I found an awesome deal on a 54 Chevy Bel Air. Its a 4dr, but for my first car I dont really care. I want to shave the handles, take off the trim except the trim around the bottoms of the windows and doors. Paint it flat black, lowered, 355 with a mild cam, white and black cockpit, door popers, fiberglass one peice front end and a ford rear are just a few things planed for my first restore. here are the pics. ohh BTW i payed 300 and got it towed for free by scamin AAA. oh, the hood and the fenders will be for sale soon, so let me know if your interested.
$300! Nice deal. Why are you dumping the hood and fenders though? Not all hot rods have to be fenderless or hoodless 'ya know -Dean
oops guess I missed that part about the glass nose. I dont know about that. Everything else is cool but most people go for glass when steel isn't available. Looks like you have a good hood/fenders on it now! Keep the originals. -Dean
Good call keeping the beltline trim(thats the trim under the windows). 54 Chebby 4 doors look pretty good especially with the handles shaved. Why are you going with the glass frontend? Here is skyrodder's 4 door
Its not an antique, its not a musclecar, and its not a custom yet. I guess you could just call it an old car, but classic sounds better.
Congrat's less..........good luck with the new ride........look forward to seeing the finished product!!
classic is 20 years old or more. Ill double check my math but im sure 54 is old enough. yes you can get the glass nose for a 54. why do i want it? i like how they work, how the can be mounted to open reverse, i like how they look too. plus Its a 4 door. I know someone with a 2dr could use these way more then me. Im just trying to do a west coast style cruiser. And just wanna have fun with it. plus as far as the one peice front end and all go's its still an idea, ideas can change.
"Classics"...or kustoms, as your case may be...are NOT hot rods! Fifties cars look best with stock hoods and fenders...KEEP the originals, forget about the glass front end...that's for a "gasser" look (unless that's what you're going for.). Nose it, deck it, take the trim off if you want (personally I prefer the look of the '54 210 side trim) and take the door handles off...paint it like every other flat black '53/'54 out there (where's the individuality in that?) and make sure you toss on some whites and red rims... All in all, I think you got a good deal on the car...and it is yours...do what you want with it and tell everyone to stuff it, me included! R-
It's amazing how you guys can turn something so exciting into a nit picking incident. I own classic American cars. Point blank. If I were to say to the normal public that I owned an old car, first thing out of their yap would be......what sort of PILE OF SHIT do you own? My county inspector leaves me alone because I own CLASSICS. I'm sticking with it. Congrats on your first car. They are the most rewarding, fustrating, addicting things I've ever owned in my life. I wouldn't change it for the World! xxx Brandy
actually yeah i am going for a gasser look. And i dont want a really flat black color, i want a satan with some clean coat on it.
Cool score but take a little bit to sit back and THINK about the style you are wanting to do. Glass front end is for a gasser. Lowered is NOT a gasser. For your first RESTORE(ation) means doing nothing other than original. Calm down...take a deep breath and think about it. Then build what YOU want. Bill
i am calm and i know what i want. i know the look i want. I dont care if most gassers arnt lowered with lowering spindals or whatever. If I did that would just be a restriction. and because its a moredoor there arnt no restrictions, so basically everything i want to try i will do on this car. droped 2inch, glass nose, shaved doors, ect ect. Im just doing what I like. i dont care what anyone thinks. I know when its done its it will look great and be alot of fun for me and my family and friends to hop in and cruise to the shore in.
First off, Good score meng! Second... don't listen to anyone as far as what you "should do" to it. It's funny to see what eveyone else would do with it... but then when it comes down to it they will slam you for "copying". It's a lose lose situation. Fuck 'em and do your own thing. You will be doing alot of smiling and nodding with "opinions" flying around like flys on a shit pile.Who the fuck cares if you mix a Gasser look with a slammed low low. Do what you feel like doing. But do it well. And make sure YOU like it. The last thing you want is someones "approval" on it. Who the fuck are they? Roll your ride and be yourself. Fuckin opinions.....And if a 57 chevy can be a classic....... yeah don't even get me started......fuckin ppl. Ohh and if I owned it I would put a Nailhead in it and............ NAILHEAD
hahahah damn this is EXACTLY what happened as a sub division during the infamous "Marcus-53-Cheesegrater" trials that we are all so fond of. Basically the same car too! Anyone have a link to that thread? I think it was called "My first attempt at buying a classic goes vastly awry" or something close to that.
nit picking? let me rephrase my response then, congratulations on your first old car less! looks like a fun project! keep us updated on your progress
FWIW, you can weld the doghouse together and make a front tilt front ... costs WAY less, you already have the parts and you get that warm n fuzzy "i built that shit myself" kinda vibe every time you look at it
I wasn't picking on you alone, I was after all the nit pickers. KNEW that was going to come back at me. Oh well. xxx
What everyone else said-Gassers are crude, race only rides that are if anything raised up in stance (more so in the front actually) and arent ussually 4-doors. Keep your original body panels, paint it statn black, lower it and put wide white wall bias tires on it with steelies and some vintage wheelcovers. French it, nosed, decked, dummy spotlights, lake pipes.........make a kool old '50s kustom out of it. -Dean
Hmm thats true, but I like the seemless part about it as well as it being a bit lighter. still like i said its an idea and i guess when i get there ill decide what i want more. steal fenders and hood, or one peice. right now im just going to work on the shit i can do wile the car is sitting in the street. like cleaning up the glove bock and all the chrome on the dash, and scraping out the old door weather striping.
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