Allright you finally have enough money from the paper route and mowing yards to buy your elderly neighbors car. It ain't ideal but its cheap and you just got your license. Having lived with you two older brothers rods and customs for the last few years you want the best of both those worlds... on a high school budget. But, your brothers knowledge from their cars will be there for the picking, you just need to gather some parts. The three of you can do all of this in the driveway or garage at yours parents house. 46 Olds grille, or a 46 Chevy grille till you can find an Olds. Front bumper guard on stock bumper. Not sure yet what to do to the rear. Badges and bird off the hood, leave the rest of the chrome on the car. No light frenching or handle shaving. Teardrop skirts. 53 Olds hubcaps with bullets added. WWW tires. Lowered slightly. Stock interior, done in black, except for changing steering wheel to a ??. 283 with tripower,vette valve covers, and ramhorns. Powerglide with 57 rear axle. Painted either black or a candy gold. Does this sound right or am I to late into the fifties for this type of build? Am I getting to close to spider caps and chromies? I wasn't around then, but I've tried to research what I could. I know I'm missing something. I've got these parts right now and am gathering others as I can find/afford them. When I have them all the build will begin. I could use your suggestions if I'm offbase. Please don't say HOK, suede, bags, gasser or chop. Nothing against any of these, I love that stuff, just not on this one. Thanks a lot folks. Sorry for the long read and hope I'm not building your car.
Sounds good to me. Here's a pic taken in early 1956 of my coupe. (sorry for the quality but carried it in my billfold for years) Hood and trunk emblems removed and filled. '49 of '50 Lincoln taillights. Belt trim removed and filled below windows. Stock bumpers. Hood louvered. Removed vertical center bar in grill so it looked like a '47. Wheels were 16" so installed wide whites and smooth full hubcaps. 2 years later I frenched and hooded the headlights and re-painted in '57 Pontiac Limefife Green laquer and had it pin striped.
nice car blown49 and pretty much right on bearclaw....the 283/glide/57 rearend would be pretty high $$ stuff in 58-9...mostly serious rodder more than mild street/highschool car..BUT.. even on a paper route $ a guy could still fall into a real deal through connections like older brothers, altho' most older brothers would probably take the 283 and you would end up with his old flatty or 54 235,huh? I know in '60 I wanted to go V8 in my 49 fleetline and what was affordable was 303 Olds,(10 year old motor) Cad trans(expensive @ $250) and a 50 Merc rearend (affordable and only because I was told*****er rearends were tough..not best choice...) All said and done I still had about $1000 invested which was mega bucks to me in 1960...
as soon as you perfect that time machine ill go back with ya. reality is its 2009 and 60 year old car parts arent cheap and plentiful any more. i dont get the whole paper route fantasy thing. to dungeons and dragons for me.
Thanks for the compliment RDR! I originally paid $250 of my paper route money; it had 12,500 miles on it. Here's a pic taken the day I had it pinstriped. This was 2 days after some grandma backed ito the grille with her pick up. By this time the door handles had been romoved and filled. Head lights frenched and hoods built out of 18 gauge and copper tubing.
A kid in '58 around here would hop up the six with 2 carbs and a split exhaust with smittys, lower it a little and run spinner hubcaps. Remove chrome from hood and trunk, and either an Earl Shieb paint job or primer spots [we're talking lawn mowing money ,right ?] Got to buy gas, insurance, and have enough for friday nite burgers and saturday nite dates.
Well its not what the choice car would have been to build then for most guys I think. But, I looked around at what parts I have or could easily obtain and went from there. As for the paper route and lawn mowing, I know its been beat to death, but I figure if you were on a thin budget and built it yourself having a couple of insider connections what would you come up with. I just went with 1958 because of the 283 combo. If it had the six in it I would be rolling dual carbs and fentons. I'm on a limited budget right now but I'm trying to build a correct or traditional type of car anyway. Laugh amd sneer if you want to. Just to drive and play with, not impress or try for trophies. I need the roomy car for the family. I can always change styles up or down a few years when money allows. Thanks for the pics, worth many words. Those headlights are a neat touch. Keep the suggestions coming.
Where I came from (the Northeast) you'd be pretty much right on except for the motor. It would more likely have been a later model Chevy 6 or a GMC 6 cylinder truck engine. Cars rusted out pretty quick so hard parts like motors and transmissions were easy to come by...except for Chevy V8s which were, as has been pointed out, like gold. Good luck with your period-perfect build. Sounds like good fun!
bearclaw, don't let anything we say discourage you...you have it nailed pretty damn close for never bein' there and maybe you could be a writer to make extra $$..build it your way and for your family...Have fun with it too!
I'm bulding one simliar,except it's a 2 dr sedan,frenched 46 grill,headlights,hood profile lowered 5 inches,smoothed firewall,camaro clip,nova 10 bolt,etc.
. . Yup...in my town, in '58, the dual carb setup would have been pretty high-end but a split manifold would have been mandatory as would a wax job on the shiny parts...primer spots where it was nosed and decked was the norm. Heated or cut coils with some 53 stude caps, 56 olds caps, lancer caps or aftermarket flipper caps with wide whites would have looked great BUT!.....in 1958 there were still no 6 hole 15 inch rims. You were stuck with 16s until the 60s when the 1/2 ton pickups came out with 15 inchers...we had to run stock hubcaps or no hubcaps.
It would not have a powerglide in my neighborhood. PowerSLIDE, slush box etc. etc.... Automatics were not respected back then and the Powerglide was at the bottom of that barrel to boot. A 3 spd W/sparkomatic floor shifter would be much more likely. No self respecting hotrodder in my area would transplant a 283 with a Powerglide. 6 lug 15" chrome wheels were available in the early 60s. I bought a used pair for my 38 coupe when a buddy converted his 41 Chevy convertible brakes to 5 lug. It was a huge score for me.
Most of the older guys I knew, would nose, deck and shave their cars, right after lowering them. Even if they had to reach into the vent window to open them! (couldn't afford solenoids) So leaving the handles on a "custom" is not an option!
Interesting read, cool to hear how it was done by those who were there. Good luck with the build, I`m not old enough, but I`d say a sbc would be $$ in 58. Maybe one of the people on the paper route wrecked a 55 with a 265 and a 3 spd OD. Maybe they owe you 2 months worth of newspaper money....just sayin.
I paid for this 1953 Plymouth wagon in 1958 with paper route money. Of course, it was an LA Times rack route and I also had the MCRD and NTS military bases in San Diego for the LAT, San Diego Tribune and NYT. Made $100 a week in 1958 and 1959.
I think you are pretty much "on the money", but as Tommy said, the "slushbox" would have never been considered. If it didn't have three pedals it was not a hot rod. I was never into customs, but my heart was into drag racing (of which I spent almost 20 years chasing) so all of my cars from 1963 until now all carry that tradition. My first car, a 52 Chevy Htp was purchased from my paper route money, bought it from Ron Tonkin Chevrolet in 63 for $104. I took the 216 out and replaced it with a 55 Corvette 235 with tri-power. Put in a 50 Olds one piece windshield, nosed and decked, three speed on the floor. Later the car got chrome rims. I was not easy on the car and broke a number of transmissions, but had it down to pulling the trans in under an hour..........and had spares from the local junk yard. I also built a 48 Coupe although it was about 68. I bought the car from a collector in Salem, OR for $400 in 1966 and it was bone stock except for the Old's flipper hub caps. When I got back from the service in 1968 I put a very healthy 327/340HP Corvette motor, 4spd Muncie, 57 Olds/Chevy rearend and replaced the "Knee Action Shocks" with a 55 Chevy 1/2 ton truck straight axle. I had Scotty at (I can't remember the muffler shop in Portland) put in the straight axle (as he had one in his 55 Chevy Htp) and also fab'd a set of fenderwell headers for it. The car, although heavy, was a real screamer. I left the outside totally stock except for the Crager SS wheels and big and little tires. Sounds like you are on the right track, and remember to build it the way you want............... because you are the one that will driving it! IMHO
The V8 would have been a fantasy budget-breaker to a kid then. Powerglide? Never happen. 3-speed floor-shifter. Windshield visor.
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