Projects Pile of parts, a 55 Chevy 210

I bought this car unexpectantly in March and right away the clouds opened up and the parts it needed began to pile up. After finding a frame, doors, fenders and a hood, I purchased a full floorpan. As of right now, the body and floorpan have been bolted to the chassis.
I ended up with this thing kinda by accident. I have known the longtime owner for my whole life, Mike, he was one of my highschool teachers. He is a car guy. He has had some nice cars and ALWAYS Kept a 55 Chevy. About three years ago, a friend was needing a few parts for his 57 and I got in touch with Mike about parts. He invited us up and said he had a couple cars back in the woods, "Go grab what ya need".
100 yards back in the woods were 8 Tri-five cars. After we pulled the needed parts, I asked if any of the cars were for sale, they weren't.
For the next few years, I kept in touch and even helped him sell some other treasures.
This February, my same friend was on the hunt for a 55 project. So I called Mike to see if he knew of anybody that had one for sale. He said that he might turn loose of one of the cars in the woods. So we headed up there and a deal was struck.........or so I thought. The friend backed out due to the fact that he traded his 54 pick up on a running,driving project 55, and didn't have room for another one. It was cheap enough that just bought it.
Mike gave me a little history on the car. He owned it twice. The second time he bought it he stripped all of the good stuff, interior ,hood ,steering wheel, drive train, and suspension, and drug it into the woods with his tractor. It sat there for over 30 years. Its gonna be a slow project.

 

All that back story and no pics?
Edit: I was late!

 

Being extracted from the woods, and on it's way home

 

I know I mentioned it in another thread, but this car doesn't even look that rusty. Looks like the rockers are still intact under each door (even if they're shot, it's shocking to see anything left there). Plus, it's already a 2 door sedan. That's better than what I've been starting with. Looks well worth doing.

 

For being in the woods 30 years it looks darn good to me. Good luck on it!

 

It looks better in the pics than it actually is. The front fenders and doors were in really fowl shape.

 

A few pics of the parts in the pile. The new frame after cleaning and paint. "Upgraded" to Chevelle drums and a posi 4:10. And a nice pair of doors.

 

This is all that I'm keeping from the original car. Yep, it's hanging in my pre-fabbed carport. They are stronger than you'd think.

 

I bolted the new pan to the frame and set the body on it this past weekend. This pic is currently how it sits

 

Looking better already!

 

Another one rescued!!!

Looks great!

 

Even if your original doors are crusty, I bet they still have value to someone doing a 4dr to 2dr conversion.

 

Always pleased to see another Tri-5 rescue. Good luck with your project.

 

Thanks, it's gonna be a slow go for me, but it has already came a long way. I can't wait to get the firewall finished so I can mount the front clip.

 

I don't know, they are so rusty that they are almost non existent. But, if somebody wants them, they are welcome to em.

 

DD Speed Shop on YouTube should give you some inspiration! Tons of tri-five videos.

 

Oh my!! What a project!! Nice to see you saving this 55. I sold a pair of 2dr sedan doors awhile back, they were smoked on the bottoms and I thought they were useless. The guy who bought them was stoked because his doors were rotted at the hinges, bottoms, tops, etc. Win-win

 

Popular cars get brought back from the dead! Looking good.

 

Ok, so I went to a swap meet last weekend and picked up another front clip. The fenders and hood that I already had were in way better condition, but they're in new primer and don't match the old beater look I'm going for. The clip I picked up has some rust issues but all in all its not bad. I decided to bolt it together and make a tilt frontend. After sourcing a piece of angle iron, I ran down to the local hardware and bought 2 barn door hinges. The following pics show the outcome.



It still needs some bracing and tweaking, but I'm pretty happy with it so far.

 

So it's a little crusty, I like it. Will side trim happen?
Also, how about a name? The Flilthy 5 possibly? Ment only as a compliment.

 

I do have a good set of side trim. I haven't decided if I'll use it this go around or not. And as far as a name, I really like the suggestion. But my seven year old daughter named it "Wild Thing" before it was even out of the woods!

 

Can't argue with the little lady. The build was pulled from the "WILD".

 

I had a ‘55 Chev with a one piece fiberglass front years ago. I recognize that hinge system.

 

If you don't put the Two-Ten trim back on it you'll need to change the title to One-Fifty.
By the way, in my view, the BelAir has nothing over the 210's.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-55-chevy-210-two-door-sedan.1218091/

 

I have a set of tail lights that would be perfect for that car.
r

 

It's been wide open around here. I finally got a little time to make and install some patches in the toe board area.

 

I finally got the floor and toeboards all welded up. I had to replace some of the pinch on the inner quarter panel. The next big item on the list is to change out the dash. Mine has some rust in the lower area from 35-40 years in the woods without a windshield.

 

Looks good. Dash swap is a big job, lots of spot welds to cut out, but it's do-able, I know I've cut a bunch of them out of parts cars for other guys to use. The underside makes a perfect "scoop" to hold dirt and moisture, lots of them get rotted out.

 

I picked up a pair of seats today. 67 GTO, I believe. They were a gift ,so long as I use them in the 55. They need a good wash and shine, but over all very usable. They also came with what's left of a console.