Back in March I was cruising marketplace for things I shouldn’t buy and found a car I had seen since I was just a kid. Me and Grandpa almost stopped to ask about it back when I was in school but never worked up the nerve to. I messaged him asking if I could come take a look at it thinking it would be a rotted out shell of a car with no ***le I would buy to use as parts for my ‘56 fairlane. He didn’t list a price and in the discussion said make offer so I had a price in mind and set a date and time to see it. Fast forward to the day I was supposed to see it, it’s Friday when I went on vacation, the tiny kitten I had been nursing back to health at home had just been ****ed dry of blood and dismembered by some unknown animal so I’m in a terrible mood and headspace. On the way to put my check in the bank I almost talked myself into calling off the meet up but just because I promised him I would I dropped by to look at it. By this point my plan is to look it over, make a quick offer and when he rejects it I will go home and try to make the most of my vacation. So he starts showing me the car and I see it has some rust but it’s not terrible. He pulled out a ring of keys, it’s got keys! Then he asked if I wanted to see the motor, I had no idea it had a drivetrain at all. Lastly he pulled out the ***LE and I’m thinking wow this is way better than I expected. So I figured I can’t afford this, just make an offer and get going. He had no price in mind at all so I just blurt out the price I had come up with when I thought it was just a no ***le shell. Would you take $400? He doesn’t even skip a beat and said cash today. What! I wasn’t expecting that, I asked him if he was comfortable with that price and he said yes sir. So long story not quite as long I bought a car I had wanted for many years for cheap after almost backing out. Here’s how it looked the day I went to see it. It’s not the prettiest customline but the price was right and I love it. The windshield and driver door gl*** got busted but I have spares for my 56 that I can swap in. Surprisingly the missing parts were in the trunk and in pretty good condition. He bought the car in 1975 and drove it into the 80s. He decided to repaint it and ended up moving so he had to pack everything in the car and trailered it where it sat for 35 years just down the road from the car wash I went to. When I bought it I had no plans other than save it and make it something I could drive to work. Tomorrow I will post everything up to date and share my ideas and plans for the car.
Thanks. I definitely need to change it. The ‘55 Chevy is my last project. I got it back on the road after about 20 years.
So I started off my vacation by cleaning my customline up good and found out that what I thought was rust was red oxide primer with small surface rust spots. I disconnected all power to the cabin and started working on the motor. Turns out one of the valves stuck shut so we freed it up and re***embled everything. Within the week I had it running and it sounded pretty good. A friend of mine had a spare 12 volt y block starter so I got it and swapped it on “my 6 volt starter was acting up”. I had to put a fuel pump on it and swapped on tires that hold air. The brakes didn’t work but the clutch does so I drove it around the yard carefully. The muffler pretty much exploded on the trailer so now it sounds like a demo derby car. At this point I started on the fuel tank. It had a full tank of gas but it had a thick layer of varnish inside. I ended up dropping the tank, deep cleaning it out and reinstalled it using garage door weather strips as my isolator pads. What I did was cut the garage door strips to fit and to hold it down long enough I flooded the strips and tank with spray paint and stuck them together. I put weight on them for about 30 minutes then installed it. I finished plumbing up the fuel system and drove it around the yard again. This time I found out the water pump was leaking so I guess after I do the brakes I will be going through the cooling system. Now we’re up to date, it’s time to kick it up in high gear and get some work done. I will hopefully get to do the brakes in the next few weeks and the cooling system right after. I still have the 12 volt conversion to do and a few patches to make in the wiring. I will hopefully then get all the rust repairs done and get it sanded down and sprayed with primer. For a while I considered doing a factory style paint job in red and white but I may have a better idea. This would be a good look for my car but when I was pulling the fuel tank out Dad was joking and said we should turn it into a dirt track car, obviously that’s not happening but he did give me an idea. I’m liking the idea of painting it like a vintage Stock Car or vintage touring car. I have thought about doing that on a few cars over the years but for some reason I think this is the one to do it on. I am planning to install an under dash ac and a few other creature comforts. I want to keep the dog dish wheels but I’m thinking I will get a newer set with the safety beads. If I can find a borg Warner overdrive transmission like my 56 fairlane has I will swap that in. That’s my basic plan for now, it may change as I go. I will update as I get things done.
Well I ordered a master cylinder this weekend and it just came in. I was advised to buy an original bendix MC from a 67 mustang so I found a rebuilt unit and we will see how it works out. I have to get a few lines and unions but I should get it installed this week.
If it comes with the Mustang's push rod some have a nasty clip that will make it stick inside the master, DO NOT use that, you need to use your original brake push rod.
Thanks. That’s good to know. I definitely want to eliminate brake problems not add more. I’m planning to drive this car to work about half the week so I want to make it safe.
The Jalopy Journal
