Projects 1953 Chevy 4 door low budget build.

sorry. it slipped

 

still undecided on the headlight covers. that and the front grill are simply things i haven't got to yet. i'm averaging about an hour or 2 per week on it. with work and kids and stuff. all in due time

 

i think i made the same post a little while back about everyone else's skills. thank you.

 

You got right! Between work, family and house remodeling, I haven't touched mine since June. I think that was right about the time I posted that I was really starting to make some progress. Oh well, it'll be there when I get a chance to work on it.
Yours on the other hand is looking good. Stay on it!

 

Keep at it, love seeing your kids involved! My boy is 5 and loves being with me tinkering on our 54, keeps me pretty motivated!

 

So people have been "commenting" on my front grill. Got 10 minutes today so I grabbed my angle grinder and wire wheel and gave it a go. Need a little more work in the nooks and crannies but looks better.

 

Pulled the teeth out to paint the inside and I kinda like it. I'm gonna have to stare at it for a while and decide if the teeth go back in.

 

cool build!!!

 

I love this build - especially being low budget, DIY, family approach. But lose those freakin rusty headlight covers theyre killin me! You probably can get new chrome ones on ebay for $20, or just ditch them entirely. Just my opinion. Keep up the good work!

 

i was gonna pull those off last night after the wire wheel work but then i got carried away with the front grill. maybe tonight.

 

She can see better now.

 

I love your car! Just keep on going like you are.A mighty handy thing for internal rust when you get the outer rusty metal cut away is one of the little 30 dollar harbor freight sandblasters and a bag of play sand from toys r us or your local version thereof.

 

Yes!!!

 

Looks a lot better without the covers, and the grill looks better "in the pics" but I would avoid using a wire brush on stuff like that in the future if possible to keep from damaging what you have even further. This is SOS pads

 

Nice job! The body work turned out REALLY clean!

 

Yes...much much better! I'll echo what @low budget said, try to avoid the wire brushes on chrome and pot metal stuff. SOS is a whole lot better option especially with a little wd-40. One I like even better is to use CLR with those 3M scrubber type pads. I like the ones plastered together with a sponge...more CLR to spread around.

I can't recall if you mentioned it already, but if you're thinking of getting that black paint off the bumper try wetting a spot on a rag with each of the following until you find one that works: LA Totally Awesome cleaner (Dollar Store type places usually have it and if you don't know of it yet it really does live up to its name), 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, brake fluid, bbq starting fluid...9 times out of 10 spray bomb will wipe/scrub off a hard surface like chrome plate with at least one of these. Follow up with another run with the CLR/scrub pads if it's rusty like the grille surround was, or sand smooth/prime if it's real bad.

Nice job with the car so far. It's hard to beat an old car to mess around on with the kids for something to do all together. Teaches 'em all kinds of good stuff...let alone the bonding over it. Good on ya!

 

That was for you. Glad you saw it.

 

Figured out why my left head light didn't work. I wish everything was this easy.

 

So I'm in the process of playing with my teeth. I really like the single center tooth.

 

Yup...that's really cool. I'm not a fan of the toothless front end, but this is a nice compromise. Not too plain, nice and clean.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

Personally , I like it better with no teeth than with just one . It's a ton better with the headlight covers off as well . Nice progress !

 

Following. My parents ordered and bought a new '54 4 door in that awful yellow/green combo. After that they always bought white cars-lol. How about a set of '54 Chev tail lamps frenched in? Looks so much better that the wimpy 53 lamps. Nice job so far.

 

Why does everyone hate the 53 tail lights so much. Lol. I'm keeping them. I like to be a little different. Also there are no other 53's in my area so I'm gonna represent.

 

If you,d like a change, you can replace the white lenses with red ones. New ones run about $7 each

 

Yeah definitely have to do that. Im going to toy around with some red paint first but I'll probably end up there.

 

Wow, great family and backyard build. Looking forward to the result. Keep it up!

 

Took 1.5 coils out of the front end tonight. Sorry got too dark for pictures. And on an even higher note as far as my 10 year old is concerned I'm a freakin super hero. He watched me cutting bolts with the angle grinder, sparks flying everywhere. He thought it was the greatest thing ever

 

Really like what you (and your helpers) are doing and how you are doing it. My kids always like participating and even helped come up with some great design ideas.
The 54 model always had a nicer more desirable grille but you are giving me a better appreciation for the 53 style.
A set of skirts and some cool wheel covers would be a nice addition to consider.
Keep up the good work and have fun with your build.

 

Thanks a lot. I'm still torn on the skirts but have to admit they are growing on me. As for wheels I will definitely upgrade when finances allow. The fun part is listening to my boys design ideas and my wife shooting them down. Such a family project.