Figured I would join. I joined the Garage Journal. I am an automotive mechanic and artist. I have loved to draw cars since I was 11 and look t Chip Foose as a way to push my artwork to the next level. (Though some people say I rival him in design, lol). I don't think so. When I get back from this mission I am going back to school in Crossville, Tenn. For building Hotrods and Kustom Bikes. Then after a few years I plan to do what I have wanted since I was 15...build my own shop. So I can build the cars I design. I hot rodded a 59 Chevy 4 door Bel Air on a 6000 dollar budget for my dad. Signed up for the Guard 3 years ago at 28. I have a wife who is into vehicles almost as much as I am. She rebuilt a 78 Chevy short box 4x4 in high school with a 6" lift and 36" tires and a built 454.
The pic in my avatar is a 42 Chevy 4 door sedan that I had planned to buy before boot camp. It was complete but in dire need of help. It was in decent shape with no major rust or body damage for 300 dollars out of Montana. I like the idea of using a four door for a lead sled because they can be converted into long, low and sleek 2 doors. Starting with the drivetrain it has a 346 flat head Cadillac Sherman Tank engine (because the are still readily available on the market still in the oil filled drums they were put in to keep fresh). Also, it was an oddball engine few people build up. I even went so far as to checking out a cl***ic Caddy forum to find the performance parts. Which include Navarro aluminum Heads and GM also built a two carb manifold built for more power for tanks. But this one utilizes a Pot-vin style front mount supercharger and a Hildborn style FI that uses modern EFI. It has kustom headers. Dual 2 1/2" exhaust with straight pipes capped with dual 4" tips and the old fashioned flame throwers with the distributer and heater fan. Backed by a 39 ford trans filled with Lincoln Zephyr gears and an OD (for history sake ). It is backed by a quick change Halibrand or Winters. The wheels are steelies with Cadillac Sombreros that have finned aluminum centers and bullets with a center chrome bar and green lucite covers over the "Prodigy" name set into the bullets. Body mods from the front consist of a sunken licesne plate with a tinted curved gl*** cover. The Bumperettes are 1955 Cadillac with the bullets. The center section is a 1956 Plymouth with a Chevrolet shield. The grille opening is a fitted 1950 Mercury with an aluminum grille mesh and neon glow stick for back lighting. The hood is nosed and rounded with a S-curve vent on each side. The headlights are frenched tri-bars with blinkers built in with 1940 ford style and finned aluminum inserts. The whole car has been shaved of almost all trim and the side spear has been shortened in the front and lengthened in the back. The hood flips forward ulilising the mechanism from a 1988 Olds Delta 88. The fenders are flowed together and the fronts have 3" finned aluminum exhaust cutouts. The fender skirts have vents and 1954 Mercury Skirt tooth trim. The roof was lopped 4" and cut completely off. The windshield has the traditional V-**** and garnished with Appleton spotlights. The front windows are electric utilizing U channel for the openings and Art Decco style cranks for actuators. 4" Peep mirrors with the swan neck add to the design. The rear 1/4 windows and rear window are removable and also utilize U-channel aluminum trim that is chrome plated. The top is a traditional Carson style that is either beige or saddle color to match the interior. The rear fenders are molded to the body and have been extended and flowed to the rear panel giving it the in motion look. Dual antennas are frenched into the top of the driver's rear quarter. The rear tail lights consist of 8 individual lights in chrome housings behind kustom lucite lenses so they appear to float in the opening when lit up and have kustom chrome trim in a floval shape. Top two on each side are turn signal, brake and park lights in red. The next one down is an amber turn signals and park lights and the bottom is clear back up lights. The trunk lid has been decked and shaved and has dual frenched license plate boxes with curved tinted gl*** covers (one for the plate and one for the car club plaque). The rear bumper is actually the outer halves of a 1955 Chevy front bumper with a 1958 Chevy rear center section. The exhaust tips are radiused into the bumper. Now the crowning achievement. The door pillars were kicked back 4-6" and the remaining rear opening was filled in. While the front doors were legthened the same amount. The doors are flowed down to the base of the body. The doors are opened by traditional kick n' pull actuators. The rockers were cut off and kicked out 1 1/4" (only seen on one other car from the 50s as far as I know " La Jolla") and the space in between is filled with 1 1/4" frosted plexigl*** that is backlit with neon to make the rockers appear to be floating. The paint is gold metal flake over silver. Then topped with Deep Brandy wine color. The interior is done in beige or saddle tuck n' roll. The dash is body color on top and chrome underneath. The knobs are all Bake-lite style including the shift knob. The Guages are from a 50 Merc and the speedo has been reworked to accomodate a tach in the center. And that is the history of the "Prodigy". God I want to build this car.
Nice car lowmerc. I was never really into Kustoms until recent years. They grew on me. And that 47 Chrysler is sweet too. been trying to come up with a Packard 8 design (the view and pic being so small reminded e of a Packard).
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