56 gasser project down the drain...

56 g***er project down the drain...
<hr style="color: rgb(47, 47, 79);" size="1"> <!-- / icon and ***le --> <!-- message --> As many of you know i have been working on a 56 Chevy I intended to turn into a g***er. Well... the cancer is ALOT worse than what i had thought. The area behind the ss trim on the rear post is completely rusted through, the floors and trunk are of co**** gone, knew this going in, the area under the doors, the sill plate i think its called, is completely hollowed out to where i can poke a hole through it with a screw driver, the firewall is rough, its all just BAD. The frame is still good, it is one of the fully boxed versions, so im considering keeping it, maybe not might just call the s**** man and tell em to take it all. Anyway i feel pretty ****py bout the whole deal. I think i may try to find a 53 with a solid body. Its just solid bodies are very rare in the south, and im not in the mood to travel cross country, i really wanted this to be my winter project, so i wanna try to find something quick. All you South Eastern HAMBers keep an eye out for something for me. LOL

 

That's too bad. Mabe it would make a good street legal NASCAR clone?

 

sorry too hear that hopefully you didnt pay too much for it!

 

I sent you a friend request. PM me if nothing else before ya s**** it, your in my backyard!

 

sounds like a good idea. I would definately not junk it. If you are good with body work floors shouldn't be that hard to do

 

Seems to me your throwing in the towel before you even get started.

Why not use the car as a platform to learn how to do sheet metal work and hone your skills,,,it really isn't that hard,,,do a little at a time,,and if it don't work out all you have managed to do is at least try.

The car may be in bad shape,,believe me a lot of the cars you see here were much worse than yours.HRP

 

Exactly what I was thinking.....

 

I've been diddling with these tri fives for about 20 years, and I have never heard of a 'fully boxed frame.' What is this fully boxed frame that you speak of?? A seamless frame looks like its been clipped...is this what you are referring to?

 

Weren't the "California" frames and bumpers different than other regular production cars? The 'California' bumpers were one piece and the frames were suposedly reinforced. I'm no tri-five expert, just what I've heard/read about.

-Bigchief.

 

A California frame is seamless. It looks like its been clipped in the front. They are really ugly, but if its your thing I say go for it.

Once again, I have never heard of any factory reinforcing on a factory frame.

Chief...are you insinuating that Californians in the fifties were lard ***es? HA!

 

x2!

 

My 55 was a total basket case. Yeah there's alot of work involved but nothing that hard. Think about it and look it over again. It's just measuring, cutting, t******* and welding. If you're not going for restoration you don't have to buy replacement floorpanels, but you can make them. Stuff like rockers, yeah you will have to buy BUT unless it's total junk, it can be saved

 

on my 56 i had to replace inner and outter rockers,COMPLETE left and right side floor pans,all floor braces,partial quarters(if/when i did it again i would replace the whole quarters) part of the trunk floor,bumper filler,headlight caps,and i'm sure im forgetting some other stuff,,,

good thing about these cars is a good majorty of the parts are avaliable repop...

 

Jeezus... when I first read this... I thought you had cancer... and my heart sank.

Thank god it's just a car... **** it, buy another one!

Sam

 

Oh yea... keep a look out on craigslist... especially out West... projects are growing on trees these days!

Sam

 

was getting ready to type that. good thing i read all the post first. ha

 

A friend of mine has a pretty nice 56 four door that he has been trying to sell. Good thing about it is that he lives close to you. PM me and I'll get you the details.

 

I'm not trying to kick the guy when he is down,,,but ain't building hot rods about learning new skills?

When I started on the 54 Wagon several years ago I didn't have a clue to how really ruff it was and after sandblasting I wanted to call it quits,,,but the car had been in the family since it was new and I kept plugging away.

I ,like so many other guys here learned as I went,,,did I get help along the way,,,yeah,,,the Hamb inspired me to keep working on the car.

You are lucky,,they make a ton of patch panels for tri 5's,,,when I was working on the wagon,,,very few were made,,

All together the wagon has 103 patch panels,,,took almost 3 years to get it to the point where body work could be started,,,it still is not done,,,but I have built 2 other cars since I put it on hold,,and helped buid and repaired 3 more cars.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is,,,It takes effort and determination ,,,but bringing one back from the dead that shouldn't have been gives you a great feeling of accomplishment. HRP

 

About the only thing they don't repop for these things is like the roof skin and the dashboard. Rusty rockers is nothing, floors they make, and a bad firewall is an excuse to set the motor back a few inches. And a good frame on one of these is a pain in the *** to find. I guess if you want an easy project, start with a finished car. If you want to learn something and really build it yourself, go back out in the garage and get to it.

 

Good pep talk fellers. Im gonna do it right. To begin with i was gonna half *** it. Just toss the body off, without taking doors off or any of the stuff your suppose to do. I just wanted to get to the ch***is and get it done and worry about the body later. Well, thats the wrong way of doing things, and a damn sure wrong way of thinking. The whole reason i got involved with Muscle cars, and now hot rods is because i wanted to learn. See i was always that bookworm pocket protector mother ****er all through highschool. If it didnt have to do with Chess or school i dint know **** about it. Then You could say i reinvented myself. I went to college killed a brazzion brain cells, and droped out, and i learned that busted ****ing knuckles is a good god damn feeling. I started out with musclecars, and to tell you the truth i was one of those Muscle car snobs, if you get my drift. I thought eveything on a car should be in its proper place and rattle can paint was the devil. Boy was i wrong. Thats why i love these greasy ol hotrods so much. NO ******* RULES. Its that simple. If i wanna a whole car in primer and a rattle can red hood, well **** it. Lets do it. No some***** has balls big enough to say **** to a hoped hot rod with a greasy ******* like me dirving it. Im going to take on this project. I needed an excuse to learn to weld, Im only 22 i havnt rally had the time or opretunity to learn yet. Ima build her right. And by god ill probly leave here rattle can grey, with a red hood or some "goofy" **** like that and beg some body to say something. Thanks guys. and i guess this is what hoddrodding is all about. Doing something THEY said couldnt be done.

 

dang man..........lay of the caffeine then get to work that last post made my head hurt a little

 

yea i needed a shot o Turkey after that one.

 

All tri-five frames are basically the same. The body mount brackets vary somewhat for different body styles. The convertable frames were reinforced (sort of) from the factory, though. They have an X-member and some extra plates on the bottom of the frame rails. There were two basic types, seamless (California) and seamed, (made with two U channels welded together. By the way, many of the so called California frame were built in Janesville Wisconsin. Glad to see that you're gonna build it. 56's are way cool and aren't as common as 55's and 57's Good luck.

 

I might be buying 3 150 56 chevys possiblee I will get rid of one of them,Lineman 2190

 

have you seen the thread bout the guy from New Zealand (or other part of the pond I dont remember) the one he's doing with his teenage boys?

You may want to review that....now that car was gone!

 

Quilt it together! I have seen some pretty rough cars patch up nicely...any pictures of your woes?

 

We're doing a '53 in similar (****ty) condition. No floors, no sills... hell, there is even no frame!

http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e320/HotRod1934/1953 Cheverolet Dragster/

 

Yeah, stick with it.. I'm doing the exact thing with a '40 pontiac coupe.

It is a basketcase, that someone grafted a '40 chevy cowl onto, and attempted to clip it with a nova subframe... It needs help, but like a lot of people have suggested, I'm using it as a learning platform. It will get a solid fron axle to replace the hack job, and body work will be attempted by me.. We'll see how it comes out, but it can't be any worse than it is now.

I watched a lot of John Kelly's videos on youtube for some help on body work. Great stuff.

 

Amen,many here have fished out of the woods and creekbeds what looked like rusted pieces sheetmetal and managed to turn em into rods. don't give up

 

Thanks for the support guys. Since i started this thread i have given up for good. The car is no longer in my garage (replaced by a Camaro.....) and is for sale. If i dont get rid of it in the next 30 days i will probably part it out. Oh and just so you hot rod blue bloods dont crawl up my ***.... the Camaro is being built for sentimental reasons. my father bought one just like it brand new, so that has alot to do with it. i hope to find a pre 64 Chevy or BOPC soon, thats in drivable shape.