I too was on the fence about the Pontiac trim, only because to my eye, it is too close to the bottom of the fender lip.
Really nice car. I’m with @belair on the trim. While an interesting treatment, the horizontal run looks too low on the side panel to me.
Thanks for the comments on the Pontiac trim either loving it or hating it...I agree it's too close to the fender lip, but remember this is only a mock up using magnets, we haven't cut any of the trim yet, this was more to look at the length and if it would work if we went with a two tone paint job. You have to remember I'm English, so I never grew up on that whole Chevy / Ford thing, I like all cars...plus as a designer and photographer I will go with my gut and go with what I think look good. My aim is not to restore this 55 wagon to factory specs, this is a personal thing for me...if you like it, great, if not, I'm fine with that. If everyone liked the same things, then the world would be a boring place. I think it's healthy to like or not like different things...constructive criticism is a good thing and I can always change my mind if I believe it's a good idea.
You might be right, to be honest I've not looked at the front seat since removing it from the wagon. I had a spare sent of 65 Bonneville seats and I think I'm going to go down that route in the wagon, something big, wide and comfortable for my rear end . But we are a long way from thinking about interiors...
Looking good! I've got a '56 2 door wagon that has been sitting in my garage for too long... thanks for the motivation.
Happy to have motivated you...I'm just saving some money for the next stage of the project. Hoping to have new updates in the new year and maybe by the end of the summer I might be able to drive it...you never know
Firewall in early pictures. Boy’s had late night in shop with lots of cheap Beer and multiple hammers. Metal Work, you definitely sent it to a Craftsman Stretch
Yes, it like a hornets nest with so many hammer lumps in the firewall. It's great you can buy all of this sheetmetal as new replacement parts.
I love what you're doing/have done with your Handyman. I especially like the Nomad quarters, back in the mid sixties we did the Nomad like rear wheel wells on my '55 Handyman. Fortunately, I worked in a body shop and we had a body man that really knew how to work with metal and lead. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it other than 1 that was taken prior to the bodywork and paint. After 50+ years and two divorce's it's amazing that I have this one...
Love the color on your wagon,, I hope you don't mind but I clean your photograph up a little, its just a quick and dirty clean up, but I can see the color of the car (I painted over the primer too)
I love wagons. We have had 3 so far....My wife's favorite was our 1956 Chevy 9 passenger Bel Air. Great work on the car.
It's been a while but we are finally back on the wagon... the frame has been stripped, blasted and all repair work is done. We have taken off years of old brackets and cut out holes that were made in the frame...all repair work is now done. Here are a few before and after photos, some look more like Swiss cheese with the amount of holes drilled into the frame.
Now the frame is repaired and a solid chassis again, we can start to fit parts up, like the suspension and rear axle
...plus lay the body on the chassis to see how it all fits, make any adjustments before sending the frame out to be powder coated. I think the next stage is to get wheels and tyres to see what the stance of the car looks like sitting on the ground. Time to think about the engine as we will have to think about where to put the motor mounts etc.
...and final photos for now, the rear lower tail gate always sounded a little crunchy when you moved it around, it also had a little damage, so to fix it and se what was inside the tailgate...Rudy tool a few small sections off first, but then ended up taking the skin off as it was the best way to deal with what was inside.
Sure was a lot of shit added to that frame, makes me happy to see stamped A-arms found their way back onto it. Very nice work.
Thanks, it all depends if we can fix the original skin, it did have a little damage…but these rear tailgates are so hard to find parts for. I’ll let Rudy work his magic with the car. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Rudy has been working on the wagon again. While we wait for the front fenders and hood to come back from the media blasters, he has been busy doing some small but necessary jobs on the car. Like filling in any holes on the firewall we don't need.
The Jalopy Journal
