Projects 53 Chevy Bel Air "Cleetus" mild custom daily driver

So went to switch the lock from my old door handle (came from a 50k mile 54 210 four door) over to the shiny chrome handle. Turns out I needed the hardware from the new handle too. Only thing holding the button together on my old handle was rust lol.

 

And a before and after. Found out I have the matching passenger handle coming so that's killer. Also figured out why my olds handles wouldn't clip in. Bracket on 53/54 doors that the door handle retaining clip slides into sets inward from the door skin further. Should be easy to rectumfy on my 54s doors

 

Not pretty exposed but passable covered with the Mexican blanket. And most importantly it keeps the springs out of my butt crack lol. Lil more durable rig than my previous habit of just stuffing rags in there lol

 

Learned today O'Reilly offers this trans in reman for actually a half decent price with a 3 year warranty. Very strong possibility I'll go with one of theirs when it comes time to add a third pedal

 

Finally gave up trying to find a premade set of AC Delco plug wires to fit an sbc with both an hei large cap and 55 Chevy exhaust manifolds and got some cheap cut to fit wires. Then proceeded to wire it backwards (did I mention my earliest hot rodding obsession was olds engines? Lol). Then the the ignition module took a dump. Got all that fixed just for the remote mount starter solenoid to take a dump. Bleh. Oh well. Gonna give my dog a flea bath and then walk to O'Reilly for another solenoid lol. In any event it's running better and none of the plug wires are close to the manifolds. And actually as I warranty returned the wires I originally bought for it two years ago I actually made $20 in the process..... almost enough to buy the solenoid roflmao.

 

And shiny new solenoid installed. And once again starts with the key lol. And should I do anything stupid again and fry this one I bought it under my account with a lifetime warrantee lol

 

Just came across this pic on FB. Definitely digging how this grill looks. As wishy washy as I've been on the grill I keep coming back to the 57 grill bar

 

Well if I can figure out logistics I have this found. Not far away but I don't really get a chance to get to the Springfield area lol

 

If you get to Springfield say hi to Homer.

 

And it appears I managed to goofy up the starter yesterday too lol. It'll still start the car but takes several tries to get it to engage long enough to get the engine started lol

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/94EBmFe_Bn0?si=RhOJG2ILNUCJR-HL

So yeah would definitely say the solenoid was fried lol

 

Appears next on the docket is to sand all of my interior garnish mouldings lol

 

And as far as I got prepping the mouldings for primer. Got this one done by hand before deciding to take the other three door mouldings to work with me tomorrow and hit with a DA lol. I do the windshield moulding and back glass moulding tomorrow at home after work

 

Started tearing down the wing glass assemblies I picked up today. Going to urethane in some plexiglass for now and put them in the 53. I'll save the removed glass in pic for a template for the guy that's going to cut real glass for me

 

And the first wing glass assembly ready to go in. Had the hydro stick stickers a few years waiting for transparent wing glass lol

 

Didn't quite get the sticker right but no one will notice lol

 

And first wing glass and second door handle installed. Gonna try to get the other wing glass in before bed

 

You work fast grasshopper.

 

Well like I said I was anxious for a matching nice passenger handle and to get the wing glass swapped out. So as soon as I got my hands on the parts I was off lol. Still gotta go through the rest of the parts and organize them and work on what needs paint etc lol

 

Looks good.

 

And as hoped I got the other wing glass in. Story on the stickers is about four years ago I started building a 1/25 scale 48 Ford using a greased lightning kit. Happened to notice the hydro stick guy decals for the wing glass actually checked in the movie and the movie car had them. Since it looked right to me and the fact the th350 currently in my car does actually have a few minor b and m parts I ordered some reproduction decals for my car. Finally get to use them. Of course once I get real glass I'll have to order them again lol

 

And getting paint laid on the garnish mouldings. Gotta go raise a stink with O'Reilly because they ended up giving me a quarter pint of paint even though I paid for a half pint lol. Shouldn't be too much hassle....they're pretty good at making stuff right

 

So instead of just the four ounces I was shorted they went ahead and gave me a full half pint after hearing I was going to have to redo some of what I did with the initial paint. No hassle. Thinking only ones I'll have to redo are the rear door garnish mouldings. Ones for front doors, front windshield and back glass seem to have decent coverage

 

Oh and looks like the next gauge I'll be buying is a proper looking voltmeter. I've been slowly picking up new release reproduction Stewart Warner Greenline gauges one at a time. This voltmeter is legit Stewart Warner from 1980. Was letting it ride because function over looks won out. But today when I started the car up the gauge pegged out way past Max and didn't drop down till I smacked the gauge. Once I smacked it it made a little click and dropped to 13.9 volts where it normally rides. So I know it's the gauge and not an overcharging alternator

 

Not entirely thrilled with how a new Greenline voltmeter looks but it appears that's my option. Basically my current gauge pod and current oil pressure gauge are original 1969 Stewart Warner. A little out of the era I was shooting for (they were apparently introduced in 1965) but I found them and got them free from a 1961 C10 and liked the look. And honestly the rest of the Greenline line ties nicely with my 53s original clock and speedometer. At least this one with be more visible than the current 1980 voltmeter

 

All but the last pic are the pieces I called good enough for now. ALL of them will need gone over again because I didn't get the coverage I wanted before paint ran out. First pic shows a thin spot I would have gotten covered on the next pass.

Last pic looks like three different shades of paint but it's actually just two lol. Two of them are the exact same red sprayed a couple years apart. Why I switched to real paint. Lol

 

And the two pieces that weren't even good enough for now lol. I'll give them a quick wet sand tomorrow and thoroughly sand the 54 column and box and paint them and the lil middle squares for the windshield and back glass garnish Wednesday or Thursday

 

Anyone else a roadkill aka freiburger fan? Lol. Almost forgot I had this even though it is up to date. Had it about three years. Something about seeing the checklist mostly crossed out. Not a full build list mind you. Just a list of things needed to make a reliable usable street car. Guess I haven't marked off the rear end since deciding to keep the current rear for the time being

 

And I did acquire some stuff for this car down the road along with negotiating for more lol. 2004r to rebuild (still gotta buy) driver door from a two door (again still gotta pay lol), both quarter interior garnish mouldings for a two door (acquired) and a passenger door garnish moulding for a two door. On the 2004r how soon I actually swap that in will depend on how well my prehistoric Cajun buddy is feeling (I always teased his for being barely a boomer being born the first year of baby boomers). I swear that old Cajun has been building automatic transmissions since the first automatic transmission automatically transmitted lol. I personally installed one of his 4l60s he built behind a 560 whp 454 (I saw the Dyno sheet....thing was beefy lol) six years ago and the thing still lives with all gears and no slip shifting correctly. I know people claim most is in the setup at install but we're talking 600+ HP at the flywheel from a big block lol. So basically he'll be able to make a 2004r live behind my mebbe by then 300 HP at flywheel 350 lol. Figure it'll be close to a year. Bout the time I'm confident enough with the car for the interstate is when I'll be looking for od. Likely be two years before I start two door converting unless I get tired of bouncing off the b pillar lol

 

Got the rear door garnish wet sanded to do a couple more coats in a day or so. Feel like I timed the wet sanding perfectly. Was super easy to sand. Yet sanded beautifully. I feel like if I'd done it yesterday it would have gummed a bit and if I'd waited till tomorrow I'd still be sanding the first one lol