I am looking for some one to make some special stainless trim that cant be found for the 53-54 belair. They were called belair bloomers and went on the lower rear quarters and were a continuation of the rockshield to along the bottom of the skirts to the back of the rear fender..anyone out there got any or any one out there that can make them? atomickustom has them on his car they look sweet IMO
ooh not sure of that..I think it was a dealer item only..dont think it was a factory option..i could be wrong but you dont see tomany cars with it back than and or now.
went over to carnuts and grabbed a few shots, they are different. I think you are right with the dealer option. I have seen a few but not many. the red one is a 53 the blue a 54
well they are close i might be able to make them work if i could find some..all the aftermarket and OEM parts houses no longer carry them . If i would have had the money a year ago I could have scored a set from NCA for about 225 bucks. now im kickin myself in the **** for not biting the bullet and getting a set than. also looked and dans cl***ic has them listed too but he told me cant find them any more and his supplier dried up on him ..I think his supplier was NCA so ****..that shoots me to the curb. have looked in the for sale items and been hunting for them for a while with absolutly no luck
Pontiac trim is totally different - the Chevy bloomers were aftermarket items (sold by some dealers but not made by GM) and they are one piece of stainless that attaches at the front where the rock guard ends and at the rear just under the rear bumper tip. The Pontiac stuff is 3 pieces - the rock guard continues all the way to the wheel opening, and then the skirt has a piece on it that matches, and then a third piece attached to the rear lower quarter. The Chevy bloomers look about the same from a distance, but they are smoother and they go straight across the wheel opening on the bottom, where the Pontiac piece zigs up and zags back down. I just answered your PM, Von Rigg Fink, before I read this post so didn't realize that National Chevy didn't have them anymore. I don't have a scanner where I am, but I can desribe them: long, straight piece of stainless steel about 4 inches wide, with a 1/8 inch lip all the way around. The metal is straight from end-to-end, but curves up from side to side to match the contour of the lower quarter panel. A bracket on the bottom of the fender skirt holds them out away from the tire. I DO have the original instructions at home in my garage - I'll bring them to work and scan them and post them on this thread then so anyone with fabrication skills can see what they look like and everyone can see how they mount. It's really bone-simple. The key is that the metal is heavy enough gauge to hold the shape, but thin enough to bend and flex in order to fit onto a fender that is not straight from front to back.
yeah rusk just like that! sweet car btw like the color! hey atomic if you get back to this post and can pm me the exact dimensions and a cartoon (drawing) of the shape maybe i can find some one who has the skills to make me a set if they are not going to be rediculous in price.
The scan isn't pretty, but here is the original instruction sheet that came with mine. I ended up having to drill a small hole at the front bottom corner and adding a chrome screw to keep it tucked up tight. Mine look identical to rusk's, so I won't bother posting the photo of my car (which was too dark to see clearly, anyway). (I have the same scan saved as a really nice pdf, but it's too big to post here. Anyone who can shrink it? It's 71Kb and needs to be 19Kb)
In my 35+ years of parts searching, I never found a set. I use to have a 53 Chevy conv. many years ago, and always wanted a set of them. They might be one of the rarest things out there. They do make a 53-54 look good if your leaving some chrome on it.
customcory you got me beat by 25 years..i did see where a few parts houses offered them and not too long ago, but they dried up and now im search mode again ..another one of those life lessons of when you see something you want , you should go on instinct..i had an opportunity back 9 years ago and blew it, now im paing for it by not being able to locate one set of these in the entire USA..
i think i found out some distubing news for me about these items..if any one can verify..I have a feeling they will not work on a More door..is this true?
I bet if somebody would start making them, there would be a waiting lowrider market right off the bat, not counting custom guys.
you should be able to make them work on a four door,the wheel opening is the same, you might just end up with an extra little piece inbetween the door and the wheelwell opening. maybe your original idea of having them custom made is best, are you near a sheet metal shop that has an english wheel and at least one old timer?
you might have better luck finding them on a lowrider site. like layitlow.com the lowrider guys love stuff like that and honestly, for the most part i've only ever seen that moulding on lowriders, looks cool as hell and i always thought they were a factory moulding option cause i've seen so many cars with that moulding! and i doubt they would work on a 4 door unless you feel like cutting up a perfectly good set, the back doors would interfere
you could consider having them made out of steel, and have them chrome plated. even made from steel, they're not gonna be as cheap as they were, but it will be much easier to shape them in steel than to do it in stainless.
I can order stainless but I suspect you can as well. You'll need to hook up with a fabricator. You might talk to enjenjo, he's got some equipment in his shop and is only about 35 minutes from you.
ok Dan..if i do it it would be cheaper the more of them i make.. i found out that they will go on a more door too..just have to space them back off the door jamb. I am going to make mine 48" long to go all the way back to the end of the quarter panel..im researching the materials and trying to find someone reasonable for the rolling and fabing of the crimps. if i get lucky i will re-post
You might try the Metalmeet.com site to see if anyone there would be interested in making them for you. http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/index.php For anyone to make these properly they would need a flexible shape pattern or a buck. For material they can be made out of 304 20 gage stainless. Do you have any pictures of the back side of the panels? The instruction might be of help if it shows any detail of the panels. Joe
slowly working on this..it will be my "winter "im sooo bored" project" the stanless is shaped like a c channel rolled under for the clips to hold it on. The other fun part is going to be the attachment hardware. I got time
ok now another good question 303 ..304..316 stainless which is the better for this? and is .0312" too thick?..i have a supplier for any of the above grades at this thickness. looks like the material cost is not too bad its gonna be the tooling and labor thats gonna kick it..years ago these were selling at $225 a pair..and that was from some one who was automated and production costs..i think its gonna be hard for me to beat that..or come close to it..even if i sold them at cost!..but im not giving up..even if i only make a set for me and dan who knows maybe people would be willing to pay for them once they see them.. The 3 grades i have mentioned i can get in #8 mirror finish.
OK! hey good news..they are back into production..i was on a quest for these all month..i have looked under every rock..i was like a bull dog in heat over these..they are now being produced by who? i dont know. But NCA will be taking orders for these as we speak. Mine are shipping tomorrow.
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