I've been reading @HOTRODPRIMER s thread on the most popular 3 Chevys on the H.A.M.B but I've always liked the pre '55 Chevys as well, but have hard time telling them apart, and I don't ever recall seeing a spotter's guide of these cars in any magazine or online. Yes, I know I could just look at Google images but that wouldn't be as much fun would it.
From the back! '49 has a "tee" trunk handle. Grab it and twist. '50 is a more sophisticated T . Key operated . '51 dropped the vertical part of the T. '52 same as '51 except the bow tie is painted. I THINK! I know fron the front when I see one. Not sure how to describe. Ben
I like the 55 150 an 210 models". But the 54 150 an 210 are top to me. Had a real killer 54 150 a few years back but sold it. Bought a 66 GTO. That didn’t work out well for me. The 54 is owned by a nice young man who takes good care of it!
49-50 Look the same with the exception of the grille & some trim. Same with the 51-52. Very similar to the previous years but the rear fenders don't slope down to match the deck lid as much. The 53 & 54 are quite a bit different. Front fenders & rear are both completely different than the previous efforts. They all use the same chassis 49-54. I've read the front suspension is basically the same as the first Corvette. All models come in Coupe, Sedan, Hardtop (Bel Air) & convertible models. The Hardtop in 53/54 has the rear pillar facing forward & IMO it doesn't flow well with the rest of the car. Coupes or 49-52 hard tops are my personal favorite. Although the sedans lend themselves well to a chop without having that tiny back window. They are all stupid nosebleed high from the factory. Overall they ride & drive great. The 216/235 is no powerhouse but damn near indestructible.
About the underpinnings. All 49 - 54 had basically the same suspension engine and torque tube drive train. They were the first Chevs with 5 bolt 15 inch wheels. Not easy to put a V8 in but it is possible. Most guys these days replace the whole drive train if they want an engine swap. I think the 53 - 54 had better brakes. Also the Powerglide equipped models had an improved engine with full pressure lubrication. Many of the others have had the old splasher replaced by a newer full pressure job. Nothing wrong with the old splasher as long as you don't want to go over 50 MPH. A nice ride would be one with a 261 truck six, mildly hopped up, with manual trans and Powerglide rear axle gears which are higher (lower numerical) than the manual trans gears. 55 up were completely different with ball joint suspension, available V8 and open drive shaft.
The better brakes came along in 1951, before that they were Huck style. The newer Delco brakes are like Bendix brakes, they were used for decades, and work pretty well. There were several changes to the engines over the years, the Powerglide cars got the 235 earlier than the manual transmission cars (they needed the extra torque to get moving, I think). The babbitt bearings were around for a while, even on powerglide equipped cars, but they did get full pressure in 53, the others got it in 54. The 53 standard shift engine is an oddball, it has babbitt rods, and cast pistons, but it's a 235. Of course none of this matters when we swap in a 261, or a small block, or a Caddy 390, or whatever.
The '53-'54 standard transmissions are a bit better, since they have needle bearings in a couple places where the earlier transmissions had bronze bushings. All of the '50-'54 Powerglide cars had 3.55 gears. The '53 was the first one to start with the key, rather than a push button. The reason that the '55-'56 V8 driver side exhaust manifold exits in the front is that Chevrolet originally intended on debuting the new 265 in the '53 models (the Korean conflict messed up their schedule), and the front exit would have been necessary to clear the '53's steering box.
I saw it mentioned that they were a pain to v8 swap. Not so much. A lil trimming of the firewall and some thought on exhaust routing and an sbc goes right in. And if you use a short water pump and a radiator with stock hose locations a lower hose from a 57 Chevy goes right on and an upper hose for a 57 Chevy goes on with slight trimming
As stated, there are kind of like three series of the car bodies and parts interchange: 49-50 are similar, 51-52 are similar, and 53-54 are similar. 49-52 are more similar and some common parts than the 53-54 which is more different. Lot of similarity in the chassis 49-54 are mostly interchangeable. All are torque tube drive, and a 55-57 Chevy car rearend is near bolt-in swap if you convert to open drive when doing an engine and/or trans swap. If staying with the torque tube, the PG has 3.55 gears. Otherwise 3.70 for manual or 4.11 manual OD. All years have 5x4.75 bolt pattern.
There was no overdrive available in this time period. '49-'52 standard shift cars had 4.11 gears, and '53-'54 standard shift cars had 3.70s.
Power glide cars up to ‘52 were babbit bearing 235s like the 216. ‘53 had full pressure oiling. I had a ‘51 Fleetline 4dr with power glide that I stupidly sold cheap a long time ago.
With the idea that a picture worth a thousand words, not my car, might not be my photographic talent, not sure how they did it, but they sure did it…
Speaking of which, the '50-'52 Powerglides didn't shift from low to high on their own; if you put it in Drive, it just started out in high gear. In '53, it was improved to start out in low and then shift to high. It's no wonder that they got a reputation for being horribly slow off the line.
in the late 60's, early 70's I had a 52 chevy, 235/Powerglide. raced it a couple times at PID (Pittsburgh International Dragway), forget the class but ran against stock VW beetles, never won.
My memory might be bad - Rear fender skirts on 49-50 are left/right specific and cannot be used on either side. 51-52 fit both sides.
Hello, The 1954 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop was my first introduction to making a plain jane sedan into one of the first customs that was created for our high school cruising and uses. My friend was one of the oldest and first one to get a car for his 16th B.D. but, as nice as the stock appearing car was, it just needed things we saw from our visits to the local Long Beach car shows that were held close by in the Municipal Auditorium near the Pike. Our parents were not the young rebels that started with their own hot rods. They were more like young kids with ideas of work and family. Cars were just something to start and go to work. Different era, different outlook on life. I think that may have given us an opportunity to be a little creative as we started our long journey with cars in general. Even though our high school class was pretty large for being in 1959-62, the oldest guy in our class was the first guy to have his own car. It was a 54 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop. He had the opportunity to drive anywhere and he did. But, his car had a selective clientele riding with him. Luckily, we became friends and we were both on the varsity football team. It took another year for most of us to get our cars, but that first year introduction to high school was a prestige thing being able to cruise around in a cool car. Not a hot rod, just a cool car. What a coincidence to see one that is so close after all of these years, going back to 1959 fall semester of high school. He was the first guy to get a license, so he was the “go to guy” for rides and cruising. After all of us got our licenses and cars, he wanted to change his stock look to more of a mild custom. At the time, his was the first car, but when everyone else started getting their own cars, they went the hop-up route, with headers, duals, chrome wheels and some mods to the motors. So, the 54 Chevy went another route. It looked like this car. While it was still stock, chrome rims were added, along with the standard accessories. But after he got it painted that greenish blue color at the local Earl Schieb shop near our high school, the interior looked out of place. So, a trip to South of the Border, late at night/early morning to TJ was made to get the full, white tuck and roll. The complete job, included the headliner, door panels, the rear package tray and the trunk. It was an all day adventure on its own and not too costly. (not the exact Bel Air, but the color was a close match… as was the lowered look) The stance was a low stock rake, but at times with 4 teenagers inside, it was a very low cruiser, close to being stopped by the local police or CHP at times. Finally, his car became a very cool cruiser, with no intentions of competing with our hot rod/drag racing cars. He kept the stock 6, but added chrome stuff to it. The stance was lower in front and it gave the Bel Air some attitude. He also got new mufflers for a better sound. It was a nice custom car for daily driving to high school and the local drive-in cruises. He asked if he should have flames painted on the car…the answer was no. We all agreed it would ruin his new paint job. But we did outline with tape, several scallops (3) along the side of the hardtop fender and door. It looked strange. The problem was the front fender crease and the rear pop out fender. Those kept the design limited. Either it had to go above or below the fender crease, but it looked funny with the crease running alongside of the white tape. The rear bulb fender called for its own scallops, but he thought that it was too much for the side of the car. The final result was that my friend left the greenish blue paint, no scallops, and put on a zillion miles of fun cruising. His Bel Air was a "go everywhere" driver that looked custom. We even took out the rear seat back and put in our early 10 ft. surfboards. He was a good athlete and surfer, too. Daily drives, plus many other uses for this old 54 Bel Air Hardtop fit the bill. My friend's car was one of the only semi-custom cruisers on our campus. But, it went everywhere, all of the time. Some of the stories for this Chevy Bel Air were just classic, from making it into a surf vehicle or watching the slowest drag race in our high school history. It was a daily driver and the transformation to a mild custom car. No SBC motor for him, but we had talked about a custom SBC install with another friend with a hot, 57 Chevy Bel Air. The 54 Chevy remained the only car that went a few steps farther into the mild custom trend. Full white tuck and roll upholstery, paint, chrome rims, exhaust pipes, lowering, and custom knobs were part of his modifications. Friday Art Even with surfboards stuck in the trunk and rear seat area, it was very low and possibly illegal. Each of the boards weighed approximately 45-50 lbs. The Chevy Bel Air had the rear seatback taken out so we could pile in a stack of surfboards. Our friends wanted to go surfing, to see what was the big allure. We were two of the only ones who were active and were able to secure several old longboards. So, a hilarious event happened and no athlete got hurt or injured for the all day gathering. YRMV The most fun event was a drag race between a stock 51 Pontiac Sedan and this 54 Bel Air. Each car was loaded with 4 teenagers and it had to be the slowest drag race in history. We were all “scooting in our seats back and forth” to get the cars to go faster, while laughing all the way down Cherry Avenue Drags location. Talk about time standing still…Ha!
is this a 2'' chop???? front sure looks better w/o the bumper guards.... 4 extra grille teeth might need 2 more...
I would say closer to a 3in chop up front and a 4in chop in rear always look better with slanted Post.
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