The pic'll tell ya: gotta do something about that car! It's under construction, with the body off & the frame getting straightened. Will post pics when I can. When I got my Bel Air 10 years ago (a dumb kid but smart enuf to snatch up the car) I began doing homework on the build and found a couple of sources for this piece-- Cliff's Classic Chevrolet in Oregon (they're on the website but Cliff tells me no more), even JC Whitney... fell on hard times and had to store the car, & now that I'm back into the game I can't find a source for front roll pans! I think those I had found before were FG which is fine with me. My fab skills are slim/none so prefab is what I'm after. I know there are some gurus in here that may have pics of a 55 with a roll pan instead of the front bumper. Hell I'm not even 100% sure what they look like! (ok85%) I'd like to hear and see some ideas from y'all, don't want to finish the build & say "Gee I wish I'da thought of that" or "Man I wish I knew that." I never fucked with a tri-5 before. Some of you saw my post about grill swaps so yeah I'm looking to build a mild custom out of this ride, don't want the average Jim. Thanx boys and girls
55s were a great design....it's really hard to improve it. I'd suggest running a bumper if the car will sit kind of low, or no bumper (and no roll pan) if it will sit high. Maybe I'm just a traditionalist?
It's not a rollpan, but here's what I did to mine. I'm not planning to run a bumper and I got tired of hitting my shin on the filler piece every time I walked by the car, so......... Also by cutting the three pieces, you still have the mounts for the front end and support for the turn signal lights. And as a bonus, if I ever want to run the (fiberglass) bumper on the car I can tuck it in closer to the car. Larry T
that's a nice way to clean it up. It still looks meaner with the full apron in place...and why would we care about YOUR shins getting beat up?
Now that's just plain mean. ;^) Besides, you couldn't see the spreader bar if the lip was still there.
Thanx Squirrel, I couldn't find squat. Not a bad idea, Larry T... I've dinged & zinged myself in the legs many a time myself. Thx fellas, anybody else with ideas or especially if you know a source for the pan, plz post it, this is hard to find info-- it may help out some maniac who's lookin to customize his 55.
can't remeber who yet, but someone used to make rolled pans for 55-56's. Might look at advertisements in Street Rodder or one of those mags.
You could build a complete grille shell, using two '53 Stude gravel pans (one inverted). These were used on a lot fifties customs, including the R&C Dream Truck. Repops are available in fiberglass.
It looks like this wagon uses a flipped front bumper and painted it body color. If you do some careful cutting and welding you could get it to fit the splash-pan perfectly
Guess I have to agree with Squirrel on this one too!! I'm in favor of bumpers but just my opinion. Kool double nickel though!
I think the best way to finish off a 55 is to go with a "California" bumper. Roy Brizio has one on the front of Orange 55 he recently built 4 himself.. Plans call for me to get one for my 55 eventually (key word is "eventually").
It's my understanding the front rolled pan is no longer being produced. I looked for over a year and a half for mine. I had a couple leads that were a day late and a dollar short before hitting the jackpot. The pan I ended up with had been in a guy's garage attic since the early 80's. So, after looking for all that time, I have yet again, decided to go a different direction with my car... and I am considering selling the roll pan. So if you are serious about buying one, let me know before I change my mind again!
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