Customs Father Son Build: 1950 Chevy Fleetline Deluxe

Does that rust inhibitor that you are using on the roof seem to be doing a good job converting the rust to whatever? Do the instructions or data sheet explain what it does to "convert" the rust?

Not to be a killjoy but put some goggles on that mechanic's eyes! He is too young for an eye injury.

 

Been putting in a new driver's side floorboard in my Sedan Delivery. It's been fun! The beadroller I built really helped!

 

Like the car great work teaching them young keep hot rodding going. Have fun

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It says that it uses the chemicals in the surface rust as part of the primer, then seals it off. I guess the primer has a chemical reaction as it is drying. It seems to do the trick. when the surface dries, it is pretty tough and it seems the primer is attached very good to the metal. It is fine for the areas we are using it on. We are wire brushing the areas to remove any loose scale, wipe it down then brush it on. We are going to brush a coat of paint on top of the primer and call it good.

As for the goggles, he wears glasses and I should give him some goggle to wear. Good point and aggrege, no need for an eye injury.

 

The floor looks really good. What trans crossmember are you using? What brake pedal? We got the Walton fab crossmember. It just came in this week. We are leaning towards their fire wall mounted power master pedal assembly. We are going to get the 307/TH350 in first, then evaluate if we still want the fire wall mounted master.

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I will share that with Eli. We look at this thread together every couple of weeks to review our progress and read yall's comments. We are trying to keep it simple and build a nice car that can be trusted to drive anywhere we want to go.

 

Here are a couple of pics.

I used the original master cylinder, and cut the pedal mount off of it, and made my own bracket. I used a master cylinder off of a 1972 Chevy pickup, I think. It seems to have worked well. I still need to finish up the pushrod assembly into the M/C.

The crossmember is a Waltons Fab, just like yours. Those guys are great to work with!

 

Your a lucky father , wish my sons would show interest

 

Eli and I are still making steady progress. Slow but steady. I will add some more photos soon.

Question for y'all. Does anyone have recommendations on front suspension parts? I am looking at Fatman's dropped uprights. Are there better ones to use? These have a 2" drop. I am thinking we need more than that. I plan to get new front springs...any recommendations on front springs? Also am on the fence on whether to buy a complete front end rebuild kit or just replace the parts that need to be replaced. I do not have experience with these 50 Chevy front ends...so any recommendations there would be greatly appreciated.

Tagging @RMONTY @guthriesmith @Roothawg

 

What a kool project. My son and I are in the midst of a Rambler project for him.

 

If you buy a front end kit makesure you are getting quality parts in the kit.
When I was in to Mustangs there were lots of kits that were mostly garbage parts. They seemed like a good deal but the parts fit poorly and wore out really fast.
The only front end kits that that had good quality parts cost more than buying all the parts individually.


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I’ve got a new set of king pins I send you for the car if you want them. Did a 54 ended up with extra stuff. The Walton parts you picked are top notch. If you want the king pins PM me your address

 

Looks good Matt. Just keep chipping away.

 

Matthew, pretty soon you and Eli are going to need to get that hood off to stab the new engine and transmission in place. I have a pair of hood spring removal tools that are yours if you want them. Just let me know. I made them years ago when I had my own '50 Fleetline. The car ended up being sold before I could get into it too far and I have had these in my toolbox since then and I don't see a '49 to '52 Chevy n my near future.

Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

Steve

 

Hey Matt, I'm just now catching up and saw your question. My brother @just Matt rebuilt the frontend on his 54 and could likely answer some questions. I'm pretty sure his has dropped uprights, but not sure what else. You might shoot him a pm and look through his pics to see how his sits. However, it hasn't always had the dropped uprights, so you might have to ask him for a recent pic.

 

Call me subscribed! Nice project, but then again I am a little biased. We’re almost twins.Two things to think about, one: keep a magnet around just in case you should get a small piece of metal in your eye , it works, I know from personal experience, two: the wheel bearings are a little pricey for the ‘55 rear end as opposed to ‘56 and later. Other than that, have fun!

 

Good advice. Ran into that with an off topic front rebuild kit as well. If we keep the stock front suspension, we will probably just buy the parts we need from NAPA or onlie.

 

Wow! Thanks 325w! You are right, the Walton parts are nice built pieces for sure.

 

Wow! Thanks! I will send you a message. Once we get the rear end back in, we are pulling the front sheet metal off so perfect timing. I will send a PM. Thanks!

 

Thanks Jeff. I will send him a message. Hope all is well with you and your son's projects.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the rear end. I like your car. It sits nice.

 

Stock ride on 205/75 R 15s.

 

Got some updates. We painted the rear suspension parts and rear end. We rattle canned the small parts, the pulled the springs apart and brushed Restoleum enamel, reassembled and put the rear end in the car.

 

Painted 55 Chevy rear end ready to install.

 

We also celebrated Eli's 13th birthday. I pulled him out of school for the day. We went and picked up a guitar for him, then raced indoor carts and played video games at an arcade in Austin.

 

Back to the car.

Used the stock rear shock mounts but had to widen one of the holes to match the different u bolt pattern for the 55 Chevy rear.

 

Then Eli milled the bottom plate for the u bolts flat on one side for the shock mount to sit flush.

 

Then we put the rear end in the car and set it down on four wheels.

 

We put 2" blocks under the rear end. It still sits pretty hight but will drop down some when we take the 31" truck tires off the rear. Will probably run 205/65/15 wide whites with 54 Olds Hubcaps.

 

Lastly, we pulled the front clip apart and dropped the front cross member. We are working on rebuilding the front end, finish painting the bottom of the car, then get the motor/trans in the car with the Walton fab motor/trans mounts. Mixed in there is welding in patch panels and replacing the body mount pads and bolts.