A Classic Hot Rodder and a '54 Chevy

I thought some of you may be interested in a short story about my Dad, who was a hot rodder when hot rodding was relatively new...the 50's, and who was the inspiration for my enthusiasm now.

He had some cool cars along the way...



...but life and family soon took a front seat as it often does. It was many decades before he would be able re-visit those times. We found this '54 Chevy 210 (cheap, it was in much worse shape than the picture suggests, as good as it looks, the paint and body were pretty beat. Definitely in need of a redo)



...and parked it in my shop for a few months while we transformed it into his vision of what he would have built back then.



It was a low buck build so he put the money in the important things. Lowering uprights and blocks, all new brake lines, dual exhaust and gl***packs for the stovebolt six, paint, tires, etc. etc. My buddy shot the DP Primer on for us and it looked great...until it got wet. Then there were white spots all over it!! We tried everything from wax to alcohol to fix it but nothing worked. Then dad suggested wiping it with WD-40. Worked like a charm! (1002 uses!!) When we finally rolled it out, I've rarely seen him that happy. It was a great time.







The club plate on the back of the car is an exact reproduction of the original one he had back then (but lost). I had it made for him for Father's Day.



Anyway, that's my dad, a cl***ic!

 

Your dad is certainly a cl***ic. Nice to have a mentor like that.

 

Great story and pics! Nice that he's gotten back into a cl***ic car!

 

Thanks, he's a great guy...taught me a lot.

 

WD40 might be a big pain when the time comes to put a paint job on it. Very hard to get it all out of the metal from what I've heard.

The cars looking good though.

 

I think the car looked better the way it was before. Except for the wheels and stock height. Ok. I just liked the original paint job.

 

Very cool story

 

I think i liked the way it was also.

 

I think it's just great. It's great to see someone get back into it and enjoy doing what he did and with his son. Great job and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun going to shows and cruises with your pop. Tell him we all said "NICE!"

 

I think if he likes it like it is now then that's *****in'! Looks cool.

 

Thanks for the kind words. There are a million stories about the old days...keeping their cars runnin' with a steady supply of fifteen dollar junkyard engines, cruisin' to the drags on a weekend for hours on side roads (before highways), breaking down all over, stopping to help other people broken down, fitting parts that weren't meant to fit, cruisin' to the city for babes, you name it...I guess that's why we're all here...collecting these cars...and collecting the stories...

 

WOW the 54 looked way better before,now it looks rat rodded,painted bumpers??? really? sorry,nice story but what happened to the 54?

 

The paint and chrome were shot, though it doesn't look like it in the pic. We couldn't afford to re-chrome it. Better a nice painted bumper than a rusty, pitted chrome one IMHO. Back in the day, when there was no money, that's the way it was done by many. Believe me, I wouldn't paint over good chrome...

 

Nice old ride !!!!! Tom (tired Old Man)

 

Thanks!

 

It's really cool that you made your dad's dream come true again. A good example to today's youth.