Overlay Skirts On '49-'51 Chevys

Hey Guys - Anyone have pics of overlay skirts mounted on '49-'51 Chevrolets or other GM cars of that era? OEM flushmounts will not fit my wheel openings since a previous owner tweaked them. Here's a couple pics of my shoebox Chevy that I will be skirting sometime this winter.

 

I honestly don't think that car needs them!!! Gorgeous!!!!

 

I think people used 51 merc skirts on the Chevys back in the day for a different look.

 

Thanks for the compliment! Maybe someone here who's Photoshop savvy could render some skirts for me?

 

Cool car. I wouldn't go with the long, fat bubble skirts.

Like 49ratfink said, I would try to fit some 51 merc skirts.

Whats the deal with the big skull under the trunk?

 

The skull on the back is my vented fuel filler cap and overall conversation starter. I'm most likely going to move the fuel filler into the trunk before I install flamethrowers this winter but I'll keep the skull mounted out back for fun.

 

SHARP car!
I do think skirts would really set it off. Aftermarket or repro '51 Merc skirts will probably fit the bill.

 

Hi Dave - I see that your from Joplin. I bought this car as an unfinished project from a HAMBer in your area last year around this time. You know Graham - Cracker from Joplin?

 

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> Here is a pair Skirts that are steel from the 50's or early 60's.I was in Columbus this year and a guy came over to me and ask if the skirts were steel, He said he lived down the street from Jimmy Jones when he was a kid and said they were the same as the one he made.
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HA! I almost asked if that was the same car but it looks different in the photos! (Did he pop for the wide whites and nice hubcaps, or did you add those?)

Yup, I know the guy. Nice fella. He rescued the body from a junkyard - it was already chopped and would have been crushed by now.

 

I figured it was the gas cap.

If it were mine, I would get rid of the skull and taillights, then put some lights in bumper guards like they did in the early 50s.

But hey, its not my car!

It has perfect stance.

 

I did not know that my car was rescued from a salvage yard or that it was chopped when he found it but that helps make sense of some other details.

I spent the last year sorting out suspension and drivetrain issues and finally added Coker wide whites and '51 Pontiac caps after it was reliable.

Here's what it looked like when I acquired from the Joplin area:

 

Wow those tires really made the car.

Radials, especially blackwalls, kill almost any custom. No matter how good it is otherwise.

 

Skirt will help make the car look longer

but it looks good without them...nice lookin ride

 

Here is a quick p-shop of a skirt idea, see if it fits.
All the best,
Dale
Cleveland OH

 

You have certainly made all the right changes to your Chevy; it looks great!
Can you say a word about the rear rocker molding detail?

Here is one from CarNut. (BTW, I believe the owner told me that the great looking front wheel lips are '54 Hudson, and that he cut them out by hand at a wrecking yard. )



Dave Jenkin's Fleetline is a favorite of mine. The skirts are genuine Jimmy Jones.

 

You say that stock flush mounted skirts won't work because the wheel arches have been tweaked. I can't tell from the pictures if those tweaked openings still have a square return flange or not. If they do, it shouldn't be terribly difficult to tweak a set of stock skirts to fit. Flush mounted would be the best look.

 

That's the look I'm after - thank you so much for altering that pic for me!

 

The square return flange is still in place and I may very well massage an OEM flush set after all.

 

The rear quarter rocker moulding detail is an OEM '49 Chevy stainless steel moulding piece. They pop un on ebay fairly regularly for not much $$.

 

Yep, that's what it looked like the last time I saw it a year or two ago. I have to say, I like every single change you have made so far. The whites and caps look great, the chrome bumpers and rocker panel trim pieces really set it off, and I particularly like the Pontiac accessory bars on your rear bumper and the Packard side trim you added.
Like I said, Lionel (Leon? Can't remember!) is a nice guy but he was more interested in going super low-buck than in getting the appearance just right. He did at least put a Pontiac bumper on the rear, didn't he? I seem to remember him saying it was the one detail that really mattered to him.

They saved that car from the crusher. No idea how long ago it was chopped, but the yard it came from crushed out about 5 years ago.

Enjoy it, and get the skirts! (They complete the look, although some bumper guards and/or '50 Chevy license plate guards would also go with that style.)

 

Leon told me that his daddy taught him to do the best with what he had and I feel that he did on this car. My biggest attraction to it was the workmanship shown in installing the '51 body on a '74 Monte Carlo chassis and floorpan. The workmanship was good and solid but most parts used were scavanged from salvage yard donor cars and needed some fine tuning and tweaking. I ended up insalling narrowed Fatman A-arms with 2" dropped spindles and QA1 adjusatble coilovers up front in order to tuck the wheels in and achieve the right stance. Spent a lot of time aligning body panels (after being painted) too before hangin' bumpers and modifying Packard side trim. It's become a rock soild driver now that draws a lot fo attention wherever it goes.

Any idea where the salvage yard that the body was recovered from is located at? I had a hunch that the chop was done a long time ago by the weathered condition of the 1 piece windshield.

 

I picked up the fiberglass ones from knight prowlers pics here, hope they help

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=486259


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Your glass '51 Merc skirts fit nice judging from your pics. Do you have any pics of your mounting method to post?

Thanks

 

car is fine the way it is!

 

Sure thing

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=564985

I cut em up and made them flush mount


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

Added the skirts for you. Not wild about the photo shop job. But its a study for you.
All the best,
Dale

 

Wow ...skirts really lengthen the overall car and help shorten up the overall height of the slab sided body.