Projects 1954 Corvette budget resto

You car is looking great. Please keep the tear drop hood! They look good on those cars. Here’s mine

 

For now power will be a 283 with a saginaw 4 speed for those that asked. It came with 3 hoods in various states of disrepair. Still have the one with the tear drop scoop. Parts for 1953-1955 Corvettes are crazy expensive so cutting costs where I can. Door sills are about $600 but I found an $80 set from a 1956 that will work with some editing. Steering wheels are about $1000 but one from a 1955 210 looks close. The hub is too small for the turn signal pod so machined filler piece from aluminum. Repop rear exhaust bezels are $200 but a $20 stainless 3 inch sani-tube will work in a pinch. You get the picture. Big ticket items I haven't figured out yet are body side moldings ($$$$) and am missing some bumper pieces. Common update for brakes is using a dual pot mopar unit from the late 60s. Mounting flange needs to be machined however. Love how curvy the rear ends are on these.

 

If you haven't already bled the clutch yet, it will be interesting to hear how well it goes with the bleeder on the slave pointing downward.
Nice job with it. I like how you aren't hung up on trying to use the "correct" pieces. Get it back on the road without killing the pocketbook.

 

Update with pics. Hopefully driving this thing in a few weeks. The project came with 1961-1962 seats and I couldn't buy new seat upholstery because the 1962 red color is different than 1954 red. I had to teach myself upholstery work. The steering wheel is a 1956 210 center section with a 60s Chevy 16 inch ring welded and faired to the center section. Still have lots of bits and pieces to figure out but getting close.

 

Those colors look fantastic together.

 

Love this ’Vette! Nice work!

 

Agree 100%.

 

well,you sure are a great upholstery teacher!!

 

Hello,

It has been 65 years ago as a teenager with eyes wide open for all things hot rod/drag racing. As a young teen, it was one of those things that happen once in a while, but during those early days, once was all it took. I was smiling and now totally hooked…

Early hot rods after learning to drive were the main influence on a teenager’s life. Being able to go places at will, keeping your car running correctly, having fun exploring places on long road trips and having fun with friends along for the ride. What more could a teenager want in hot rods and highway cruises?

The daily trips to high school seemed like a chore. A day at the beach surfing was more inline with my own world of activity. But, as a teenager, high school was part of the whole progress in life. So, why not have a nice hot rod/cruising sedan to get one to the front of the school parking spaces? It was the gathering spot prior to the first bell.

If one got the first spot, let alone the first 6 spots, everyone of our friends walking from their spots stopped to talk on their way to the main entrance to the school. It was “the” place to be. We tried to be in the first 3 spots and that made our day start with a lot of laughs, teen conversations and camaraderie that was a part of life back then…

(55 Chevy two door post (3), 56 Chevy sedan, 53 Chevy Bel Air, 57 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop, 58 Impala and sometimes a funky 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery were in the first 3 spots. Then the Corvette, surf station wagons and the long line of teenage cars all parked as close as possible to the school entrance. Parallel parking at its best.

Jnaki

Here is a story I wrote a while back on a early 54 Corvette.

“But in their haughty dismissal, they miss the point entirely. The Corvette embodies the raw, untamed spirit of American car culture. It’s not about precision—it’s about power, aggression, and the sheer joy of hooliganism. It’s about blasting down Main Street, the engine’s roar echoing through the night, a fiery testament to the wild, unapologetic heart of the American culture.”

What to high priced European sporty car writers know about Corvette history and being a teenager in So Cal or elsewhere in the USA. The feeling of getting to drive any car was a vast turning point. What teenager did not look forward to, or over a steering wheel at the road ahead in anything that moved? If it was there, teenagers had a hand in it and were looking ahead for that DMV card that had an ID that said you were a legal driver… of any car or pickup truck.

With all of the family cars available, very few were Corvettes. Unless, of course your dad was named Cormier and owned a huge Chevrolet dealership just blocks from our high school. The flurry of Corvettes we saw with a young driver was almost a weekly event. But, we knew it was privileged moment and everyday teenager did not have access to a bevy of Corvettes at their disposal.

My first encounter with a white 54 Corvette was with a friend who “borrowed” his dad’s new toy. A white Corvette was not the flashy all red one we saw in advertisements, but it was an American sporty car and it looked different than our Chevy and Ford sedans. The power from our modified Chevy sedans may have been more, but the white Corvette did its share of turning heads on the roads of So Cal and in the weekend drive-in restaurant cruise nights.
early teenage high school memories…

It was a 6 cylinder blast at every corner and the wind in our faces and hair was part of the mystique of a fast Corvette. It was the only one in our car driving teenage group and it was a “borrowed” one at that.

So, through our experiences of having modified our sedans and various motors, it included a 1960 v8 Corvette with dual quads to a single quad for better drivability for the original owner. But, we certainly had fun test driving the dual quad 60 Corvette to see the power in a lightweight sporty car and when finished with our job of converting the carb set ups, the late night cruising was pure enjoyment. The v8 certainly made a difference and that led to todays version to keep up with the onslaught of high prices sporty cars in the field.

In late 1960, our thoughts of that powerful 671 SBC motor sitting in our backyard garage covered up with a large canvas tarp certainly played in my mind. What if we installed it in my black 58 Impala with the C&O Stick Hydro? Or better yet, in my friend’s 57 Bel Air Hardtop Sedan that had the dual quad SBC modified motor…

Then one final option was to install it in a lightweight 54 Corvette body and chassis for the super fast, local So Cal sporty car set up for the drags, but strictly for the weekend cruises all over… What a cool event that would have been if it had been approved.

A lowered rake to accentuate the “mean” attitude for all to see and HEAR!

 

Broke in the $600 283 and it sounds pretty good. Got hot a couple times so had to stop and start to let it cool off. Definitely going to need a fan shroud. My DIY hydraulic clutch is crap so need to go back to the drawing board. Couldn't drive it because it because the clutch wouldn't disengage enough and couldn't get it into gear.