Started this project last year in my high school auto collision class, over the summer i worked at a Maaco and got a chance to use the booth to paint the roof of my car, this year at school i'm fixing up some of the body work i already did on the car and painting the rest of it. here is the car when i had most of the body work done. This is what it looked like on the last day of school last year. freshly painted roof this is what the car looks like now. I've got the doors and the trunk off so it will be easy to paint the jams, hopefully i will be able to get them back on with out much trouble. Now this is the part i'm having trouble with, the gap between the fenders and hood are extremely different on either sides, and i have no idea how to even them out, any advise to try and get even gaps before i paint the car? I've got a lot of room on the passenger side but the hood almost over laps the fender on the drivers side any advise would be helpful.
Very cool to see someone your age learning as they go and doing it on a cool car. There should be an adjustment at the hood hinge area to work on that gap. I have never had a 53 Chevy but I seem to remember most cars having some adjustment at the hinge or possibly the fender mount areas. Shims or washers maybe? Good idea to get those panel lines in order before paint. Thanks for posting your pics. Can't wait to see the final color. What will the body color be?
did you keep the shims from when you dismantled it? i can't view the pics. You'll just need to keep adding shims until it fits. they didn't have ball bearing gaps from the factory, so get it close and use the rubber spacers (like the factory) to keep the edges from chipping. the chassis flexes A LOT on these cars. One time, leaving a gas station, the incline was enough my door popped open.
FWIW. When I put my 50 chevy back together. I fitted the doors to the body and got the top, bottom and rear gap on the doors to my satisfaction. I then fit the front fenders and got the front door/fender gap good. I then intalled the hood. Todd
Sounds like you need to try and shim it back into place. Tugmaster is on the right track make sure your doors are gapped right first, then work your way forward.
Always fit the hood to the cowl without any latch in front. Once the hood lines up at the cowl fit everything else to it.
Thanks for the advise guys, i don't remember the hood being that bad when i took the latch off of the car over a year ago and right now the hood can easily be pulled into place, is it possible that me hood has a little twist in it and it just needs the latch to hold it in place?
Hopefully on thursday ill be able to push it into the booth, finish up the masking and shoot some primer. Now i don't know what i'm going to do with it once i paint it. I have a 454 out of a 70 chevelle, muncie M21, and a 12 bolt posi rear end, so i was thinking about doing it up gasser style but with no straight axle. My other idea was to lower it down and put on some chrome reverse wheels and thin whitewalls and build up a strong 235 for it.
Honestly, the straight axle thing is overdone. I started to fit one to my 53. I ended up going with a jag front. I think it will drive better.
Cool car! is that one of the "business man's coupes" with no back seat? My son's car is a 54 150 business man's coupe that had no back seat. in 53 the roof line was shorter than the standard sedan. In 54 the roof line was the same as the others.
Cool project. On them chevys you may have to loosen all the bolt mounted to the main body and you may have to loosen the inner fender bolts too. I find that if you just try and loosen a few bolts it might not want to move.I think there are 3 bolts holding the back of the fender to the body. As for the hood They can be buggers. If your hing points are worn the hood will never line up perfectly.50`s cars and trucks were wild for hood alignment.
If I gave it the gasser look i wouldn't put a straight axle on it, I pictured it with the big block and the inner fenders ripped out to make way for some fender well headers, then some black steel wheels with hurst slicks and skinny radir wheels up front.
I love those coupes. I thought 53 was the last year. I would go witha 250 rather than a 235-lots more engine, still keeping it a 6. Really nice car. Congrats.
Love these body styles. I've had 2. A 210 Club coupe and a 150 Club Coupe. This was the last year of the real "coupe". I think yours is a 150 Business Coupe. They named one in 54 but it was a cheap sedan with the longer back/side window and in my opinion not a real "coupe". This is the one I currently have. Keep up the good work! Tom
Great start on your car, keep moving forward is the best advice I can give since mine in 1,000 pieces right now. As for a big block, thats what Im doing right now, the firewall will need to be cut out and the trans tunnel raised. think long and hard about how you want it to look and drive when your done. Once you have a mental pic of it ( or draw it on a pice of paper), what motor and suspension you choose will be easy. Yor car looks great, enjoy it!
I love these club coupes. Anyway you decide to go will be cool. I personally like a little hot rod rake to them.
Well I got everything in primer today, so it's time for some block sanding! I also cleaned up the edges of the panels that go in between the bumpers and the car so the car will look good with out any bumpers on it
Personally, If i had the chev, I'd do to that, What i'm doing to mine. I'd put a 235 in it, besides, I think with the pre 55 chevs, they tend to have more of an oldschool style with a noisy 235 under the hood. Makes for more of a kustom look i guess? I just think it suits. Reason i'm putting a 235 in my 60 is because i cant afford to run a v8 as a daily! haha
I've got a 51 Coupe with a 261 - S10 5 speed that I like driving better than my 53 Coupe 350 - 700R. Definetly old(er) school. Rebulit stock front end, goes down the road with ease and keeps up with any vehicle on the road. Anywhich way you go, you'll like it. Like I said...keep up the good work. Tom
Wow you guys are really talking me into keeping the six cylinder, I just want to make sure it's pretty quick because I had an off topic car with a 305 and that things was miserably slow.
Well I got all the sanding done on the jams, doors, and trunk today so hopefully I will be able to get into the booth tomorrow and start laying down some color.
The Jalopy Journal
