Hello, From Texas

Hey guys, my names Ricky, I'm 24, here in good ol' West Texas, finally a H.A.M.B.er, joined 2 weeks ago, visited the site and schooled myself loosely here and there for awhile now, but did not have a project of my own to post my progress on, so I waited 'til I picked up something before I joined, but I like the comradery I see on here, glad to be apart of it now. I've been on the hunt for a '54 Chevy, Bel Air/210 it didnt matter, but it had to be a 2 door, and the hunt came to an end 2 weeks ago when I got my hands on one, and just 30 minutes from where I live. I've checked out a couple, but none this complete and I'd have to say, this was a once in a lifetime oppurtunity. My friend spotted it 3 yrs ago, and just so happened, late one night outta boredom, knowing how bad I've been wanting a '54, drove me to go see it, and it was still there. It was 3 in the morning on Sunday, so we decided to come back and check it out that afternoon. knocked on the door and there was no answer, so I left a note with my cell number, and waited 2 days before I got a phone call. I made her an offer of $1000, (probably coulda got it cheaper) but I wanted the car that bad, and she was very happy with that. She just bought the house from the previous owner, who the car belonged too, she had a couple people before me ask about purchasing the car, but since she was still buying the house, she didn't want to sell it just yet. It just so happened that the day I left the note, was the day she got a call from the elderly wife of the man who previously owned the house, to sell the car!...was it fate? I guess so, like the saying goes "good things come, to those who wait" and I think I did my fair share of waiting ...well enough chit chat, heres a couple pics of the ride, gotta start my thread soon


here it is, parked here for who knows how long


last registered in '71



the ol' man musta cared enough about this car to put a wooden post to hold that tree limb from crashing down on the roof of the car


loaded up


quick rinse after I got it home

 

Welcome from Victoria.

 

Thanks, loco_gringo! I'm in Abilene, to be specific

 

Welcome to the HAMB from SC

 

welcome from beaumont tx! Very cool find. You'll have lots of fun with it.

 

Welcome from luling tx in the central area.

 

Welcome from up north in Iowa!

 

I had a 50 pontiac 2 door. They are cool as hell with the bolt on roof visors. That body looks good as hell for sitting that long. what was it parked under? What direction are you going? What's under the hood? If ever ever pass thru

 

lol. dam keyboard. If you ever pass thru the dfw area on your way to a car show, hit me up. I'll roll with ya.

 

ok, I just noticed where it was parked. just woke up. dam, I am out of it.

 

Welcome home brother, whats the plan for the Chevy...nice find!

 

welcome from this side of the red river

 

Welcome from west Texas (Lubbock) and thats a cool find. It would look good done like Jesse's.

 

yeah, I agree, for sitting outside in the elements, the body wasn't too bad, the body has no major damage at all, the pass side gravel guard on the rear quarter has a dent, and the trunk has a grapefruit size dent, couple other lil dents and dings but nothing too bad. since it was sitting in the dirt, the floor pans are gonna need replacing, but the trunk being the worst, he had tons of stuff back there...the good thing is, no signs of rats living in it, nothing was chewed up and no rat crap to clean up! it has the original inline 6, and it seems untouched, we got it running. here's a couple vids the day we got it going:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lkJ7AmtDEQ
just a new battery, cables, marvel mystery oil (to free it up), then new oil, new coil, cap and rotor, and plugs, the original starter and wiring...the generator wasn't hooked (no belt yet)...that's my good friend Cory, he's helping me out, I'm behind the wheel/camera guy ha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDFAYmo53Rs&feature=related
with help from some starting fluid...

and once I get it ready for the road, I'm down for cruising anytime

 

Looks like you need to rebuild that carb, good thing it didn't backfire and burn your face off.

Welcome, and good luck with gettin her back on the road.

 

thanks, my plans are to get it road worthy first, and leave it as is, I wanna keep it all OG for now, I just used some CLR to get all the surface rust off, and cleaned up the wheels (spray painted them) put some cheap used skinny whites on there just to get up off the ground. I wanna get some Bias Plys Wide Whites, and my wheels are pitted, either wanna find some better shape ones and get em powdercoated, or buy some chrome steelies. I don't wanna get to crazy with it, I like to keep it simple, maybe bag it and mustang II the front eventually, but for now, just have fun with the original equipment, I don't plan on painting it anytime soon either, I'm honestly in love with the way it looks right now. I definately wanna hit up and make my presence at some big Texas shows, the one at the Texas Motor Speedway and Lone Star Roundup for sure! I've never been to any, and how sweet would it be for my first time to go to both in my own '54

more pics:


new battery, and the headlights and tailights came on, plus the blinkers and brake lights work, no horn or wipers tho


my front wheels, used some Rustoluem rust stripper I thought I'd try out from Walmart, some Maroon scotchbrites, and lots of elbow grease


...to get em to look like this


anytime I have a question or wanna find something, I use Google, but I searched for seafoam green spray paint, but nothing came up, so while at Walmart, I passed the paint section, and what do you know, Rustoleum seafoam green spray paint! I was happy, because I was honestly gonna do red wheels (yeah I know, not too original)...hey powdercoating seafoam green is not in the budget yet, I was quoted $60 a wheel. I'm tryna put priorities first, and that's get it road worthy


personally, cuz I've used it on my 85 Olds with good results, I like this brand etch primer, for a rattle can, it does the job


2 coats of seafoam green


mounted, and threw the original hubcaps i found in the trunk on, I like em with or without, like i mentioned before, just some used skinny whites for now to get it off the ground


before


after


CLR bath...still gotta do the hood and roof

 

already done did it the other day...that woulda been my friends face, that's him spraying the carb ha...and thanks, my bday's May 21rst, I wanna be able to take it around the block for my bday...just found out the radiators no good, so anybody know where I can find a good original radiator??? that's gonna be the only thing holding me back

 

thanks man, like what you did with the truck, and the '51 looks good. I'm ready to do lots of cruising in this bad boy

 

Welcome from so, cal. Looks like a great start. Let the fun begin. In the process of building a 53 ht myself.

 

some interior shots, still needa do another cleaning


before, lots of junk, and about 6 tires in the back seat, luckily the lady let me leave em at her house


after a lil DAWN soap sponge bath, and used some laundry detergent (powder kind) on the seats


i know for sure these arent factory, looks like some kind of seat covers, too bad the rear seat and seat frame is shot...anyone have a good seat frame?


this is the front floor pan damage


another interior shot

 

cool, another West Texas rep! thanks, it was indeed a great find! I still gotta look out the window and flick the light on to make sure it's really sitting in the carport

 

You got really lucky on the condition of this car. My 50 had to have the whole inside gutted and redone(floors and seats). put seat cushions and seat covers until you can find a replacement(did the job for me). I like the paint the way it is also. Pantina is good if you can get away with it. Alot of the traditional guys hate pantina, but like I alway's tell people when they ask if I am gonna paint it,"one day maybe, but I'll stick with the pantina for awhile." I recommend lucas oil additive. It made my oil psi 80 in a 42 year old 5.0 motor I put in.

 

damn! She's cleanin up pretty good! I'm jealous ..cant find cars that nice here by the coast. Shit I find doesn't even have floorboards.

 

yeah this car keeps suprising me the more I get into it. It appears to have been kept up, mechanically, I'm onto the brakes and master cylinder now, the master cylinder was pretty ridiculous to get out, and I'm just gonna replace it with a new one, the back brakes look good, everythings in tact and looks fine, the pads still have a bout a 1/4 of pad left, and the wheel cylinders look fine, just gonna use a rebuild kit on them, still curious as to why it was parked. the hood was unbolted but on the car, and the radiator neck was broken off and had no cap. that's the only thing I noticed, and the air cleaner was just sittin atop the carb, not secured. most of the stuff I've taken off, looks like it's never been taken off to begin with....as for the patina, I think it's just a way of showing off that this car is a survivor, it tells a story, like for instance, u can see the worn spot on the drivers side door pillar where he would use his hand to close the door, it's character

 

yeah, it's exciting to see how well it's cleaning up, from when i got it. I'm glad the rockers are solid, it's just the floor pans that need a lil attention. I'll have to post a pic of the trunk floor tho, its not so nice...mainly the center section and bottom of the spare tire wheel are gone....

 

Welcome from CT. Nice now chop the top and paint it black! I'm just sayin.

 

WOW... awesome find 30 minutes from your house! Traveled 800 miles to pick up the '53 chevy hardtop I'm doing. Good for you and welcome from Massachusetts..

 

Now this is a perfect newbie post from a FNG, quite possibly the best yet. Keep us posted, we like the vids and the pictorials. Keep up the great work and WELCOME from middle Georgia.

 

Welcome from Sherman-Denison, great find and a good start for a cool ass ride ! ! ! !

 

Welcome from Birnamwood Wi! http://[email protected]