well,,, i draged in another hunk of junk. found this one in the weeds about 3 miles form my house. its a 56 chevy 2 door sedan. i have a '55 one piece 'glass front end . if i go with the gasser look like i want , how hard will it be to fit the 'glass front end on the 56 , and how will it look? someone told me it was common back in the day caues the '55 clip where more availbe than the '56. true? anyone got pics of this being done? found in the weeds: home:
I saw one at a show a few weeks ago, I thought it looked kind of strange.... The main difference is the rocker and wheelwells don't match. 55 rocker has a flare out at the bottom, 56s rolls under. The 55 wheel openings are more squared, 56 is teardrop shaped.
I don't have pics of mine from 67-68. 56 BelAir 2dr htp. It was a rusty car with bad front fenders, so I found a racecar 55 glass nose for $50. It fit fine. I had no skiils but made front hinges to tilt it. It looked hokey to me, but I was still in HS working part time...couldn't even afford used mags. Car had a 348 tri-power/3 speed.
Seems the 55 front on a 56 was a lot more common than the other way around. You'll have to fab up a workable wiring harness. Others have already made note of the minor difference in the trailing ends of 55 fenders. The 56 tail lights can use the "custom" one piece, full lenses to give it a little "exaggerated 55" look. I'd say trade the 55 glass nose for a stock or glass 56,but then again.......... I'm 56sedandelivery/Butch.
yes the wheelwells were a thought . but if i gasser it, ill radius the wells and cut the teardrops out. taillight are still a wonder.
No fair! Southern "field junk" is better than half the stuff for sale around here. Sounds like you can have the car put together for cheap with the stuff you have laying around. I say go for it! Too bad you aren't closer, I could set you up with some glass and small stuff.
I need to find stuff like that in my weeds. You could always cut up some doner 55 quarters for the tail lights.
It'll bolt right on & IMO will look pretty cool because I think the 55 nose is way better looking than the 56's..................
Hey, that RAT PATROL car doesnt look bad at all,I might trim the bottom/flare off the 55 dog house and make kind of a stationary extension of the 56 rocker to go underneath and meet the cut on the doghouse. But yeah, that would look cool and have some character oh yeah and if your goin gasser, colored lexan would be cool for a lot of the glass.
its only glass, you can always fade the rocker line out at the bottom of the front wheel opening, 1/4's look solid? do they have much filler, if so the radiused 1/4s look decent on Rat Patrol, not like you cant reskin it later on. its only a front end, if youve already got it use, not like you cant swap it out if you come across a good deal on a 56 front end later. Get it mechanically sound and running hard with the body parts you have, throw a whole bunch of flake at it (emerald green body with white pearl roof), skinny slots or Americans on the front with black steelies and cheaters on the back, beat on it for a while, think up a new plan if you want to redo it or sell it
That 56' with the 55' front end looks great! It looks as if it came that way! I've have seen this set up a few times before, and it looks really good!!!!!!!
A 56 in drag.....hum....well, I'd fix that 56 up and buy another 55 for twice as much fun. Can't have too many tri 5s laying around can you? That gray one does look good and I bet turns some heads comin' and goin'.
I helped build a 56 2 dr sedan for a high school friend of mine, Keith Campbell, back in the late 70's. We just used what was available, and that was a 55 nose for the car. I later wound up buying it from him and changing it around a bit, finishing it up. IIRC, you really only have to flatten out the extension of the fender flare of the 55 front fenders. to make it passable. We used the 56 side trim and shortened it, because I believe it wouldn't work well with the 55's body line. I'll try and find a pic showing more of the front.
It seems decient 56 front cap parts are hard to find. We have a 56 four door really solid car. But the front cap fenders grill and brightwork are less than desired. I have 3 56,s and not enough good parts for one front end. So the 56 four door will get a 55 front cap. You got a better buy for $100 than I did. I brought part of a 55 in yesterday also paid $100. No frame or doors. But it has a Vin and title. Oldwolf
Oh yes I think it will be cool best of both worlds 55 and 56 and you can't go wrong with green.........
while we are on the subject of mixing things up I saw a very nice 55-56-57 Chevy at Bakersfield. 2 door hardtop with 57 taillights and bumper, 55 front clip and two toned with 56 side trim.
holy cow!!! that is the ULTRA RARE mid 55 /early 56 prototype sedan body.only a very few were ever made. VERY,VERY RARE.
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