Then for the main body, he made sure all the door gaps etc were a good fit..and any other areas that needed a tweak and clean up .
...and finally, the body. The trim is being positioned and marked up for reference, before it is sent off to be repaired and polished. Once that is done we can drill the holes before the body is painted. Once the fenders come back and repaired, we can fit them and take some measurements for the 17" wheels.
Fenders and hood are back from the blasters, so not as much rust as I thought we would find, just around the headlights. It's starting to look more like a wagon again.
The wagon is moving along nicely, Rudy has done a great job on the repair to the surround around the headlights. It's looking more like a wagon each day. The wheels should be in next week, so finally it can sit on new rubber again.
The last of the body rust repair...the tailgate now operates as it should. Next we hope to fit the new wheels and look at engine options, then I have to think about colour.
perfect street transportation for daily driving. Hello, When we were into our surf adventures, my brother looked into getting a station wagon. It had more board room for the longboards, had more horsepower with the v8 motors and we could get two comfortable sleeping spots with some privacy if we put curtains on the windows. My 40 Ford Sedan Delivery offered plenty of privacy, but the long boards were another problem. We did stick them into the rear door window, so that was a simple solution. But, to lockup and make the sedan delivery secure, we put the rear door window back in place. It was a hassle, but that was the only way to transport longboards with the sedan delivery. We had tried to tie them on the roof, but the sedan delivery does not have rear rain gutters. During our time building and racing our 1940 Willys Coupe in the B/Gas and C/Gas Class, our goal was to tow back to the Nationals in Detroit in 1960. If Yellow was selected and a 56 Chevy Wagon was used, the combination would have looked like the above drawing. But, we knew about SBC motors and thought that was the way to go for us. We had picked out a 55 and a 56 Chevy two door wagon for our towing adventures to the Nationals. That was part of the plan. But, of course, things just did not work out as planned. So, the new plan during the recovery stage from the Willys Coupe adventure was a 2 door 1955 Chevy Wagon that would hold our two or more longboards with ease. Inside would have plenty of space for passengers or beach/camping stuff. Jnaki So, before my brother discovered the low cost VW vans, like several of his surfing friends, he still considered the 55 or 56 two door station wagon for our long distance surfing needs. He went from a station wagon idea with lots of horsepower and sleeping room, to a low power van with his own design for built in beds, dining table, closets , a sink and refrigerator and a secret stash compartment under the shoe shelf. It took longer to get to the long distance surf spots, but then he/we could stay for a week or so at super low cost. We even were able to cook great meals, too. YRMV The selection the 1956 Chevy wagon was popular with the Long Beach surf crew + one guy from Seal Beach. 3M’s in Baja Mexico. (Is there a guy in the background with a pair of Everlast boxing trunks? )
Is that why I've had to post the photos 3 times...I thought I was going mad. Apologise if it breaks the rules...I'm keep the car pretty traditional., apart from the engine as I was to use the wagon for long roadtrips.
Yes, I found out the hard way. I probably knew but just forgot as it's been a while since I looked at the rules...now I know. So there will be lots more updates and photos of the build, but nothing on the engine.
Looks like I've broken the rules again by posting the 55 wagon with new larger steel wheels...I thought being a traditional look it would be kay, but it wasn't...so sorry to the admin about that. So I guess this might be the last post on the 55 wagon unless I cover the wheels and engine up maybe. It's a shame as I've enjoyed the comments and sharing the restoration journey with everyone here.
From the hood back they are the same body...thought it might work, still keeping my options open. I´m not precious about keeping it all chevy though...but I might just use the Nomad front fender trim instead....watch this space.
I like the trim! The angle of the piece on the door almost perfectly matches the angle of the front wheel opening.
Final update, as I'm going down a non traditional route now, I have to respect the H.A.M.B. rules and can’t publish any more updates on the 55 wagon build. This is not a problem it just means I have created a new website for regular updates. If your interested to see what the 55 wagon looks like now, then go to my55wagon.com
Been following along really nice workmanship always love the wagons. I will be following along your new post. You ever thought about posting on Trifive?
Thanks, after I created the new website I added a few photos and links to various Facebook pages, but forgot about the trifive site. Thanks for the suggestion.
The Jalopy Journal
