Newbie in Orange County needs help

greetings, first post here!

new not only to the board but a lot of things

I just acquired a 1950 buick special sedanette in good condition but needs some work

specifically, to start off with I want to get it chopped and rechromed

I'm looking for one of the best shops in the OC/LA area to chop the car, as I want to also make sure the lines are consistent from the chopped roof through to the trunk

Any recommendations would be appreciated as well as a cost effective place to get the rechroming done

thanks in advance

 

Get it stopping, then running first.

 

thanks... good advice, which I planned on doing and driving it like that for a few weeks.

I'm in a bit of a quandry, i really wanted to get the 50 sedanette to chop and slam as I love the way the car looks customed like that

however the quandry is I bought a car that had two owners, in very good shape, orginal everything including driveline (75k original) and i don't know if it would be the unforgiveable sin to customize the car

thoughts?

 

#1 Its yours now!
#2 Heck no! It's what we do.

 

here's a link to photos of the car

http://www.marindirect.com/50buick/

two more links at the bottom

 

We need a dozen pictures and you need to do an introduction!

 

see link in above post (re: dozens of pictures!)

As for an intro, just a guy who likes the classics with a high performance and an aggressive twist. This is my first project/undertaking of something like this nature and I would be ill prepared, however my son is a technician with a degree in high performance automotive who will be helping, or should I say orchestrating the mechanical side of things on the project.

I'm here to be a sponge and learn by sifting through the myriad of posts and asking the newbie questions from time to time!

 

Nice pictures , nice old car. you hold the pedal down to start it, right?

 

not sure... bought the car and bringing it down from SF next week

 

beautiful car best of luck, drive the thing as is first just needs a little shine and a once over. Sometimes people fall in love with a bone stock car

 

Ahhhh, your killing me. The one car I still wish I had, personally I like those stock and lowered but not bagged. The straight 8 sounds strong (yours should be a 248, I had a super 263).

Welcome to the board.

 

Bill Hines is a fastback master..chrome sould be cheaper out of state.. you are much better off starting with a car in this shape than some rusted out pos. whack it, slant the post and boogie...

 

Awesome car in fantastic looking shape. I personally would slam it, drive it around for a while until you either get bored and feel the need to totally customize it or find that you really love the original look but lowered thing. The amount of downtime to have a car fully done up for you plus the cost of entry can be rather offputting. Totally bitchin father/son project you have there.

NAES

 

Steel wool, chrome polish

 

thanks for all the pics... helps a lot for ideas

decisions decisions

 

that engine looks sweet

my son has an LS1 sitting in the garage

 

I would not miss the opportunity while chopping the top to install a one piece windshield. High end 50 Buicks had them, so it should not be a problem....

 

Notice the mc/brake setup on the pic with the v-8............

 

PLEASE!!! before you chop it and after you get it running, bring it down to DONUT DERELICTS car show in Huntington Beach every Saturday morning from 5:30am-8:30am at Adams and Magnolia. You and your car will be very much welcomed there.

 

1955 was the first year Buick had power brakes.

 

If you do chop it I would seriously consider Brad Masterson. Nice car !

 

The Sam Burris 50 Buick is the coolist over-all 50 Buick kustoms I have seen so far. I don't know it's present location but it was displayed at Daryl Starbyrd Museum some time ago. I love the rear window and the one piece windshield. The taillites are cool ,not sure what they are maybe Canadian Pontiac? Not the best headlike treatment but ok, I like the standard Frenched look.The drip molding could use a better treatment. The hood could be modified many ways , use of a 50 Mercury hood would be awesome. Grill opening and Grill could be a million ways. Bumpers front and rear should be carefully chosen. BUT over all ,do you really want to make a Kustom of this car. My thought is once you start don't stop. Do you want to make this car your life's work?. OR Do want to make a nice dependable 50 Buick? ,then obtain another car and apply what you have learned to it.1953 Cadillac hubcaps are used here. The smooth ole Buick straight eight engine is use with a 2 speed Dynaflo transmission. Prolly still run 120 mph on the odometer.The only mechanical change to this car is, it is lowered, front and rear....notice it has the BARRIS Emblem below the antennae.

 

This was Sam Barris' personal car.btw