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Andy has all sorts of stuff. He is not known as Old Iron Farmer for nothing, having in excess of 50 or 100 tractors and various other treasures.  He makes all sorts of castings, remember last years USA Road trip? Including these for a recently departed friend on Garage Journal.  QST is Quality Shed Time, a phrase coined by the late Steve “1/2Cup” Church.  Now, if you look in the background behind his foundry and furnace, you will see two more of these cars that he has offered me parts from. I was in love with them in September last year when I visited there with craigrk and Dennis.  Those shells are good for one car |
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Jun 29, 2019 10:10:51 GMT
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"its got cop tyres...cop shox..." and what looks like a stinking interior...ewwwww.
not my cup o tea.
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'80 s1 924 turbo..hibernating
'80 golf gli cabriolet...doing impression of a skip
'97 pug 106 commuter...continuing cheapness making me smile!
firm believer in the k.i.s.s and f.i.s.h principles.
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Jun 29, 2019 10:51:46 GMT
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It should be easier going down the side of the house, it's 4 inches narrower than the Blazer, which has me thinking, will it fit on my drive. Will the Blazer fit your drive?? Wife says no and she is always right, or so she thinks |
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Jun 29, 2019 11:15:56 GMT
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R, when you talk about price and work to be done it's all relative to the end value. There's a 55 Belair convertible on Tri Chevy spares group on FB, it's in pieces, body is on chassis but that's about it. Everything looks like it could be there apart from the hood (fabric roof not bonnet) and it says it needs a "small bit" of welding but when you look at the photos the floor looks similar to the 54s you shared. This is priced at $24K so it's a $30K car to get it here but by the time it's restored it'll not be worth what it costs to do, the only advantage in buying cheap is it gives to time to finance the rest of the project but don't expect to make money unless you use the Mike Brewer school of calculations.
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Will the Blazer fit your drive?? Wife says no and she is always right, or so she thinks And she may have your hospital bed booked too mate 😁 🚑 R, when you talk about price and work to be done it's all relative to the end value. There's a 55 Belair convertible on Tri Chevy spares group on FB, it's in pieces, body is on chassis but that's about it. Everything looks like it could be there apart from the hood (fabric roof not bonnet) and it says it needs a "small bit" of welding but when you look at the photos the floor looks similar to the 54s you shared. This is priced at $24K so it's a $30K car to get it here but by the time it's restored it'll not be worth what it costs to do, the only advantage in buying cheap is it gives to time to finance the rest of the project but don't expect to make money unless you use the Mike Brewer school of calculations. Small bit of welding...... I tend to even cut decent metal away in order to have access to all of the rot, rather weld more in than too little, like I did in the Blazer The way I see it, this patina (Rusty) Bel Air would be mechanically safe and “reliable” on my drive for £7k That’s not ideal, as less is always more when spending on a car. But let’s see how it goes. |
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Jun 30, 2019 10:48:47 GMT
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Until you factor in an engine rebuild and new interior |
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Jun 30, 2019 11:13:10 GMT
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PhilAOpinion on this....... Thank you.
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Jun 30, 2019 12:43:37 GMT
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PhilA Opinion on this....... Thank you. Not sure it has an enclosed driveshaft unless it's a convertible, wheel bearings are same price as you'd pay for a UK car and can be converted to taper rollers. It all looks not a lot different to my 55. Try this chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1949_53/index.htm |
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Jun 30, 2019 13:59:50 GMT
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Parts for the originals are available, no worse than restoring an Escort or somesuch
There are also a lot of aftermarket front suspension parts available, chassis parts- obviously those are as available as your pockets say they are. The originals are good so long as you don't want to dump the car in the weeds- mine is on a 2.5-3" drop (leaving about 1.5-2" remaining travel) and it rides well enough on smooth road where I've driven it, which is admittedly not that far. Main thing is keeping it all greased. Rear suspension doesn't have that much travel. If you look at pictures, you'll see the back end riding higher than the front. Someone notched my chassis to allow the car to sit evenly. Again, work if you want to do it.
Also the practicality, it's a long car with quite a long wheelbase (110" or so) and with 3.5" or clearance floor to chassis there are roads I cannot drive on because I'll ground out- non standard speed bumps mostly.
I would say that local parts availability could leave you driving something else while you curse at having to order something from the States, but at least you /can/ order it and not park the car up under a tree and leave it there to rot because of something unobtainable.
Looking through the catalogs I would say it's no worse than the Blazer in that sense.
Phil
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Jun 30, 2019 14:04:28 GMT
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Re suspension/mechanical design: 54-55 was the swap over year for GM, 49-54 were common mechanical years, 55-58 were the next group, 59-64 and so on
The suspension is very similar to mine. I think a few parts (hubs and stuff) were Chevrolet specific but the geometry is all the same from what I can tell.
It's not like you're considering a Dusenberg or anything fancy. It's all run of the mill GM, America's biggest car manufacturer of the era.
Phil
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Last Edit: Jun 30, 2019 14:05:02 GMT by PhilA
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Jun 30, 2019 20:11:40 GMT
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PhilA Opinion on this....... Thank you. Not sure it has an enclosed driveshaft unless it's a convertible, wheel bearings are same price as you'd pay for a UK car and can be converted to taper rollers. It all looks not a lot different to my 55. Try this chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1949_53/index.htmThank you for that. Will take a look and see what prices and availability is like. Parts for the originals are available, no worse than restoring an Escort or somesuch There are also a lot of aftermarket front suspension parts available, chassis parts- obviously those are as available as your pockets say they are. The originals are good so long as you don't want to dump the car in the weeds- mine is on a 2.5-3" drop (leaving about 1.5-2" remaining travel) and it rides well enough on smooth road where I've driven it, which is admittedly not that far. Main thing is keeping it all greased. Rear suspension doesn't have that much travel. If you look at pictures, you'll see the back end riding higher than the front. Someone notched my chassis to allow the car to sit evenly. Again, work if you want to do it. Also the practicality, it's a long car with quite a long wheelbase (110" or so) and with 3.5" or clearance floor to chassis there are roads I cannot drive on because I'll ground out- non standard speed bumps mostly. I would say that local parts availability could leave you driving something else while you curse at having to order something from the States, but at least you /can/ order it and not park the car up under a tree and leave it there to rot because of something unobtainable. Looking through the catalogs I would say it's no worse than the Blazer in that sense. Phil I think that like so many things, it just depends on how badly I want one. I need a reliable mechanical car. Re suspension/mechanical design: 54-55 was the swap over year for GM, 49-54 were common mechanical years, 55-58 were the next group, 59-64 and so on The suspension is very similar to mine. I think a few parts (hubs and stuff) were Chevrolet specific but the geometry is all the same from what I can tell. It's not like you're considering a Dusenberg or anything fancy. It's all run of the mill GM, America's biggest car manufacturer of the era. Phil Sounds good to me. Bootfair today seemed to also play into the hands of the Bel Air 1.450 meter wide of thick heavy weight upholstery fabric in blue at about 20 foot or 7 meters. Cost........ £1.00  Add this £1.00 to the £7.00 for last weekends 38 foot or 11 meters of brown Leatherette and some rusty steel, and you my friends have a patina package. Anyone got a cheap upholsterer or industrial sewing machine I can use...?  My other good buy, bought as part of my future planning, like the fabric and Leatherette £2.00 for a Vance & Hines Motorbike Fishtail slip on for my next build, some road rash, but well below market price.    |
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Paul Y
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,951
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Grizz, Buy what makes you happy. As for the mechanical stuff I have a full compliment of hammers, pretty sure we can fix it, lower it and do burnouts, what ever it is... What about a 57 station wagon? Know where there is one in the uk that needs some “work” P.  |
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Rian, looking forward to another Grizz project. As others have said buy whatever makes you happy!
Warren
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Grizz, Buy what makes you happy. As for the mechanical stuff I have a full compliment of hammers, pretty sure we can fix it, lower it and do burnouts, what ever it is... What about a 57 station wagon? Know where there is one in the uk that needs some “work” P. Go on........ 57 is a good number. Hammers.... Great tools. |
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Rian, looking forward to another Grizz project. As others have said buy whatever makes you happy! Warren Hey Warren Thank you very much. I am certain we will need some of this.   |
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Buy what makes you happy- Yes. I suppose I'm not much of a nostalgia "fan" because I look at that engine and carb and think "@@$%!&&*$$ That".
I've just spent many hours rebuilding a fuel system on a filthy, dirty, oily rusty mess of a 1953 Dodge M37 single barrel carb and were it not for multiple in line fuel filters and a Chinese carb from Amazon- that thing was another grand and several days away from going down the road.
It runs now but reliable? Pshhh Nothing built in the 50's-80's is reliable. (generally speaking)of course.
This is the exact reason that I take the cool old bodies from cars and stick them on something that works.
I love your enthusiasm for the yank stuff, I really do. If you end up with another one on your drive- I'll offer any help I can in helping you keep it on the road. #dropthatbodyontosomethingnewer lol
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Buy what makes you happy- Yes. I suppose I'm not much of a nostalgia "fan" because I look at that engine and carb and think "@@$%!&&*$$ That". I've just spent many hours rebuilding a fuel system on a filthy, dirty, oily rusty mess of a 1953 Dodge M37 single barrel carb and were it not for multiple in line fuel filters and a Chinese carb from Amazon- that thing was another grand and several days away from going down the road. It runs now but reliable? Pshhh Nothing built in the 50's-80's is reliable. (generally speaking)of course. This is the exact reason that I take the cool old bodies from cars and stick them on something that works. I love your enthusiasm for the yank stuff, I really do. If you end up with another one on your drive- I'll offer any help I can in helping you keep it on the road. #dropthatbodyontosomethingnewer lol Thank you very much for your reply Grenade. I love my cars putting a smile on my face. And with this 54 part of the answer lies here, Still liking it |
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Weirdly...
Double posting.
Making the point twice for surface rust/patina I guess.
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Last Edit: Jul 4, 2019 7:23:15 GMT by grizz
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munky
Part of things
Posts: 462 
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