How to find/choose the right chopped 53/54 Chevy?

Hi All,
Long story short, I had a chopped 53 chevy (sort of sold it like a fool in 2019 but the fact it was a 4 door kept bugging me). I had a nice 50 Ford chopped but eventually the flat sides bugged me too much and sold it in April this year. What I learned is I'm damn picky. I want a chopped/bagged 53/54 Chevy without the wrap around window.

I'm looking at two cars but my instinct tells me it's more than I can take on:

1. This one has paint issues. The owner said just needs the top repainted because the bondo didn't set before it was painted but it looks like the entire car needs to be repainted since the blue area is probably hard to fix/blend in small areas. I take it $15k to repaint and another $12k for a shop to redo the rear window to a non-wrap around and a new headliner. Does that seem right?










2. This one below was chopped, has a new motor/trans, and was bagged with 4-link and mustang 2 front end. I have no metal working skills but imagine I can learn to weld and finish seams and grind smooth and make custom bumper brackets/grill pieces. I can wire install airbag tank/controller etc. I'm guessing $20k for a shop to do body and paint after I weld seams and smooth them, $10k for interior, $3k for glass. It seems in the mean-time I can spray with rattle can and drive it while I work on certain things before it goes to a body shop. The wheel cutout shape looks modified so I may have to find a shop that can make custom fender skirts and getting the rear wheels off is going to be a pain! Does that seem right?








Should I pass on these, and perhaps even wait until I feel like spending $50k or more to find something closer to what I want that's finished and hammer on price? It seems every car I'm potentially interested in will get me north of $50k to redo and/or make it look the way I want when I add up what they need. At the same time, the more I spend, the less likely I'm going to drive it based on my previous experience.

 

I like both. At least with the first you can do repairs in the areas needed and look at a full respray later. I'd just hate to see what's under all that filler.

 

I like the first one but would strip all the glass, trim and interior and media blast for sure.. You need to see what’s really there. You’re definitely right on the rear window. Your probably looking at 25-30 plus buy in…..it is worth that to you? Is the question.

 

Thanks, so the blue one (first one) is priced in at $37k as it. Yikes! Adding in another $25k to $30k and while I have the cash to burn (easily) right now, I don't want to out of principle. I won't touch the car if I'm in at over $50k because of the stress and living in a city where parking/traffic is starting to be a pain and density is on the increase fast.

Do you think to finish the second car I'm looking at $20k for body and paint and $10k for interior assuming as a beginner I can learn to weld and finish up the seams and grind them smooth and maybe do a little bit of body work here and there? That might put me at about the $50k mark when I factor in other miscellaneous stuff (side/rear glass, air tank/compressor bumper pieces/polishing). I suppose I could just keep waiting and maybe something will come up for sale near $50k. There is one in gold for $50k that looks great in the photos and is finished but I don't like the big rear wrap around window on it after the chop, nor the lake pipes on the side, nor supreme wheels and it doesn't have fender skirts. There would be no budget to change any of that.

 

Thanks, my intuition says to just stay away from the blue one because I can't easily survey the root issue and I'm not experienced enough to examine what's going on (plus like the other commentor said it probably needs to be sandblasted).

 

Thanks, that's what worries me, I can't tell what would be the cause with my limited experience/level. The repairs might look ugly without the respray and for $37k current asking price I might feel I spent a lot of money and will be frustrated at the cost of a full respray.

The second car, I wonder if I could learn to weld and finish up the seams and grind smooth and do a little bit of filler work little by little and just spray the entire car myself in some type of color (maybe beige primer) or even roller brush it with a satin color while I work on it and get to drive it soon. I did my 66 C-10 with rustoleum with a foam brush in a gloss color and spend just $50. I meticulously mixed a green/blue color and everyone compliments me on the truck and I'm just laughing internally because its a rust bucket but I love how stress free it is and love throwing my surfboards in the back to go surf sometimes. Perhaps with the second car I can get an ok enough look to drive and show it at some car meetups and not be embarrassed and also not stress out until I eventually feel like spending on good body/paint work at a shop. As is, it seems to be a decent enough deal given I don't have to do any structural work or any work to the chop and it has airbags/4-link and new motor/trans.

 

The only way to learn body work is by doing. You learn nothing by not doing. Pick one and go learn. At the end you will be a whole lot smarter no matter how it goes.

 

There is no such thing as the perfect project car. They all hold some kind of surprise just waiting for you to find it.

 

Thanks! I'm mainly just trying to avoid spending way too much (even though I can)... I'm hoping to have a semi-ok looking car I can drive around for some time and finish it little by little and not spend north of $50k... Some body work and sheet metal welding I suppose I can learn and redo until it comes out looking ok and have a shop do the final body work and paint. The structural stuff and chop would be cool to learn to do but I'll never have time to learn such that I can do a decent/safe job with that kind of stuff. That makes me lean towards something like the second car in my original post.

 

I look at it from the other end. Both of these are 30K from what you want after buy-in, and a bunch of time. Neither is going to be worth that much except to you.
Keep looking, for that much money you can and should be particular. Better to look and find your dream than to spend a bunch and have it in body shop hell for a year.

Keep looking
https://www.autotempest.com/results...chevrolet&maxyear=1954&minyear=1953&zip=92104

example, here's one you can see under the bondo
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2218317705294220/

 

Thanks! So the first (blue one) the seller wants $37k... with the paint respray and if I wanted to change to non wrap-around window it would be another $30k... not happening.

The second one in my original post is the same one on Facebook you just linked in your responce haha.. I might be able to get it in my hands for $13k.. that's not bad.. maybe with $7k more (to finish air tank/compressor, side glass, driveshaft and miscellaneous) and if I foam brush a satin color I can drive around with a semi-ok looking car while I learn to do body work and other things little by little.. I imagine I would need another $10k for interior and $20k for a body shop to do body/paint work. That would put me in proably close to $50k total.. hmmm...

I could keep looking but not sure I'd find anything closer to what I want for $50k or less..

 

Well, the link I posted is going to be nationwide. I can't scroll thru all the FB stuff (not a member). It doesn't include all the small niche sites, but you can check here, on a couple mid 50s Chevy sites and with autotempest daily and probably see 80% of what's out there in a few minutes each day. Write a post-it with the Must Not's, Must Have's and the Would Likes and stick it on your display. Make it a morning routine like bathroom and first coffee and you will find something. We are mid Sept. right now, best time to buy is winter.

I'd say it's probably cheaper and quicker to air ride a car than to do a full paint. That depends on the pros in your area. So a confirmed nice paint (no horrors hidden) with stock suspension is closer than a rough air ride car.

Also, for high value stuff, there are 'finders'. You are getting up there in price and there are some flaky characters in the space, but you might check that, too. If the budget is 50-60K, someone who has lots of connections might know of one that meets your requirements and not want more than a few points.

 

Thanks! Ive ben checking FB, Offerup, Craigslist every morning for the last month and a half almost like an obsession. I'll try autotempest and the mid 50s Chevy sites!

 

Unless really cheap id avoid the first one like herpes. Even with the obvious damage that paint could still be hiding a LOT. For all you know they used bondo in place of some welds. At least with the Second you can see what you're getting. And if willing to learn and live with less than perfect while progress is being made it might be the way to go if price is right. Despite chops being done all the time it's a dying art and most are not well done regardless of how they look

 

Thanks! Yea I made my mind up to avoid the 1st one. The 2nd one might be ok and I could probably sell it later without incurring huge loss if I decide to bail. The chop looks ok in the photos but hard to tell what issues it might have with how it was done but at least no bondo hiding anything.

 

Then you have no choice but to go look at it.

 

Advantage is you can get a good look at the structural aspect of it. Even if something is off it'd be easier to fix and easier to use for haggling. Having worked on plenty of "done" cars over the years I actually avoid finished rods on purpose unless I really know the person that did it

 

And yep. Any decent looking chopped rod is usually an easy sell. Again because chopping tops well is a dying art. Just be sure to take plenty of pictures as delivered and as progress is made so you can show a potential buyer in the case you might bail. Will save them from making a thread like this. .

 

Thanks for the advice! The problem with me is if I see something with issues, I will talk myself out of it. I'm wondering if I should ask for better/more photos and hammer price and just get it and not fly to another state to see it.. if the price was right my reasoning is I should be able to unload it in an as is state.

Two years ago, I bought a 50 Ford Shoebox for $30k unseen thinking for that price I couldn't go wrong. I was a little bit upset when I first got it because of what I paid for it and I saw minor things here and there and it felt like I paid a lot. I did get lucky in a sense. However had I seen it in person (would have required a flight to Canada) I would have never bought it. It ended up being a car I liked and I made all of my money back when I sold it earlier this year. The reason for selling it was I really love the shape/contours of a chopped 53/54 Chevy and having had a chopped 53' in the past I want one again.

 

As someone who lived a major part of my life in San Diego, I'll mention this related to your last post.
Metro Southern California cars are the best cars condition-wise of anything in North America, except stuff that's been along the beach (salt air). The paint and interior may take a bit more beating due to sun, but the mild climate means no freezing, no salt on the road, not the baking that the deserts get, not the heavy rain and fog of other areas. This often means a lower price for a better car. I had friends who would buy in SD, drive back east and sell for enough to pay for the trip and a profit.
There are exceptions to this, but asking if the brake lines have been replaced is normal across much of the US and strange in SD.

 

That makes a lot of sense! When I first moved to San Diego I lived in Ocean Beach for 5 year and my daily driver rusted super fast 3/4 mile inland parked outside every day. I got the 53' Chevy I was referencing the last month I lived in Ocean Beach and kept it outside for about 2 weeks before I moved to north county and inland a little and kept it garaged every day.

The problem I see with cars in the immediate southern CA area is they seem to sell fast, especially the nicer chopped Chevy's. It seems there's plenty of classic car enthusiasts in this region.

 

True! If you look at things like average house age, you can spot the western migration easily. Not many century plus houses out west!
But if you look at vintage car registrations, CA has the other states beat. Higher demand and they last longer. But that kind of helps, since it has higher supply with higher demand.
There will be a lot of comments about CA based on preconceptions, but there aren't many who make a business transporting 10 year old rusty cars out there.

 

Arkansas is oddly a good state for rust free cars. Mechanically they're typically crap. But the state was too cheap and lazy to start salting their crappy roads till about 6 years ago. So most cars will be amazingly solid

 

As for registration numbers in Arkansas. Many vintage cars in Arkansas haven't been registered since Nixon. Last time my 53 was registered was 1973. I actually have the last issued title in post marked envelope from 1969. So most aren't registered lol

 

You are listed in MS but talk about AR.
Fed highway funds and normal road use tax should cover that.

Ah, there you go!
Sorry, that was a cheap shot, but explains how things are done. At least there is better pickings than the places that salt heavily.

 

I'm in Missouri. But yeah I spent an unfortunate amount of time in Arkansas lol. In fact my 53 bel air was originally from Conway Arkansas