Projects 57 Belvedere 4 Door Gone Mad

So far so good! I suggest retaining the push-button. Have you considered a 61 Astra-Dome instrument pod?

 

I appreciate the compliments and input guys, this board has really inspired me alot the past 2 years. To answer a few of the questions I remember:

No, no tractor grilles are planned. This is not a r*t r*d. I am planning on something wider than a 32 or an A grille shell that will compliment the shape / style of the body.

Shiny paint and nice interior are on the agenda. Probably a heavy metalflake but thats still quite a ways off in the build at this point. Color is not decided on yet.

I dont have a rendering at all of what the finished look should / will be. This comes from my mind as I go along. I probably spend more time looking at it than actually working on it. I dont like to redo things even though I will and do, therefore I try to fit it up in my mind first, then actually do the hands on work.

The passenger side front fender is smashed and not at all usable for anything. Unfortunately that also means the headlamp / parking lamp assembly on that side is wasted also. I would really like to find a replacement for that side because canted quads using these has already been in my mind pretty heavily.

Yes the frame will get some real crossmembers soon. As mentioned in the original post the square tubing you see is there only to hold the frame square as the body is fitted up. I wasnt sure of motor / trans height in the frame originally so thats the reason the real crossmembers werent put in when the rails were built. I do have motor mounts in it now and now know where my crossmembers really need to be so they will go in before to much longer.

It does look a little wide in the cowl area right now but with a mock up motor sitting in it the width doesnt look bad. I am sure I have a pic with the mock up motor and will post it up soon.

It is going to have windshild posts, no bubble top on this one. I love the bubble tops but I dont think I am ready to tackle that quite yet.

 

Man, I totally dig this thing! Subscribed, keep on truckin' on this one!

 

Yes, yes, and even more yes.

 

Only one headlight assembly is useable? I guess you're going to have to go asymmetrical, a la Mysterion.

 

Cruiseordie,
Don't say "truckin" around racrdad, you will cause him to have flash backs and convulsions!! He has a closet full of skeletons and the word "mini" is on the door!

 

Great start. I don't know why I like builds like these so much but for some reason I really like seeing a good hind quarter of a full bodied classic turned into a fenderless custom hot rod.

 

Oh noes.....







Hahaha. Say 10 hail Strombergs and five our led sleds, your hot rod lord loves you and forgives you of your past transgressions.

 

WoW it takes 2 big pair and you havem!

 

i cant stop looking at this thing... i'm into this thing hook, line and sinker.

only thing i see that might be more pleasing to the eye is maybe pinch the cowl and door bottoms in just a hair... might make the front of the car flow a little better towards the rear, and not have so much of a "brick" look from the front.



maybe if its not too late in your metalwork, split the rear and add a filler piece and, as was suggested before, wedge the body front to back...

either way you do this, i have a feeling its gonna turn out pretty cool

 

Kind of reminds me of a whale shark! I can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

All I can say is wow. I mean WOW.
Nice job, keep the photos coming as you progress.

 

pretty cool!

 

Impressed ! I like the way you think

 

Pretty cool

 

Hmm... I'm not sure what to think yet. I want to see it more together.

 

Used the dash from the Belvedere also. Has an angled area where the dash steps down about 1/4" appoximately in the middle of the dash. Kind of a styling line I guess. So I split the dash and removed the needed amount and welded it back up in that styling line. Fortunately I was able to keep the glove box. Also had to trim the bottom off the dash on the drivers side. It had an area on both sides of the column that dropped down further than the passenger side and had the heater controls and switchs in it. Also had to raise the curved area the column goes up into on the bottom edge.











Tacked in the car and the corners filled

 

fantastic...keep up the good work, , , ,

 

I like where its going. Kind of reminds me of these two and Atomic Punk. I believe the first pic is a fellow HAMBer's?

 

Very, very cool....I'm trying something similar with a 48 Dodge sedan, although I'm not nearly as far along. I'm going to keep an eye on this one.

 

Man, thats gona be awesome. Keep up the good work. Keep us posted too.

 

yea, this is gonna pretty much rule

 

Last weekend my buddy Rob drove in again (2.5 hours each way - what a guy!!!) and we put a four link in it. Going to run a transverse spring with it. Maybe coilovers would have been a better choice but this just looks too cool to me. Still need to put a crossmember in for the spring mount to attach to and put some shocks on it but other than that the rear suspension is pretty much there. And yes, there is plenty of room between the top bars and the spring. They are not anywhere near as close as it may appear in one of the pics.

 

This is a great build started here. Different and reminiscent of the custom show cars of the 60s, a fun and challenging build with the most difficult part to come, windshield and nose, where you either make or break the car.
Best of luck, we'll enjoy it as much as you have.

 

The big brown truck brought my front suspension yesterday. 6 inch dropped tube axle and hairpins. So I decided to mock it up with a motor, the frontend and some tires. I am thinking once it has headers on it the cowl wont look as wide as it does now. I feel like the proportions overall are pretty good so far.

 

I agree - the windshield and nose are going to be highly important in making it look just right.

 

Wow, nice hands!

 

Totally oustide the Box! Cudos

 

Ya kno' guys,,,it takes balls to post your unfolding creation here in a build thread. I've only been here a few weeks but I've read quite a few builds online that kinda croaked towards the end (alot didn't).
Heck,, What I'd do is build a car then release the photos,,,,in sequence, lol.
My respect to you Racrdad,,,I hope it turns out stunning.