Customs thinking about having my belly button removed..

i knew the title would make you guys look.lol..

so here is my car.






this is from a few weeks a go.

the most recent.

the motor going back in.


the motor is a small block chevy that i installed.the car also has a two link rear suspension.so my intension for the for the car has always been to be a traditional custom. i have built this car in driveways flooded one car garages.now i finally have a nice garage to work in.i have no doubt cut corners as a means to an end. and i am for sure not happy about some of them.

so this leads us to last night. i told another friend of mine that i am probably going to sell the car this summer because i am not happy with the running gear of the car.and to go back now would call for a new frame and running gear.so he talked me off the ledge and that is my new plan.my car is a hardtop from the factory. so i will need a four door frame. i have located a a complete four door close by at a very reasonable price.

so now my question do you guys think i am crazy or is this a good idea. my plan is to put the car back together with the sbc and keep it on the road while i build the new frame.then swap them.sorry my post is a bit pick heavy and long winded i am pretty excited.

 

It's your car, your money. Do what makes you happy.

 

i am getting mine running w /235 5 speed, then putting a v8 auto in my spare frame and bagging it. when i get that done will switch frames. drive and build at same time.

 

Is that a Plymouth hard top or a hard top conversion? Either way I like it.

As for the SBC, It better to be driving it with a SBC, than it sitting in the shop with no engine, bitching about what other people are driving with the wrong engine!

 

Do what ya gotta do man, whats the new dr train gonna be?
Flatty 6 or 318?

 

i am sorry i rambled and did not outline the new plan. the new frame will have no bags no v8. pretty much stock i want to build a hopped up flat six most likely with a t-5 dual carbs and fenton headers. dropped uprights my disk brakes dropped rear leaf sprinngs and probably blocks in the rear.stock gas tank and floors. in the end a much nicer finished car.

 

its a original hardtop.

 

If my vote counts, no sbc. 350/350 combos don't seem to catch much attention. Either swap out or leave the hood closed!

 

I love that grill

 

Whatever makes you happy.

 

haha you got me.... dig your garage floor

 

Thats cool! Never seen one before.I really like your new build plan also. Can't wait to watch it come together.

 

loose the SBC, how about a nice Nailhead?


Doc.

 

Can't go wrong with a belly button removal!

 

Sound cool! I would do it if I were your...I've been trying to fall into a flat6 but I just don't have the money!

 

Great plan

 

I traded my belly button for my 50 chevy.....

 

Is that a hard wood garage floor??

 

Go with it.. Make yourself happpy. Keep us posted please

 

Oh ya, love the H.A.M.B tag on the firewall

 

First off you need more then a belly button removal, a slimmer gut replacement is more like it!

Now with that said! I know you dont like how the car rides and handles with the bags , so i say lets get you the spare frame, I also know how you feel about the 350/350 and you did it to get the car drivable, so a motor swap would be a good plan for the future of the car.....
But for now since i know how long these processes take with limited funds of daily life, I say put a good running 350 back in it even if its a craigslist runner, just so its a running driving car so we could mob around to the local cars shows this year(just leave the hood closed),Plus i know from my 54 ford experience, and just how you and I are with motivation when our cars are down....
I say get it running and driving, focus on the body work it needs since you could do that slowly and as money allows, and as your working on getting the bodywork to where it needs keep a eye out for a frame and a engine that you want....
You dont need to build any of the 350 disassembled engines you have by taking them to the machine shop and putting them together with all the fancey parts you acquired and spending more money on what you dont want,if you just going to get rid of it anyways just use the money you were going to use for the machine shop and get a $500 or less craigslist motor, sell all the other 350 engines and partts off to fund the new engine or frame......Then later on down the road when we are ready to swap the frames we can sell your air ride stuff to fund another part of the car...

thats what i think you should do...but thats someone who hangsout with you all the time what the hell do I know?

 

ok i found a complete four door perfect donor car. just waiting for them to call me back.

and yes i do have hardwood flooring in the garage.the prior owners daughter taught dance in the garage.i was going to rip it out when i moved in but i didn't and now i could not live with out it.

 

losthope i have no plans to take the car off the road. keep it running and driving and slowly build the new frame and running gear as money allows. other wise another five years will be gone and ill be pissed.

 

No Belly Button in my 51 Belvedere. It is a stroker based on a low deck B-Block. A small block (318-360) would have fit better, but what would have been the fun in that!

One of my best friends built this one, and too much is never enough for him. I just took what he started with and have been gradually tweaking here and there to make it better.

If you look close you can see the firewall needs a good bit of setback to make it fit. Of course mine is more monster than custom, and we have kicked around putting an old Hemi in it eventually.

The point is, make it what you want, not what other people think it should be. It doesn't matter if you put a tractor engine in it, as long as YOU are happy with it.

-Dave

 

Im going to play devils advocate here for a minute.....a 350 performance wise,ie off idle and throttle response is probably better than a "average" hopped up flat six. Not before someone flames me, I love a good sounding hot 6 but are you ready for a lower horsepower motor with less getup and go. If you broaden your search you might be able to find some other "cooler" V8 thats running within you budget.....not sayin build it my way, its yours and it already looks sweet. Just puttin the idea in your head

 

my standard saying is "i would rather go slow and look cool doing it" so with that being said my vision for this car was always a flatsix i at one time had even had a desoto with the bigger six. i was pretty broke and starting a new family when i bought this car. limited tools and knowledge. not that i am rich or a master fabricator now i for sure feel like i have came a long way career wise and skill wise. i also think it would be fun to slowly build the perfect idea of what i think i want running gear wise for my car.

 

3 words....Olds. Mo. Bile.
Oh yeah, btw....those floors look better than the hardwood I have in my house!

 

Pete the floors are pretty thrashed. It's crazy how warm they keep the garage. And oil and everything wipes up pretty easy. I highly recommend it.

 

I want to know the details on the floor in your shop. Bob

 

It's just laminate flooring. Like you would put in your house.