Customs The Tri-5 Dork

As a fellow tri five owner I say stand up and be counted. The general knew what he was doing when he came out with this masterpiece. I like them just like they rolled off the line, but I don't mind them as a mild custom either. And just for the record, tell Mildred I prefer waffles in the morning.

Doc.

 

Heck..even chicks are better cutomised

there is a point of going over board..keep it clean and simple..dont blow it out of proportion and anything with a little extra care will look better than it did when it came out

 

I hate 57 Chevys, but that 57 Nomad that was just recrated is one of my favorites... pretty stock, lowered with awesome paint.

 

55s are strange, unlike most cars, the less you do to them, they better they look. Lower it, raise it, change the wheels, lose some of the trim, give it some power....

They work better as hot rods than as customs, though.

 

NOTHIN' gives me wood like stickin a straight axle underneath a tubbed 210 and an 8-71 climbing out the hood... I'm with Ryan on this one!

LOOSERS C.G. FOREVER!!!!

 

Oh, the horror. Going over to the dark side. Of course I have had 8 55-6 chevs in my past. Still, a stock one? Did Aaron fall and hit his head at all? I am sure this can be explained. Pat.

 

betty boop collection? haha... sometimes even inside jokes are funny.

 

Was he the kinda kid that got his ass kicked by the jocks or greasers? Driving a stock '55 is like driving mom's car! Like Buddy Hollly said, "You're so square"

 

Posts...yes! Hardtops...not so sure. I've seen a few killer 55 hardtop customs; mild and full, that are lookin' good.

 

Hahaha, I couldn't wait to start doing some mods to mine, so it wouldn't look like every single other Tri-Five out there!

And I STILL think one of the greatest crimes against hot rodding was when Butt Reynolds/Sam F went from the copper, silver and turquoise seaweed flames back to stock red and white a couple years ago.

 

If you want to customize a 55 hardtop, start with a Pontiac, it's longer an way more in need of getting it's looks improved! Same roof and doors, too.

 

ducks as he says it..... Some things look better as they came from the factory.

Examples:
Tri-5 chevy's (Bel-Air, 210, 150...it don't matter)
'58, '62-'64 Chevy's
'63-'67 'vettes (My dad screwed up 5 '64-'66 vettes back in the day)

 

The side chrome, front bumper, grille, & hubcaps on this just look weird to me. The taillight treatment was totally uncalled for.

I'm with Aaron.



I will admit though that this one from Brizio is amazing - wheels & all. Maybe even "especially the wheels".





JH

 

I remember one time ordering seats for an off road car I was building and while I was looking at all the materials I found some hideous tie-dye looking 80's upholstery and asked, "Who the hell buys this shit?!" The guy helping me responded with "There's an ass for every seat" Since then I realized.... he's right....whether it's seats or anything else having to do with a car....

 

It's not impossible to improve the looks of a tri-5, but it does take some taste and restraint. The black and gold 55 HT that has been at the Round-Up comes to mind; as does Moriarty's. But in general, tri-five customs get worse the farther they get from (gasp) stock. Same with a 39-40 Fords. That's what I think, anyway.

 

Trouble with a lot of Tri-5 Dorks, perhaps not Aaron, is they like to load their cars with every gee-gaw outa the Chevy accessory book. Bumper guards on bumper guards, hockey stick rocker moldings, fingernail guards, 'n all that stuff. (Would somebody who ordered a fuelie '57 have really also wanted skirts and a continental spare?)

Tri-5s look great stock and even better cleaned up, mild custom, like the one Ryan's posted, but I think even milder...

Since I don't have the skills, tools, money, garage, ya da, ya da, to build a real one, gotta content myself building little plastic ones. If I had a real '55, it'd be mild, like this. One color, shaved, nosed, decked, lowered just a little, smoothed front bumper and wagon rear, with a dual-carb Corvette motor. Though maybe now it'd get '55 Lancer caps instead of the '53 'vettes...

 

Stock? Boring. I make my living bringing shit back to perfectly stock. Still boring at times unless it's the right car. A 55 is not the right car. Too many "stock" cars out there. Line up a dozen 55 HTs. Odds are most of em will be red or red n white. Some will have every possible accessory on em you could buy giving them that perfect "pimped out" tri-5 look that makes the Barrett Jackson crowd hard. Pull into that group with a car like the 2 already mentioned above and they will draw as much disdain as they will adoration. Both are too much fun to leave em stock. I agree, restraint is key on that particular car but the last thing the world needs is another white 61 Impala, another Packard Cream Packard, another Plum Crazy Mopar, and especially another stock tri-5. My opinion, FWIW.

 

This is a cool thread. I do like that 55 but not the grill so much.

I think that lowered with a slight and I mean slight forward rake with some skylark wires and skinny white biasply's all black no two tone with a 2 inch dual exhaust hooked to a 327 and a 4 speed of some sort take off the handles and all the hood do dads and lee lenses in the rear. a clean interior with stock everything in there sept use trinidad carpet. mmmmm tasty.

Really that recipe would work in so many colors but I really dont like the two tone thing. With the exception of a few Like Henry Gongs Cole Foster built 56 Nomad. That is a Perfect Example of an Amazing Tri 5.

 

Froghawk, you posted while I was typing. If you lowered that with Skylarks it would be exactly what I am talking about. The spots are even cool and I really dont like spots on most cars.

That is a rad model!!!

 

I've said it before, but the perfect '55 chevy is a bone stock exterior/interior 2-door hardtop Bel Air in two tone white/red that is slammed to the ground and on chrome steelies with spiders and bias wide whites. Don't touch a single emblem or piece of trim. When you start cutting into the sheetmetal, it had better be perfect or it looks pretty bad.

If you really want to mess one up, start with a '56....they are the ugliest of the tri-5's and pretty ugly cars in general.

I too prefer them more as hot rods than as customs but there are excellent examples in all categories.

 

i did a cartoonie rendering of a similar car for a guy a couple of years ago.
this car was his inspiration.

 

ahhhhh, now I understand why not many members welcomed me to the H.A.M.B... looks to be lots of kustom tri-5 haters... hahahaha

 

I'd have to agree with you there. You always see the same colors on the restored cars. Red, White, Black...but those were the most common colors back then. I always enjoy seeing them with the oddball original colors. There were certainly plenty of them.



http://www.55classicchevy.com/body-colors.html

http://www.56classicchevy.com/body-colors.html

http://www.57classicchevy.com/body-colors.html

One of the coolest '55's I ever saw was the one that was two tone 'Shadow Grey/Coral'. Similar to the one below with the colors reversed.

 

i think this is the same car at a later date. now choped and side pipes, differences here and there. the evolution of a kustom.

 

Futher evidence...

 

Would he have gone back to the stock front bumper though? Oh wait, that is what this thread is about! Hahaha!

 

*ahem* except McPhails'. McPhail's '56 is the best I've ever seen.



......and Sam's.

 

Oh yeah I forgot that one F-ing rules too!!!!!!!

 

Here is Sam's again. It looks really good in red and white, but I will ALWAYS love the before better. In fact, if I had a '56 instead of a '55, I would probably do something similar to it.

before:


after: