Hello fellow hambers, I figured it was time to start my build thread for my 54 chevy 210 2 door. To give a bit of back story, the 54 chev has been my unicorn for about 15 years. I've searched, located and bought 7 different cars, even had a couple actually on the trailer before the deal fell thru. Finally, I took a trip, more of a mission. I got lines on a feller that claimed to have 9 54 chevys, so I hooked the trailer to big sexy(my big diesel dodge hotrod puller) Me and my right hand man Jarod headed west, 4 hours to take a look. We arrived at his place and took the tour, over 1500 classic cars on 100 acres. Jim, the ol boy who owns all these treasures knows every square inch of his yard to a T. All makes and models in no particular order or arrangement. Sure enough, he did in fact have 9 54 chevs, a few 4drs, a wagon, and a 2dr or 5. Armed with my trusty rust poker pocket knife, I examined all of them with a careful eye, looking for the problem areas and what each would need to make whole again. Most of them had the typical rust, but were also stripped nearly to the bone. The wagon almost won, as it was nearly complete. Thats when Jim said I got 1 more to show, so we went for a walkabout to the far end of the yard. There she was, in all her glory. Out came the knife and the probing began. As I dug thru the years of dirt and floormats, I found a very solid floor and rockers. She was missing a few things, most of the front clip, hubs, steering box and many other odds and ends. While she was a bit rough around the edges, I had to have it. So Jim and I struck a deal to complete the body, of course taking the best of the 9 cars to make one decent car. The daylight was fading quicky as we pulled parts and loaded them into big sexy, finally, Jim got his wrecker out and helped us load the car on the trailer. About 10pm, we fired big sexy up and pointed 14000lbs of dodge, trailer, and chevy for the house, nothing but a black cloud of diesel smoke behind us. The next several months were spent gathering parts from around the country to make her new again. The body is assembled and most of the little parts have been aquired. Still need a few things, but getting closer. So now the snow is gone, and its time to get back to work on it. I placed a bunch of phone calls today, Alex at Gambino kustoms, George at chassis engineering, Nick at the Hot rod works and a few others. The suspension will be the gambino taildragger with fatman front stuff. The engine is a 250 6 banger backed up with a T5, rearend is out of a firebird. As soon as the UPS man brings me christmas in may, Its going to my buddies bodyshop for a complete makeover. I will be posting pictures as I make progress, But heres a few from the begining of this project, years in the making.
Well I started the disc brake conversion on the 54 today. Bought a kit off the "E" site, and I actually very impressed with it. Everything fit really well, very nice fit and finsh. All the holes were properly drilled and tapped. It came with all the hardware, spacers and such, all really high quality stuff. The instructions are excellent and have large detailed pictures with them. I used rotors and calipers off a 75 camaro that I got for a song. Some speedway fittings and braided hoses should finish out the brakes on the front. I still need to add a residual pressure valve on both ends and a prop valve. I also got a rearend out of a firebird, bolted right in on stock springs. I placed an order with Alex Gambino, so the springs are gone as soon as my taildragger kit shows up. I also stumbled into a 77 chevy pickup with a 250 6 banger that will most likely be the engine donor. I'm going to finish up the brake conversion tomorrow, I will snap some pics of the tear down and reassemblie and post them tomorrow night.
Got the front disc braked wrapped up today, at least till I get a big box from gambino kustoms and I have to tear it down to install the dropped uprights. The kit fits great, very happy with the ease of assemblie. Does apear the dropped uprights will cause any issues that I can see by eyeballing it. Heres some pics of the install, I didnt bother with snapping pics of the teardown, we all know what that involves. Heres a quick breakdown of what your lookin at. 1. Cleaned the bearing surfaces with emery cloth 2. Installed the seal/bearing sleeve 3. Install seal on sleeve, this isnt my prefered way, but the bearing is a press fit on the sleeve, so to keep from destroying the seal, i did it the hard way. 4. Install the caliper bracket and steering arm with the supplied grade 8 hardware. Fits perfectly! 5. Pack the supplied bearings, installed the new races, installed the rotors using the spindle nut and washer to press the inner bearing on to the spacer sleeve. Goes on pretty easy, slow and steady making sure its going on smooth and square. set preload and pinned it down, installed the cap. 6. Install the caliper and pads, Make sure the bleeder is facing up. 7. Install the braided line into the stock steel line, reinstall the clip that holds it to the frame. Reinstall the banjo fitting to the caliper. Make sure its all tight and that the washers are on the banjo bolt. The lines and fittings are all from speedway motors, very high quality stuff. 8. Slap the rubber back on and drop the jack. Bleed the brakes and check for leaks. Make sure your tierods are straight, not bent. The disc brakes will put more and different forces on the stock steering, bent tierods will fail under these loads. Better to have all the steering up to snuff and safe anyway. More to come sooon, waiting on parts now.
Had some early xmas presents on the porch waiting for me when I got home, 1 from Gambino's, I hope it has some friends showing up tomorrow. Then 1 from chevs of the 40's, new back glass rubber. 1 from chassis engineering, 6 banger motor mount kit. 1 from a board member, gauges and some taillight bezels. With any luck, the rest of my Gambino kit shows up tomorrow and I'm waiting for a xmember from hotrod works. The next few weeks should include lots of pics as thing get cut up and installed.
More boxes of goodies trickling in, got another from Alex Gambino, the rest of the notch. one from a board member, windshield rubber. Got my 4 link kit yesterday, very nice kit, I cant wait to start welding it in. I yanked the windshield out today and installed the new rubber and reinstalled the glass, didnt even break it! I'm still looking for some door glass, window regulators, and wing window assemblies, if anyone has some to sell, pm me
Not planning on chopping at this time, after its running and driving, maybe. I would love to chop, just got bigger goals for it right now, like driving it this summer. I will get some more pics posted as soon as I do something more exciting than glass, lol
I'm going nuts waiting for boxes! Heres a teaser pic of the Gambino stuff I've got so far. I'm going to lay out the new wiring today and get it ready to nail in. Anybody got a couple taillight pigtails with the sockets? I need a couple.
Well I got the harness laid out in side the car today, ran the rear thru the roofline inside like the stock one. Engine harness thru the factory hole and the front lighting thru its factory hole. I havent hooked up anything yet, not much point without the engine and such yet. Gotta mount the fuse box up yet, so its basiclly just mocked up for now. Heres a couple pics.....
You luckey guy! I just ordered my Gambino tail dragger on Friday. Got my floors cut up and frame rails ready to weld. Have fun!
So I had another Gambino box waiting for me after work, Fatman dropped uprights and steering arms. So I battled the rainy weather and installed the passenger side today. The Fatman stuff is very nice, well built and fits great! It even works with the disc brake conversion I installed last week. Everything clears perfectly, except for the grease zerk on the spindle, should be an easy fix. I was worried the caliper wouldn't clear the upper A arm. I will hopefully tackle the drivers side tomorrow. Still waiting on a few parts yet, next time I blow it apart will hopefully be the last time to install the bags and such. Then I will nail the frontend back together for the final time. I will be sure to take lots of pics of the mods to the stock frontend to accept bags. Heres some pics, enjoy.......
Thanks for the atta boys, you guys begging for pictures is keeping me motivated to get things done. This car and me have been a long time in the making, I'm driving her this summer!
subscribed! it's going to be cool to see haw you're going to make everything work, just looking at the future of my '53!
YAY! More boxes! YAY! My airbags arrived today, 2 conitechs for the rear and 2 slam specialties for the front. Only waiting on the front bag plates and the tranny xmember, then I can put it all together! Not going to get the upright installed on the drivers side today, stupid rain! maybe tomorrow I guess
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