Projects New to me 54 Chevy..... Build thread to follow

Two weeks ago I happened upon a 54 Chevy online. The car appeared to be solid in all the pictures. The owner said new front and rear glass, new tires, new shocks, new battery, new fuel tank, new fuel line, new brake lines, new brake shoes/cylinders, converted to 12v, and solid body. My 15 year old Daughter and myself drove 190 miles across the beautiful state of NC to take a look at the car last weekend. The car was everything the owner described. Body was straight, every stainless part was there, and the exterior is solid and straight. The 235 was updated to a electronic distributor, and a pcv system was added.

The weather was horrible but we were allowed to take it for a short drive. The old 235 ran like a sewing machine, and the 3 speed shifted smoothly. Only 69,728 original miles. The was parked under a carport in 1980 and was only driven time to time since then. I left a deposit for the car and decided to return to buy it the following weekend.

My wife, daughter, a close friend, and myself drove back up yesterday and purchased the car. We checked all the fluids, and hit interstate 40 East. She hummed right along at 60mph and only gave us one issue. Thirty miles into the trip the ignition lead from the electronic distributor came loose and cut the car off. Quick fix and we were back at it. We put well over 200 miles on the car yesterday and averaged 14.5mpg. The car ran flawless, and today I find myself here wishing I was in my car making another road trip.

The floor pans have been patches with aluminum and riveted in place, and the seats/headliner are rough, but mechanically she is sound. When we unpacked the trunk at home and opened all the boxes of parts we found New taillights & Bezels, New door/trunk/headlight weather stripping, new door handles, new parking light lenses/chrome bezels, and new door handles all in there bubble wrap still.

I plan to leave the cream top, and do a larkspur blue bottom. The car was originally a onyx black 210 model. Other than paint I just want to lower it, put some smoothies on it, and some white walls. Then she will be daily driven. I AM IN HEAVEN!

 

Glad to hear that you got what you were looking for and had a nice time with the drive. Good luck and will keep and eye out for the build.

 

Nice Buy! And treasures in the trunk too!

 

Ok the previous owner had removed the oil filter. I have a small oil trail on the passanger side of the block 235. Are the two threaded holes on top supposed to be for the oil filter lines? When I added oil the other day some came out of them. If they are I will either add a remote filter, or plug them. Thanks guys!

 

Here is the pic of where I am talking about.

 

Those aren't oil passages, and they don't need to be plugged. That's just where your original ignition coil mounted.

Good luck with your project!

 

Nice start and please keep posting.

 

Looks like the oil is coming from around the head gasket area... or it could be leaking down from the valve cover gasket and seeping around the joint. I would try replacing the valve cover gasket and using a good sealant before you get too concerned.

 

Those threaded holes are the coil mount, the oil filter lines are on the left side of the block. I think your oil is coming out of the side covers.

 

from i gather, i agree w/ Nads ...... coil mount n oil filter line(s)

i have something similar on my vehicle .... ( being all stock n original )

 

solid looking 54, drive the shit out of it!

 

Good luck with your project

 

I ended up doing a rod cover gasket, valve gasket, and plugged the holes with threaded set screws. No leaks now so it's good to go. Going to try and throw some paint on in in the next couple weekends.
Just as soon as I get some rear seat belts in this car it will be my new daily. My 6 & 4 year old sons just love riding in the Chevrolet. My 4 year old asks me every morning to drive him to school in it. Kills him that I won't.
Thanks for all the input and help everyone!

 

Damn I live in nc I wish I had known about the car before you!!! Haha. Great car, great story. Think your going to end up with a really nice daily driver with that one. Maybe ill see it at one of the shows around here, subscribed

Ryan


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Good for you! Looks like a solid, nice car! Drive, drive, drive!

 

Looks good ,glad your having fun with it. Are you going give it a "static" lowering job or bag it?

 

For the time being it's going to be static. Going to step lower control arms, cut spring, and 3" blocks in rear. From there who knows.

 

Spent many long hours on the buffing wheel stand trying to get the stainless looking half way decent. That went better than expected. I also pulled the windshield out because the previous owner installed a new one without reinstalling the stainless around it first. That was a "FUN" one man job! The car was just in black primer so I finally got some paint on her. I went with Light Aqua Hot Rod Flatz paint. It's the first time I have ever touched a paint other than doing a quick crap job on a old fender some time back. Sanded the car with 600 then 1200 grit paper prior to paint. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Some flaws I see, but no one else notices. The past 3 nights have been spent putting all the stainless back on. DAMN the amount of clips is NUTS! Anyways here's a few pics.

 

That looks great! Love the color you chose.

~ Carl

 

its an eye catcher now ....

nice progress and keep up the good work .... =)

 

is that the car my hubcaps came off of ? Thats a goooooood looking car. Everybody can pick flaws out of their own work that nobody else can see---and will never find .

 

Yes this is the car the hub caps were on. When I purchased the car it had these Cragar wheels on it. I can not stand them and will be taking them off in the next few weeks and going to a steel wheel with a spider cap.

 

Finally had a chance to drive the 54 today to work. Here are a few more pics of how she currently looks.

 

Good color choice, final product looks great.

 

Lookin good...Drive the hell out of it!!

 

Thats what I plan to do. Drive the piss out of it. Road trip tomorrow!

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New valve cover gasket, new oil pan gasket, and new rear wheel bearings. Lowered the car with 3" blocks in the rear, stepped lower control arms, and cut 1 1/4 coils on the front springs.

 

looks great. big improvement from when you got it

 

Thanks! Also forgot I put the stock wheels back on. Next step is some www tires.

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Nice...color is cool too