Projects Rescued an original California stock 51 Chevy

Saturday June 8, 2019 I woke up 7 am to make a short 170 mile trip up North California from Hollywood CA to pick up a stock 51 Chevy 2dr sedan I had seen up for sale on an ad a week before picking it up. Lets go back to the beginning of the week, Monday June 3rd. On the ad there wasn’t much info about the car or enough pictures just the basic stuff price year make model contact info. The ad had 2-3 pictures to tell me that the car was somewhat complete from the outside and inside. I hadn’t seen what the engine bay, inside floors, & trunk looked like so I contacted the seller. All I got back was it runs & stops but will need work, no rust on the floors or trunk. From there on I started to have a good feeling about this car the whole week I spent time looking at the only pictures I had I kept thinking if it was going to be the one. Friday came by & I decided well if the seller accepts my offer Ill take it, I made my offer & said ill pick it up the next day, he accepts my offer replies to come by with a trailer and cash.

Saturday morning I take off with a truck & trailer ready, I get there 4hrs later & there it was waiting to be saved sitting on a field. I check the car out & sure enough no rust holes on the floors or trunk just small rust pits on the lower door nothing major, a damaged RT fndr from a fndr bndr locking the p***enger door from the fndr damage. The original paint had been sprayed over once with blue . The engine a 216 straight 6 with a tune up done about 4 years ago when turned 12V (receipts found in the car) the back had been lowered with adjustable air shocks. We fired it up & loaded the car on the trailer & I headed back home. I decoded the cowl tag when I got home the car appears to be from an Oakland, CA ***embly plant. It adds up since I picked it up not so far from Oakland, CA.





I have always wanted to build my own Kustom. Im 26 yrs old, since I was in high school Jr. year it has been my mission in life to find the correct car & turn it into a Traditional Kustom. I have seen a lot of traditional kustoms from old car craft magazines & it has inspired me more to do so. I have already gathered up a few parts that I want on this 51 Chevy. Theres a traditional Kustom that has inspired the flow im aiming for on the front end, the Vince Ulloa 1951 Chevrolet 4dr Fleetline. Which will have the same look on the front end the kustom grille/surround, rounded hood corners, fndrs rounded & molded to the grille surround, frenched headlights.


This is what I have picked up so far & still have yet to find more for the build.



•51 Cadillac Steering Wheel W/ 49 Horn ****on
•53 Cadillac Hub Caps
•53 Dodge Grille
•49 Chevy Frnt License Guard
•51 California License Plates

 

Welcome back. I like the ‘53 Dodge grille idea. Don’t recall ever seeing one on that era Chevy, but it will work nicely. I owned a ‘51 Chevy Bel Air ‘back in the day’....nice cars then and now. I also have, by coincidence, a ‘53 Dodge! Better go check on my grille!

Edit: also have been a loooong time fan of ‘53 Caddy wheel covers. You may know this already, but they very likely may have fitment problems on your stock Chevy wheels. There are other wheels that can be used though, the problem is finding them in 4 3/4” bolt circle. The old “white spoker”, aka “wagon wheels” usually have deep enough contours to accommodate the wheel covers and those wheels are pretty inexpensive when found.

Ray

 

I am confused...which car did you pick up??? The one in the field or the one under the tarp or are they the same and you primered a fender for some reason.

 

OK maybe I get it now...you bought the frenched fender on the p***enger side and did a mock up. Nice looking car regardless.

 

Hello Sir happy Tuesday!
Im still trying to find the turn signals for that 53 Dodge grille its off a coronet. It does look nice although its gonna have to be shortened to look like Vince’s and so it can fit/look proper.

Who doesn’t love 53 Caddy hub caps. Luckily this is my 2nd set and in very good condition the first set I had hanging in my garage I had planned to use them on an old project I never got to so I helped out a fella from San Diego he was restoring a 50 Merc and was in serious need for a set so I sold them to him for a steal. I talked to a fella named Rob he does kustom work and is well known, he knows how to make them fit on chevy wheels but they are going to have to get cut up in the back. So im sending them out to get fitted.

 

Hi sorry for leaving details out.. yes its the same car the original fndr was hit pretty hard so I bought one off a fella who parts chevy’s out I had it sandblasted and I just sprayed primer on it for now. I still have the other beat fndr, maybe ill straighten it out at work during lunch (I work at a body shop) and see who needs one?

 

Looks nice!

 

looks like a fun project

 

Let's see what you got to work with on the inside!

 

sweet little car.

 

Nice find. Drop a 348 in it like my cousin did to his 49 back in the day! Did someone say Chopped?

 

That looks like a great start and you are already ahead of the game.

 

Oh its going to get chopped no doubt, old style chop. 6” in the front A pillars giving the rear a 5 -1/2” vertical drop . Idunno why but I want to keep the original straight 6 and 3 speed on the tree. I want to focus more on the kustom body work but also dress the engine/bay nicely, Im not trying to take this one to the drag strip just cruise it. Your cousins 49 looks really nice! Dig the old photo!

 

It was the coolest thing in Stamford CT. 348 / 4speed. It was quick.
Good Luck with your project.

 

Nice buy!
My brother and I occasionally got a ride in one of those from an apartment friend of ours when we were in high school. Didn't looks so good but ran great.

 

Very nice find...always have a soft spot for that style Chebby
Here is one I did a few years back....

 

Now that you said high school Idunno why I thought about this one time in my senior year 2012 I bought a 59 impala 4dr I ditched school went with my buddy to pick it up it was 3 speed on the tree didn’t know a single thing about driving 3 speed manuals. I show up to my house I was afraid of letting my mom see it cause I had sold my first project (74 Nova) & she had said don’t you dare buy another jalopy get yourself a daily now & I didn’t listen.. oh man she whooped me with a belt so bad when she found out I spent all the money on another running project. Now to this day she just nods doesn’t say anything anymore since I have my own place & pretty much made somewhat a career out of it and enjoy it.

 

Thank you sir you have a nice ride! I will also be running lake pipes on mine [emoji100]

 

I like it!
There is a link in my signature dedicated to the 216.
(My Avatar Fleetline runs a hot 216 with lots of machine work and vintage speed equipment.)

6" is an extreme chop, and IMHO could easily ruin the car.
However, Dan Landon's coupe pulls it off with a 5'' post-cut (plus additional sectioning of the roof crown).
The saving grace was in using a lesser cut for the windshield, and extending it back into the roof.



BTW, the same technique was used on the Matranga Merc..

 

@SayEyeWont_74...I Say You Will......Your onto something Fantastic...A good solid Start and Congrats on your blank Custom Canvas...Full Steam Ahead They Say...

 

I like your style! before looking at Vince’s 51 I had thought about doing the same grille flow like Dan’s but finding two Kaiser bars was extremely difficult and ended up with the 53 Dodge grille instead. I saw the amount of chop I said done on a chop instruction book but it was on a 52 chevy ill post it its perfect. I read that George Barris had to do a lot of modifying to pull off a heavy chop on that 49. Ill check that link out!

 

Thank you sir im doing my best to build a true traditional kustom with all original parts

 

I'll enjoy that Very Much, from my front row seat here...

 

Thank you Sir, Ill post every progress of the build on here.

 

Just like this one here also its a 49 not 52 but still a sedan 2dr



Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Great start.
I'll be watching as well.
Torchie

 

That's a great car to start with! I'm doing one similar (also came out of Oakland plant in '51). Customs are cool!!

 

Looks like you have a nice solid car to start with. You will enjoy driving the six with the three on the tree so much more than a big engine with automatic.

 

When chopping the top, keep in mind that inverting the rear window is an option, and sometimes just the ticket for achieving flow.





Of course, Chevy sedans can look great unchopped.
Watson's is one of my favorites...chopped or not!