and others all to heck. Ben
Very cool car! Looks like he might've molded in some '51 Buick taillights, I had a pair on my '49. It sounds like he was a cool guy and a great dad.
Yeah, he was a pretty cool guy and was always making or tinkering with something. When he was in High School (when he had/built the '48) he worked for a TV repair shop. Electronics repair was his job in the Air Force, and after he got out. He built all kinds of custom stereo switch boxes, amps and other crap for himself and his friends. I remember when we lived at Edwards AFB he rebuilt some Honda motorcycle. Rebuilt the engine, repainted the frame, tank, fenders, took the seat to Tijuana and had it redone etc. When it was all back together he was teaching my Mom to ride it out back and she promptly drove it through the back yard fence. I think it got sold not long after that. When we lived in the Philippines a buddy and I got into flying U-control model airplanes. My Dad designed and fabricated all our airplane fuel tanks. Made them out of Skyflake cracker tins and brass tubing. He even made a little sheet-metal brake to bend the edges where the components overlapped. They were so freakin cool. I still have a couple of them in a box in my shed and will probably never get rid of them. We only had one car ('63 Impala SS) when we lived in the Philippines and Dad wanted to find something to get back and forth to work on the base so my Mom could have the Impala while he was working. He found a clapped out '65 Fiat 600 on the Lemon Lot for something like $75. By the time we left 2 years later that little Fiat looked like a brand new car. I think he sold it for $700-800. Sorry to drone on.
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