Projects Doin' the Business! (NZ) 1953 Chevrolet 150 business coupe.

A couple of weeks back I found a 1953 Chevy coupe on our local auction site. It was located at the opposite end of the country, so I organised for an old rodding mate, Billy, from 30 years ago, to take a drive and check it out for me.
Billy and one of his mates checked it over and took a bunch of pictures and video clips and talked to me whilst doing so.


After a good old fashioned poke around over the phone, I asked Billy the only important question..... "Billy, would you buy it?" he didn't even hesitate, "hell yes!". That was all I needed to hear! I had a look at all the pictures and videos he sent.......







I then got on the phone with the seller and we worked out a deal that worked well for us both....... And just like that, the family has grown again.
The car is unfortunately still with the seller as the transporter, along with a lot of other people are experiencing difficulties with the staffing due to covid issues. In order to get the car to me it has to be trucked to the interisland ferry then back on a truck again. At best a full 2 day drive!

Any way.... The car has had quite a bit done already. Nova rear end, heidts front end (I know, I know!), crate 350/350 combo. A new panel behind/below the trunk lid. No interior to speak of. Bare seat frames, front and rear (150 coupes had no rear seat). New floor above the chassis C notch in the rear. 20" steel rims and tyres.

I have been buying a couple of used couches/sofa/chairs to use the aged leather for the upholstery in the car.

So follow along with this latest adventure!

 

Well, after a second day of driving, I have all the leather together for the car. Yesterday a 3 seater and chair from a home in Auckland, today a matching 2 seater from a completely unrelated business office waiting room. All from the same manufacturer and exactly the same leather and colour! What are the odds!?

So this weekend we strip them all down and grade the leather and chop up the frames for the fireplace. Should be fun!

 

Cool ,keep us updated.

 

Looking forward to seeing that interior come together. Like the 20" steelies too even though some may not be into that.

 

That is one of the more solid looking 53 Chevys I have seen in a while.

Your harvesting couch hides reminds me of my effort at that, I went up and snagged a big "leather" sectional that some lady was giving away, got it home and started getting the covering off it and found out that it was that bonded leather and not real sheets of cow skin.

 

now thats an interior...thats hot rodding ...

 

I LOVE bidness coops! Good score.

 

Great project, nice to see things start with a good solid car.

Bob

 

Today I finished filleting the lounge furniture. In total there is 16 square metres, or 172 square feet of good useable leather that I think will be well and truly enough to cover front, rear seats, interior panels and even inside the trunk.


The plan is to do some sculpting of foam to create some good bolsters to support our aging bodies a bit better than a flat bench.


Something along the lines of this.......


This......


Or this!

 

Good plan.... I'm impressed and looking forward to where you take this.

 

I also had another small win yesterday. Last week I put up a post on a local fb page for 55/6/7 chevy enthusiasts looking for an oil bath aircleaner. Had a reply yesterday.

A chap offered me this.......


So I grabbed it for $50!



Gotta love the interweb!

 

MMMMM, another cool project to follow along, cool. JW

 

Dayummmnn..... How did you find me over here?

 

Great solid start! I love 50's business coupes.

 

A bit of an update fellas, the car was picked up from the previous owner last week on Thursday, crossed the Cook strait by ferry, was due to be delivered tomorrow morning, but, the transporter called in to his home base to do a service check on the truck, and, you guessed it, the truck is not well!
No worries, he called and assured me that he will be here by the weekend.
I picked up the 57 chev oil bath aircleaner that I found on fb the other day too. Ready to be modified to fit over the 4bbl and tall element.

 

I like where this is going! Dig the repurposed leather

 

I saw that for sale, looks like a great project.

 

Business coupes look great as hot rods. That one seems very solid and a good amount of work already completed to make it an easier project to finish.

 

Love the repurposed leather ,at least you got real leather . We got the interior for our 32 from a 7’ long tuck n roll seat out an old billiard hall ,$50..While we at the other end of the country at the street rod nationals, stripped the leather and burnt the wood frame at a cousins farm .

 

Now the fun begins. After a month of waiting and planning, today we are "doin the business!"
First order of business (see what I did there) is a stock take of exactly what came with the car.

 

Today I spent some time on the front seat frame. It had already been media basted, so after working out the pieces of the jigsaw I set to with some cans of black etch prime to give them some protection from our humid atmosphere. A visit to the hardware store and some new fasteners and assembly grease and it was time to reassemble. I lubed up and freed the movement on the seat slide and bolted them on with a link wire to actuate both sides. The floor of the car has had sound deadening fitted already, but that has hidden the holes for the seat mounts, so a bit of digging was required.
At the end of the day I have a fairly complete seat frame with split back to allow entry to the back passenger compartment, ready to go to the upholsterer to make a start.
A good day.

 

Nice car! Good luck with the build. Love the repurposed leather too. Always wanted to do that, lol.
So, whats up with the wheels? Are those solid wheels or wheel covers. Plan?

 

Woodbox,
I've had 3 of these. 210 Club coupe (sold) and now have 2 150 Club coupes. Love the body style. Last year of a coupe with the small side window. I'll be watching this thread.

Oddly, those exact sofas are currently in my family room.

Tom

 

Very cool. Love the design of that roll back rig, as it allows an easier transition to get low vehicles on the deck without having to navigate a ramp to street transition angle.

 

Here are photos of the sofas!!!!!! Now, if yours comes out nice, this will be a reason I will agree to get new sofas that my wife has been bugging me about!!!!!

 

Solid steel wheels. In bare steel atm. I plan to clean and paint them in the next few weeks. They are off the car now and tyres removed. The plan is to paint the backside and inside the tyres black epoxy gloss. The front side will be white on the rim and body colour (horizon blue) on the center with original hubcaps if I can find a set. The white on the outer rim is to look like a white wall, and to visually reduce the size of the wheels.

 

A bit of automotive archaeology today. I was removing the ugly black vinyl from the seat back rear corner piece only to find the original factory fabric still on it!





I know the fabric is the original, due in part to it's condition but mainly to the fact is shows that fabric in the sales brochure book that arrived today.


Also handy to identify the various random parts that were floating around in the car.

Just a few more bit to I'd then we will be golden!

 

I was missing the two front seat cleats that the front end of the seat slider mounts under. A few minutes with some flat bar stock and a gas torch soon sorted that out. A lick of paint, another couple of bolts and they will be good as new.

 

I had a bit of a tidy up in the shop today, sick of not being able to move around freely! After that was done I set about making a lazy Suzy from the dining table a bit bigger to spin the wheels while I clean them up in prep for some paint. Then cleaned up the first one with an abrasive paint remover disc and a flap wheel.
Turned out pretty good!