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

Yeah I briefly left all four handles on after the first time I fogged it black. When I went back to touch it up I left the rears off. Made it look much less busy

 

And another low progress day lol. Pulled the teeth off the grill so I can use the bench grinder at work to wire wheel them clean to start primer and paint. Likely going to a tube grill but this will make them half presentable till then and possibly make them easier to sell when they do come off lol

 

Had honestly forgot how much pitting there was lol. But I got all the paint and primer off. I figure I'll sand prime and paint to get them presentable while they're still on the car. And take Pics just before primer for when I do go to sell in case whoever I might sell them to would want to replate them

 

hmmm...pitted chrome looks a lot better to me than paint on parts like that. But I'm probably not going to buy them!

 

Eh.....I just can't handle how rough the chrome is lol. I had originally tried polishing them when I got the car without any luck. Actually tore the rags I was using lol. I have some brite metallic aluminum silver I'll be using. Actually got it Free lol

 

And honestly not sure I'm going to try to sell them. Really depends on my budget when they come off and the going rate for them then. If I'm not broke and the going rate is under $50-75 I'll hang them on the wall. If $75+ and I'm broke they gone lol. Kinda like the factory bumper wraps it had. I wasn't going to leave them on because to me they looked like they were meant for a lowrider or copcar. But I had planned on just hanging on to them since they were fairly rare. But when a dude offered me $500 when I needed $500 they were gone lol.

 

Started stripping the grill. Still long way to go lol

 

Finally ran out of the nice glazing putty I've been using. So back to the regular parts store mud. Bleh lol. But at least after this coat of filler bodywork should be done on this filler. Have a good bit to do on the other one.....not to mention the hood

 

And sanded out. Be real nice after blocking in primer

 

Feels like moistures coming I’m Rooting for you to beat the clock!

 

I still gotta buy primer lol.

 

But for some reason the sheet metal on this car seems pretty resistant to surface rust. If you notice the bare metal corner of the hood I stripped that to bare metal last summer. And haven't touched it since.

 

And so I can stop using crap regular filler on the fenders lol. Decided to take advantage of my new commercial bodywork account at the parts store

 

Started in on the bodywork on the driver fender. Of course I got rained out. I'll go back and sand back the paint some more and hit with glazing putty. Then start in on the bottom section. Then on to the hood

 

Hit the dent on top of the driver fender with glazing putty. Used rattle can black to get a better visual reference. Did rattle black over the dents I finished the other day. Once I epoxy prime they'll be good.

 

Likely going to finally pick up some more primer tomorrow. Been holding out waiting on some potential customers that wanted me to paint some stuff because then I'd have leftover primer and not have to buy any lol. But both potential customers are dragging their posteriors and I'm growing impatient with my unpainted front end lol. Once I pick up the primer I'll get back to prepping the grill and sanding out and smoothing the driver fender. Aside from some touch up sanding the passenger fender is ready for primer. Then I'll finally pick up some more hardener and get it all painted. Then back to the roof

 

Honestly debating just using my louvered hood on this one instead of the 54. Would allow me to get it closer to "done" faster. Just do a nosed and peaked hood on the 54

 

Finally quit dragging what little butt I have tonight and actually bought primer lol. Fenders and grill should be in primer this weekend if no crazy rain

 

Turns out I'm out of the activator too ....I guess I'll grab that tomorrow lol

 

May have one more thing coat of putty after I sand this out. But I'm mostly done. Can see what I meant when I said this fender had a lot of need putty work on the bottom lol

 

And this fender smooth enough for my needs lol. I'll finish sanding both fenders and remove the bumper tomorrow morning and should have at least the fenders in primer tomorrow afternoon

 

Looks naked with the shiny bits lol

 

And the fenders, grill, and splash pan pretty much ready for primer. I could prep the grill more but it's as prepped as it's going to get as I'll be replacing it with nice chrome in the nearish future. Fenders just need a little touch up sanding by the doors and rocker trim. If weather permits it'll all be in primer tomorrow

 

If you are going to replace the grill with a new one, you may want to paint it with the current grill bar removed so you don't have old paint showing with the new grill bar installed.

 

Oh I plan to replace the surround too. Just short on time rn. When I replace the grill parts I'll go back and blend in paint where the grill covered

 

I’m a fan of the 53-54 Chev. Keep up the good work.

 

And managed to sneak primer in between rain storms lol. I still gotta pick up more hardener for the paint tomorrow. Next few days I'll wet sand in prep. Kinda funny primer makes the grill look better lol

 

You knew this 53 Bel Air came from Arkansas right? As did the engine and rear end lol

 

No, I missed that part. I want a 53 coupe. The Ford grill is a good choice.

Never mind, you just modified the original grill.

 

It's an original 53 Chevy grill. I just have the teeth off for paint. And yeah this car spent most of its life in Conway. I got the engine and rear end and hour south of Harrison