Hot Rods '51 Chevy Fleetline DeLuxe Project

New to the board here with a new project.. a 1951 Chevrolet Fleetline Deluxe. I just hauled home this local Memphis car with 75,000 original miles and about 98% original and rust free (go figure). She's "sporting" the original 216/3 speed and loose remains of Mayland Black paint.

Plans for the car short term - Rebuild brakes, get engine running, make it safe. Drive the crap out of it... oh and a 2" drop.

Plans for the long term - eventually strip and repaint to original Mayland Black paint... Restore cosmetically inside and out. The idea is for a car that was Mom's back in '51 but when the kid got a hold of it in '60 he dropped it and made it cool again... time will tell what that will entail.

So here is the starting point.















I've gone ahead and made some progress. Last night I ordered new radial whitewalls and got the tires pulled off the wheels today. I plan to sandblast and repaint them within the next few days.. color to be decided. One last look at those old tires..


Pulled a drum off to see what I was working with. Crusty and unmolested.. just the way I like it!


I have been toying with the thought of clear coating the car for now to preserve the patina and enhance the look altogether. So I sprayed just the quarter panel and really like the way it came out. I think I'll go ahead and do the whole car. You can see the bare rims on the garage floor behind it.


That's all of now.

 

OK new guy from memphis....I see you added some pics......thanks. Looks good

 

Love the car and looking forward to seeing everything you do to her!

 

Love these Fleetlines, good luck! and welcome aboard

 

I dig it!

My Fleetline's a four door.
Check out the 216 group in my signature. Stop in and say "Hi!"

 

wow.. cant get over those rear tires haha! looks like a great project.. keep us posted on your progress.. going to be a cool ride when you're done

 

Great starting point dude.....

 

Love the fleetline. Plans sound great. Keep the pics coming.

 

Great project, good luck! Welcome to the HAMB.

 

Nice to see more Memphis people on here. I'm in Bartlett (and have a '52 Chevy), so just holler if you need anything!

 

Thanks guys!!! So I'm currently stripping down the wheels and trying to make a decision on which way to go with the color. I did a rough photoshop of a 2" drop and some 2-3/8" whites. So what do you think, black or red?

(OK so the black came out sort of brown in photoshop, buy squint your eyes )

 

Man that's a great car to start with and will be pretty bad ass when its done. I wish my '50 was a fastback.

Not diggin the red wheels though. I'd definitely go with brown if those are the choices.

 

Thanks! I think you are right about the red.. I think I'll go with black, though I'm also open to other ideas

 

I don't know about your tires, but I bought WWW bias plies, and was surprised to find that the white did not quite extend to the wheel rim.
It would have been less noticeable, had my wheels been black.

 

I'm in" love". If your going to clear the car try mat clear just a idea takes the shine down and looks more like patina . Nice car

 

no red wheels

 

What about beige wheels? Great looking car by the way!

 

Thanks for all the input guys! I have decided to keep it simple and go with gloss black wheels. I've been out hard at work. I got the wheels fully sandblasted and just got them in high build primer. A little sanding to do and then we will see some color... just in time too because my tires just showed up at my front door!

Wheels in primer


Also got some mexican blankets for the seats

 

Love it.


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Just got the wheels finished up in a few coats of black... I'll get the tires mounted up tomorrow.

 

Looks good. Are you going to pin stripe them like they were or leave all black?

 

I love those Fleetlines as well, in fact I have a 1949 Fleetline four door Special. If you do plan on running that original drive train for a while you may want to find a 1950-54 powerglide rear end to install in your car. It will take your 4.11 gear ratio to a 3.55 and make your engine much happier going down the road. It's one of the best things I've done to my car. If you completely rebuild your brakes and want to keep them with the new rear end you can just swap out the torque tube only and keep your new brakes on your original axle housing. But if you use the whole powerglide rear end you will also upgrade to Bendix style brakes instead or your Huck brakes.

 

Wow, great project find.

Subscribed.

 

Good point! A thin red (or other contrasting color) pin stripe on each wheel would really set them off. I don't know about '51, but my '53 wheels came that way from the factory: it was a two-tone green car and the wheels were the body color light green with the top color dark green stripe on each one.

 

His original wheels still had the original stripes on them. Would be pretty easy to recreate. I just did it to my '50 wheels

 

Welcome...I too have a 51 Fleet...with a rebuilt 57 in it... I dropped it 4inches..and Sprayed on a False Patina... I have progress pics on my profile..should be rolling soon... I will post more pics then...If you have any Questions while yer doin it..Let me know...Ive been through the Gamit with mine..12 volt conversion..Ect.. Good luck...

 

Great photos of your Fleetline. My mom had a 1949 Fleetline Deluxe. Its color was Monaco Blue. Good luck with your project.

 

Thank you for all of the input and advice guys!! It is all very much appreciated. As far as the pinstripes on the wheels go, I plan to do the silver factory pinstripes down the road but am going to hold off for now and just keep them all black. Today I did manage to get the tires mounted up and put back on the car. The hubcaps are still off for now until I get time to polish them up and repaint the details on them... For now it is time for some brakes! I can't wait to see it with the 2" drop.

 

Nice find. Wheels and tires look real good.

 

Wheels look better in black cool car.